Some things missing in the demo

Mon Mar 03, 2003 10:54 pm by Brutal Deluxe

Well, it has finally arrived.
Being a Privateer veteran like many on this forum, I was looking forward to this title for quite some time, but after the many changes in the production process, it didnt appeal to me anymore.

Now, I have to say Im rather surprised that it resembles Privateer so much, which is a good thing. The planets are there, the free travel, various space stations and a storyline that makes you believe something is actually going on in the background.

However, some features seem to be missing - and I just cant believe they forgot about these things in the final version. Maybe someone can tell.

1. Where is the Radar? Ever seen a space-sim without a radar? If there is no radar in the final version, this is just blasphemy.

2. Which button do I have to press for an exterior view of my ship? And I dont mean this silly Lara Croft 3rd person view, I mean a free rotating camera outside view, llike EVERY WC-game used to have one.

3. Why is there no v-comm? Dont tell me they simply decided to leave away ALL INTERCOMM NPC-interaction? The original Privateer let you talk to every ship and select from a bunch of lines what you wanted to say to the lone merchant you just met in the asteroid field. Now dont tell me they put all this work into the reputation system but there is no way to taunt one of those opposing tradeships...

4. Which button is to be pressed to bring up the damage screen? There is damage for sure, because you can repair it when you land, but how about a display during flight? I want to knwo what the nano-bot is repairing...again, downright lacking.

These are just the most obvious omissions - but Im still under the impression, thats only in the demo. Maybe someone can confirm that these ELEMENTARY features are included in the original version. Afterall, they did playtest this game, didnt they?

Then, I have another remark.
Interaction on the bases seems only half finished. Were they pressed to ship the game? After 7 years, they could have afforded another 6 months, right?
You walk over into the commodity exchange, but you cant talk to they guy there.
You walk over into the equipment room, and it looks exactly the same as the one you just visited on the other base. The "computer" tracks all sorts of things, but there is no way to store a ship or some equipment.

All these things very handled a hundred times better by "Tachyon:The fringe". This game is almost 2 years old - why didnt the developers have a look at this predecessor? Not to mention that the graphics of this old game are better when it comes to the massive space-stations, which were so much hyped by the freelancer team.

Now, to me this looks like they ran out of time, so they made the following decision:

1. Turn the flight model into an arcade shooter ala Aquanox instead of a space-sim (and I dont mean sim in the sense of I-war, but in the sense of having a radar, managing engine resources, having a damage-display screen) to save time

2. Cut out player interaction on bases - I am almost sure that when they planned this huge universe with shifting demands it was also planned to have your own hq with warehouse and everything. It would just be half-baked otherwise.
Now I wonde rif the market even is shifting, because it surely isnt in the demo.

Ok, his is only a brief resume of my present opinion on the game, but maybe someon can shed some light on the questions raised, because Im not sure if I should buy this.

Mon Mar 03, 2003 11:15 pm by Fear Factor

Ok, his is only a brief resume of my present opinion on the game, but maybe someon can shed some light on the questions raised, because Im not sure if I should buy this.

I'm not sure you should, either. If so many fundamental things bother you that greatly, than I suggest you save your money on the next space-sim that is more to your liking. FL is what it is - it NEVER even once claimed to be a "successor" of Elite, Privateer, Tachyon or anything else.

All these things you mention have been mentioned and answered before - try looking into the previous posts (set your view option as far back as possible) - and I conclude that you are expecting a very different kind of game. I suggest that you accept it and enjoy it for what it is, or if you can't, then let me wish you good luck on your wait for the next space sim.

Aku. Soku. Zan. (Kill. Evil. Instantly.)

Mon Mar 03, 2003 11:40 pm by ElectricBrain

1. I never realized it was missing the radar until i actively looked for it after playing a couple hours. :\ It would have been slightly more helpful, IMO, but totally required. There are the side arrows and the HUD to compensate for the classic radar which is not in the game.

2. H

3. Yep, no taunting or anything. :
4. Nanobots repair your entire ship. There isnt specific points of damage. But your wing can get blown off with weapons on them.

These are just the most obvious omissions - but Im still under the impression, thats only in the demo. Maybe someone can confirm that these ELEMENTARY features are included in the original version. Afterall, they did playtest this game, didnt they?

Wtf, "elementary" features? Freelancer is Freelancer. Its not a game you made.

Freelancer is a much larger game than Tachyon.

Why dont u complain about Tachyon's restrictive gameplay.

- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Tue Mar 04, 2003 12:09 am by DataDroid

1. Same here, it wasn't until I'd been playing for several hours before I noticed this, and while it might have been nice, it functions fine w/o it.

2. When you press 'H' (to go to "turret mode"

you also need to have mouse flight enabled so you can rotate around your ship.

3. 'Fraid so, although there's hope a future patch or mod will make this more of an option.

4. Doesn't seem really necessary to me, you can see when a wing gets blown off, as well as a gun. Your ship doesn't blow until your hull reaches 0. Period.

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world:
those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Tue Mar 04, 2003 3:14 am by Daev

I think FreeLancer is great how it is. i normally use the radar in games like StarLancer but for all the time i've been playing FL i've never actually looked for it once :p so no problem there!

Tue Mar 04, 2003 3:40 am by WhiteTiger

Ok...I proberly should let this slide...but I am a old Privater fan and I loved that game. But to put it plain and simple...Freelancer is going to be much better than Privateer. The things you mentioned are true..but come on..Tachyon? You can not compare Tachyon with Freelancer. Even Privateer was better!

I will limit what I think will make Freelancer better than Privateer because of space. But here are just a few things;

1. Freelancer will be much larger. Privateer had 70 systems..but only about 50 places to land. Freelancer has atleast 48 "known" systems..but over 160 places to land. So over 3 times the amount of content.

2. Freelancer gives the player the ability to salvage equipment off of other ships he has blown up. And then mount those items himself on his ship. You could not do this in Privateer.

3. Freelancer has awesome graphics and sound...the planets look like real and the sounds are what you would expect. You have to admit Privateer is outdated in that department.

4. The interface with the ship is actually much better than it was in Privateer. I do not miss the radar a bit. Or the joystick! Remember the time period for Freelancer is several hundred years after the time period of Privateer. Man has advanced the control of a ship a great deal. *grins.

5. You can fly 31 different ships in Freelancer. In Privateer you only had 4.

6. The universe appears to be alive. All the chattering going on and the ships wizing by and such. Privateer in comparison seemed dead. Things happen in Freelancer you would not see in Privateer. Like ships getting too close to the planet's atomosphere and burning up! Bounty hunters joining you to fight rogues who are attacking you and then flying with you in formation.

Freelancer is not Privateer 3 and it is not a perfect game in the sense you can not improve on it. It can be improved and should be in some places. But even as it is.....it is a big step beyond what was for me the greatest game ever made...Privateer. If you liked Privateer a lot and do not buy this game...you will miss out on a great adventure!

Tue Mar 04, 2003 1:48 pm by Brutal Deluxe

OK WhiteTiger, you almost have me convinced.

The most important thing for me is #6.

I definitely expect a living universe from this game.

BUT: what I have seen so far in the demo, is rather bland.

-Only in the story missions do other fightes team up with you and travel in formation - that can be scripted by any space-sim.

-The random chatter and things going on are downright boring. Its always exactly the same: You enter a system, and you hear the base hauling the ships passing by to tell where they are from and where they are going. You hear it about 200 times in 10 minutes, but rarely something happens:

I have NEVER seen a pirate attack on a convoy or a base so far, they always attack ME, and then the police come and help. But to me it looks like the pirates just spawn in my vicinity to attack me, not that theyre having their own schedule. I can only hope it will be different in the final version - do you have more info?
Also, I have never seen a ship getting too close to the athmosphere while trying to dock or something. That would be really cool. Quite the contrary happens: the space freighters seem to be so stupid, that they continuously fly right into me when Im launching from the base, kinda like the terrible AI the formula 1 GP 2 had, when the cars just slammed right into you from behind when breaking for a tight corner.
The living universe is simply essential for this type of game, together with the working market and all.
One of the nicest things about Tachyon was the living universe. You could jump into a system a listen to a HUGE frighter getting ready to undock from a space-station. Then, all of a sudden, pirates entered the system and a big fight broke out among the freighter, the pirates, the station and the police. And if you wanted, you could just sit there and watch, because it had nothing to do with you - these ships were going about their own matters.
Im afraid that you only get this scenery in Freelancer when doing the scripted story missions, which seem very well done.

Do you have more of this living universe in the final version? Like the things you mentioned, and e.g. mining ships heading out to mine and then being attacked by pirates and I can go and help them (outside dof a mission)? And I dont mean pirate ships just spawning in my vicinity, Im talking about an independant schedule, because that was one of the many things promised, as far as I can remember.

Tue Mar 04, 2003 2:21 pm by WhiteTiger

Ok..I can give you a few examples of the "living universe I have experenced in the demo. I would assume the full version will have even more of this.

If you go to the Detroit Munnitions base...and are freindly wth the Xenos ( which I am ) you will see a lot of fighting takeing place between them and the police. Now if your a enemy of them...they are going to attack you. But they never attack me.

Once after I had finished a mission to kill some rogues ( I am hated by them ) I joined up in formation with this Liberty police fighter. A few seconds later..a group of rogues showed up...but guess what..they would not attack me! I hailed them and they answered "what the hell do you want?' I then hailed them again and they answered " you are starting to anoy me!". I laughed and then they flew away! They never went hostle towards me.

Another time I was attacked by a group of rogues far away from any base and out of no were this Bounty Hunter shows up and helps me kill the rogues..and afterwards he flew with me for a long time ( in formation?) and then as he flew off in another direction he said.." watch yourslef out here...things can get ugly in a hurry". I happen to be very much liked by the bounty hunters.

I once saw a burning cargo ship come out of a trade lane and then dock with the planet. Why do you think it was burning?

Once when I was flying very close to the planet Pittsburg..I was atacked by some rogues and one of them overshot me on his attack run and burned up in the atomoshere!

I have seen ships afterburn away after fighting with me..saying " I am too badly damaged to continue this fight" and disappear in the distance. How often did you see this happen in Privateer?

And in the bar..Trent does not allways say the same thing. Or does the people he talks to.

These are only a few examples. Your reputation has a big impact on how dynamic the universe is going to be and how the factions will reacte to you.

Edited by - WhiteTiger on 04-03-2003 14:26:03

Tue Mar 04, 2003 2:26 pm by Brutal Deluxe

You really saw a burning cargo ship coming out of a junpgate????

cooooool...that would mean the npc`s are really going about their own business.

Ok, Im gonna buy it, just to see if there is more of this.

Tue Mar 04, 2003 2:48 pm by WhiteTiger

Cool! You won't regret it!

Just remember to look at the game in a constructive manner and not with a overly critical eye. Freelancer...like any other game is not perfect. But when viewed overall...it is a great game!

And yes...I reallly did see the cargo ship burning...when it came out of a trade lane...not a jump gate.

Edited by - WhiteTiger on 04-03-2003 15:07:31

Thu Mar 06, 2003 11:07 pm by olaf

The no radar thing really is annoying. Yeah you get by w/o out it but crowded dogfights lose a lot of tactical feel because you really have no idea what is going on beyond the arrows on the sides of the monitor.

I think its a fun game, but I do wonder why in the hell it took 7 years. Its not a dynamic universe, or even a dynamic economy. The factions are interesting, but when its all said and done none of them really offer anything unique. A different ship graphic, or port, etc.

olaf

Fri Mar 07, 2003 12:03 am by RaK

i was allied with the rogues....... and theres nearly always Bounty Hunters hanging around attacking rogues outside Buffalo Base

not hostile towards me.. im obviously not their bounty :p some other rogue is

and ive seen rogues pull me out of a trade lane...... but they went after the freighter behind me

------------------
You just washed up here or something?

Fri Mar 07, 2003 1:33 am by Calis

in the demo..
i was jumping from the battle ship to west point when my trade lane was
disrupted but no one was attacking me, the rogues where attacking a frieghter
just before the next jump gate... i scaned the frieghter and it looked like they had been at it for a while. but the rogues never attacked me they just
left me alone.
What im trying to say here is the universe will act as normal without you..
other people get attacked, the police give chase and the place moves on.
i personaly love this game, yes you can't make parcel runs like frontier. but
think of the exploration factor. in frontier you knew where everything was
every base, planet and sector had the bases listed. With FL you have to find them for yourself. you have to find the best price, the better ship, the hidden
base or the jump hole to x that will allow you to make that big illagal run.
that it the perpose of this game. to find things out for yourself
any way that's my 2cents

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