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Puke ☑️@daavpuke9/7/2023, 7:06 AM

Freelancer Did Starfield Two Decades Too Early

Starfield coming out to general praise has me, once more, thinking about how Freelancer is never part of the conversation. The similar free-roam space simulation was unbelievably ambitious for its time, back when Chris Roberts still shipped completed projects. That was then.

Unfortunately, this was before the explosion of attention towards PCs, meaning it never really broke out of a niche. Still, the game just celebrated its 20th anniversary with a small, dedicated community and a beefy amount of mods. A forgotten classic.

When I tell you people who played this game all love this game. You'll find inspirational messages like these scattered around the internet.

#gaming #video games #games #retro #retrogaming #pc #freelancer #space #starfield

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in reply to @daavpuke's post:

JcDent @JcDent9/7/2023, 10:54 AM

Unlike Starfield, Freelancer has an interesting universe with some cool ship designs that (at least at that time) weren't played out yet and doesn't feature an extremely mid ground combat section.

I love Freelancer. One of the few games I've completed multiple times (other two: Vice City, Jedi Academy)

JcDent @JcDent9/7/2023, 11:03 AM

planet Leeds is brow tinged

Leeds' so polluted, ~~all the fish have AIDS~~ there are smog clouds in space

Puke ☑️@daavpuke9/7/2023, 11:03 AM

I do love the Asian, more terrestrial influences of Freelancer's ships, so I tried my best to include some. I'm sure Starfield will have mods or expansions eventually to make their ships a little less sterile, even if that might be hard to do with its modular system.

JcDent @JcDent9/7/2023, 11:07 AM

I like how the game wastes no time on explaining how jump lanes work or why Liberty ships have those rings while also having RPG levels of lore text.

Fuck you, it's not important to the plot. Here's a tiny, axe-shaped ship, don't get killed by Lane Raiders.

thecommabandit @thecommabandit9/7/2023, 12:17 PM

freelancer ruled!! spent so much time playing it as a kid

Nineboat @Nineboat9/7/2023, 12:36 PM

Freelancer Alpha one dash one, you are clear for chosting.

JcDent @JcDent9/9/2023, 2:37 PM

Aaaaasaa

@darryl @darryl9/7/2023, 1:52 PM

The thing about Freelancer is: I never owned it, I only played it a couple times, and I still remember it and occasionally think about it. That’s a powerful game experience.

Puke ☑️@daavpuke9/7/2023, 2:32 PM

It's kinda criminal that this isn't on GOG at least imo. I mean, not that you couldn't find it easily otherwise, but you know; legally.

Balketh @balketh9/7/2023, 2:28 PM

Ah, what a quality fuckin' game. The mere idea of flying around in a ship bigger than a fighter - a missile boat, a cruiser perhaps, nay, a capital ship, was just chef's kiss.

Oh, the hours I poured into this game, and the mods that came after it. I can still only imagine what a game that fulfills Freelancer's end would be like - no one's really made it yet, Star Citizen/Elite Dangerous/Everspace 2/No Man's Sky included. I actually felt Rebel Galaxy came closest, despite its flight model being plane-locked.

Puke ☑️@daavpuke9/7/2023, 2:33 PM

I forgot about Rebel Galaxy and the other Rebel game. Is it that freeform? I hadn't heard that about that game, but that's interesting.

Balketh @balketh9/7/2023, 3:08 PM

Rebel: Outlaws is different - haven't tried it, but was meaning to. It didn't review nearly as well as it looked like it would, IIRC.

Rebel Galaxy was a somewhat open, but much shorter IIRC, third-person space ship combat (and some minor other elements) game. I remember finishing all of its content quickly, and finding little reason to keep playing, so it likely wasn't as freeform as I thought.

JcDent @JcDent9/9/2023, 2:38 PM

Ugh, the combat in Galaxy was the pits.

Balketh @balketh9/9/2023, 2:44 PM

I remember enjoying it enough for what it was, but being planar-locked was shitty - a very simplified facsimile of a space sim, but yeah, it wasn't anything to write home about.

JcDent @JcDent9/9/2023, 2:39 PM

What about the X series?

Balketh @balketh9/9/2023, 2:43 PM

Closest, but never scratched the itch properly. I don't remember 100% why at the time, I just remember bouncing off them. Somewhere between not enough tutorial and direction to get me going, to controls that really wanted me to have the HOTAS that past-me did not have.

JcDent @JcDent9/9/2023, 7:07 PM

Oh yeah, the it's a major contributing factor why I don't try to get into it again - X2 controls scarred me as a teen.

The other thing being no real story, just do whatever as the galaxy gets invaded by nanobots or something.

Balketh @balketh9/10/2023, 3:01 AM

Yeah exactly - I have a similar issue with No Man's Sky, even today. Controls are fine, UI is okay, LOTS to do, but... Absolutely no reason to do it. Like, yes, big number go up, but it's like I need a Main Quest to Ignore for a bit y'know?

JcDent @JcDent9/10/2023, 3:51 AM

Funny, the Noah Caldwell-Gervais vid on it spoiled the twist/setting conceit of NMS and made me lose all interest in it.

So there is a main quest, it's just that I can't ignore the fact that I won't like it :D

Balketh @balketh9/10/2023, 4:37 AM

Yeah I know the general main quest and the story missions added in expansions and what have you. I did 'finish' the story very early on before it had recouped a lot of bad press, but it's both inconsequential and un-ignorable in dislikeability, so it may as well not be there for 'Main Quest TO Temporarily Ignore', y'know?

It's funny you mention the NCG video on NMS, because there's two, and the second one is a strong argument in NMS's favour, a re-review that incorporates a lot of newer expansions (not all, of course, the 2nd vid is already 5 years old) and how it restructures and reshapes 'purpose' in the game, and incorporates themes of why that's such a strange question and what comes from it, into the game.

Doesn't seem to change the core gameplay loop TOO much tho: melt rocks, upgrade stuff, fly around, do a bit more combat than before. Work toward a big base or a mech or a fleet or what have you. There's more story quests now tho, and more QoLs, which is good.

Cozmic Caztaway @cozmicaztaway9/8/2023, 5:08 AM

I dunno that claiming this was "when Chris Roberts still shipped completed games" is accurate when the publisher fired him so they could stop feature creep and get it out the damn door is accurate, but I've heard it was a good continuation of Privateer at least

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