Yes of course you can manually roll. You can automatically adjust to the standard orientation by pressing "X" (Standard Keyboard Config here). Rolling is comprised of Z and C keys...

Hey Earazor and Co. It looks like you guys have an interresting game in prospect, one that I'll certainly be checking out. A couple of things though.

I for one am slightly disappointed to hear there won't (initially) be a Multiplayer version. But then again, we'd all be flying the same ship, if I understand the game correctly.

This leads me to my question: Will there be other ships we can pilot besides the Dark Star 1?

I like the fact that you let Freelancer inspire you. One of the things I liked about Freelancer is that you actually have a name, this really makes you feel a part of the story, more then when being called "Alpha 2", or when the other character simply neglect to call you anything at all.

So question 2 would be: Do we have a set name, like Trent, or do we have to choose our own name?

One thing that bothered me about Freelancer was the storyline (*gasp*). Well no real surprise there I guess .

The obvious question therefore is: Do you guys have a good storyline? One that finishes as good as it starts? One that has more missions than the 13 reasonably small missions Freelancer had? One that actually has an ending? This is important as Freelancer had quite an anti-climactic ending, leaving you with quite a confused feeling.

Another thing that bothered me about Freelancer was the complete lack of balance (sensitive subject). I hope you guys have better balanced factions/ships/weapons/etc.

Well, that's about it for now. Keep on working guys.

Cheers,
Mad.

I'm the Anagram of me...

Interesting questions.

Firstly you only fly the DSO. One ship but with many upgrades. As you progess it actually feels like a different ship. Since each update you make also has a visual difference (ie. the ship grows in areas of Hull, Wings and Engines) by the time you are through with the game your ship will look nothing like it did at the beginning.

At the risk of giving anything away concerning the story line, I would have to say the story is interesting. You are Kayron Jarvis, so yes, you have a set name. You begin by piloting the DSO in "training missions", instructor Armin will lead you through the basics from combat to trade. You also learn about the jump drive, the artifacts etc. So all the basics are covered in about 3-5 missions (depending on which path you choose).

Then you are to return to Robert, the first character you meet. Your actual journey starts then. Thats about 4-5 non-story line missions and 2-3 story line missions down the road. About 2-3 hours gameplay later you arrive at story line mission 7 and then Chapter 01 of the story begins (the rest is prolouge). There are 5 chapters. Each has about 10-15 missions (official) and 100s of unofficial missions. There are roughly (I have not counted them) about 40-50 story-line missions in various lengths. Some take 5 mins to complete, others can take up to about 20-30 minutes depending on skill. Bar missions (harder missions that provide you with bonus upgrades) take between 10-15 minutes to complete (although some of our testers have been known to take a lot longer ^^). There are roughly 40 of them about. They are HARD... not annoyingly hard but HARD all the same.

As for the conlcusion. Well I can absolutely not give anything away. Suffice to say it starts in one area and ends in a complete and utter different direction. Are you satisfied at the end... well you would have to get there first.

I for one feel the story is very well written by Claudia Kern, the author behind the game. She is a very good sci-fi writer and her story brings a lot of funny and exceptional characters to life. I think you will enjoy it. I certainly do and I am meant to test the game.... not play it non-stop

A new Trailer has emerged.

Well actually it was the internal Trailer shown at the E3 last year (2005). This Trailer is actually the intro sequence to Darkstar One (minus the text at the end and the actual wording of both the freighter and it's escort and this scene was still in development at the time of release).

This Trailer is 2:07. I will try and grab a higher quality one for LancersReactor this week.

And a set of 4 new screenshots, exclusively for LancersReactor will appear next week as well showing how our Asteroids really look.... And no, they will not be edited... those "photos" were taken on my round flight in some unnamed Mortok System, so watch out for that.

But here is the link to Trailer 3!
(Trailer 2 is a German interview with Daniel Dumont. Will translate that one as well).

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/pla ... ler_3.html

Thanks for the answers. It seems to promise a lot of gameplay time. I'm looking forward to it

Sadly, I seem to have a codex issue, so I can't play the trailer

I'm the Anagram of me...

You need the DivX Codec which you can get from www.divx.com.

I personally use a Codec Pack (Which contains all of the usual suspects). Just Google for Codec-Pack. There are plenty around. The Kazaa Mega Codec Pack is the one I have the best experience with. It has every codec.

Hmm, I thought I had a good codec pack. I'm sure I had a DIVX codec once. Maybe it needs an update...


I'm the Anagram of me...

one question that has not been asked so far

in regards to Freelancer....I found that the Sirius Sector was kinda.....well flat and 2 dimensional. I mean everything was pretty much on the same z plane (up and down) Thus making maps 2 dimentional, with a 'north, south, east, and west' if you will. Will DSO have a more 3 dimensional space feel to it? Meaning will a) Systems be in 3 dimensions of each other? (thus having a 3 dimensional map like the Toledo Map scene of FL) or will it too be 'flat' like the standard navmap of FL.


2) Will DSO have a 'Detailed List" that will incorporate parts of Freelancer Datastorm AND what FL does, as in give different details of a system...but only after you see the stuff in said system?

Story history will provide information about key systems. There are just too many to have a database with information...

The map will be 2D to make it easier to read. A lot and I mean a LOT of people cannot read 3D maps...

Yes I know some can but the majority cannot.

Looks nice,

Not a sequal to freelancer but a true re-vision of it i could desribe it as and thats not a bad thing Looking forward to playing it, and of course modding cause as FL should show even if it's not mod supported dosn't mean we won't do it anywayz *hehe* Looks like fun thou

But in the meantime as I always say, happy freelancing ;D

James "Quickshot14" Greenwood
QSD (Quickshot14's Domain http://qsd.xpi.org.uk)
Home of QFL & QWC And Quicks Mix Radio

I'm just gonna say well done, because at first i thought that this was not going to look very good (no offense) and i was kind of a bit like i couldn't decide if it was any good, but as i just scrolled down the page and saw those graphics of the ships you have me hooked, i'm now looking forward to seeing the finished, result, you managed to change my mind and thats a hard thing to do!!!

Remember, it's not about dying for you country, it's about making the enemy die for theirs.

I'm just glad the controlls are not like X3 (need 3 hands) or Universial Combat (hold down keys to move).

It's the legendary black beast of.... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

I can understand why the programmers say multiplayer only makes sense in "scenario play", however here are some arguments why it would make sense, too, to enable multiplayer in the whole "single player" DSO universe:

Space is vast. I for one wouldn't mind it at all if I rarely see another soul in a couple of hours, as long as I have the option to meet them if I wish to. Thus, a chat function would be needed. EVE online for example: gigantic space, but I can't throw a stick without hitting another player in the core systems. It's the number of players populating a server that makes for the chance of bumping into someone.

Playing the single player campaign cooperatively is absolutely unnecessary. The (randomly generated?) "side missions" type would do just fine. I can team up with other players to help me on these missions, if we agree to share the payment. If after the mission I don't share, boy am I in for a beating from the other guy(s). So, there's not even a "team up" function needed to invite other players into one group to share payment automatically.

No other ship for players but the Darkstar One is fine with me, too. I as a player could have the option to customise it color-wise, but this isn't a must have feature. Customisation is already quite well implemented by enhancing and extending the ship via the artefacts, which should reappear a while after they've been picked up, maybe even in changing locations.

To sum it up: make the single player universe accessable in multiplayer, too, but respawn the "uniques" after some time.

Well Look at CoD 1 & 2 there are no NPC's at all so if you get MP and all of that space I see what they are saying. Now on the other hand if they make MP like FL then you'll have NPC's and people, but I think that type of MP is about history in this day and age. Freelancer spoiled us!

"It doesn’t matter what universe you’re from. That’s got to hurt!"