Not much point in Exploring or ship upgrading

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:08 am by Picaso

I guess the thing that kept me hooked on the original privateer was there were so many ship upgrades that actually improved your ship. Ships were different, they flew different, small fighters had speed and manuverablility advantage over heavy ships.

There were different scaners
9 different Combat computers
Different levels of and types armour
faster engines - 5 levels
multiple grades and typs of weapons
Cargo extentions - 5 levels
different ECM computers
Jump Drive
5 different shield generatersect. ect. ect.

Each upgrade was exiting and worth working hard to earn the money for because it actually improved your ship noticably. It took nearly the entire game to be able to afford your dream ship, upgrading little by little as you went. Some parts you had to face danger and travlel very far to find.

That was the driving force that kept the game exciting for me, the reward sytem worked well.

In this game, all the ships fly the same speed and there is not really any noticable difference between the abilities of different ships. heavy fighters have more hardpoints and larger weapons slots, but they all fly the same. Light fighters don't realy have much advantage over heavy except a hardly noticable increased turning rate, all light fighters fly the same too. Upgrades are too few and don't really do much. I waisted $5,000 on a heavy thruster only to find that it didn't even make my ship go faster, longer burn time, yippie skippy!

This game has an enormous game world, enough random missions to keep you going forever, but there is no real incentive to keep going or even play outside the story line. Sure you have many places to visit but no reason to go any where or do anything.

I'm only about 10 hours into the game, level 4. I couldn't wait until I had access to other systems to see if there was anything worth seeing out there. I finally got access to go to the colorado system and there is not really much different about it. It looks basically the same, has the same comodities, the same ships, the same upgrades, all of which I have already seen and have everything I want.

where's the incentive?????

I hope to see mods or patches change this, the game has so much untapped potential.

Piçås0

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:14 am by Hurb

Wait until you go to another system and can't fit any of the better weapons on your ship. Or you run out of money for nanobots and shield batteries...

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:19 am by Lev Arris

Looks like you are playing the wrong game if you already give up after having seen only two systems of over 50. Sounds like you'Ve got not much of an explorer in you, huh? Did you see the derelict vessels with stronger weapons in the badlands of New York? Did you find the hidden bases? All with their own written background? Did you find the space anomaly? Well, my incentive to explore will be to read all those infos of different place by visiting them, to learn more about the Freelancer universe, to find derelict vessels and what they contain, to find newer, faster and safer smuggling routes, to see the beauty of space. When your only idea of fun is tuning your ship then you should better get yourself a car simulation.

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"In all likelihood you're going to die out there. We're all going to die out there, but none of us needs to be reminded of that fact. So you die, you never existed." - Lt. Cmdr. 'Angel' Devereaux

Edited by - Lev Arris on 09-03-2003 02:23:29

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:19 am by Dragoro

hehe hes only been to the colorodo system and he thinks theres no point in exploring. Piece of advice, theres a ton more to see then just 2 systems. If your basing your whole gaming experience on 2 systems, then maybe this isnt the kind of game for you.

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:21 am by Picaso

Thats my point, there is not really any danger of running out of money, you can always earn more by picking up contracts, but when you have lots of money, there is nothing to do with it.

Piçås0

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:23 am by Fear Factor

Gosh, didn't the manual include that? I don't have it yet so I don't know what the manual contains, but you shouldn't be too surprised if your expectation is too far away from the actual game if you have not read the manual.

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:41 am by Picaso

>Looks like you are playing the wrong game if you already give up after having >seen only two systems of over 50.

Who said anything about giving up???

~ I hope there is more to find out there that is worth seeing. What is the difference between the systems? Is it more than just dfferent colored sky? and different number of planets? What are the resons to go their?

My main concern is ~ I hear the single player game is pretty short, I Know there are many places to go, but is there any reason to go there? You can earn all the money in the world, but there is no incentive to keep going after the single player game is over if there is nothing to spend your money on.

All ships seem basically the same and there are very few upgrades, it seems like once you had 2 or 3 ships you've had them all. Is their more reward for traversing 50 different systems only to see a different color of sky?

I like this game a lot! I was just expecting a bit more in areas that I thought were elimentary to this kind of game.

Freelance is missing a few of the important basic elements that made games 10 and 15 years ago still shine today. Games like Elite and Privateer have yet to be bested and are still a topic of discusion after more than a decade.

Piçås0

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:49 am by Lev Arris

Check my post up there again. i've added a few things i'm looking forward to which have nothing to do with just upgrading the ship. In fact, upgrading my ship will be merely a necessity and a tool to make exploring easier for me, but definately will not be the main focus of this game.

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"In all likelihood you're going to die out there. We're all going to die out there, but none of us needs to be reminded of that fact. So you die, you never existed." - Lt. Cmdr. 'Angel' Devereaux

Edited by - Lev Arris on 09-03-2003 02:49:59

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:53 am by †

I will have to admit, he does have one valid point.

The ships are all basically the same to the point of only being a class.
You have FR, LF, HF, & VHF.
And each in it's perspective class is pretty much interchangable with any other in it's class, with some small increase in armor.
Other than the difference in armor they are all pretty much alike, handle alike, all take the same parts, etc. (And LFs are BARELY even any different from HFs in handling, as he pointed out.)
You basically only have two things to customize, weapons and shield.
( I DON'T count thrusters because using engine kill with the basic thruster works just as well as having the "best" thruster, so upgrading it has proven to be a waste of money in my experience. )

My hope is that either DA, or a Modder, will re-enable all the things that was removed to "balance" the ships.
When/If the things I have seen in the Fl Folders(Stealth Armor, Radar Jammers, Fission Generators, Compact Toroidal Nuclear Drive, Cargo Extenders, Weapon Coolers, Conversion Shields, Displacement Shields) get re-enabled then the game will REALLY have everything!

It's a great game, and it's fun to go through the SP mission.
But, what they took out to "balance" the ships just made them all seem "generic" to me.

Just one man's opinion.

Pyrate Dredd

Sun Mar 09, 2003 2:56 am by piotrr

The ships do have different turn rates. I was playing cargo runs with a friend of mine and I was driving the humpback freighter until I got frustrated enough and just sold it for a light fighter and MAN, what a difference!

Thrusters are better than just "engine kill" though. Engine killing will keep you on a straight trajectory, but I can afterburn through a turn with better thrusters. Essential upgrade for me.

Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:02 am by Lev Arris

Sure. Having more ways to upgrade the ship would have added to the experience and depth of the game. I just don't see why the lack of this should be a stopper for the game. I still think that exploring and space combat are the most fun part of the game and not just sitting in a space garage, messing around with the ship's systems. Nor is earning more and more money the fun part for me. Like i said. Earning money and upgrading the ship will merely be necessities for being able to explore the systems and being able to maintain the ship (repairs, restocking).

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"In all likelihood you're going to die out there. We're all going to die out there, but none of us needs to be reminded of that fact. So you die, you never existed." - Lt. Cmdr. 'Angel' Devereaux

Edited by - Lev Arris on 09-03-2003 03:02:51

Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:02 am by pHew

Lev Arris, you always say what will be fun for you and what you won't count.
That is so silly.
I think you don't even have the game yet, so how do you know what fun it is to explore different kinds of magenta in 52 systems?

And exploring space is fun for you?

I mean, there is OBJECTIVELY NOTHING MORE BORING THAN EXPLORING SPACE. Look at space. It's black (ok Magenta), has some stars in it, some planets, even few ships etc. Space is empty. Space is boring. If you like exploring space you should get a good book (What about the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, there's something about how boring space is in it) because it sucks.

You met me at a very strange time in my life.

Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:08 am by Lev Arris

What it silly about stating my opinion and trying to motivate picasso for doing other things in the game? And why should i get myself a good book (i'm reading a good book atm) if i do like the demo the way it is? I'm just looking forward to see more things of what i've already seen in the demo which i enjoyed a lot and didn't find boring in the least. Look, everyone has an opinion and i respect that, so why do you call me silly? If you can't maintain a proper way of discussing and if you wan't to insult people go somewhere else, ok?

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"In all likelihood you're going to die out there. We're all going to die out there, but none of us needs to be reminded of that fact. So you die, you never existed." - Lt. Cmdr. 'Angel' Devereaux

Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:15 am by pHew

Well I just read your posts and after some, the word "silly" just sprang to my mind...

You met me at a very strange time in my life.

Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:16 am by †

When your only idea of fun is tuning your ship then you should better get yourself a car simulation.

Um...

Digital Anvil was quoted as saying "We want the ship to be the players Avatar.", and they advertise the game as an "RolePlaying Game".

In every "RPG" that I have played(Any GOOD one anyway!) that I had an "Avatar"(Avatar = Character) in there have always been far more than two or three things to customize/upgrade on them, and doing that customization and upgrading of equipment has been a driving force in the games.

Now you say that anyone that enjoys doing that shouldn't play those types of games?

So, if I play "NeverWinter Nights" and find enjoyment in getting/upgrading my Helm, Belt, Armor, Weapon, Shield, Boots, Rings, Amulets, Wands, Spells, Guantlets, Henchmen/Familiar, Skills, Feats, Bracers, and Cloak, then I SHOULDN'T be playing the game?
What bass-ackwards universe do you come from mate?!?

One of the main points of an "RPG" is to IMPROVE your CHARACTER.
In FreeLancer your "character" is your SHIP.

So, I say to you, since you seem to think what I enjoy makes me unfit to play FreeLancer that YOU should go play something else!
You "like to explore" so much?
Then go read a freakin' MAP, or play with Encyclopedia!

How do YOU like it?

Pyrate Dredd

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