Mod to make the race v. Hovis EASY

Sun May 11, 2003 10:03 pm by davidiusbrown

I bought Freelancer the day it came out. I had a great time playing it, but I have had an extreme amount of difficulty beating Hovis in the race. However, I have developed a simple mod to fix this.

1. Down bini (in the utilities list)

2. Copy bini to this directory
c:\program files\microsoft games\freelancer\data\missions\m06

3. Run bini.exe on the npcships.ini files in each directory to uncompress it into npcships.ini.txt

4. Open npcships.ini.txt in notepad.exe. The first ship entry is for Dexter Hovis, and is listed as follows:

[NPCShipArch
nickname = MSN06_Dexter
loadout = MSN06_Dexter
level = d6
ship_archetype = bw_fighter
pilot = MSN06_Dexter
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = lawful, FIGHTER

5. In Notepad, edit the fifth line to read:

ship_archetype = rh_cruiser

6. Save the file and exit notepad.

7. Rename the npcships.ini file to npcships.ini.bak (to save it in case you made a mistake).

8. Rename npcships.ini.txt to npcships.ini.

9. Play.

The result is effective, and funny. Dexter Hovis, the racer, shows up for the race in a cruiser too big to fit into the gate. I flew the race in my Clysdale, at normal speed (79) and handily won. This mod did effect the graphics a bit, before the race, but this didn't effect the outcome, and should not have any effect elsewhere in the game. By editing the npcships.ini file in each mission directory, it's possible to change the type of ship npcs fly.

Sun May 11, 2003 10:50 pm by bakedpotato

you should be ashamed of yourself

Mon May 12, 2003 2:40 am by Wanderer

If you thought that was funny, try racing in a liberty cruiser. If you somehow get in front of Hovis, you end up blocking the racetrack.

Mon May 12, 2003 7:16 am by Th3Eagle

Just use you're cruise speed and you should win easy, at least i did

Mon May 12, 2003 7:58 am by liquid

i don't know how people can lose that race, its easy, too easy i reckon

Mon May 12, 2003 8:30 am by Unpro

race in a starflier...you dweeb...

Mon May 12, 2003 12:47 pm by liquid

i have

Mon May 12, 2003 8:18 pm by Glitch

I did it in my piece of sh*t Bretonia HF and when I rammed him right at the start (aim sideways and use your thrusters to slam into him) he was sent spinning into an asteroid, slowing him rather severly.

(This site is best viewed with your eyes open)

Tue May 13, 2003 3:10 am by Guardian-Q

The race is easy, I beat him in my second try. If you really want to "cheat" the race, adjust cruise speed to 750 or higher. With that speed you don't have to race with him, just walk through all the lanes, because he won't make through half way point, I couldn never find where did he go though.

Tue May 13, 2003 12:51 pm by Link

isnt hovis ment to loose anyway, i noticed i was miles behiond him then something happened to him he fell behind and told the weapons platforms to attack me.

-=Link=-

Wed May 14, 2003 8:59 am by Shadow51689

err.. you mean some people actually dont beat this their first try? my god i over took hovis before i reached the first 1/4 of the track... i was using a bretonia Crusader HF.....all you gotta do is jump to cruise, and strafe towards the inner edges of the gates (if that make sense.. lol)

Wed May 14, 2003 4:20 pm by davidiusbrown

Fair enough, I accept my dweebdum. But it was fun anyway. Because Hovis if flying a cruiser that can't fit into the gate, he winds up flying all over the place - never getting anywhere. It was really quite amusing. In fact, Hovis's partners start ragging on him a bit, at about the 3/4 mark. It would be interesting to play around with this further, to see what happens if other npc's have their ships "upgraded".

Important Message

You are browsing the archived Lancers Reactor forums. You cannot register or login.
The content may be outdated and links may not be functional.

To get the latest in Freelancer news, mods, modding and downloads, go to
The-Starport