This does suck. Luckily you are not the first person to think so and there are a few mods out already that address this.
FL Rebalance MOD by 2nd Lieutenant Michael Dan definitely changes the speeds.
Reynen's Client/Server MOD i think rebalances the speeds too (still waiting to play it ).
As for what the K stands for Wapcaplet kicked off the discussion about that here and most everyone has some theory about it.

The developers claimed that they did this to "ensure that escaping from a fight depended on skill and not the size of your ship". Personally, I think it's dumb.

yea id like to see it in a patch tho coz if you buy a fighter you wont it to be real fast so you can do fly by's at your target while shouting " MUHAHAHAH EAT MY POXY HEAVY STARBEAM!! " were if ya buy like a titan you can just sit there and dish out death.

Kill The Weak. Hurdle The Dead

Scientifically speaking, space has no gravity or resistance, so the same amount of thrust will move any object regardless of weight, size, or mass the same distance and speed. So those streamline ships, theorectically, have no more advantages in manuverability than a cube (borg) or a blob. (other than deflecting obstacles it runs into).

since all the engines are the same, the speed is the same. the only thing that differs in the engines is how long you can maintain afterburner thrust.

I really dont mean to be mean, but that was the stupidest thing i've heard anyone say in about 3 weeks.
Inertia (as effected by mass) is what determines the amount of thrust needed to accelerate.

Ok, that was rude, but i really hope you meant to say:
"...so the same amount of thrust will move any object regardless of size or shape the same speed.

AT,

To build upon your thoughts, here's an excerpt from a basic physics text:

"An object's inertia is determined by its mass. According to Newton's second law, a force acting on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by the speed of motion the object undergoes. Thus, if a force causes an object to speed or travel at a certain rate, then a stronger force must be applied to make a more massive or larger object travel at the same rate; the bigger object has a larger amount of inertia that must be overcome. For example, if a bowling ball and a baseball are moving so that they end up rolling at the same speed, then a larger force must have been applied to the bowling ball, since it has more inertia."

Basic physics do not apply in Freelancer

ffs its a game i dont give a rats ass about the hole hammer and feather of it.
i just want the smaller ships to go faster than the big ones coz guess what... its not real and i play games becoz of that along no offence ment its just what i want

Kill The Weak. Hurdle The Dead

Edited by - DeadLock on 22-04-2003 23:57:01