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[Game On] Freelancer - Discovery Mod

exoplasmexoplasm Gainfully EmployedNear Blizzard HQRegistered User regular
edited August 2008 in Games and Technology
TL;DR?

We don't run this base, but we have an "arrangement" with the people who do.

This game on was inspired by some posts in this thread: On marketing a modern space sim

What is Freelancer?

Freelancer is a game by Digital Anvil and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The official website is here, where you can apparently download a free trial. I don't think trial users can join this Game On, though.

"Experience a vast, open-ended universe filled with an infinite number of adventures. You are the freelancer Edison Trent, an intergalactic jack-of-all-trades. Your mission: whatever you want."

That's right: your mission is to do whatever the hell gets your rocks off - in space! And who is this Edison Trent guy you ask? This badass motherfucker right here:

trent.jpg

Unfortunately you don't actually get to walk around shooting people with a retarded grip on your personal sidearm. Instead you fly around in space and pew pew pew with one of hundreds of awesome space ships. Or, if you're particularly non-violent you can do trade - buy low and sell high in the various regions of space.

pewpew1.jpg

The game is very easy for non-space sim veterans to get into. The interface is minimal and the controls are all done with the mouse (with optional additional keyboard controls):

pewpew2.jpg

Sweet, but what's this Discovery mod?

You get to join NASA in sweet missions going to and from the ISS to do science experiments in space!

No, not really. It's a mod that adds a whole assload of ships to fly. Lots of famous ships from various SciFi shows, movies, anime, etc. To sum it up, this is why we are using the Discovery mod:

bsg.jpg

Great! So how do I join?

First, you need to have Freelancer installed. Done? Good. Next you need to head over to the Discovery downloads page to get the mod. Download version 4.84. You should also get Freelancer Mod Manager to make it super easy to install. Once FMM is installed, just double-click on the file you downloaded from the Discovery site, then in FMM activate the mod. Don't activate anything else, though, or the server will think you're a dirty cheater and kick you out of the club.

There are no servers online! What the hell?!

Okay, so Microsoft shut down the global list server. This saddened a lot of players apparently, so some dudes made their own. To use it, just go to c:\program files\microsoft games\freelancer\exe\ and edit freelancer.ini. You want to change hostname = fllistserver.zone.msn.com to hostname = gun.fllistserver.com. Now you can see all the servers that use that global list server, hopefully including mine! You should try this method first!

Alternatives:

Directly connect: change your Freelancer shortcut to "c:\program files\microsoft games\freelancer\exe\freelancer.exe" -sexoplasm.gotdns.org:2302
If this doesn't work, try -s70.116.93.164:2302 instead.

Hamachi: Join the channel [pa]freelancer - the password is wang. If this gets full I'll make more channels.

The server is called [Penny Arcade] Discovery so make sure to connect to that one.

Note: PVP is enabled on this server! If enough people complain about it I'll turn it off, but otherwise make sure you aim correctly, doofus!

Can I see how I stack up against everyone else?

Yes, yes you can you egotistical bastard! Just go to http://exoplasm.gotdns.org to see the (NEW AND IMPROVED) stats page. I also set up some little forums there just in case people want to post stuff there, but feel free to post it in this thread instead/as well! The stats update every hour on the hour.

Questions? Comments? Flames?

Post them here, or PM me, or post on the forums at the stats page.

1029386-1.png
SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
exoplasm on
«1345

Posts

  • ZetxZetx 🐧 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I think I played Freelancer for a short time. It was fun, but I think there were only a couple areas you could go to while on a planet? And they were like one screen each or something? Anyway, I'll see if I can find my copy.

    Also, this online thing... is this a co-op? vs? Or just that everyone's on the same server for e-peen stats?

    Zetx on
    76561197966849367.png
  • DixonDixon Screwed...possibly doomed CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    The game is sweet, I played it so much when first got it a few years ago, and then just recently re-installed on my laptop with the star wars mod it was fun

    Dixon on
  • polaris314polaris314 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I love this game and I still have it. I haven't played since getting a widescreen monitor, though, since the game doesn't properly support it. There are work-arounds, but I think if I start playing again I'll just stick to 4:3 scaled. Anyway, glad to see there is some renewed interest. I may just have to join you guys online!

    polaris314 on
    steam_sig.png
    XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Diablo in space! I love this game.


    Can this mod be used single player?

    Shadowfire on
    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • JaramrJaramr Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Diablo in space! I love this game.


    Can this mod be used single player?

    Yes, but it makes some plot fights much more difficult than they should be.

    It does come with a open SP thing, which can be configured during installation with the Freelancer Mod Manager, there's a whole lot of options for it aswell.

    Jaramr on
    steam_sig.png
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Freelancer was awesome. Never played Discovery, but I did play that one mod that let you use the capital ships, etc. that were already in Freelancer.

    Daedalus on
  • BlueDestinyBlueDestiny Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I tried connecting to your server with no success. The problem can't be on my end since other servers work fine.

    BlueDestiny on
  • ZetxZetx 🐧 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Zetx wrote: »
    I think I played Freelancer for a short time. It was fun, but I think there were only a couple areas you could go to while on a planet? And they were like one screen each or something? Anyway, I'll see if I can find my copy.

    Also, this online thing... is this a co-op? vs? Or just that everyone's on the same server for e-peen stats?

    :?: D::(

    Zetx on
    76561197966849367.png
  • randombattlerandombattle Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Isn't Freelancer free now? Or was that Freespace..

    randombattle on
    itsstupidbutidontcare2.gif
    I never asked for this!
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Zetx wrote: »
    Zetx wrote: »
    I think I played Freelancer for a short time. It was fun, but I think there were only a couple areas you could go to while on a planet? And they were like one screen each or something? Anyway, I'll see if I can find my copy.

    Also, this online thing... is this a co-op? vs? Or just that everyone's on the same server for e-peen stats?

    :?: D::(

    It works like an MMO. You're all in the same universe. You can go on missions together, fight each other, or ignore each other.

    Sir Carcass on
  • exoplasmexoplasm Gainfully Employed Near Blizzard HQRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I tried connecting to your server with no success. The problem can't be on my end since other servers work fine.

    Yeah, seems Hamachi is the only reliable method to connect right now. I'm not sure why, though. Ports are open and redirected on the router, no software firewall... Try again in a little bit I'm going to tweak some stuff.

    Edit: I had my ports forwarded incorrectly. Duh! Let me know if it works now, guys!
    Zetx wrote: »
    Zetx wrote: »
    I think I played Freelancer for a short time. It was fun, but I think there were only a couple areas you could go to while on a planet? And they were like one screen each or something? Anyway, I'll see if I can find my copy.

    Also, this online thing... is this a co-op? vs? Or just that everyone's on the same server for e-peen stats?

    :?: D::(

    It works like an MMO. You're all in the same universe. You can go on missions together, fight each other, or ignore each other.

    Yeah, everyone can join up for missions or kill eachother or just fly solo or whatever.

    Also, there are capital ships, battleships, etc. I think you can fly most if not all of the faction ships. Yes, even the big ones. Obviously you need lots of money for this.

    There are ID tags in the game, like Freelancer, Liberty Police, <Faction> Navy, etc. These are all for roleplay purposes and don't affect gameplay. Lots of roleplay stuff was added by Discovery.

    exoplasm on
    1029386-1.png
    SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Oh God.

    What have you done...what have you DONE?
    I love Freelancer. You're going to make me play it again, aren't you.

    citizen059 on
  • BlueDestinyBlueDestiny Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Hmm, tried again with no luck. Also, your server has no ping according to the browser.

    BlueDestiny on
  • SorensonSorenson Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Hooooo boy. Is this the one that makes missiles actually useful in combat and allows you to do a body swap on your PC model and gave ou really big payoffs for missions right out of the box? I think I tried that one.

    Lemmie find my disc and get this loaded up, I'm on a big 4x binge as it is.

    EDIT: And you know what this reminds me that I miss in games these days? Those oh-so-awkward-yet-oh-so-awesome Frankensteinish conversations between NPCs. We laugh, but deep inside we know we loved that extra touch, and it's a shame they don't appear in modern games.

    Sorenson on
  • Oddjob187Oddjob187 Pew TorontoRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Oh god where is my cd. Wait do I have a CD? .... This thread. It burns.

    Oddjob187 on
  • LamoidLamoid Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I am so totally on board, whats the starting amount of credits on the server?
    Edit: Also just figured out that if you and the other fighter are flying straight at each other, and you veer at the last second and drop a mine and it flys right into their face it is totally awesome.

    Lamoid on
    Laymoid.gif
  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Jaramr wrote: »
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Diablo in space! I love this game.


    Can this mod be used single player?

    Yes, but it makes some plot fights much more difficult than they should be.

    It does come with a open SP thing, which can be configured during installation with the Freelancer Mod Manager, there's a whole lot of options for it aswell.

    Why does it make them more difficult? Do the enemy ships become more powerful, or are these modded ships just not as good?

    Shadowfire on
    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • LamoidLamoid Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    the enemy uses things like nanobots and shield boosts and become a pain in the rear.

    Lamoid on
    Laymoid.gif
  • No Great NameNo Great Name FRAUD DETECTED Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Learn to engine shutoff dog fight.

    No Great Name on
    PSN: NoGreatName Steam:SirToons Twitch: SirToons
    sirtoons.png
  • ArrathArrath Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Fuuuuck. Tell me I don't need my disk. I have no idea where it is, other than my parent's house 1800 miles away.

    Arrath on
  • SorensonSorenson Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Is anyone else finding this borking out during install? FLMM's giving me lip about Content.dll. and patch.dll.

    Sorenson on
  • LorkLork Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Sorenson wrote: »
    And you know what this reminds me that I miss in games these days? Those oh-so-awkward-yet-oh-so-awesome Frankensteinish conversations between NPCs. We laugh, but deep inside we know we loved that extra touch, and it's a shame they don't appear in modern games.
    I saw a mudcrab the other day.

    Lork on
    Steam Profile: Lork
  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    FINE!

    I'm in the middle of a Diablo 2 kick but I guess I can install Freelancer again.

    As someone said earlier. Diablo in space.

    I loved me some Freelancer so much.

    The Dude With Herpes on
    Steam: Galedrid - XBL: Galedrid - PSN: Galedrid
    Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
    Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand

  • LamoidLamoid Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Sorenson wrote: »
    Is anyone else finding this borking out during install? FLMM's giving me lip about Content.dll. and patch.dll.

    yea i had to reinstall freelancer to get it to work

    Lamoid on
    Laymoid.gif
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Oh ho! What have we here? This looks like tons of fun. I may have to pull myself away from other things and get some Freelancer action in me.

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Oh shits, you can buy capitol class ships with this mod?

    I got to get it now.

    Are we going to organize some PA only games, or just use pubs? I can host a server, spare pc and what-not.

    The Dude With Herpes on
    Steam: Galedrid - XBL: Galedrid - PSN: Galedrid
    Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
    Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand

  • SorensonSorenson Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Lamoid wrote: »
    Sorenson wrote: »
    Is anyone else finding this borking out during install? FLMM's giving me lip about Content.dll. and patch.dll.

    yea i had to reinstall freelancer to get it to work
    No dice, it gives some business about the .flmod not extracting some file properly and won't even TRY activating now. Is it that I'm using what I'm guessing is a 1.0 fresh install instead of a patched one?

    Sorenson on
  • LamoidLamoid Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    according to the readme it reccomends having a 1.0 version for the mod so I don't think that's it.

    Unrelated: I always thought "This is our base " was the worst voice acting in all of eternity. Especially since it's followed by a "Well if you must know" that's completely out of nowhere.

    Lamoid on
    Laymoid.gif
  • SithDrummerSithDrummer Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Freelancer is fucking awesome.

    SithDrummer on
  • DashuiDashui Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Oh shits, you can buy capitol class ships with this mod?

    I got to get it now.

    Are we going to organize some PA only games, or just use pubs? I can host a server, spare pc and what-not.

    Yes, you can fly cruisers and gunboats and capital ships and so forth, even battlestars from Battlestar Galactica or the big ships from Homeworld. The downside is they're slow turning behemoths and you have to rely on turrets.

    And we do have a server that's quite good, as listed in the OP, but Freelancer is goofy now that the official global server went down. You'll more than likely have to connect via Hamachi for now, which isn't a problem. It's a small, free program, after all, and worth having for other games.

    Dashui on
    Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
  • JaramrJaramr Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Agh, I guess ill get this installed again.

    So how active is our server?

    Jaramr on
    steam_sig.png
  • exoplasmexoplasm Gainfully Employed Near Blizzard HQRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Sorenson wrote: »
    Lamoid wrote: »
    Sorenson wrote: »
    Is anyone else finding this borking out during install? FLMM's giving me lip about Content.dll. and patch.dll.

    yea i had to reinstall freelancer to get it to work
    No dice, it gives some business about the .flmod not extracting some file properly and won't even TRY activating now. Is it that I'm using what I'm guessing is a 1.0 fresh install instead of a patched one?

    You may want to try the FMM on the discovery download page instead of the FileFront version. I don't know if it's different or not, and I don't remember which one I used. It patches 1.0 to 1.1 anyway so it's not required to have it on there beforehand.
    Are we going to organize some PA only games, or just use pubs? I can host a server, spare pc and what-not.

    Got one, see the OP. :P
    So how active is our server?

    Go here to see how active it is: http://exoplasm.gotdns.org

    So far just a few of us have been on there. It will show all users who have played within the last 7 days, updated every hour. It's only been running for a couple days, though. Feel free to invite your friends, too! The player limit is set to 64, but I can certainly increase it assuming my "server" and internet connection can handle it.

    By the way, guys: please try the global list server method and let me know if A) the server even shows up and B) if you can successfully connect. It will probably show 0 ping because my router is retarded, and 0 players until you click it or something.

    If all else fails just get Hamachi and join [pa]freelancer (pass: wang).

    Edit: There are some in-game commands people can use, most importantly is /i which is short for /invite. This works on a targeted player or you can specify a name and will invite them to your group or squad. Missions and their rewards will be shared while grouped. There is also group chat, so you can talk between systems without using private messages.

    Also, I'm on xfire as exoplasm if anyone wants to add me and anyone else. I can make a list of people in the OP who are playing - Forum Name/in-game name/xfire name etc. - just PM me anything you want me to add.

    exoplasm on
    1029386-1.png
    SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
  • SorensonSorenson Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Could it maybe be something with Vista that's screwing this up? I tried installing Freeworlds from my old Freelancer days of years ago and it's a no go despite that it was just peachy on my last PC.

    Sorenson on
  • LamoidLamoid Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    So it's not like were going to go on at a certain time, more like just showing up and going with who's there? I can dig that.
    *edit* oh you're using vista Sorenson? have you tried running the mod manager as administrator?

    Lamoid on
    Laymoid.gif
  • JaramrJaramr Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    So ive got everything installed and so on. First time using Hamachi though.

    So how do I actually connect to the server through Hamachi?

    Ive got into the channel already.

    Jaramr on
    steam_sig.png
  • SorensonSorenson Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Lamoid wrote: »
    So it's not like were going to go on at a certain time, more like just showing up and going with who's there? I can dig that.
    *edit* oh you're using vista Sorenson? have you tried running the mod manager as administrator?
    I can run it, the problem apparently is getting the god damn mod to extract from the .flmod properly to the mods/Discovery folder without it cocking up one thing or another. I already run Vista as administrator so that shouldn't be a problem.

    EDIT: And now it's showing mods in the list that don't even appear in the mods directory and that should have been wiped out when I flushed FLMM. Great.

    Sorenson on
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    For those of you who've lost your copies or otherwise don't have a copy...just so you know, Freelancer is still out there.

    Your mileage may vary, but my local OfficeMax has fresh copies on the "value software" CD-Jewel-case rack for under $10.

    citizen059 on
  • exoplasmexoplasm Gainfully Employed Near Blizzard HQRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Jaramr wrote: »
    So ive got everything installed and so on. First time using Hamachi though.

    So how do I actually connect to the server through Hamachi?

    Ive got into the channel already.

    Join a LAN game.

    exoplasm on
    1029386-1.png
    SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    general question;

    Is there something akin to a high-res texture pack; or at least for the space backgrounds?

    And is it compatible with the Discovery Mod?

    EDIT: I should note that I still think this game has aged amazingly well.

    I just played through Homeworld 2 though a few weeks ago and well; I got spoiled with those backgrounds.

    The Dude With Herpes on
    Steam: Galedrid - XBL: Galedrid - PSN: Galedrid
    Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
    Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand

  • MiSTieOtakuMiSTieOtaku Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    So... I'm completely unable to get into the server. I got everything installed, joined the channel with Hamachi, then tried to connect to the server and it just tells me I can't connect.

    This is a bummer.

    MiSTieOtaku on
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