I have I-War 2. It's not as free-form as FL. It's a good game though.

Check this thread out for info about Iwar 2...<http://lancersreactor.com/t/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=6134&forum_id=3&Topic_Title=How+would+you+all+compare+FreeLancer+to+Independence+War+2%3F&forum_title=Freelancer+Discussion&cat_title=Freelancer&M=False>

copy and paste the linklin your addres bar. As for tips for getting started. DOnt stop moving and use lateral thrust and newtonian physics to your advantage.

Edited by - MechWarrior on 11-02-2003 21:50:40

Cool, thanks. Something else I noticed is so far the sound track is really good.

Agreed, the soundtrak is one of the best Ive heard in a game. It really conveys the sense of tention or relaxation, and helps the stroy flow very fluently.

IWar2 is a good sim, don't let anyone tell you other wise
It takes some doing to get through it and some of the missions are a serious pain. Get it patched, there were quite alot of patches. There are also alot of mods out there. Some allow you to keep playing after the story line missions are over, some allow a rudimentry trading system when docked to stations.

Check them out.

Shame i cant configure my hotas anymore, damn XP wont allow programing via the joystick port. Security reasons my ass!

Probably thats why i'm looking forward for FL, a space sim/shooter that doesn't require a joystick.


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the darkness at Tan Hauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die.

As mentioned definately use Newtonian physics to your adavantage. One of the earleir missions in the game requires you to take out a pirate base when you simply don't have the ordinance to do it. But... with newtonian physics all you gotta do is latch onto a crago crate, accelerate to some ridiculous speeds and let the cargo pod loose. Presto! You now have a homemade torpedo traveling extremely fast I must admit the newtonian physics allow you to accomplish alot that you can't in another game.

Is that the same as it was in Tachyon the fringe? You could put your thrusters on and then let go and you would keep going at the same speed in a straight line.

First of all Tachyons's flight model can't hold a candle to IW2's,, and of course you can have lateral thrusters that let you shott straight up/down/left/right and there alre also retro thrusters.

I-War 2's physics model rocks! It is, beyond a doubt, the best part of the game. It really contributes to tactics, makes gunnery and evasion quite a challenge, and certainly adds to the immersiveness of the game. That, in fact, is probably the most important aspect. Your ship doesn't "magically" go wherever it's pointed, like most other space sims. Actually, that's not entirely true. It will go will you point it, but only after your flight computer uses your retro and manuvering thrusters to cancel out your movement vectors in other directions, which gives a much more realistic feel that most sims. And of course, you can shut the computer off and fly totally by hand if you want.

You can also control your side thrusters manually, allowing you to strafe, and perform some really neat manuvers.

I simply can't stress how much the newtonian physics model in I-War 2 adds to your "suspension of disbelief" and the immersiveness of the game. In fact, given I - War 2s rather mediocre storyline, it's the game's saving grace.

I wish FL's developers had taken the newtonian physics route, but hopefully the rest of the game will outweigh that.

In summary, I-War 2 was a somewhat boring game with a kickass physics engine(though the soundtrack was great also, as well as the technology behind the ships and weapons, the developers put alot of thought into how the stuff worked) and FL looks like it will be a kickass game with a boring physics engine.

You can't have your cake and eat it too, I guess.

Newtonian physics are always fun But remember that DA wanted a more widespread audience. Don't you think having full blown real-life physics would get rather complicated? I sure do

You do get some neat features though - cutting engines and sliding, lateral movement, reverse thrust, just to name a few things.


<@ElectricBrain> TACH IS DEAD! <@Tachyon> am not <@Tachyon> stfu <@ElectricBrain> no u stfu <@Tachyon> no you
<@ElectricBrain> no u <@Tachyon> no you <@ElectricBrain> no u <@Tachyon> NO YOU I WIN
-- Our very fine IRC ops --

Iwar-2 by keyboard is going to be nearly impossible with theflight model...try at least some kind of joystick. And, yes the rest of freelancer does outweight the lack of newtonian physics by FAR!

Edited by - wingc3 on 20-02-2003 16:08:28

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Don't you think having full blown real-life physics would get rather complicated? I sure do.

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A space combat game with a full blown keplerian * physics engine would be overly complicated and boring, yes. You'd be spending so much time worring about your orbits and trajectories that you'd never have a chance to shoot at the other guy! However, I think that full-blown newtonian physics that simply ignores the presence of gravity (a la I-War) really adds to the depth of the game, and is the penacle of space combat sim physics.

*If you want to mess around with full-blown keplerian physics (and maybe see how crappy a keplerian combat sim would be), check out Orbiter. It may look boring at first, but it's really quite addictive! Given the available add ons for it, you can simulate just about any real-world space mission you want.

Edited by - c^2 on 20-02-2003 19:39:07

Edited by - c^2 on 20-02-2003 19:40:51

Hah,that's what you think WingC3 I have beaten the game many times over with just the keyboard.

Oh, to help the original poster, head over to http://www.i-war2.com and read some of the tactics section. Really good info.

I'd also suggest grabbing the FutureTrader mod ( http://www.i-war2.com/assoc_mods.htm you'll need the UniGUI mod too). It lets you dock to the vaious space stations to buy and sell goods for cash, which eliminates having to wait for someone to offer something you need for trade, and then looking for the cargo you need to trade for it. Just sell some of the stuff you don't need to a station, and then buy what you do. You don't have to carry the cargo to or from the station yourself though, your buddy Jafs ships it after the deal is done.