This is my first post on a forum that matters, and I'm fully aware that I may be chumming the waters. Irregardless,
Freelancer
Freelancer, otherwise known as a simpler man's X3: Reunion was a fantastic game. I am depressed that this game is rarely mentioned on these boards and I'd love to try and rectify that. Direct from the wiki -
Freelancer is a space simulation computer game developed by Digital Anvil and published by Microsoft. It was released on March 3, 2003 for Microsoft Windows. The primary distinguishing feature of the game is that it does not end when the last in-game story mission is completed. At that time the player has only explored a small part of the game universe, and is then free to continue to explore the rest of the region.
You basically played the game with your mouse, no joystick required, and were able to buy different ships and different layouts, choosing to go with missiles, blasters, cannons, or special-case weapons, such as Tizona Del Cids.
I remember the multiplayer being small servers you would join that'd save your character statistics and get money and you'd gain levels by going on trade routes or simply pirating from other players and takin' their crap. From transporting perishables to far off systems to smuggling back drugs to pirate docks or even smack in the middle of the New York system. It was very fun environment and you could casually team up with an escort and fly trade goods to different systems.
The single player followed a storyline and intermittently between missions the player was free to dick around in space, doing whatever he wants until he earns enough money to advance to the next mission, up until the final mission where the game drops him off in the system and basically says, "okay, have fun, no more missions or limitations." That's where the real fun of the game really came in, for me at least.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game and I loved the mods for it. If you're interested in that part of the game,
Lancer's Reactor was an excellent source of ambitious mod projects, ranging from model swaps to full blown total conversions.
Now, time for the screenshots!
Feel free to blast me / discuss the game.
Posts
There was also a huge mod community, although that's probably died down by now. Still, there was a lot of cool stuff you could do. What was that one mod that added in Russian-style star systems and let you drive around in battleships? I don't even remember. I just remember that most of the "lol u can drive teh battleships and cruisers" mods were horribly unbalanced except for this one. I'll look it up later.
EDIT: That first screenshot isn't from Freelancer. Might want to get rid of it.
I thought this game was great, and I've been hoping for a similar type space sim to come out. Games like X2 just get a little too deep for me, to the point where trying to micro manage stuff gets too tedious and not so much fun. Freelancer has the sandbox space play, but a little more simplified.
Does this one hold up decent today? Or does it feel dated. Also does it have issues with new machines?
http://www.pathfinderstudios.com/drupal/?q=node/6
...that got canned by Microsoft a few months before Digital Anvil bit the bullet.
god-fucking-damnit.
Man, the original concept was great. The American system was supposed to have 2 "U.S.A." worlds, one all democratic and high-tech the other more backwards and reminiscent of the south during the american Civil War. Third planet was supposed to be this big, mostly lawless jungle inhabited by the exiles from Latin America.
European system would have been divided to three worlds: Britain, France and Germany, and they'd all have lots of metal and mineral rich moons around them colonized by the 'less fortunate' people from middle and eastern europe.
African system would have had an Apartheid planet, and a Middle Africa planet where the population would starve as the governments would wage wars over various resources in space.
Far Eastern system would be pretty much as it is now, lots of intrigue and politics little seen or understood by outsiders.
The Middle Eastern and West Asian system would have had an overcrowded India planet, two Islam planets and a moon with Jews on it.
God damn you, Microsoft. God damn you.
The game also suffered from the same problem Privateer 2 had: WAY TOO MANY FUCKING PIRATES! I just want to go from this side of the system to the other side. Why do I have to get jumped three times for a four trade-lane journey?
:arrow:
A Freelancer movie?!
I finally get to see Trent on the big screen!?
I have no idea what to make of this game. I didn't even know it existed until I started browsing through the ebgames site. Wonder if the release date is correct.
The server at http://portal.northquadrant.net/, where I used to play is amazing. The guys are really, really, cool and the mods are amazing. They have battleships, tons of new fighters, new systems and a dynamic economy. If you like the game you should absolutely go check them out.
Bijaz - Ironbreaker
Do they have a Jew Moon? Answer me man, do they have a Jew Moon?!
Name's Trent.
*gestures to the remains of about a billion pirates spread around him*
Enlist in Star Citizen! Citizenship must be earned!
Oh god, the voice acting was awful.
When you realize that the game is less of a space shooter, and more of a 3d sci-fi Diablo, you really enjoy the mouse support.
Play on a server with the speed turned up and you'll realize how much like a 3d hyperspeed CS the game can be. PVP becomes insane and it can be really fun.
Bijaz - Ironbreaker
Bijaz - Ironbreaker
I heard from someone that Freelancer has massive problems under XP. (I played it on Win98.) Any truth to that? I'm hoping he was just misinformed, or there's been a patch or something. After EVE and X3, I'd like to go back to the beautifully simple joy of Freelancer.
> turn on light
Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.
I've always had it running under XP. Hell, I'm pretty sure it was made after XP was out, and Microsoft is the publisher.
I have had not a single crash or glitch up under XP.
No truth to it.
Bijaz - Ironbreaker
> turn on light
Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.
Bijaz - Ironbreaker
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
Bijaz - Ironbreaker
Some monitors don't necessarily support this.
In my case, my monitor doesn't but my card does (Nvidia 7800GS) - however, there has been a driver issue with this feature for longer than I can remember, and seemingly no end in sight. Perhaps it has been corrected in the Vista drivers, but I'm in no hurry to upgrade.
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=283
but apparently doesn't work too well. I've changed the res in the INI and it isn't very playable because of the HUD. I haven't tried everything suggested on that page though, it's pretty inconclusive.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Bijaz - Ironbreaker