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Games / Freelancer - That older game where you fly around in space
« on: July 15, 2012, 07:59:32 PM »
Freelancer is a space trading and combat simulation video game developed by Digital Anvil and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game was initially announced by Chris Roberts in 1999, and following many production schedule mishaps and a buyout of Digital Anvil by Microsoft, it was eventually released in March 2003.
In the game, players take on the roles of spacecraft pilots. These characters fly single-seater ships, exploring the planets and space stations of 48 known star systems. They also engage in dogfights with other pilots (player- and computer-controlled) to protect traders or engage in piracy themselves. Other player activities include bounty-hunting and commodity trading. The single-player mode puts the player in the role of Edison Trent, who goes through a series of missions to save the Sirius sector from a mysterious alien force. In multiplayer mode, players are free to take on any role and to explore anywhere from the start.
Gameplay
 | The game is played primarily through "pointing and clicking" with the mouse and a few keyboard commands. This system is also used to control the spacecraft, a breakaway from the traditional use of joysticks for space flight simulators. Observing their spacecraft from the rear, players fly their ships by moving the mouse in the direction they want the vessels to go. Freelancer's spacecraft follow simplistic flight dynamics; however, a dash of realism is implemented by allowing the vessels to cut power to their engines and turn to face any direction while drifting along their original path—conservation of momentum. Clicking the mouse button shoots the ship's weapons at the location of the cursor. The interface has no radar display; the location of objects not shown on the screen are indicated by pointers at the screen's edges. Targeting, communications, and navigation data are displayed in information boxes that can be minimized. |
After the pilot docks with a space station or lands on a planet, the screen and its interface change to a rendition of the area he is visiting. The player moves the pilot to different locations and interacts with certain objects, such as reading a bulletin board and talking to other characters, by clicking on their graphical representations. Freelancer's economy comprises the buying and selling of spacecraft, their armaments and components, and commodities. Certain goods are considered contraband in some systems, and they have to be smuggled past police patrols to their buyers. Computer-controlled characters (non-player characters or NPCs) in certain locations on the planets or stations offer quests and jobs.
Plot and Setting
The events in Freelancer take place 800 years after those in the video game Starlancer. The solar system was engulfed in a civil war, fought between the Alliance and the Coalition. Facing defeat, the Alliance placed its people in stasis and sent them to the Sirius system, where they settled and transformed the surrounding space (the Sirius sector) into a region of political intrigue and opportunity. The rule of the sector is mostly split among four houses, each named after the sleeper ship that brought them to the system. Each house exhibits the culture of its terrestrial ancestor: Liberty of 1920s United States, Bretonia of Victorian era United Kingdom, Kusari of Shogunate era Japan, and Rheinland of Second Industrial Revolution Germany. The fifth sleeper ship, Hispania, suffered a malfunction en-route and was abandoned in deep space. The descendants of its crew became pirates.
Freelancer's planetary bodies and space stations lie on a single plane. There are 48 known star systems, and spacecraft can travel from one system to another by passing through jump gates. Within a system, spacecraft can travel in the trade lanes—a series of gates that connect to form a "space highway"—to quickly reach places of interests, such as planets, space stations, and mining operations. Asteroid and debris fields populate some of the systems, and secret hideouts and derelicts with valuable items exist in deep space. Merchant ships ply the trade lanes, carrying cargo from system to system and occasionally coming under attack by pirates. Patrolling the systems are police and large naval warships.
The plot of Freelancer's single-player campaign is illustrated with two hours worth of in-game cutscenes. The story is linear in structure—the player is unable to effect a different storyline—and broken down into stages. Cutscenes inform players of background events and the goals in a stage. Most stages have no time limits for their completion, and players can put the main story on hold while taking on missions (jobs) not crucial to it. However, players can only proceed to other regions of the Sirius sector, where more advanced ships, weaponry, and equipment are obtained, after completing missions that advance the story.
Warning: The following contains spoilers. If you do not plan on experiencing the story for yourself, you may highlight the following section.
On starting single-player mode, a cutscene shows the destruction of space station Freeport 7 by unknown forces, leaving Trent without money or ship on the planet Manhattan. While waiting for his debtor, Lonnigan, to regain consciousness, Trent takes up employment with the LSF under Jun'ko Zane, who provides him with a small ship. Lonnigan refuses to pay Trent when he awakes and is mysteriously taken away by the LSF. His death is later announced, and Trent is contacted by a thief who reveals that a mystery party destroyed Freeport 7 to get an artifact in the thief's possession. An LSF officer kills the thief, and he is shot by Zane in self-defense as she arrives at the scene. Zane and Trent flee Liberty space, traveling across approximately half of the Freelancer world in their flight. Trent locates Dr Quintaine to learn more about the artifact. While finding additional materials for their research, they discover the existence of the Nomad alien race, who are the caretakers of an empire that belonged to the previous inhabitants of the Sirius sector, the Dom'Kavosh. The Nomads can possess humans and have slowly infiltrated the four Houses in this manner, planning to ignite a civil war to weaken the humans for elimination.Trent joins the Order, a secret organization formed to combat the Nomads, and helps to rescue the Liberty president from the aliens. Quintaine's research reveals the artifact to be a map and the key to the Dom'Kavosh's hyper gate—super jump gate—network, which currently acts as the Nomads' source of power. The Order launches an attack on what they believe to be the Nomads' homeworld, aiming to activate the hyper gates and cut off the Nomads from their power supply. The activated gates suck the Nomads to an unknown location, and the Order watches over the gates for their return. With the Nomads' defeat, events return to normal in the Freelancer world. Trent and Zane are granted full pardons by the governments, and Trent is asked by the Order to be their eyes and ears in Liberty space, allowing the player to continue the game without any story elements.
Mods
Discovery
All of the information here is copied from the wiki.
All of the information here is copied from the wiki.
The award-winning Discovery modification was designed as a full-scale expansion pack for Freelancer. It breathes new life into the familiar PC game by adding lots of new features without taking away the atmosphere and balance of the original. Discovery allows players to develop and explore far beyond the reaches of unmodded Freelancer, both in multiplayer and in singleplayer modes. The modification adds 68 new systems, 152 new ships, hundreds of new weapons, equipment and commodities, new factions and NPC encounters, its own storyline, and much more - everything seamlessly integrated into Freelancer universe. View distance limitations, 1 billion player credit limit, and 10 million item price limit are all things of the past for Discovery.
Features:
-At least 160 new pilotable ships of different classes, including brand new ships, custom ships based on original game models, and ships previously available only for NPCs: Starblazer, CSV, Juni's Defender, advanced versions of House fighters, transports, trains, liners, gunboats, cruisers, destroyers, and battleships.
-Each new ship carefully customized - weapons, shields and equipment balanced, cameras placed where they should be.
-79 new systems, including:
17 fully populated systems - Newcastle, Dundee (Bretonia), Munich (Rheinland), Omega-15, Omega-55 (Border Worlds), Omega-47, Omega-49, Omega-52, Omicron Delta, Omicron Eta (Edge Worlds), Omicron Iota, Omicron-99 (Nomad Worlds), Burgundy, Champagne, Dauphine, Lorraine, and Languedoc (Gallia); 30 populated faction systems; Arena system (Connecticut), Prison system, and many more.
-Numerous new bases both in new and original systems.
-Player credit limit increased to 2 billion; maximum item price increased to 1 billion.
-Unique and simple docking system - large ships can dock everywhere.
-New assignable hotkeys for up/down strafe and selecting subtargets.
-Evolving storyline about the war between Kusari and Bretonia, the conflict between Liberty and Rheinland, and the pirate war between Corsairs and Outcasts.
-View range increased - you'll see stations, ships, trade lanes from a longer distance (can be changed in mod options).
-Numerous new factions, including 35 guardian and Gallic factions , Freelancer faction, and more.
-Many dozens of balanced new guns and turrets for fighters and capital ships.
-New equipment, including armor upgrades, scanners, thrusters.
-New commodities and trade routes; all ships drop pilots when destroyed.
-Battleship encounters in most populated systems, Nomad battleship encounters in the Unknown systems.
-Battleship killing missions available, all mission rewards increased.
-NPC AI enhanced, NPCs use shield batteries and nanobots.
-Faction IDs available for role-playing purposes. ID item also serves as a tractor beam.
-Serverside options when activating the mod: server administrators can set starting money and reputation, choose character uniform.
-Clientside options when activating the mod: players can disable or enable intro movies, player engine trails, spinning planets, change view distance.
-Open Singleplayer (Open SP) can be enabled as mod option; players can choose Open SP starting system, credits and reputation.
-Storyline singleplayer available when Open SP is disabled.
-Correct and complete infocards for all new ships, items, and commodities.
-Everything is ready to start your own server: IONCROSS data files included.
-And last, but not least - retained original Freelancer atmosphere and playstyle.
Crossfire
All of the information here is copied from here.
All of the information here is copied from here.
"It was the 23rd Century: mankind’s darkest hour."
That is what we have thought for centuries but we were wrong. A new threat waiting for aeons has moved out of the dark. We have seen them, we have fought them, we have gained an important victory but we were not aware that they were not the only ones hiding between the stars. Now we have stumbled into a galactic war that had been raging ten thousands of years.Mankind on the loosing side, in the middle of Crossfire.
The Crossfire Mod is by far the biggest and most complex Freelancer modification available. For many years this mod is known for highest quality and innovative ideas which we have introduced to the Freelancer modding scene.
With Crossfire we have build and extended an universe based on the original Freelancer game and its story. Realism and a logical development of the quest based storyline and the game environment such as the systems and the technological development is most important on this mod. Crossfire is not a static mod like most others, it is a dynamic developing environment with dynamic economy, dynamic universe, destructable solars and download content (DLC) which introduces new quests, new ships, new systems and new equipment.
Most important in this mod is the atmosphere.
High quality graphics, high quality music tracks, more than 150 very detailed systems, new voice samples, stunning effects, many challenging quests, ten thousands of small side stories and rumours, fantastic gameplay and hundreds of cool ships. That is the Crossfire mod.
Features:
-Highly improved graphics.
-Hundreds of stunning effects.
-Atmospherical music tracks.
-Highly improved AI.
-Dynamic lights.
-Destructable universe.
-Dynamic economy and dynamic universe.
-Thousands of side stories and rumours.
-Quest based storyline.
-147 high detailed systems.
-More than 290 new ships.
-More than 50 custom stations.
-More than 160 new stations/planets.
-Countless new equipment and commodities.
-13 new factions including 8 new races.
-Three new sectors.
-New shaders.
-Planetary worlds.
-Higher render details.
-DLC. (Downloadable Content)
Images
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A few of these images were taken from the old topic.
For the full size of these images simply open them in a new tab.