Sat Mar 08, 2003 5:07 am
True Open-Endedness: My Ideal Freelancer
Freelancer is a game I would very much like to be playing for many months or even years to come. I don't just want to let it collect dust once the story is finished. As a matter of fact I don't like stories (generally speaking) in games. As a fan of true open-endedness, those are the only aspects of FL which at this time I care to pursue. Naturally I was disappointed to find out that so much of the universe is "locked" up until I pursue this life as a Navy Cadet. I don't like the fact that right off the bat I am forced into the service of the Liberty Navy where my rep with them and their allies is very good and my rep with their enemies is bad. I would like to be able to start a single-player game with a totally clean slate and go where I want, do what I like (as advertised, by the way). In that pursuit, a mod would be needed which would do the following things:
(1) Allow player to bypass the opening scripted missions, or at least bring his rep down to zero with all factions immediately after the end of those missions.
(2) Open all or most jump gates at the start of the game.
(3) Allow player to buy any ship, irregardless of his level. Perhaps prices of ships could be increased to help balance the fact that any rig we want to fly is now within our reach.
Question: is this now possible, given our tools (or lack of tools), or would some kind of SDK have to be released (or custom-made) beforehand?
These game changes, in my opinion, would truly open it up and allow us the open-endedness which was constantly advertised before we opened the box, installed the game and discovered that you can go anywhere and do anything PROVIDED you go where they want you to go and do what they want you to do first. That's not open-ended. It's linear. From what I've seen so far, open-endedness seems to be a mere reward for finishing the various aspects of their storyline.
On an unrelated note, I was not expecting the Freelancer universe to be the Wile West. Lanes are hacked far too often, IMO. Energy weapons are being blasted in your face far too frequently when you enter a new area. In short, there are too many rogues out there. Sure, the battles are intense and fun IMO (more fun than any game I've ever played), but spreading them out a bit would be better. Again, given the present tools we have and knowledge of modding this game, would it be possible to change the frequency of attacks, the behavior of AI enemies (i.e. less likely to attack when in range --- less likely for police to attack them, giving the impression of "known criminals" in the region who do not presently have warrants, but are lurking about and ripe to be attacked by you if you so chose).
The designers of Freelancer, while brilliant in their concept, graphics, physical universe and effects, could take a lesson on open-endedness from a company like Bethesda Softworks and a game like Morrowind. That's a game with an extensive storyline which you do NOT have to follow in order to visit all the glorious sights and sounds of Vvardenfell. Nor do you have to reach a certain level before you can wield that fabulous Daedric longsword. All you have to do is find one, which is challenging enough as it is.
In liue of any concrete, technical answers to my questions (which may be impossible to answer at this point) perhaps someone could offer encouraging speculation for those of us who prefer a more slow-paced, open game?
MQ
(1) Allow player to bypass the opening scripted missions, or at least bring his rep down to zero with all factions immediately after the end of those missions.
(2) Open all or most jump gates at the start of the game.
(3) Allow player to buy any ship, irregardless of his level. Perhaps prices of ships could be increased to help balance the fact that any rig we want to fly is now within our reach.
Question: is this now possible, given our tools (or lack of tools), or would some kind of SDK have to be released (or custom-made) beforehand?
These game changes, in my opinion, would truly open it up and allow us the open-endedness which was constantly advertised before we opened the box, installed the game and discovered that you can go anywhere and do anything PROVIDED you go where they want you to go and do what they want you to do first. That's not open-ended. It's linear. From what I've seen so far, open-endedness seems to be a mere reward for finishing the various aspects of their storyline.
On an unrelated note, I was not expecting the Freelancer universe to be the Wile West. Lanes are hacked far too often, IMO. Energy weapons are being blasted in your face far too frequently when you enter a new area. In short, there are too many rogues out there. Sure, the battles are intense and fun IMO (more fun than any game I've ever played), but spreading them out a bit would be better. Again, given the present tools we have and knowledge of modding this game, would it be possible to change the frequency of attacks, the behavior of AI enemies (i.e. less likely to attack when in range --- less likely for police to attack them, giving the impression of "known criminals" in the region who do not presently have warrants, but are lurking about and ripe to be attacked by you if you so chose).
The designers of Freelancer, while brilliant in their concept, graphics, physical universe and effects, could take a lesson on open-endedness from a company like Bethesda Softworks and a game like Morrowind. That's a game with an extensive storyline which you do NOT have to follow in order to visit all the glorious sights and sounds of Vvardenfell. Nor do you have to reach a certain level before you can wield that fabulous Daedric longsword. All you have to do is find one, which is challenging enough as it is.
In liue of any concrete, technical answers to my questions (which may be impossible to answer at this point) perhaps someone could offer encouraging speculation for those of us who prefer a more slow-paced, open game?
MQ