Freelancer:To Buy or Not to Buy

[Marshal Murat]

Freelancer...

I enjoyed the game when it first came out, had alot of fun with it. Entire campaign in a week and I missed the FINAL MOVIE (outside pressures forced me from my chair)

I had disposed of it, to make way for more and better games. My question is...
Should I purchase it again?

[Xehh II]

Freelancer is one of my favorite games but if I lost it somehow I don't think I would buy it again.

[Kekvit Irae]

YES!
Freelancer is fun playing both single player and multiplayer. You can download mods that add a lot more ships and systems for your enjoyment (I had a lot of fun trying to navigate those long tradeships while being under attack by pirates).

[Xehh II]

What mod do you use for it?(If you still play?)

[Kekvit Irae]

I havent played it in a long time due to a sound crackling issue, but my money's on this mod: http://mods.moddb.com/8017/discovery-freelancer/
Try looking around for more

Also pick up the Freelancer Mod Manager. http://mods.moddb.com/7912/freelancer-mod-manager-/

[TevashSzat]

I used to play Freelancer quite alot and thought it was quite good. During the campaign it was really fun and it would stay so until you found most of the stuff in the world after the campaign. My biggest problem with the game was that I thought the writing at the end of the campaign got a bit weak and was not as good as the beginning

[Stuperman]

some of the voice overs were hilarious! unintentionally I think, but I still think it's an awesome game.

I always liked the Eagle, and how bar tenders all over the galzxy only ever had 3 or 4 different lines LOL.

I'd definately re-invest in Freelancer.

*goes home and looks for his copy*

[Whacker]

Confessional. I didn't discover Freelancer until roughly last Oct or Nov. It was a really good, fun game, if not extremely cheesy. The controls were really wierd for me at first, since I was expecting something like Starlancer or a standard space sim, but eventually they proved to be ok.

I guess the few things I didn't like about the game where:

1. The universe felt too 'flat' to me. Everything was basically on the same plane in space, so there wasn't really much of a '3D' feel to things.

2. There really wasn't a heck of a lot of depth to the game or replayability in my view, beyond the actual storyline itself. That and during the course of the actual campaign it didn't take you through all of the major systems.

3. Diplomacy. Without rambling on about it, suffice to say that it would have been much nicer and more worthwhile if the 'bribery' missions to increase you standing with a faction didn't decrease it with others.

It's only $10 at Target now in the budget section. Seeing how my copy is ... er... not in great shape, might just go snag it myself.

Other than the Discovery mod, anyone have other mod recommendations? Perhaps ones that might add to the storyline/etc?

[Kekvit Irae]

I don't normally play the campaign. I prefer Open SP.

And as far as diplomacy goes, it's basically a balance issue. If you want to be friends with pirates, you'll have to sacrifice your standing with the police.
And the level-plane issue, I agree that it sorta kills the atmosphere a bit, but it helps keep things simple and fun. The map is 2D, and if it was a truly 3D universe, I would get lost very easily by having to pay attention to a three axis navigation instead of just two.

[Marshal Murat]

Which mods did you get? I got the mod manager but nothing else.

[Whacker]

Just bought it again at Target, $10. Gonna install the Discovery mod this time and roll w/that.

I don't normally play the campaign. I prefer Open SP.

Seems kinda boring to me, but I'll give it a shot.

And as far as diplomacy goes, it's basically a balance issue. If you want to be friends with pirates, you'll have to sacrifice your standing with the police.

Agree and disagree. If I ACTIVELY do stuff that annoys one group/pleases another, then sure. But if I just bribe some guy to get a specific group to like me more, then honestly who cares who likes me and who doesn't? 'Actions speak louder than words' I guess, and one can be friends with two people who hate eachother (though it can be kinda difficult). Besides that you'll always have the Xenos, they hate everyone.

And the level-plane issue, I agree that it sorta kills the atmosphere a bit, but it helps keep things simple and fun. The map is 2D, and if it was a truly 3D universe, I would get lost very easily by having to pay attention to a three axis navigation instead of just two.

Weenie. No I can completely understand that, and to be fair there is a kinda sorta depth to things in the game, just not nearly as much as what I'd like. There's a real lack of good 3d map type features in modern games if you ask me. I used to uses the map all the time in Doom, Dark Forces, even Descent.

[Forward Observer]

If you like Freelancer, you guys should definitely consider getting X3 Reunion. From what I have heard and read it is really more the open ended "GTA 3 in space" game that Freelancer was originally intended to be.

Better graphics, much deeper gameplay, joystick support, and very open ended. You can not only upgrade your ships or trade up, but you can acquire and control fleets of ships, and because it does not rely on the arcadish mouse flight control of Freelancer, it truely does have a 3 dimentional feel.

The game had a few issues when it was first released in 2005 plus it originally came with the much despised Starforce copy protection system, but it still got decent reviews.

Now it has been totally patched, revamped and re-released as version 2.0 on DVD with Starforce completely removed. A couple of my die hard space sim fans have been raving about it, so I picked it up this week at Wal-Mart for only $19.95. I also saw it available for download on Steam last week. I just loaded it on my system last night and really haven't had much time to play yet

I am told it is not as quick or easy to get into as Freelancer, but everybody that I know who have played both games assure me that X3 has ten times the playability and re-playability of lancer game.

Here's one of the better reviews:

http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r26092.htm

Cheers

[Reverend Joe]

Forget Freelancer. Pick up an abandoneware version of Elite or one of its sequels (most preferably Frontier, apparently). I have not had the opportunity to play it (no joystick), and the graphics are ancient to say the least, but it simulates a freakin' galaxy. Not to mention a whole myriad of things that Freelancer hardly touches on, including full-scale star systems complete with planets you can land on. Now that's hard to beat.

[Whacker]

The game had a few issues when it was first released in 2005 plus it originally came with the much despised Starforce copy protection system, but it still got decent reviews.

Now it has been totally patched, revamped and re-released as version 2.0 on DVD with Starforce completely removed. A couple of my die hard space sim fans have been raving about it, so I picked it up this week at Wal-Mart for only $19.95. I also saw it available for download on Steam last week. I just loaded it on my system last night and really haven't had much time to play yet.

Have also heard good things about the game, but you hit on the major reason that I haven't bought it yet. From what I have read from multiple sources, the dev/publisher was extremely arrogant towards existing and potential customers re: the intense dislike of starforce, and only after watching lackluster sales did they finally decide to remove it. Part of me is the raving, rabid fiend looking for a new real quality space sim, and the other part is the concious customer who refuses to reward arrogant publishers who only ditch system-crippling malware 'protection' schemes after their sales don't do well, and may quite possibly use it again in the future.

[FesterShinetop]

I also was pretty late getting into Freelancer... was looking for a nice space-sim and got Freelancer a while ago, but not short after I finally got a hold of X3 Reunion (tough game to find, good thing it is on Steam now)... never looked at Freelancer since tbh...
Be warned though that X3 is pretty hard to get into and it isn't so much a shooter as Freelancer as more of a space-economy kinda thingamabob...

[Whacker]

OK, two things.

First, I just 'finished' a campaign in Freelancer using the Discovery mod, man that was fun! As of right now I'm on Planet Harris in Tau31 with a Large Train freighter (4500 capacity!), making 1.4 mil credit runs to Battleship Macduff carrying Prisoners. At 300 cred profit per unit, that's the best milk run I can find in the game. Looks like I'll need to make over 1300+ runs in order to work up the cash to buy a Battlestar II and the Capital Armor Upgrade Mk VIII, seeing how each is roughly 920 mil and 800someting mil apiece.

Second, I finally gave in and bought X3 off of a friend locally who was looking to part with the game. Man, you weren't akiddin' Fester, this is really hard to figure out. The manual stinks, and I'm having some trouble finding a good Intro to flying. Got any good leads?

[TinCow]

For anyone who is a fan of Freelancer, I would like to recommend Escape Velocity:Nova. It's pretty old now, but the Escape Velocity series were hands the down best space trading/combat games ever made (IMO) and Nova was the crown jewel. They are all made by Ambrosia, which is a Mac-only company, but Nova was so popular that they ported it to Windows.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/

[FesterShinetop]

Second, I finally gave in and bought X3 off of a friend locally who was looking to part with the game. Man, you weren't akiddin' Fester, this is really hard to figure out. The manual stinks, and I'm having some trouble finding a good Intro to flying. Got any good leads?

Warned ya!

Haven't played in a while (really need to get back into it) but the best advise I can give you is "stay out of trouble". Especially at first don't take too much of the story-objectives, IIRC there is one in the beginning that you should really take once you are more experienced (and tougher).
Just fly around and look for good deals. If you started out at the lower difficulty you should have a freighter you can use to make some money and expand your gear! If you don't have it start over at the lower difficulty, I did the same thing at first but learning the game is best when you got that freighter to start out with!

If you got questions check out the official forum as well at:
http://forum.egosoft.com/index.php?c=2

Most people on there are very helpfull, and there are some good starter guides on there as well! Try this one:
http://www.respawn.co.uk/modules/new..._id=10&forum=9

[Crandaeolon]

http://www.spaceforce-game.com

This is supposedly similar to Freelancer, but has a more developed faction system and larger battles. Anyone got opinions on this yet?

[TevashSzat]

Had nothing to do yesterday and just randomly started a new game of Freelancer and I can't believe it, but I'm hooked on this again. Now I'm in Bretonia trying to complete the whole campaign in that ship you start out with. All I need to do is make myself neutral to the outcasts and then I can get the ripper mine....

[Xehh II]

I have some problems with the discovery mod. I have it on spinning planets but the planets don't spin and I was also wondering, what is wrong with Conneticut it's messed up and there's something wrong with the bases and there's no ships. Are the anymore systems like that?
Is this the way it's supposed to be?

[TevashSzat]

If I remember correctly, conneticut is an arena system meaning it is solely used to battle other real players online

[Xehh II]

Ok, that's really stupid but what about the non-spinning, spinning planets?

[Whacker]

Some of them should be spinning, if you selected it. In fact there's one planet in one of the Kusari systems that spins at roughly 200+ RPM, no exagguration either!

Probably not a bad idea to completely uninstall the mod, then FLMM, then the game itself, and start over from scratch. Don't forget to keep your saves if you want to.

[Xehh II]

I did what you said and my planets still don't spin, I also have discriptions missing from some weapons.

[Whacker]

Sounds like you might have some residual files left over after you uninstall the game? If you installed it to something like C:\Program Files\Freelancer, after you uninstall the game completely, you might want to manually delete that Freelancer dir. Also to be safe, it might be a good idea to start over with a completely fresh save based on the mod when it's installed. If all that still doesn't work, I'm not sure what else to suggest there mate. Hope that helps.

[Bob the Insane]

For some reason I missed it the first time around, but a did pick it up a year ago and played through. It was pretty cool because a used the manual overrides on the Nvidia control panel to max out the AA and AF so while the resolution was not that high and the textures where a little blurry it did look pretty sharp...

Game was fun and the story was pretty cool but I don;t think I would play through it again. It played a lot like one of though modern action RPGs like KOTOR only the action was all in space and while the action was fun, once you where through the story I was not compelled to go back.

I think I skipped it at release because I had enjoyed Edge of Chaos and StarLancer (was a huge Wing Commander fan way back, and then a big X-Wing series fan) and found the Freelancer demo a bit lite-weight (what, you control it with the mouse, no joystick?!!?!?)...

[Marshal Murat]

The planet spinning at 200 RPM.

Good times (It spins FAST)

[Kekvit Irae]

[Whacker]

OK guys, let's report on the best blue milk runs we can find.

In the stock game, the best one I found was from Holman outpost in Tau 31 to the Tau 31 Gate Construction Site in Tau 23.. gate lane parts.

In Discovery, the best one (gawd) is from Planet Harris to the Battleship Macduff, a huge 2 km away, both in Tau 31. Prisoners.. $699 on Planet Harris, sells for $1k apiece on the battleship. $300 profit per. If you have a large train which has the biggest freight capacity at 4500, you can make roughly 1.4 mil per haul. The best part is how insanely short the run is, literally less than 2km each way.

Anyone got any better deals to report.