i386 was my download. This is the intel 386 or also the 486... 

Version choice was / is 7.1... which is the bleeding edge... 

--- ~ ---

other choices were 

Alpha - a DEC CPU, support from FreeBSD ended with 7.0, was sold to Compaq, and Compaq scrapped it and sold the intellectual property to Intel

pc98 - a Japanese Microprocessor different from IBM PC... NEC... 

Sparc - Sun Microsystems, 

amd64 - Intel's competitor et... also a good gaming machine on Desktops

ia64 - the Itanium from Intel

--- ~ ---
amd64 and i386 are the more common ones... 

--- ~ ---
After Unzipping the gz of the dvd (which took forever) there was a .iso file in the Downloads folder (have to sort by date with most recent at top) and the previous  disk 1, disk 2 et cannot seen... and the FreeBSD_Install mounted itself on the Desktop while the original 7.1 mounted disk still appears (but its internals are now different... or un-viewable... )

Actually, was able to see the 
7.1-RELEASE-i386-bootonly.iso
7.1-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso
7.1-RELEASE-i386-disc2.iso
7.1-RELEASE-i386-disc3.iso
7.1-RELEASE-i386-docs.iso
7.1-RELEASE-i386-dvd1.iso.gz
7.1-RELEASE-i386-livefs.iso
CHECKSUM.MDS
CHECKSUM.SHA256

did this by clicking in the Shared in the Sidebar

7.1-RELEASE-i386-dvd1.iso

This is without the .gz and appears in the download folder (after the unzip). This is what I've Chosen as my disk image as opposed to the files that can be seen within the white mounted image... (none of which were selectable as files). 

You go into Customizable to change the location where the install will be (by default there is a Virtual Machine folder in the Documents folder, but I place it within  VMware / Fusion / Virtual Machine(s) / Name of OS / ... 

This actually works... 

But had a problem with Choosing All and then yes to Ports, and it kept cycling through the same two windows, until I choose Cancel on one of the windows, and then it let me choose CD/DVD... and then the installation went forward... 

A little confusing... trying to take a snapshot with short cut keys would cause it to move to the next window.. or even Control+Command... 

/usr/sbin/sysinstall -- to visit "this utility" again... (after the system is up...)

When you enter your password upon boot or login, nothing shows on the screen. So it looks like its doing nothing... but it is... 

-- ~ --

FreeBSD VM was moved to a subdirectory, then had problems starting... Is this because VMware Tools not installed yet?

-- ~ -- 

iso image of the cd/dvd used for install wants to reconnect... so maybe the solution is to move the iso back to its location, and then unmount it... 

with the iso image moved back into the Downloads Folder in the Home Folder, the boot up took place without that message... (even though not mounted on the Mac's Desktop

-- ~ --

With the iso still in the Downloads subdirectory of the Home Folder, moving the VM for FreeBSD to a subdirectory worked alight, you just had to indicate it was moved via the prompt the comes up from Fusion. 

-- ~ --
In Linux Ubuntu, the iso image it used... is self mounting upon boot up... though I did eject it at least once already. 

Moving it to a sub-directory brings the same problem... about the ide being unconnected... and this time the disk is not mounted after booting up.