I have been hearing about a new installer but I obviously have not payed enough attention, I am afraid. I started running freebsd at 2.0 and never really had a problem with understanding the installation program. There is always a first time, I guess.
I somehow got the idea that the new installer was graphic. Maybe something like PCBsd that is not bad at all. I use it on all our employees computers. Actually, after seeing this, I would love to have the old installer back. Is their an option for that?
Does this new ASCII installer have a "how to" with a bit of information on the flow of the installation.
Can you please describe what you didn't like about it, and what you would prefer be changed? "Reminiscent of the 1980s" is not really helpful, especially given that the new installer in fact looks very much like sysinstall, which you seemed to like.