Freelancer Multiplayer- Shweetness

[Static_Fred]

After reading S-B-S's commemts posted in the Action section of the forums, i ran out and bought Freelancer on payday. At first, i was completely engrossed in it's single player campaign, and then after about 12 hours of SP, i went online to see what it had in store for me. I logged into a few empty servers, and next thing i know, it's 6am in the morning and i'm cruising around the galaxie with 5 other newbs transporting cargo from one system to another! I must say that i'm completely satisfied with the experience, and exploring the galaxie with a few buddies is great fun, especially when the game offers more depth than mindless killings (which i'm getting tired in SP).

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">After reading S-B-S's commemts posted in the Action section of the forums, i ran out and bought Freelancer on payday. At first, i was completely engrossed in it's single player campaign, and then after about 12 hours of SP, i went online to see what it had in store for me. I logged into a few empty servers, and next thing i know, it's 6am in the morning and i'm cruising around the galaxie with 5 other newbs transporting cargo from one system to another! I must say that i'm completely satisfied with the experience, and exploring the galaxie with a few buddies is great fun, especially when the game offers more depth than mindless killings (which i'm getting tired in SP).</div>

So I take it you havnt ran into anyBUGS yet?
What stick are you using?
What res did you run the SP in?

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">After reading S-B-S's commemts posted in the Action section of the forums, i ran out and bought Freelancer on payday. At first, i was completely engrossed in it's single player campaign, and then after about 12 hours of SP, i went online to see what it had in store for me. I logged into a few empty servers, and next thing i know, it's 6am in the morning and i'm cruising around the galaxie with 5 other newbs transporting cargo from one system to another! I must say that i'm completely satisfied with the experience, and exploring the galaxie with a few buddies is great fun, especially when the game offers more depth than mindless killings (which i'm getting tired in SP).</div>

I haven't played the MP extensively, but considering you can cram 128 players on a server, I'm sure the action could get kinda good. It would be nice getting a high level character, and then distrupting Trade lanes, and then robbing PC's! LOL The single-player story is really well done, well-executed, and well written, despite the fact that Steve from 90210 voices the main character, and as a side-note Rhys-Davis (?) (the guy from Sliders), makes an appearance as well. Let me know what server you play on, I'll meet you there next week sometime, if you've got the time.

[DBS]

So I take it you havnt ran into anyBUGS yet?
What stick are you using?
What res did you run the SP in?
ET,
Freelancer is mouse driven-no joystick support. It works well and you will find it is a good system. I have to admit at first I thought that was a serious mistake until I picked up the game...it was a good move although it would of been nice to add joystick support for those who like to use them. I have a nice ff joystick and it sits collecting dust for the most part. I have completed the story of the game bug free and it is nicely polished and a sharp game.

[Static_Fred]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

So I take it you havnt ran into anyBUGS yet?
What stick are you using?
What res did you run the SP in?</div>

Some glitch problems, very minor issues that don't take away from the experience. You can't use a stick on Freelancer, so i use my mouse. Very original and well done (the mouse controls). On single player, i run 1024x(whatever this # is) LOL.

[Static_Fred]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

I haven't played the MP extensively, but considering you can cram 128 players on a server, I'm sure the action could get kinda good. It would be nice getting a high level character, and then distrupting Trade lanes, and then robbing PC's! LOL The single-player story is really well done, well-executed, and well written, despite the fact that Steve from 90210 voices the main character, and as a side-note Rhys-Davis (?) (the guy from Sliders), makes an appearance as well. Let me know what server you play on, I'll meet you there next week sometime, if you've got the time.</div>

The funny thing is, all the 128 people servers never have more than 30 people playing and are always high ping. You probably already know this but the ping is a serious issue in Freelancer, and anything above a 100 makes for difficult dog fights. I found a few really popular servers that have a limit of 30 or 25 people, which isn't as bad as it sounds. I play on Bobways server, and it has a limit of only 25 people but is always full. There's always Admins (i havn't ever seen admins on any other server) on to monitor the PK's (you can't hurt anyone in the New York System). People all over the world play on this server (Japan, Europe, Canada, US) and it makes for an awsome experience.

On a side note, Microsoft must have made all versions of Freelancer in different parts of the world compatible with each other because i see Japanese text and symbols appear in the chat window... Pretty cool.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">ET,
Freelancer is mouse driven-no joystick support. It works well and you will find it is a good system. I have to admit at first I thought that was a serious mistake until I picked up the game...it was a good move although it would of been nice to add joystick support for those who like to use them. I have a nice ff joystick and it sits collecting dust for the most part. I have completed the story of the game bug free and it is nicely polished and a sharp game.</div>

If your joystick or gamepad has a GUI, you can easily map the keys and mouse commands to the stick/pad...

[moya]

Yeah, you're right SBS, but the game wouldn't support force feedback unfortunately. Still, there's a lot you can customise with the Sidewinder sticks.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Yeah, you're right SBS, but the game wouldn't support force feedback unfortunately. Still, there's a lot you can customise with the Sidewinder sticks.</div>

Force Feedback in space? Hmmm. I dunno about that. Now for impacts that would be a different story, but I don't think it's too applicable about feeling G's or negative G's, and the pull or push on the stick... there's no friction in space, and no G's for that matter.

[moya]

Well, it's supported in both Edge of Chaos: Independence War 2 and Freespace 2 and it's great! It generally feels best when firing or being fired upon, but also when you crank up the engines and enter hyperspace etc.

[Static_Fred]

I've been tempted from time to time to buy a FF stick, but i just can't find my self plopping down $150 for one, especially when i don't like flights sims that much.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">I've been tempted from time to time to buy a FF stick, but i just can't find my self plopping down $150 for one, especially when i don't like flights sims that much.</div>

Exactly... so us Babylon 5, Deep Space 9, ST:TNG lovin' junkies are left drifting... out in the cold... like deep space. That's why I appreciate Freelancer so much (and could never get into Freespace 2 that much- it was near impossible to play without a stick). RG and I had a discussion about the lack of joystick support, and I was the first to say it's the eaiest way to reach the masses.

PS- If you like the combat in FL- you should give Combat Flight Sim 3 a try... with a FF stick it's a friggin' blast (though not so much to make you run out and get a stick). And if you like Freelancer, don't miss out on Crimson Skies.

[OahuSilverado]

I haven't played the MP extensively, but considering you can cram 128 players on a server, I'm sure the action could get kinda good. It would be nice getting a high level character, and then distrupting Trade lanes, and then robbing PC's! LOL The single-player story is really well done, well-executed, and well written, despite the fact that Steve from 90210 voices the main character, and as a side-note Rhys-Davis (?) (the guy from Sliders), makes an appearance as well. Let me know what server you play on, I'll meet you there next week sometime, if you've got the time.

Okay, this shows you how new I am at this, but why would anyone want to pay the subscription fee for an MMORPG if one can get together for free (minus the cost of the game) and with 127 other gamers?

That sounds a lot like an MMORGP to me!

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Okay, this shows you how new I am at this, but why would anyone want to pay the subscription fee for an MMORPG if one can get together for free (minus the cost of the game) and with 127 other gamers?

That sounds a lot like an MMORGP to me!</div>

This is exactly why I have a problem with MMORPG's... If you were to slap a whole bunch of servers together, you could potentially get more people than just 128 playing Freelancer. It's just that only 128 players can be online on one server at a time... but honestly, even in a MMORPG, you rarely see more players than that anyways. NWN is the best example of a free, no sub ORPG... it's great. And they do have multiple servers, so that in one world for example, you could have potentially 1000's of people online.

[Friend_Bear]

I'll have to try it online, i've played it with my friend on my lan and it worked great :)

[OahuSilverado]

And they do have multiple servers, so that in one world for example, you could have potentially 1000's of people online.

Well, I guess its all about KISS -- repackaging for the folks from don't know what time it is:

Internet repackaged into AOL
USENET repackaged into Google Groups
IRC repackaged into AIM or Messenger or Chat

So, dealing with the Organizational Development required to herd cats into harnessing the power of the game servers -- MUDs were free -- is not as "Turn Key" as are the MMORPG such as the awesome-looking UXO and the awesome-looking Horizons, which are pretty turn key -- and with UXO, its even easy to have an affair with this MMORPG and not have to have a relationshop or a marriage -- it can be played like an FPS, I think, maybe. Never played it. Never played any of 'em, but when I get a better box, a better vid card, and a better connection, I am all over it!