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The content may be outdated and links may not be functional.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

The Adventure Model

This is a free discussion forum on Freelancer. This is the place to discuss Freelancer issues NOT covered by the other boards!

Post Sun Feb 16, 2003 9:11 am

W/Tiger:

I just ordered X-Gold, myself. I'd kind of like to try X:BTF and X-T before X2 is released, just to be prepared.

Of Related Interest:

Any of you playing Privateer one last time in preparation for Freelancer?

D@tD:

You nailed it! I became a HOTAS geek the instant I got my hands on a Thrustmaster FCS Mark I (no springs). It's all I've ever used and still working after 7 years. The first time I flew it I thought to myself, "I'll never go back!"

Quote: "If you don't replace the springs it'll last longer."
-- Thrustmaster Technical Support

Post Sun Feb 16, 2003 2:38 pm

Aye Capn

I been playing Tachyon using the mouse for flight control. It has two methods for control with a mouse , one of them is very similar to the free flight mode in Freelancer..where you simply point the curser in the direction where you want the ship to go. Seems to work very well so far. As far as Xgold goes...I was never able to find it here in the states...maybe only X-Beyond the Frontier was released here in the states?

Post Sun Feb 16, 2003 2:45 pm

I've got an article on why the space sim genre died coming up in hopefully less than a week. I'll probably talk about some of the things that made Privateer so great.

I really need to figure out how to get that game running again.

Post Sun Feb 16, 2003 3:06 pm

Bhurak

Have you tried making a Boot disk? I know this could be done in Win95 and 98, not sure about WinXP. The problem with Privateer is...it wants allmost the full first 640k base memory to run and if you used a MSDOS pompt to try and run it...Win95 was still running some in the background..not freeing up enough 640k base memory. I solved this problem when I got Windows 95 the first time by setting it up to multiboot to Dos 6.22. This however could only be done with the first release of Windows 95. I mean when I choose to boot to a Dos when I boot my old computer..it is as if Windows does not even exist on that machine. I still have that old computer to play Privateer if I so choose to. *grins.

Post Sun Feb 16, 2003 3:42 pm

Thanks White Tiger. Unfortunately I'm running XP, and was running 2000 before that. I've also just been too lazy to get a copy of DOS.

Really what I'd like to do is have a setup like yours: just have an old machine around to play old games. There's a used computer store right on my block, which undoubtedly has what I need. Just haven't gotten around to saving up the money. :-P

Post Sun Feb 16, 2003 4:49 pm

The problem with X for me was the (atleast IMO) extremely boring beginning.

For the first few hours you'll basically be doing the following:
Fly to Power Plant => take goods to nearby sunflower farm => take flowers to Nostrop oil refinery => take Nostrop to weapons factory => head to nearest starbase, get a cargo space expansion, and repeat the whole process
And no, there is no fighting or anything to spice it up. Just flying and docking (you sort of have to dock manually, which looks cool at first, but gets on your nerves after some time) and trading.

Post Sun Feb 16, 2003 9:17 pm

[quoteQuote: "If you don't replace the springs it'll last longer."
-- Thrustmaster Technical Support

And if you don't use the joystick it will outlast the player .

What the hell? If someone replaces the springs it should mean that they're rusty or something!

-----


Would you care to follow me... --DEATH

Post Mon Feb 17, 2003 1:34 am

W/Tiger:

The mouse flight interface in Freelancer matches that of Wing Commander II of all things. (Can anyone even remember back that far?)

I seem to remember, although I could be mistaken, that WC II even supported two "firing modes" for it: "fire as you bear" and "mouse-targetted". But WCII was a LONG time ago and my memory might be playing tricks on me.

I've tried all the mouse interfaces on all the flight games, just to see what they were like, and WCII worked the best, so if mouse is your thing FL seems to be on the right track.


D@D:

The biggest problem with the Mark I is that if you use it for any length of time you'll tear the springs out. That's probably why it was discontinued.

TM sent me a whole pack of replacement springs and offered its customers a lifetime supply. After going through 2 sets I just left the springs off.

Did I mention it has lasted 7 years? I guess you could argue it's been broken for 7 years, but once I got used to it I preferred it without springs. It improves your muscle-memory.

I've got the rest of the HOTAS setup, too, including the WCS Mark II (also discontinued.) Other controls are a cool addition to the flight experience, but in terms of creating the right "feel" the FCS is really the centerpiece. In spite of being discontinued it also sold well enough that most software supports it by name, including the "X" series!

Oxy:

"X" seems kind of like a "first step", a product from a new company just trying to get its foot in the door and see if it catches on. It's obviously not a "big budget" release, but it does feel whole and complete. (Privateer 2 is probably the best example of the opposite: big budget; incomplete product). "X" definitely seems to wholly encompass its vision.

From playing the demo of "X" I see what you mean about the pacing of the early game, but from my understanding of the reviews of "X2" it has much more aggressive pacing, as well as other lessons learned based on player experiences with its predecessor. When I get a demo -- I'll know.

Out of curiosity, how did you like "X" once you make enough dough to actually get into the rest of the game?

Post Mon Feb 17, 2003 1:48 am

Aye Capn,
I must say that that is one of the best speeches defending one's opinion I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I must admit, I have been rather harsh with many of your postings and have been quick to put down alot of what you have been saying. My apologies, you were merely trying to express your opinion when I took it as you trying to put down a game I have been waiting eons for! As you pointed out, I am "climbing the walls", so to speak and am ready for Freelancer to arrive. Some of the people who know me a bit here will tell you that the wait is killing me even more due to the fact that I am going to a military college and am unable to play games on a regular basis( Ok, not the end of the world but for a dedicated gamer like me, it is the equivalent of hiding cigaretes from a chain smoker) Once again, many thanks for your insightful post and my apologies for so stubbornly refusing to accept a difference in opinion.

Post Mon Feb 17, 2003 3:51 am

Well, ElPoyoDiablo, there's this quick way to see if a person is worth of your time or not: if he says something bad about the game, that doesn't mean he's a troll/goblin/ogre . All you need is to check the post's lenght. Remember the "novel" Vagabond wrote? He had good arguments. Same here, after I saw the long post Aye Capn made, I just saw a man who bought himself some HOTAS (nowadays, HOTAS are the most expencive controllers: 299$ US joystick and trottle combo.)
And look at me: making short posts, a bit longer than Snowy_Hands's .

Just tought about this: is there a quick way to get used to keyboard control? When I played StarLancer for the first time, I used a keyboard. Then my friend left his joystick when he was arround the last time (it's a F15 flightstick) so I gave it a try. After a week I felt like I was born with a joystick in my hand. Now I have to gave back the stupid piece of plastic but I am stuck on the last mission of Starlancer, I need to get used to keyboard again. Any quick way?

-----


Would you care to follow me... --DEATH

Post Mon Feb 17, 2003 4:51 am

Aye Capn

I indeed remember WC II. In fact I have the deluxe edition. I played it all the way thru also. The mouse control was pretty good in it too. I am presently playing Tachyon " The Fringe" with the mouse control. It has two types of mouse controls , one is with a floating curser that you move around the screen and the nose of the ship follows it. The other method is with a fixed mouse pointer that does not move around freely and you simply move the ship around as you point. This method..tho easier and more accurate in combat..is not as smooth feeling as the other is. Tachyon really does play just as well with a mouse versus the stick. I know because I use to play it a lot with the stick. But what Tachyon lacks that Privateer and Freelancer will have is the sense of adventure and discovering the unkown at your own pace.

Post Mon Feb 17, 2003 8:54 am

Actually (unless I'm mistaken, of course), I'm quite positive Freelancer-style mouse control has not yet been implemented in a space sim.

All free-floating mouse cursor control schemes in a space sim thus far, have the ship move according to where the mouse cursor is, but weapons fire straight towards the middle of the screen, regardless of where the mouse cursor is. This is something I couldn't actually stand, and preferred Tachyon's alternate setup.

Freelancer is different. The ship moves according to where the mouse cursor is, but is ALSO fires according to where the mouse cursor is.

Post Mon Feb 17, 2003 3:58 pm

Not to mention you do a lot of interfacing with the HUD with the mouse.

Return to Freelancer Discussion