1) There's a reason why they're called "Sleeper" Ships. The colonists were put into suspended animation. For all we know, they could have been enroute for one year or a thousand.

2) I seem to recall that their destination was selected because it was boxed in by nebulae that blocked their view of Earth (or vice versa).

3) Misdirection intended to make the Coalition think they were heading toward Sirius the star. There may even be a faint hope that when Coalition scouts don't find the Sleeper ships there, the Coalition will assume the ships died en route and stop looking for them.

4) The Sleeper ships' initial course could have been pointed at Sirius the star. Once out of the Coalition's sensor range, the ships could easily alter their course toward their intended destionation. In fact, they could have altered course several times just to make sure no Coalition ships were following them.


- the First Evil

u can be go to the "north" and be at the "south" of the original starting point if u take a long slightly turn

i did put north and south between "", co'z in space it isn't easy to say what's north and whats south

It still sounds like a stretch to me.. Here's why:

It would not have been prudent for the alliance voyagers to sleep too long. The longer your trip, the greater the chances of something going catastrophically wrong. Especially since this is supposed to be humankind's first attempt at interstellar travel, it would be risky enough just to get to Alpha Centauri, our immediate next-door neighbor. Also, as a first attempt, the ships would be slow. That means any detour turns you make will waste LOTS of time and adds to the length of the trip and increase the risk of something going wrong as per above. A straight-line trip is adviseable for a first attempt (which also makes using a "deceptive code name" for their destination moot).

And finally, if you sleep too long, you are putting yourself at risk for falling behind intellectually and technologically. Say the Alliance voyagers sleep for 1000 years. By then the Coalition would have probably developed more advanced methods of interstellar travel that allows them to transit to other systems faster and already settled whereever it is the Alliance ships are going. This is the "Rip Van Winkle Syndrome."

For all the above reasons I maintain they did not go very far/sleep very long/taken detour turns and loop-de-loops around Alpha Centuri before heading elsewhere/used "Sirius" as a deceptive code word instead of something else more nondescript/have a bottle of Dom Kavash 1934 vintage to go with an excellent meal.

Well the REAL Sirius Star doesn't exist anymore. It supernova'd not to long ago.

That basically means the Coalition isnt going to go LOOK around the Sirius Star, seeing as how it doesnt exist anymore.

As for the system they most likely arrived in, its a good bet that it is Alpha Centari, because its only Ten Light Years away from the Sun.

Now, the only problem is, Alpha Centari is 1 Star... and .. well.. Sorry guys, but the Sirius System in Freelancer has something like.. 200 stars..

So.. obviously we would have to find 4 galaxy/nebulia close to eachother, or at least a good goop of stars that are in a globular state around earths local system. The closest one would be Orion Nebulia... but the problem is its not exactly.. that many stars. Lots of dust clouds and things of that matter, but not that many stars.

Now if they DIDNT stay within the Milky Way, which is unlikely, but might have happened, the only other galaxy close enough to house such a huge array of 5 systems and hundreds of stars would be Andromeda.

Its about 1.5-2 million light years from our sun.

Well.. im not an astronamer, and Im only using a star chart and some other basic math to figure this out, but it seems only likely that either, 1) Sirius System is Orion...

2) Sirius system is Andromeda Outside of the Milky Way.

OR

3) Sirius System is Canes Group(Cluster) 15 Million Light Years from the Milky Way.

Its very likely that it could be Canes Group... because it does have a high consentration of stars, but also holds a close position to our solar system.

Information about distance and stars obtained here
http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/12lys.html

www.mechg.com/signup.php?ref=193

You must have read something wrong Zenic, because Sirius has NOT supernovaed.

Alpha Canis Majoris (the proper name for Sirius, which is really a binary star system) is still up there in the night sky, visible to the naked eye. If it went supernova, EVERYONE on Earth would know because it will light up so much that it would outshine the Moon at night due to its proximity to Sol (8.6 light years away). No joke.

And Alpha Centauri is actually 4.3LY from Sol, not 10.

I think you are confusing Sirius with the Pulsar at the center of the Crab Nebula. That one supernovaed back in the 13th Century and lit up the night sky so brightly for a few weeks it was possible to read at night with its light.

As far as the "Sirius Sector" in the game is concerned, it is NOT a single star system. It is a star cluster-- A number of star systems in close proximity. Our own solar system is actually part of a local cluster of stars that also includes Alpha Canis Majoris.

The Anzwers.org website is indeed awesome. But I think something got lost in your data transfer to your post.

I'm inclined to think that the Sleeper ships traveled just far enough to make getting back to Earth (or to the Sirius sector from Earth which is more to the point) massively inconvenient. Say, 50-100 years of FTL travel time. This ought to minimize any Rip van Winklisms but still give plenty of breathing room. Remember, the idea was to get AWAY from the Coalition.

And how do you know the Sleeper ships are the first interstellar expedition?

And yes, they probably still are in the Milky Way, hidden somewhere among its BILLIONS of stars. That's a mighty big haystack.


- the First Evil

In the past 50 years we've only managed to send 12 men to the Moon. And we never went back. 3 men lost their lives in the process and 3 more almost died but made it back thanks to some duct tape, plastic bags, cardboard and a sock.

So you will excuse me if somehow I doubt we will be sending multiple expeditions to other star systems within the next 100 years (and the FL colonists made their escape in the early 22nd Century in the story remember).

And yes, if you throw a pin into the middle of a haystack it will be hard to find. But if you don't have the strength and managed to throw the pin only to the edge of the haystack, then it's still damn easy to find.

My previous post expresses why I think it's a stretch and it stands.

The colonists were desperate to escape. They were more willing to chance the unknown void than the Coalition fleet.

Also, they've had FTL for a while now. I've heard they put FTL drives on FIGHTERS. Doesn't that imply a measure of reliability?


- the First Evil

I think the Alliance headed for a different part of the galaxy, end of story

ok ok.. this is a good post all in all.. but... do you guys have no lives as to speculate why a game is set somewhere? you might as well start arguing over just WHO the hell are nomads... the australians?

I'd rather be sucked off by a mountain goat with peanut butter on my penis - Centy

well, maybe will tell the 3d map of the whole system something about it

u know, when they tell about thus "galaxy" gates, and about the 1 who maked the nomads there defenders...

i don't know, maybe it will tell something... maybe... maybe...

otherwhise i don't know...

our milky way isn't 1 galaxy at all, it's a cople of galaxy's, with bilions of stars each

uhm... a cople, i mean a group...

It all makes for interesting reading but don't you think its really not worth worrying about? Maybe for Freelancer2 - The Coalition Strikes they should employ Partick Moore or Heather Cooper as the main developer.