Anyone remember Freelancer?

junkerman123

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Jul 4, 2003
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I loved the idea of a customizeable ship and just flying around in space, participating in wars, capital ships, space stations, etc. Freelancer was a pretty fun game, although not amazing by any means, but I definitely enjoyed it, it was just too linear for my tastes. Why hasn't a game such as this been made since? Doesn't this seem like a good action/rpg-ish idea? I know that there were some space missions in SW Battlefront 2, but I'm talking about customizing your own ship and having sort of an open-ended environment with an abstract main storyline like Oblivion maybe.
 

Slappy00

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Jun 17, 2002
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X3 is *sorta* like that but you really need to sit down and learn how to play brefrore you really start enjoying it. very open ended and very large. Its also not as action oriented (although you can surely go that route) but rewarding in the long run.
 

Slappy00

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Jun 17, 2002
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more like a MSSRPG

Massively Singleplayer Standalone Roleplaying Game

although it might have multiplayer component... havent tried X3 yet
 

Hadsus

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Aug 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: junkerman123
Is X3 single player or MMORPG? I don't know much about this game.

Single player. It is a huge resource hog. Demo is available for you to taste it for yourself.
 

junkerman123

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Jul 4, 2003
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Originally posted by: Hadsus
Originally posted by: junkerman123
Is X3 single player or MMORPG? I don't know much about this game.

Single player. It is a huge resource hog. Demo is available for you to taste it for yourself.

I will check it out, sounds pretty cool!
 

rstove02

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Apr 19, 2004
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Originally posted by: Slappy00
X3 is *sorta* like that but you really need to sit down and learn how to play brefrore you really start enjoying it. very open ended and very large. Its also not as action oriented (although you can surely go that route) but rewarding in the long run.
Just a word of warning junkerman123....X3 has Starforce protection on it. This protection has been claimed to cause system software/hardware failure.

Google starforce and judge if it is worth it to try the game.
 

fierydemise

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Apr 16, 2005
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Freelancer was one of my favorite games of all times, I really wish someone would see how much promise an open ended space RPG has (Sci Fi Oblivion?). X2 didn't have enough combat for me, it was essentially an economy simulator which while fun didn't hold my interest so I haven't tried X3. I'm having a real hard time understanding why the game companies can't see how popular oblivion was and how popular sci fi games are, so shouldn't a combination sell brilliantly?
 

AmberClad

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Jul 23, 2005
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Freelancer was one of my all-time favorite space-sim games too, along with Tachyon: The Fringe. Shame that there aren't more games of that genre coming out.

There's a game called EVE Online that I saw an ad for when I was browsing a Freelancer fan site a while back, looks interesting (haven't tried it myself yet).
 

Painman

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Feb 27, 2000
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Freelancer is (unofficially) a sequel to WC: Privateer. Chris Roberts left Origin and formed Digital Anvil just to make that game, though he left DA before the game was finished. May have had something to do with DA taking on M$ as a publisher, I don't remember the whole story.

I would definitely like to see another game like this, with the emphasis still on action. For that matter I'd like to see another action space sim franchise like the Wing Commander games. Damn they were good... EA can bite me for sh!tcaning WC, what a waste. Prophecy was a fantastic intro to another WC trilogy, but it never got a chance to have its story finished.
 

Markbnj

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Has anyone gotten Freelancer to run on a X2? I tried reloading it a couple of months ago and it just crashed.

Great game.
 

AmberClad

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Jul 23, 2005
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Originally posted by: Painman
I would definitely like to see another game like this, with the emphasis still on action. For that matter I'd like to see another action space sim franchise like the Wing Commander games.

I was just over at GameSpot, and they have a preview up for an upcoming game called DarkStar One that supposed to be a WC style game. Looks interesting, so I'm going to be keeping an eye on this one.

 

MrBond

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Feb 5, 2000
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I liked Freelancer too, I should try and track down my CDs for it and reinstall it.

There was multiplayer online too I think. I'm almost positive there was a mod that let you pilot capitol ships as well.

I liked flying around in pirate systems trying to get the massivly powerful weapons, trying to find unmapped pirate stations to buy them at.
 

junkerman123

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Jul 4, 2003
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Originally posted by: MrBond
I liked Freelancer too, I should try and track down my CDs for it and reinstall it.

There was multiplayer online too I think. I'm almost positive there was a mod that let you pilot capitol ships as well.

I liked flying around in pirate systems trying to get the massivly powerful weapons, trying to find unmapped pirate stations to buy them at.


The multiplayer online game was called Starlancer...I never played it, but I believe it wasn't particularly successful (if it even survived past a month after release).

I remember the pirate systems, they were freaking awesome. :)
 

TGS

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May 3, 2005
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Privateer was awesome, it was a shame my disks had corrupted damage. I think disk 2 or 3 was borked and I was getting into the story. :(
 

Elcs

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Apr 27, 2002
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Originally posted by: junkerman123
Originally posted by: MrBond
I liked Freelancer too, I should try and track down my CDs for it and reinstall it.

There was multiplayer online too I think. I'm almost positive there was a mod that let you pilot capitol ships as well.

I liked flying around in pirate systems trying to get the massivly powerful weapons, trying to find unmapped pirate stations to buy them at.


The multiplayer online game was called Starlancer...I never played it, but I believe it wasn't particularly successful (if it even survived past a month after release).

I remember the pirate systems, they were freaking awesome. :)

I thought Starlancer had a single player campaign and pre-dated Freelancer by several years.

Freelancer was really far too easy and far too short, lacking in several areas. The X series is far superior when it comes to trading, economy and all things money making but lacks a great combat engine which spoils it a bit. X3 looks absolutely stunning, mindblowing space graphics.
 

tuteja1986

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Jun 1, 2005
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Originally posted by: junkerman123
I loved the idea of a customizeable ship and just flying around in space, participating in wars, capital ships, space stations, etc. Freelancer was a pretty fun game, although not amazing by any means, but I definitely enjoyed it, it was just too linear for my tastes. Why hasn't a game such as this been made since? Doesn't this seem like a good action/rpg-ish idea? I know that there were some space missions in SW Battlefront 2, but I'm talking about customizing your own ship and having sort of an open-ended environment with an abstract main storyline like Oblivion maybe.


you didn't play freelancer online did ;( or did you even try the mods :?

its has all what you are asking for. I use to play that game online with my buddies.
 

dighn

Lifer
Aug 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: junkerman123
I loved the idea of a customizeable ship and just flying around in space, participating in wars, capital ships, space stations, etc. Freelancer was a pretty fun game, although not amazing by any means, but I definitely enjoyed it, it was just too linear for my tastes. Why hasn't a game such as this been made since? Doesn't this seem like a good action/rpg-ish idea? I know that there were some space missions in SW Battlefront 2, but I'm talking about customizing your own ship and having sort of an open-ended environment with an abstract main storyline like Oblivion maybe.

sounds like you should give Eve Online a try. it has all the elements you listed except the main storyline, which can be substituted by player-driven conflicts - there are plenty of alliances and wars. however being an MMORPG, it has the shortcomings that are typical of the genre, like slow pace, time commitment requirements, monthly fee etc.
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
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Originally posted by: Markbnj
Has anyone gotten Freelancer to run on a X2? I tried reloading it a couple of months ago and it just crashed.

Great game.

Yup, play it 5-6 times a week online with my X2 3800.
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
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Originally posted by: Elcs
Originally posted by: junkerman123
Originally posted by: MrBond
I liked Freelancer too, I should try and track down my CDs for it and reinstall it.

There was multiplayer online too I think. I'm almost positive there was a mod that let you pilot capitol ships as well.

I liked flying around in pirate systems trying to get the massivly powerful weapons, trying to find unmapped pirate stations to buy them at.


The multiplayer online game was called Starlancer...I never played it, but I believe it wasn't particularly successful (if it even survived past a month after release).

I remember the pirate systems, they were freaking awesome. :)

I thought Starlancer had a single player campaign and pre-dated Freelancer by several years.

Freelancer was really far too easy and far too short, lacking in several areas. The X series is far superior when it comes to trading, economy and all things money making but lacks a great combat engine which spoils it a bit. X3 looks absolutely stunning, mindblowing space graphics.

Freelancer was the successor of Starlancer.
 

DirthNader

Senior member
Mar 21, 2005
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I miss the entire space sim genre. I grew up more on the original X-Wing and TIE Fighter games, but really got into the WC series when I gave it a shot. Privateer and Privateer II were great, but I think Prophecy was my favorite, especially after the disappointing WC IV.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
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I agree that we are seriously short on space sims.
When X-Wing and Wing Commander were around, everybody and his brother were trying to make a space game.
Somehow the genre just died. I still play Freelancer and X-Wing Alliance, but we need something newer.

Tried X2 and X3. Pretty buggy, difficult to get into, and I dont like Starforce.