[Singh]

Freespace 2.
Developed by Volition INC and then released in 1999, this little known arcade-style space sim is part of a small breed of games that remain extremely enjoyable to play despite the shortcomings that appear with it's age.
To start off, the setting is on after its predecessor, Freespace 1, where humans had acquired Faster Than Light travel via a new medium called 'subspace'. During their initial forays into nearby systems, the humans encountered a second race that had also recently developed subspace travel. This race was known as the Vasudans, and as most games go, War broke out and you, Alpha 1, had to fight in a campaign against the Vasudans.

But things are never as simple as that- in Freespace 1, although the beginning is about fighting the Vasudan’s and Humanities quest for exploration, it soon turns to include a 3rd race- the Shivans, also known by the Vasudans as ‘the Destroyers? Now, I cannot really give a thorough outline of Freespace 1, since I have never played the original, but according to the story, the Shivans were unstoppable, possessing far superior weapons than both the Humans and Vasudans combined. Both races joined up towards the common goal of fighting off the Shivans. The Shivans, in turn, had sent a Lucifer super destroyer towards Earth, destroying the Vasudan's Home world on the way. The battle is finally ended when you follow the Lucifer into subspace and take out it's reactor cores. But this also had the unfortunate side effect of cutting off contact with Earth.

This is where Freespace 1 ends. Freespace 2 begins 32 years later, where the Terrans and Vasudans have united to form the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance (GTVA) and has prospered to encompass several more systems, and possesses a far superior fleet with which to combat the Shivans should they ever return. But the Shivans are far from the GTVA's only problems.

In the main campaign we again play as Alpha 1, who is newly recruited to serve on one of the GTVA's newest and finest destroyers- the GTD Aquitaine. The universal scene has shifted tremendously since the original Freespace. Since a few years ago, a group of rebels calling themselves the Neo-Terran Front has been actively opposing the GTVA in a few systems. Their motto is as simple as their title- Terrans before the Vasudans. Rising from hate and jealousy of their alien neighbors, many of the NTF comprise of ex-GTVA pilots and ships. Lead by Admiral Bosch, an ex-Admiral of the GTVA, the group's activities have increased dramatically, and they now possess several captured GTVA vessels and destroyers.

In the beginning of the campaign, we start out fighting the NTF and the initial few missions are just to get you acquainted with the universe and the controls before the real fun begins (don’t skip a training mission if this is your first time of play, it’ll teach you about the controls).
After an encounter with Admiral Bosch's flagship, The Iceni, and a failed attempt at stopping it, Alpha wing engages the NTF once again. You will also go undercover a few times in an attempt to find out more about the NTF, at least, unless you blow your cover of course. After this, the story continues with the discovery of an unknown device leading to an entirely new system. This in turn leads to the Shivans returning during the exploration of a totally new system by Alpha 1 and the GTD Aquitaine. The first wave is somewhat repelled, and exploration goes on (you do go back once and fight the NTF again) Later on, as the second larger wave of the Shivan invasion comes in, you get to fly on-board A Vasudan destroyer known as the GVD Psamtik (yes, you do get to fly in Vasudan fighters too!), and even an attempt at infiltrating their ranks (you'll love flying the Mara) with the SOC.
But even though the GTVA is much stronger than their previous encounter, the Shivans are just as strong and in seemingly endless numbers. Not even the GTVA's newest, biggest and strongest ship, the GTVA Colossus, can stand up against their might. But, towards the end, it is revealed that the destruction of the GTVA does not seem to be the primary goal of the Shivans......

I've given a bit too much away, so I'm going to stop. Suffice to say, as the story continues, there are many plot twists and turns (find the real reason behind Admiral Bosch creating the NTF and leading it for one) that, at the least, makes for a very interesting story, if not that good a game.

By the time you reach the ending and are very confused about the story and what's supposed to happen next, take into mind that Volition intended to create a Freespace 3 that explained all this and that would close almost (if not all) of the loose ends of the Freespace 2 story. Unfortunately, Volition got into a fight with Freespace 2's publisher, Interplay, who refused to release the rights to make Freespace 3, leaving the game's status quite literally hanging in the hair.

But hope is still there. Freespace 2 comes with a mission creator kit known as FRED2 (FReespace EDitor 2), an expansion of the original FRED that came with Freespace 1. FRED2 is an extremely simple mission creator to learn when compared with those of Half-Life 2 or other games, and there is no other editor much like it. The integrated walkthrough will teach you everything you need to know about how to FRED and create your missions and campaigns. It cannot be re-iterated how simple this is as compared to that of other Space sims- the very fact that it requires little to no coding knowledge with which to work is proof of such a thing.

If you do have a query about Freespace 2, there is currently a massive online community of Freespace 2 Modders, campaign and mission designers. They can be found over at Hard Light Productions (HLP for short) on www.3dap.com/hlp
But a request must be made. If you have a question about Freespace 3- please, word it carefully. Mentioning Freespace 3 can get you flamed on the forums, as it opens quite a sore spot on the older community members (most of whom have tried petitioning Interplay several times in an attempt to release the rights to Freespace). If you do have questions, I would recommend consulting with Karajoma's FAQ (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajo...pace/intro.html) and see if it already hasn't been asked there.

One of the only things Volition could do about Freespace 2 was release the source code to the public. A core group of programmers have taken it up and have now created the SCP (Source Code Project). This project has been running for a long time now, and the fruits of it's labor are well worth it. The sheer quality of the FS2 engine improvements alone makes it worth downloading and trying it. Simply downloading the .exe and .vp files and then unzipping them into the Freespace directory will allow you to run it (don't forget to download the custom launcher as well!). The new version of Freespace 2 is known as FS2_Open. Seeing some of the screenshots in the HLP gallery and comparing them to the original Freespace 2 shots will prove it's worth. The graphics are a LOT better and brings FS2 upto par (if not above and beyond) those of Modern-day Space Sims. In recent weeks, new strides have been made in the SCP, and more are in the pipeline, including a single .exe that will do a full installation of every file required to run SCP.

If you've finished with the main FS2 campaign and simply hunger for a continuation of the story however, their are several campaigns worth downloading. The first one you should start with ought to be Derelict. By far an excellent campaign, this eerie storyline set after FS2 will keep you up till late at night trying to find out what happens next. No Mods or other downloads are required other than the .vp, since it uses all the original Freespace ships. You can find it at (http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/derelict/). Another good (and extremely humorous) campaign is Dues Ex Machina, which is a recommended treat if you find Derelict or the main FS2 campaign ending too depressing.

If you want all new ships along with a good story however, then one of the most worthwhile mods you can get is Inferno. The story is vast and complex, featuring the return of Admiral Bosch along with a few more shivans, and will leave you wanting for more. Its vast array of new ships combined with the features of SCP will enthrall and entertain you all the way through the night. Prepare for action sequences and twists in the campaign, while seeing incredible (not to mention gigantic) new ships all along the way. But wait! There’s more! The team has already begun on a sequel to Inferno, which means preparing for all new ships, a better story and way better graphics as the SCP improves. It is available at http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/inferno/

But if you are looking for a totally different experience- by all means, explore! Currently there are mods ranging from Babylon 5, Wing Commander Saga to Star Trek and even Star Wars is in the works, and the previews of these mods are all up in the forums. Some of them are entire campaigns while others are just individual ships from different series. The Star Wars campaign is in development and is planned to be released a bit later.

At any given time, several story campaigns are in the works. Some are near completion and will be released soon, while others promise a good show in the future. In fact, a campaign called homesick was released just a few days ago), and many are approaching completion.

Multiplayer, unfortunately, can only be played via the original FS2 version with all the original FS2 ships. But never fear! The community is going to launch an entire new wave of Multiplayer experiences soon, and some examples of these are the current Fleetwars project. On one scale, its a giant game of risk with capturing Nodes and holding them against hostiles, then you zoom in on another scale, where you playing with your fighter, defending the regions you choose to defend against the hostile team's fighters, bombers, and even the opponent himself. One should also note that the SCP coders plan to test their version of FS2 online very soon, so look out for that as well.

But, to me at least (coming from India, multiplayer was almost non-existant there), the multiplayer is a secondary experience (albeit a great one) when it comes to enjoying the full glory of all the single-player missions and campaigns out there. When it comes down to it, this game is one of a dying breed of games out there which can sell on it's Single Player mode alone. Another plus point for this game is it's music score, which is constantly changing as you play, suiting the events and moods through the mission. It comes in 7 different chapters while in game and there are several varieties of briefing music for your listening pleasure.

What few downfalls this game possesses are more towards its age than anything else- the graphics, although quite excellent, are quite old in comparison to those of I-War2 and Freelancer 2. Also, the story and features may not be terribly new to those that played the original Freespace (one should note- their is a project underway called the Freespace port, which allows you to play FS1 missions on FS2, it is currently finished and Version 2 is planned on being released, along with the additional campaign that came for FS1). Another weak point is its cliff-hangar ending, which can never be resolved due to legal issues between Volition and Interplay.

The graphics issue is easily resolved when the SCP features are added, and even those are ever-improving since SCP is in a constant, never-ending beta mode with improvements coming in almost every other week.

You may be asking how much such a game could cost, and its price tag might be high for all these features. But fortunately, for a space sim that has a far more dedicated following than that of I-War2 or maybe even Freelancer 2, the game comes at the simple price of $0.00. Reading Karajoma's FAQ will help you find the stripped-down version for free (no, it's not illegal). Although it misses sound files and larger resolutions, it does possess all you need to play the game.

If you don't think you can play the game without voice however, read Karajoma's FAQ to find out how you can acquire the .vp files containing the sounds and additional affects. Not much is required to do so, so don't worry if you're not that technologically adept.

Although it's not technically freeware, niether Volition or Interplay have objected to it's free distribution (they had plenty of oppurtunity to do so), so you actually shouldn't have many legal issues.
However- be forewarned before attempting to get these! The files are not small. The original game comes in a 3 CD set, and as such, is not exactly easy to copy. The .vp files alone can vary from 10 MB to 120 MB, depending on which ones you wish to download. Most of the space is taken in the many impressive in-game movie scenes however, and if you are willing to play without them, simply installing the launcher for FS_open or the updated patch files from Volition will fix the issue of it asking for the CD, and you can play with the music and sound files intact (if you have the .vp files in the main directory of course).

I leave you with a few, simple parting words that can best summarize this game:

GO PLAY!


Ratings:
Gameplay: 8.7
Graphics: 8.2
Sound: 9
Replay: 9

[WMCoolmon]

Singh, I'm guessing you wrote that yourself? It looks good and it's got plenty of content. Styxx would be proud.

I'd suggest you leave out this paragraph from the final draft:

But a request must be made. If you have a question about Freespace 3- please, word it carefully. Mentioning Freespace 3 can get you flamed on the forums, as it opens quite a sore spot on the older community members (most of whom have tried petitioning Interplay several times in an attempt to release the rights to Freespace). If you do have questions, I would recommend consulting with Karajoma's FAQ (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajo...pace/intro.html) and see if it already hasn't been asked there.

It's not really relevant and will discourage people from joining the community. Better a few newbies asking about FS3 than no community growth at all.
Actually mentioning Karajorma's FAQ, or the Wiki, isn't a bad idea. But they seem like "for more information, see..." links.

[Flipside]

The fact of the matter is that if this brings in an influx of n00bs, that question will be asked, you could always put in there something along the lines of .......

A dedicated and lively community has grown around FS2, mainly because of the open ended plot and the fact that FS3 will almost certainly never be written. This open-endedness has allowed the development of a plethora of innovative and exciting Mods, some based on the fans own ideas of the continuation of the plot, and, indeed, some set as far back as before the first game of the series.


Edit : In other words.... 'You have been warned'

[Flipside]

Well, I don't know if it will help, but I just typed up my own thoughts on the SCP and Freespace 2, it's not a complete article, but if you want to pick and choose bits from it, feel free

Freespace 2

In 1998 Volition Inc, a company more widely famed for its ‘Descent’ series, broke into the Space Combat Sim scene in a big way. Freespace 1 left reviewers agog across the entire spectrum of the computer press. It scored massive hits for graphics, storyline, gameplay and atmosphere. Whilst looking rather dated when placed next to newer games, even today, Freespace 1 is a thoroughly enjoyable game.

The story of the Freespace series manages to be both incredibly simple and mind-twistingly complex at the same time; plot twists are far from rare. You are a pilot employed by the Galactic Terran Alliance, which is currently at war with an Alien race known as the Vasudans. The player joins the War at its height, and is soon thrown into the thick of the action. This, however, is just the start of the story, and with the addition of a strange, violent third race to this conflict, the roller-coaster ride soon begins in earnest. The game never lets off the pressure from start to titanic finish, with new technology and ships appearing throughout, the player is always kept interested and involved. The graphics were groundbreaking, featuring massive 2km long capital ships, and visual effects that outclassed almost every other game written to that point.

The story does not end there, however, for, in the Autumn of 1999, the sequel to Freespace hit the shelves, albeit, to a far more muted fanfare. The Freespace 2 Engine had a large number of improvements over the original, it now supported larger screen resolutions, and Volition added beam weapon effects that rival even the likes of Homeworld 2 today, as well as flak cannon and various other enhancements.

Set 30 years after the end of the original, Freespace 2 follows faithfully in it’s predecessor’s footsteps in terms of action, pace and atmosphere, and once again, Alpha one finds himself in the middle of events and intrigues that spread far beyond the field of engagement. Once again, the game keeps the pilot guessing all the way to, and indeed beyond the cataclysmic finale.

Freespace 2 Multiplayer support allows teams of pilots to engage in assaults on mile-long capital ships, or dogfights in the hearts of nebulas, and the game even shipped with a campaign that could be played by a group of people, as well as the single player ‘main’ campaign, a feature that still appears all too rarely. Before long the community that surrounded these games had created leagues and systems to allow entire starsystems to be fought over.

So, why am I writing about a game that came out 5 years ago, you may ask? The reason is that, mainly due to some utterly incredible work by a relatively small number of coders, Freespace 2 is coming back, bigger and badder than ever.

Some time ago, Volition released the C++ Source Code for Freespace 2. This was achieved with the work of the community and some ‘inside’ help at Volition. Almost immediately work began on looking at and understanding the code. From this was born the Freespace 2 Source Code Project, an incredible endeavour that seeks to, and is succeeding in, bringing Freespace 2 to a standard that brings it shoulder to shoulder with far newer games. Whilst enhancements have been made most notably to the graphics engine, there are few parts of the game that have not been improved or expanded, and the SCP, as it is known, boasts a complete new multiplayer system that even manages to overcome some of the limitations of the original.

A dedicated and lively community has grown around FS2, mainly because of the open ended plot and the fact that FS3 will almost certainly never be written. This open-endedness has allowed the development of a plethora of innovative and exciting Mods, some based on the fans own ideas of the continuation of the plot, and, indeed, some set as far back as before the first game of the series. Almost all of these Mods are being adapted to use the capabilities of the SCP as it grows. And it doesn’t stop there, The Babylon Project is one of the most famous Mods for Freespace 2, and truly has become the Babylon 5 game we all dreamed of. Stargate, Star Wars, and even Wing Commander, another excellent Space Combat game, are all finding their way to the SCP.

The community itself works hard to keep up with the almost exponential increase of capabilities in this game, each new feature has to be documented and added to the online Help manual, and they are deeply involved in suggesting and shaping these new features.


Double post - Bad Flipside!

[Lightspeed]

I like Flipside's article. But what it needs is several links

[Starks]

I needs to mention the project leaders... Namely InQuiznos...

[Singh]

Originally posted by WMCoolmon
Singh, I'm guessing you wrote that yourself? It looks good and it's got plenty of content. Styxx would be proud.

I'd suggest you leave out this paragraph from the final draft:


It's not really relevant and will discourage people from joining the community. Better a few newbies asking about FS3 than no community growth at all.
Actually mentioning Karajorma's FAQ, or the Wiki, isn't a bad idea. But they seem like "for more information, see..." links.

Thank you.

Take note though, this was written ~several months ago, before all the new SCP features came out. It also has several errors that need to be addressed, especially in hte single player description.

hmmm.......Flipside, may I use your article as a basis of some of the stuff to paste into mine?

[karajorma]

Singh. One small problem. The free download from HOTU is gone now. They yanked it a few months back when Interplay started selling their 20th anniversary edition.

Personally I think HOTU was getting us far more members. I can think of several contributers to the community who have it. I can't think of anyone who is here because of the re-release.

[Singh]

I know, I know.
I intend to edit the entire thing and re-post it later.........

[Xelion]

Originally posted by karajorma
Personally I think HOTU was getting us far more members.

ebay was getting a few as well I noticed

[karajorma]

Yeah. I did notice quite a few from there too.

[Xelion]

Especially the FS2 SOTY Edition!

AFAIK the person(s) selling this edition said they acquired the stock from a warehouse, and that they acquired a few boxes of them as well. I'm Glad I picked up one already

[Inquisitor]

definitely can work with that singh, we should chat on a chat proggy of some sort

[Singh]

umm...wish I could, but until I get a connection fixed at my new place, I am technically internet-less...the only reason ive been surviving is via Civ 3.......maybe I should replay the entire FS campaign

[Setekh]

I really think this community should answer questions about FS3 in a more relaxed and helpful manner. I know I'd feel absolutely horrible if I came in here and unknowingly asked about FS3, which is a natural concern if I've never connected with the community before.

[Inquisitor]

Next time someone asks, point em here.

We named the revisions 3.x for a reason

[Flipside]

Well, it's like if you meet a stranger,a 'polite' question to ask would be about his family etc, it's a good way of getting talking to people you don't know.

It's not your fault if the reply isn't exactly the expected one

[Gloriano]

Originally posted by Setekh
I really think this community should answer questions about FS3 in a more relaxed and helpful manner. I know I'd feel absolutely horrible if I came in here and unknowingly asked about FS3, which is a natural concern if I've never connected with the community before.

 Very True.. peoples just must be helpful when newbie ask bout FS3