The reason some of the graphics don't look like Unreal 2003 and that the game doesn't require a P4 3 GHz with 1 GB RAM and a GeforceFX Leaf Blower is because the game has been underway for quite some time. When they started development, you didn't even have the nVidia TNT card, and we where still looking at Voodoo 2 add-on cards or something similar....

Back then they had hoped to ship the game around 3 years ago, so that some of the graphics look a tad dated is not because they couldn't do it, but because:

a.) There is so much unique content in the game - also graphical - that updating to the very best possible it all would be an impossible job, since you try to hit a moving and a somewhat unpredictable target.
b.) Focus is the in space-graphics, and while I did whish they could have pushed the LOD setting a bit further out, after a little while you don't even think about that any more.
c.) I'm missing a bit more animated space-stations and other sights but I understand it was very difficult to implement for instnace with the landings and stuff happening the whole time...

All in all - OK - Freelancers graphics doesn't measure up to Doom III or other games with crazy hardware requirements, but it runs well and fast on most hardware out there. And the looks are in my book still pretty spetacular. Take for instance CnC Generals, which I'm also playing a bit atm. I don't find the graphics there to be better than Freelancer as such... They have some nice effects, but so does Freelancer. But one thing annoys me very much... I have a quite decent machine, and this game at times just slows down to a crawl.

That you won't see in Freelancer, and is more worth for me...

Best Regards
Christian "Bargib" Koerner
Editor in Chief, The Lancers Reactor

No need to lecture I'm already sold on the game. Like I said, I was a BIT dissapointed by the graphics (especially after playing the graphically superior, but gameplay inferior I-War 2 almost a year ago), but not very dissapointed. I just want to know how to enable trilinear filtering, I'm pretty sure it can be done.

I don't get it, I think it has great raphics for a space sim game.

Ugh, you people are not helping. He asked a simple question.

I have no idea how to do it, since I don't have the PR demo. Maybe I could help out if I got a copy (j/k for all you people afraid of warez)

Trilinear filtering has been a standard feature for many years. There must be an option somewhere...

Edited by - Arcticfox on 18-02-2003 03:44:55

Well with out Trilinear filtering the game should be held back until they can fix it. So what if it take 5 or 6 months.

Just kidding, I just want the darn thing now. I can live with out the eye candy. Maybe they will do a patch to fix that late.. One of the folks here my figure out a tweek or two...

I think trilinear filtering is definitely in there, the fact that they have a code for not allowing trilinear filtering in the video card database seems to suggest it's in there, its just a matter of getting access to it.

Besides, it's not like anything special has to be done in the engine to enable trilinear filtering-it's something that any decent 3D API (like Direct X) does automatically with one simple function call. It's just a matter of knowing the right toggle to place in one of Freelancer's many *.ini files so that the game code enables it.

I tried placing trilinear = 1 under the display section freelancer.ini, but that didn't work.