Freespace 2 crashes the moment the Bel gets torched in the first (real) mission, consistently. I am playing on an eee 1000h atom netbook. Framerate and whatnot so far has been great! If i can resolve this, this definitely become #1 netbook game. Obviously I play with a bluetoth mouse.
I am using the open mod thing. Though I don't really understand it. Apparently the people who made it were just too smart, because I could hardly figure out how to get it installed.
I'm gonna try playing the game stock. But it sound slike it's been streamlined such that really the modded version is the better option. So whatzefvcks up. A game that crashes if you try to endure it's ridiculously complex modding process, but doesn't run well at all if you don't. Blegh.
I don't even know where tto start. Windows 7. Compatability mode on/off. Ran as admin. No difference.

There's nothing difficult about installing FSO, if you just read the instructions and have even the tiniest bit of genuine interest towards the whole thing.
You could play retail but you'd be limited to a 640x480 resolution, since your netbook's resolution is 1024x600 and 1024x768 just wouldn't fit vertically.
Since you're using FSO, could you join us at Hard Light Productions ( www.hard-light.net/forums/ ) and present your problem there? There are many skilled people there who would be more than eager to help you. Also, once there, we'll need some additional information so that we can help you solve this problem.