Descent Freespace: The Great War + Silent Threat

[Northstar1989]

So, apparently GOG.com has this old classic (and its expansion), patched to work with modern computers, for just $5.99

I played it back in the day when one of the local libraries had a copy is circulation (yes, the libraries near where I grew up had computer games- though only a handful of titles)

I figured this might be the place to ask- seeing as KSP is also a space game- if I bough this game, would anyone be interested in doing so as well, and playing up a multiplayer game or two with me? (Hamachi allows emulation of the mulitplayer online system, now discontinued)

I'm aware that the source code was made public for Freespace 2, and there's an open-source version based on that; but AFAIK in Freespace 2 they made the physics less realistic, which is a big peeve for me...

Anyways, anyone interested?

Edited February 15, 2014 by Northstar1989

[Vanamonde]

I played this game to death when it was new, then re-bought it several years later and played it to death again. I think it's the best space-dogfighting game of all. A variety of ships to fly and weapons to carry, decent graphics, lots of scenarios, interesting storyline, and when it ends, you can just roll over and start it again while retaining your pilot's accumulated medals and kills. Good tutorials for new players, too. I especially liked the way it handled large ships. They slugged it out with each other while the fighters mostly fought a separate but parallel battle. More realistic that way. And you *felt* like you were in a fighter, because if you were unwise enough to get between the big ships, their guns would knock you spinning while they shot past you at enemy capital ships.

[Nuke]

http://www.hard-light.net/

go get the scp, do it now! the engine is still being actively developed (ive even contributed a couple minor features myself). from the graphics you couldnt tell that this game came out in '99.

the physics suck, yes, but it was always meant to be an arcade space shooter (it ended up being the best of its genre). the physics model has had some overhauls over the years, but its still mostly a space shooter. i actually tried to script in a orbital mechanics and atmospheric flight model, but the engine has numerical stability issues that cant be resolved without a major rewrite, so i pretty much abandoned that project.

the important thing is that it has a strong modding community and new mods keep coming out to this day.

now the game does require the retail content to play the original game (which you can get from gog for practically nothing), but there are a few stand alone total conversions that you can play for free.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Nuke

[Northstar1989]

http://www.hard-light.net/

go get the scp, do it now! the engine is still being actively developed (ive even contributed a couple minor features myself). from the graphics you couldnt tell that this game came out in '99.

the physics suck, yes, but it was always meant to be an arcade space shooter (it ended up being the best of its genre). the physics model has had some overhauls over the years, but its still mostly a space shooter. i actually tried to script in a orbital mechanics and atmospheric flight model, but the engine has numerical stability issues that cant be resolved without a major rewrite, so i pretty much abandoned that project.

the important thing is that it has a strong modding community and new mods keep coming out to this day.

now the game does require the retail content to play the original game (which you can get from gog for practically nothing), but there are a few stand alone total conversions that you can play for free.

OK, game is bought and being downloaded. I'll be adding the source code improvements momentarily.

Now, what about setting up a multiplayer game or two? Maybe a persistent team?

Edited February 16, 2014 by Northstar1989

[Nuke]

im not sure what the current state of multiplayer is. i think the current focus is getting a new installer (which is in beta) working to make it a lot easier to install the retail files, and install/update the new engine, the graphics upgrade packs, and mods on all supported platforms. i think once thats going they will give input some love and then put more work into multiplayer.

last time i played multi was years ago, and we were mostly using retail data. it probibly still works, but its kind of one of those old neglected things (like the ai) that never gets an overhaul. im not really interested in multiplayer (i played it to death in its prime and beyond), but its not hard to find players on hard light or its associated irc channels (#hard-light on irc.esper.net).

Edited February 16, 2014 by Nuke

[Northstar1989]

im not sure what the current state of multiplayer is. i think the current focus is getting a new installer (which is in beta) working to make it a lot easier to install the retail files, and install/update the new engine, the graphics upgrade packs, and mods on all supported platforms. i think once thats going they will give input some love and then put more work into multiplayer.

last time i played multi was years ago, and we were mostly using retail data. it probibly still works, but its kind of one of those old neglected things (like the ai) that never gets an overhaul. im not really interested in multiplayer (i played it to death in its prime and beyond), but its not hard to find players on hard light or its associated irc channels (#hard-light on irc.esper.net).

If they've upgraded the base game (and they have quite a bit in the past two years), then it only follows the multiplayer should have gotten better. It's still the same game, the same improved graphics, the same bug fixes- just with multiple other human teammates/opponents. Sure, there might still be a few holdover bugs for multiplayer- but from the reviews of the (original) retail version, it was pretty decent to start with...

It'd be nice to get a team together of people who also play KSP. That way we'd have TWO games in common, and when I inevitably start to lose interest in Freespace 2 and come back to spending all my gaming time on KSP; they'll still be able to keep in touch with me here (and even play with me someday- when multiplayers is released a year or two or three down the line...) It's good to develop a reliable squad of teammates...

Regards,

Northstar