Gator, you say you wish FL were more like privateer? um, how isn't it exactly privateer?
Let's see:
a) Privateer had 4 ships, this has 31. (benefits of a newer game and engine)
b) Privateer didn't really have factions, at least nothing like here, and getting to certain ships weren't so much work. (same as above)
c) Privateer had more types of missions. Easy enough, you don't think they know that? I sure hope they know that. And I fully expect a patch this week (ok, maybe by end of the month) which adds normal missions like cargo hauling.
d) Privateer had many systems, with waypoints and bases and planets, and jumpgates between systems. Oh, wait, Privateer made you buy jumpfuel too, so you could only go 6 jumps before having to land and refule.
e) Privateer allowed you to select 3 missions at once, and generate new ones if you didn't like the original offering. Often you could take a "go scout these waypoints" mission and couple it with 2 "go kill this guy at waypoint x" missions. (I would like DA to add the ability to do more than one mission at a time, that's just plain annoying.)
But to defend DA on point C:
Since they give us all the commodity prices once wenland on a base/planet, do we need cargo missions? I don't. If i don't want to increase faction with the locals, I don't do missions. I just haul cargo if I want money. I don't need Corp X asking me to deliver 5 units of commodity z to base F, 1 system over. I can just as easily visit the commodity dealer and find what he has that goes somewhere I've been, for a good profit. So, considering this dynamic is in the game, I am not sure they felt it was necessary to offer cargo missions. Though I would think at the Corp run bases, it would make sense to have some.
So, other than those couple differences, what does FL not do that Privateer did?
Nothing really. It's the SAME game, with newer graphics and gameplay, and a more innovative, intuitive control scheme that will introduce more gamers than ever before to this genre without requiring them to go spend $50 on a Joystick just to play, making the game cost upwards of $100 to play. (who really would want to play a sim with a $10 stick? yuck! hehe)
Everthing about this game screams Chris Roberts made this game. The cut scenes and movie like presentation of the story are exactly what Roberts did in all his Commander games. There is not a single "feature" I can think of in Privateer that is missing here (granted, it has been 9 years).
(wait, just remembered one. Comm systems. In Privateer, we could beg for someone not to attack us and we could ask someone we were gonna attack to drop their cargo. Oh, and sometimes you got to tractor in the pilot and wait till someone asked you to return him
I like that)
Ok, so there's 2 things missing.
So I don't actually understand your comment that FL is more like StarFighter with trading. Just because it doens't have a Joystick? I hope not. If you think it is due to the ships all having the same speed, then you missed comments from DA (forget where I read this), that they intentionally made all the ships go the same speed so that escape wasn't based on who had the fastest ship, but ecape would be based on piloting skill. I like that idea in a lot of ways. If you don't like the "turret" style guns, then you forget that as you got better equipment in old sims (not sure in privateer anymore), the guns would auto aim in front of the target. So this is just a more realistic way of the guns working, in my way of thinking at least.
Now, aside from the obvious that this is Privateer 3, and the only reason it's called Freelancer is due to it not being an Origin product, your main question was "Game you expected".
Looking at this with blinders on, I'd say no. Not based on the original plans for the game.
After taking the blinders off, this IS the game I have wanted to play for 5 years or more. Just a simple Privateer remake, with all the same basic features and openness (and it doesn't take 30 seconds to generate missions or launch. Had a 386dx40 back then). Do I want them to make a FL2 with all the great ideas that were originally planned for FL? Yes. But I understand that between the costs of getting this game made, and I'm sure MS was a little concerned about the money being spent at some point in the past 6 years, and making "that" game, decisions needed to be made.
What do I expect going forward? I expect at least a patch that adds mission types for those who would like more variety in missions. In an expansion, I would expect a little more voice work to make it less repeatitive. A few more sectors would be nice, but may not be necessary. And of course a continuation of the story and the life of Trent and Juni (well, I hope there's a continuation
).
I'd actually love to see them make it so if you did the story that at the end of SP Trent and Juni become a team and either fly together, either in 2 ships or 1. It would be cool to be able to have Juni (or some other eye candy) around to run the turrets during battle, or fly the ship if I were in the turrets
And I hope we, the gamers who have been waiting for this game, will support it so MS knows we want more. And that will hopefully lead to an FL2 with a more dynamic economy, factions etc., and possibly it will lead to the MMOG that was once intended.
I hope you can read into this that no flaming is intended (my typing has a tendecy to read differently than it sounds in my head). Just points to counter the assertion this ISN'T the same game as Privateer. If anything, FL's problem is it IS Privateer, and it's NOT different at all. Other than the controls, ships, universe, and graphics, what's different? FL is to Privateer as Diablo2 is to Diablo. Same game, new package
But that's not necessarily a bad thing, it all depends on your perspective, expectations, and desires for how to spend your time.
For those who like this type of game play, we'll enjoy it, for those looking for something more realistic, you'll probably like X2 better (based on comments I've read here, I don't know jack about X2).
If you have actual points as to why you think FL isn't like Privateer, I'd like to hear them, cause that means I've forgotten a lot
regards,
RogueOne
Thu Mar 06, 2003 7:08 pm 
