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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: karajorma on January 25, 2017, 02:04:09 am

Title: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: karajorma on January 25, 2017, 02:04:09 am
It struck me just now that we don't have a thread like the What are you playing now? (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=82910.0) thread we have in the gaming forum where people can tell us which Freespace mod or campaigns they are playing right now. For most of us it's just not worth digging out the release thread if you just want to replay something like Homesick again. So instead, now you can post here and give the creators some recognition when you go back to play something for the 20th time. :)

Feel free to give the TC's like WoD or Diaspora some love too.




I'll go first. I've just finished replaying the main FS2 campaign for the first time in years. Interestingly, unlike last time I replayed I found the game to not be that difficult. I managed to get through the campaign on medium without any major problems. Funnily enough, the times I died weren't on missions I remember as being particularly difficult. I also failed to get out of Cappella twice before the nova hit for some strange reason (I can only remember actually failing once before that, and that was the first time I ever played).

I died twice on Feint, Parry, Riposte. Okay the first time was my own damn fault for being greedy, I tried to sneak in a few shots on the Repulse so that I'd get the kill for it even though I was damaged and took AAA to the face for my troubles!. Similarly I died on Lion's Den when I decided to get much closer to the Shivan Commn Node than I really should have and got hit for a home run. Then I replayed and did it again.

In fact now that I think about it, I only got shot down by enemy fighters once in the whole campaign. Most of my deaths involved derping into large objects! I guess I'm a bigger believer in "Ram them until they give up!" than I thought.

Anyway, now I'm off to play BtA.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nyctaeus on January 25, 2017, 03:06:13 am
Venice Mirror (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=89680.0)
Why? Cuz it's good! Storyline without significant holes, cool modpack and music, crazy missions with fighterbeam... Overall, TheHound managed to make enjoyable campaign of acceptable lengts. I guess some missions need minor tweaks, our main fighter is just too fast... Etc. But if you didn't play already guys, do it. It's worth it.

And yeah... I recently started to play this (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=83942.0) :P. Why the hell I agreed on releasing something that long? To be honest I have no idea. Lots of missions should be designed from scratch, because they are too big, with tons of directives and lack of general flow... But some of them, like Seek and Destroy are pearls. In addon, I think SG is still one of the best looking mod ever released here, despite aging models and other stuff. I found it kinda funny to replay your own project that used to be "cool" for you few years ago.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Luis Dias on January 25, 2017, 03:33:44 am
I haven't played FreeSpace at all for a while now :(
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: AdmiralRalwood on January 25, 2017, 04:03:29 am
I recently played the demo campaign a few times, for some reason (https://github.com/scp-fs2open/fs2open.github.com/pull/1156).
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on January 25, 2017, 04:21:09 am
Windmills.   Can't get enough of it.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: karajorma on January 25, 2017, 06:52:15 am
I recently played the demo campaign a few times, for some reason (https://github.com/scp-fs2open/fs2open.github.com/pull/1156).

Funnily enough I've been talking with others about the demo and FS2_Open recently. So that's definitely something interesting.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Mito [PL] on January 25, 2017, 06:58:41 am
Got around to play The Aftermath Reborn some time ago. While it starts... slowly, and there is some dumb stuff in two first acts (like a base with billions of metric tons of experimental vessels guarded by a single fighter), later it gets really intense and interesting. One of the best features of gameplay is the approach to Shivan numbers: there's really a lot of them, being swarmed is very literal there.

But it could use any reliable interceptor fighter in most of the missions, absolute maximum of 140m/s is pretty... hurting.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on January 25, 2017, 09:45:14 am
I've put most of my FS activities on hold for now, I haven't started any playthrough in a while, although BtA is currently on the top of my ToPlay list.

Outside of playthoughs, I've been playing bits of FS2, BP, JAD, Diaspora and my own mod, which leads me to :
I found it kinda funny to replay your own project that used to be "cool" for you few years ago.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Novachen on January 27, 2017, 12:40:54 pm
I do not think, that it is actually "playing".

Because i translate them into german, i am playing through single Between the Ashes: Slaves of Chaos and FreeSpace Port missions from time to time right after a translation to see if everything is alright with it. Especially the former needs some checking because it relies heavily on subtitle-sexps and strings in scripts.
Also some testing of the few already nearly finished missions of a Freespace 2 reimagening i created myself.


The last time i really played Freespace... that is a while back. As far as i remember, that was for my video playthrough on Insane of the then new released Dusk Wars Act 2.

Unfortunately i did not play soo much space games in general lately. Only for my space combat video channel sometimes. That is indeed the best bet for me, that i will play Freespace more regulary in the future again. Next to the translated campaigns of course.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Sushi on January 27, 2017, 01:00:51 pm
I haven't played FreeSpace at all for a while now :(

Likewise, for a couple of reasons:

1. I've played it to death already.
2. Once you've gotten under the hood with modding/coding, it's very very difficult to sit back and just enjoy the game for what it is. You're always thinking about how you could fix up X to be better / more to taste.

This has (apparently) not stopped me from occasional lurking. :p
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: karajorma on January 27, 2017, 07:54:17 pm
I felt the same way you did Sushi but recently I went back and replayed the main FS2 campaign again and it got back into playing the game again.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Solatar on January 28, 2017, 09:51:19 am
I just replayed through Frontlines: 2334 (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=87519.0). Really well-designed shieldless missions, meaning they're fun, but at no point was I particularly frustrated about the difficulty of not having shields. It's like the first few missions of FS1, but hard enough to be fun. I think my favorite mission was Heralds, where you fly the Valkyrie.

Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: deathspeed on January 31, 2017, 10:41:58 am
I wanted to try out "Aerilon is Burning" but found that i could not even remember how to launch!  Now I am re-playing Shattered Armistice, and will play Aerilon is Burning after that. 

I haven't decided yet what to play after that.  I just finished ST:R, and have recently played the Antagonist, ASW (both acts), Ridiculous, and Uncharted Territory.

Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nyctaeus on February 10, 2017, 07:06:36 pm
I wanted to play new Cardinal Spear, but I cannot manage it to work -___-.

But I really wanted to play something good, so I just dug out first chapter of Flames of War. Someone from campaign restoration should take a look at it, fix few minor bugs in missions, add starfields, refresh textures etc. Trashman did a great job here. 
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Charismatic on February 10, 2017, 08:29:48 pm
I recently got FSO running again on windows 10.
I started Vanilla FS1 and loved it. Maby about 10 mission in? A few less?
I started FSport 2014 and went crazy with how awesome it looked. So going to continue FS1 on Port.
I just (2 minutes ago) beat Ancient-Shivan War Act 1. Played the first 4 missions without textures, so all ships were like death black. Then reloaded it with 2014 media vp, and it worked well. Really exciting. Liked the campaign. Needs voice acting. Only criticism is command not sending in help sooner on final mission. And the 'debrief' that followed where the Ancients biggest war just started, and the Fleet master steps down. That aside, really cool guys!

FYI, got my cousin into Freespace. Lent him my GOG versions. He just beat FS1 (on medium) and is starting ST. Hes having a heck of a time on ST (difficult). We gonna have a new pilot soon.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Spoon on February 16, 2017, 09:10:01 pm
Because I was asked nicely to post in here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=93134.msg1842347#msg1842347)
I've been pretty extensively playtesting the upcoming JAD 2.22 (to be released 2017/02/22, mark the date on that calender) for maximum polish.

It's pretty great. I say, with no small amount of bias.

Planning on trying Bem Cavalgar some time in the near future.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: karajorma on February 16, 2017, 09:35:09 pm
Yeah, I'm planning on playing that one soon too.

I'm still plugging away at BtA at the moment.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: JSRNerdo on February 16, 2017, 09:46:25 pm
Does FRED count? :p
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: karajorma on February 16, 2017, 09:52:46 pm
We should probably have a "What are you FREDding now" topic for that one. :)

Why aren't you playing something though?
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: JSRNerdo on February 16, 2017, 09:54:30 pm
We should probably have a "What are you FREDding now" topic for that one. :)

Why aren't you playing something though?

Technically I'm playtesting my mission, but it's really that I've probably played it all by this point. I'll probably turbo play JAD when it's released, though.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: mjn.mixael on February 16, 2017, 10:16:02 pm
Hmm. I should play something. I never played past WiH R1, so that's an option! Will report back soon. :)
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: AndrewofDoom on February 17, 2017, 01:45:46 am
So I'm a bit late in replying to this, but 2 weeks ago I actually played A Walk in the Sun for the first time. Taranis did a nice job with the campaign. I mean there's nothing new or amazing, but it's well done for what it does.

I haven't played any of the releases of JAD 2.21 since 1.0, but I promise I'll got back and play it again once JAD 2.22 comes out on the 22nd (Axem is still on schedule for that...right?)
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Torchwood on March 01, 2017, 02:55:15 pm
I'm still playing some of the Wings of Dawn misisons in my free time, both from the classic and the remake.
Other than that, there's Dimensional Eclipse, the JADXA arcade, the new ASW. Heard good things about BtA, meaning to give it a try.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: karajorma on March 03, 2017, 06:49:19 am
Still plugging away at BtA. Finally got some time to play it again today. Did anyone else find Playing Pirate really tough?
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Snail on March 23, 2017, 09:53:34 pm
Well shoot guys over the last week or so i booted up the old FreeSpace machine for the first time in years. Downloaded and finished Blue Planet Complete. So good. For the first time in a while I feel like life has meaning again! :D

Will definitely play some actual new campaigns whenever I next find the time. Obviously gotta play BtA and find all the snails... Any other suggestions of campaigns to play from the past, I dunno 5 years? Really wish I'd stuck around.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on March 24, 2017, 03:24:03 am
New Wings of Dawn, Just Another Day, Aerilon is Burning over at Diaspora (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?board=239.0) spring to mind.


I've gotten a big nostalgic urge recently & played through a bunch of old games, with got me wanting to play through FS2 again. Unfortunately, I would feel guilty for not finishing BtA first, which I keep putting off due to me wanting to be able to put 2-3 hours in it uninterrupted, and that kind of timeslot is getting increasingly rare (which, incidentally is also the reason my ability framework keeps getting stalled).

tldr; I want to play BtA & FS2, but can't find time to do it properly.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Novachen on March 26, 2017, 04:04:28 pm
Played through the german exclusive "Relic - Spuren im Sand" (translated: Relic - Traces in the Sand) campaign today. A campaign from 2009 with 40 missions and 10 cutscenes...

That was indeed interesting, but in my opinion it want to tell way too much in this campaign.
The Death of Khonsu II and the fight for the Vasudan throne, The GTVA return to Sol which leads into a complete GTVA-Sol war that end in a reunification. The Return of the Hammer of Light that had knowledge about an Ancient Superweapon, that they want to use and to hand over the Shivans with ETAK. Oh and you have to deal something like two complete Shivan invasion fleets, of course.

Everything in only one campaign... other people need only one Plotline for a whole campaign.

But actually i did have much more problems with the voice acting. It uses voice files from FS1 & FS2 most of the time in the missions. And some TTS-pieces for exclusive lines. Even i think that TTS was not implemented very well here, the voice files from the original campaigns were the much bigger problem for myself. You hear the same sentences over and over again and they never regard the developments that happens in this campaign. So i had often the impression, that the Story is not carried on in the mission itself, because you always hear the same.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 19, 2017, 04:55:01 pm
That has grabbed my attention and piqued my interest.

I just wish my German was better. :(
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: QuikSnap on June 19, 2017, 10:07:33 pm
I just started playing through FS1 for the first time since I was a teenager. It's been really cool so far, but it's been making me want to get into making missions -- specifically for Fate of the Galaxy. I have yet to determine if their release will be coming this year. If so, then that will definitely make me want to make a series of missions all the more. Already have one good idea that would be perfect for a 3-4 mission campaign too. I just have no idea how to actually start mapping using FotG assets. I'm sure I'll figure it out though.

Will be playing through FS2 in short order, was breezing through the game and realized I was on easy mode. Oops! Don't care though, had a fun time.

EDIT: I opened FRED and the SW assets were the first thing to pop up. Looks like all you do is have to load the mod?
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: TopAce on June 20, 2017, 12:28:09 am
I just started playing through FS1 for the first time since I was a teenager. It's been really cool so far, but it's been making me want to get into making missions -- specifically for Fate of the Galaxy. I have yet to determine if their release will be coming this year

I wouldn't bet on that, unfortunately.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: johnney351 on January 06, 2018, 03:49:43 am
I've played FS2 a while ago and installed blue planet now, its working great and I'm on the second mission,

want to play Free Space 1 port to experience the start of things.

cheers
Johnny
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: johnney351 on January 07, 2018, 08:34:50 am
I spoke to fast, Blue Planet now crashes out, I've played 6 missions, now when I try to start it kicks me out instantly,

it kicked out with this error: FS2 Open has stopped working.


Interesting, Freespace 2 retails works fine, also the MediaVp updated edition, I just tested Exile and Diaspora both works and I played 'beyond the red line ' without any problems, when I try Blue Planet it fails, I did a file integrity check, all check out well, ( I'm running through Knossos 0.78 )

anyone had this before?

kind rgds
J
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nyctaeus on January 07, 2018, 12:59:28 pm
Just got blown up to hell by Heliades' beams in recent Inferno update. I tried to save the Reyes in Sol Gate blockade mission even knowing it's impossible.

Gosh, I barely remember age of low-poly models and now I know why I don't want to remember that xD.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: johnney351 on January 09, 2018, 10:07:50 am
have not tried Inferno, got Blue Planet working again, think it's the onboard graphics that's causes crashing out etc, works perfectly on my AMD Radeon.

Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Novachen on March 08, 2018, 11:28:20 am
During the course of the last weeks i am played through some campaigns.

Next to A Walk in the Sun and VeniceMirror i reviewed in the corresponding threads, i also replayed Renegade Resurgence.
Well, the story is simply absurd, but the mission design is still very solid most of the case. Even very retaily from today's perspective. But it is still able to entertain if you do not think about the story too much. There are some challenging missions, even especially the capital ship battles could be much better, because they use Attack orders instead waypoints (i did not change that in my Knossos transition, because i was simply too lazy to rechoreograph all these battles :rolleyes:)


A few days ago i started with Shadow Genesis finally and i am finished the Prologue so far. Well i have to say, i am missing some kind of introduction for all these changes in the universe within it's campaign like there was in FreeSpace 2. FS2 was understandable even without the TechDB... But SG is only a whole question mark with all the storychanges if you do not take your time to read through the TechDB before you start the first mission. I strongly recommend the TechDB anyway, because you will not even see the weapon loadout screen in the first missions and so will not get any information about the weapons you are using.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: ionia23 on March 08, 2018, 10:07:00 pm
Blue Planet: Age Of Aquarius.  I am...I am lost for words.  This is unbelievable.  Riveting.  If this was an officially released expansion pack, I'd buy it in an instant.  Of course, I feel the same way towards Silent Threat: Reborn, Homesick (my personal favorite), Derelict, the remade Inferno, and Sol: A History.

I can't wait to get to BP: War In Heaven.

All this starting from a game that came out 20 years ago.  Talk about giving Starcraft a run for the money :)
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 09, 2018, 01:23:47 am
Starcraft and Brood War were excellent, starcraft 2 is mediocre.   
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on August 27, 2018, 07:02:30 pm
I recently redid Freespace 2 "Extended". Which is to say, Freespace 2 Blue, the demo Crisis in Capella campaign, and relevant multiplayer missions such as Corvette Rescue and Forward Battle Area.

It's nice because it rounds out some of the events in the story. Such as the defense of the Vega node, what the GTVA was doing in the Nebula once Alpha 1 went back to fighting the NTF, and the evacuation of the fleet to Gamma Draconis.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: General Battuta on August 27, 2018, 04:15:31 pm
Do the multiplayer missions have any VO we could steal for FreeSpace Blue stuff? i was disappointed that the demo didn't.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on August 27, 2018, 04:37:28 pm
All Alone takes place most likely during the Santhanas fleet push into Capella. The GTVA launches a few fighter and bomber wings to ambush the corvette Nosferatu in Gamma Draconis, which also results in the destruction of an Eva destroyer and Rakshasha which jump in as reinforcements. Corvette Rescue doesn't have any VA, but the GTCv Bretagne fights its way out of an extended Shivan ambush including a cruiser, corvette, and multiple fighter and bomber wings. Forward Edge Battle Area details the Vasudan defense of Epsilon Pegasi from the Shivans, again likely during the Shivan's massive assault on Capella.
 
I actually think that would be a tremendous idea to do a true "extended cut" which include rebalanced versions of those missions, along with Crisis in Capella, back into the campaign proper. Corvette Rescue should probably have the bomber wings placed further back for single player, as it is EMP spam is the only way I've found to keep the Corvette alive. That and about 20% higher hull integrity. Forward Edge has the Vasudan destroyer not use its man gun on the approaching corvettes, only on the Ravana that jumps in later. Finally, the infinite fighter waves for All Alone mean that if your bomber wings go down, it's impossible to finish the mission. You have to be extremely fast in destroying the weapon systems and crushing the Nosferatu before your bombers run out of payload.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: General Battuta on August 27, 2018, 04:48:12 pm
Do they have full VO with black command guy, etc?
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on August 27, 2018, 05:17:18 pm
I don't believe Corvette Rescue does, or if it doesn't it doesn't work for me, but the rest have full briefings and debriefings. There's no in-game banter I think, but it's not really needed considering they're simple seek and destroy missions. The only thing to keep in mind is that these missions aren't flown by Alpha-1, but other anonymous pilots. They could be easily presented as optional "loop" missions such as SOC with a brief, "meanwhile in another part of the war."
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Novachen on August 27, 2018, 05:24:53 pm
Well, they could simple be an own campaign. As the Demo missions are already one.

In Freespace Port you have also three campaigns were you are playing different Alpha 1's, so i do not think it is a big problem.

For FSPort i was already thinking for my Upgrade/Translation to connect some of the single and converted coop missions into an own campaign, because some of the also have Command Briefs with Date information you can use to create a chronology campaign that happens next to the actual The Great War one. But i actually scrapped that so far, even it would be possible to create some kind of story with some changed messages and briefings only :D

And well, most of the Single missions are not very good by today standards either. So that would be only a campaign with a putted together story and mediocre missions at best  :D

But because i have to do all the same stuff with all the multi missions and SOTY Missions in FS2 again for my translation project, i am actually curious about how many of the ~200 official MP FS2 missions can be properly used for a single player mission :). Maybe that can be used into an own campaign that would be much better.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: General Battuta on August 27, 2018, 06:04:58 pm
I don't believe Corvette Rescue does, or if it doesn't it doesn't work for me, but the rest have full briefings and debriefings. There's no in-game banter I think, but it's not really needed considering they're simple seek and destroy missions. The only thing to keep in mind is that these missions aren't flown by Alpha-1, but other anonymous pilots. They could be easily presented as optional "loop" missions such as SOC with a brief, "meanwhile in another part of the war."

Hmm I think (unfortunately) that if there's no in-game chatter it would be tough to integrate them into FS Blue.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Assassin714 on August 28, 2018, 04:46:50 am
Warzone

Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: -Norbert- on August 29, 2018, 01:22:36 am
I just finished the FS1 campaign (FSPort) and am now playing Sol: A History.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 29, 2018, 05:23:48 am
Rain on Ribos 4, Hellgate: Ikeya & The Light of Antares to fetch some screenshots that will make good loading screens, video titlecards ... and to finish the new LoA and RoR credits/outros
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: TheTuninator on September 04, 2018, 03:09:34 am
I recently did a replay of FS2's main campaign, in the form of Freespace Blue. After all these years, it still holds up narratively, and of course visually it's better than ever.

After that, I dove into BP for the first time. Wrapped up AoA and WiH Acts 1 & 2 (just about), and I'm moving on to Act 3 now. It's been quite the ride so far. Top-notch writing, mission design, the works. In other words, I'm loving it. Once I finish I'm planning on playing FS1 and Diaspora.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Mito [PL] on December 18, 2018, 06:34:12 pm
My recently played trio: Exile: Into the Dark Waters, Sol: A History (Upgraded!), and Mantle. What can I say about them, Exile and S:AH are huge in terms of assets - after all, they both needed whole new fleet packs, and are quite long and really satisfactory to play. On the other hand, Mantle, while based off of Blue Planet, has got that great Homesick vibe to it.
I strongly suggest playing every one of these three. I can guarantee you will have a fun ride with them.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on December 18, 2018, 10:11:30 pm
TBH I feel Ridiculous these days, like a chef with no appetite - I haven't actually sat down and enjoyed an FS campaign since Sync and Windmills almost a year back. Just endless modding.  :nod:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on December 18, 2018, 11:11:38 pm
I think that happens quite often. For example many project heads on HLP next to never write feedback to campaigns other than their own, or comment on dev threads. I'd presume that the reason is simply that modding is time intensive and if you have a job/family you rather put the effort into your own project. But even though I have enough time I prefer working on something than playing other things somehow as I consider myself a rather bad pilot...
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on December 19, 2018, 09:37:23 am
I'd presume that the reason is simply that modding is time intensive and if you have a job/family you rather put the effort into your own project.
That's pretty much how my relation with Freespace had been for the longest time. For the first couple of years, I was almost exclusively a player, crunching campaign after campaign, only FREDding a handful of missions here & there. Then 3.6.12 came around, broke some of my missions, prompting me to shift my modding habit into higher gear. I spent the next 3-4 years splitting my time rather evenly between modding & playing, until my Master's final 2 years. As my free(space) time became more & more precious, I tended to favor modding over playing, and only stopped everything after the whole "you need to play to have an opinion" thing back in early 2017.

I only eased beack into the game in late november - exclusively as a player this time, going through FS2 with surprising ease. Right now I'm re-playing through JAD 2.21 - JAD 2.22 (I don't think I every finished 2.22), then it'll either be BtA or WCS Open.

Still, the call of modding is still strong, I always get tons of ideas while doing random stuff, and some of them might even be practical :D. But for now, I shall apply Willpowerâ„¢ and stick to playing !
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on December 19, 2018, 12:38:46 pm
I just hope people will forgive me for not always playing their campaigns is all.  :)  I have a ton of respect for the BTA team and their amazing production quality, I just got stuck and never finished their big release. Feel like I've done them a disservice, somehow. :doubt:

Really please I love Mefistofele, I just didn't want to get into a long campaign now...  :(  Also I'm a low-skill dogfighter, I just want to shoot through teh story for teh STORYs sake.  :lol:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Strygon on December 19, 2018, 04:43:54 pm
Debug windows.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on November 11, 2019, 05:26:20 pm
Currently playing through the GOG version of FS1, just to see what it's like.  I was definitely spoiled on my previous playthroughs of the DVD version, as it has much higher resolution textures for all of the ships.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Cobra on November 11, 2019, 07:02:10 pm
Currently playing through the GOG version of FS1, just to see what it's like.  I was definitely spoiled on my previous playthroughs of the DVD version, as it has much higher resolution textures for all of the ships.

There's a DVD version? When did that happen? I've only ever seen the CD release.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on November 11, 2019, 07:18:15 pm
They were OEM discs included if you bought a computer with a DVD player.  That is, in fact, how I originally found out about FreeSpace.

Here (https://web.archive.org/web/20090809022129/http://geocities.com/ipw47/afterburner.html) are some screenshots, and here (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=9898.0) is an old thread on the subject.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Mongoose on November 11, 2019, 08:21:24 pm
"Warning! 8MB download!" :D
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on November 11, 2019, 08:29:47 pm
was it because of dl size or the look of fs1 content
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: deathspeed on November 11, 2019, 09:17:55 pm
"Warning! 8MB download!" :D

I also find it hilarious that in 2019 MS Outlook still thinks 8 MB is "huge".
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on November 11, 2019, 09:33:39 pm
It's probably a lot of stuff to read though if you just have text. :D
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on November 11, 2019, 10:13:12 pm
was it because of dl size or the look of fs1 content

Download size.  A not-insignificant number of people still had 56k modems during HLP's early history.  That's why you'll occasionally see "56k users beware" on old threads, especially image-heavy threads.

The download experience these days is leagues better than it was back then.  Back when we were hosted by 3D Action Planet (pre-2006), all public downloads were required to be hosted by FilePlanet.  You would have to wait 2 or 3 minutes to be "added to the download queue", and then once you were at the front of the line you would have to wait another 10 minutes or more for the download to complete.  (The ST:R trailer gives a wink and a nod to this with "Not Distributed by FilePlanet" in the fine print.)
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Mongoose on November 11, 2019, 10:34:43 pm
Oh lord, FilePlanet.  No nostalgia there.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Cobra on November 11, 2019, 11:14:56 pm
They were OEM discs included if you bought a computer with a DVD player.  That is, in fact, how I originally found out about FreeSpace.

Here (https://web.archive.org/web/20090809022129/http://geocities.com/ipw47/afterburner.html) are some screenshots, and here (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=9898.0) is an old thread on the subject.

Curses, Galemp's comparison screenshots have become dust in the wind.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on November 11, 2019, 11:20:48 pm
I looked for the screenshots on the current FSPort FTP, but they aren't there either.

However, we still have the hi-res maps.  Download them here (https://porphyrion.feralhosting.com/datacorder/fsport_files/releases/fsport-hi_res.zip).  You'll need to use the registry tweak if you want to see them in FS1.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on November 12, 2019, 05:52:02 am
Oh lord, FilePlanet.  No nostalgia there.

I was actually able to reclaim some of HLPs old stuff from there while the stuff that was linked elsewhere was already down.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: CKid on November 13, 2019, 05:44:41 pm
Just noticed "Into the Depths of Hell" on Knossos the other day. Haven't played that campaign since 2012 and was my all time favorite until BP:AoA came out. Already into the second half of Chapter 2. It may not have aged well but I'am still having a blast with it.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nyctaeus on November 13, 2019, 07:47:11 pm
Just noticed "Into the Depths of Hell" on Knossos the other day. Haven't played that campaign since 2012 and was my all time favorite until BP:AoA came out. Already into the second half of Chapter 2. It may not have aged well but I'am still having a blast with it.
I have good memories about it, so I decided to give it a spin too. It has some bugs, writing is dated, lots of old models, but it's still good classic. I don't know who uploaded it but he apparently forgot to attach it to MediaVPs... Which means really classic vibe.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: ShivanSpS on November 15, 2019, 12:30:23 pm
Re-playing FS2 with original graphics, i started playing trying to figureout the issues in Debian Buster with RPI 4 and fs2_open. Now i'm halfway through.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Sutehp on December 31, 2019, 08:56:34 pm
It's been 15 years since I was last here on HLP up until a few days ago. I haven't played Freespace 1 or 2 in almost that long despite having reacquired both games through GOG last year. Now that I found Knossos, I've finally rep[laying FS1 with the FS2 engine and I'm having a blast! Discovering the complete (or at least not totally unfinished as to be unplayable) Freespace mods like Wings of Dawn, Blue Planet and the Ancient-Shivan War is like finding a bunch of good space sim games for free as well!

Once I finish the FS1 port, I'm gonna replay FS2 again and then move on to the Wings of Dawn, Blue Planet and the Ancient-Shivan War mods (not necessarily in that order).
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: SypheDMar on January 09, 2020, 09:12:41 pm
I just finished my four-day playthrough of FreeSpace 2 on Easy. Got 2B ending because I forgot Capella is timed. I sadly exploded.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on January 09, 2020, 10:05:11 pm
I recently replayed Episode 2 of WoD, actually only the 2nd as I learned everything there is to learn about 1 by now.

JAD 2.21 and 2 also. :)
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: SypheDMar on January 11, 2020, 09:18:17 pm
I finished the FSPort Campaign on Easy for a two-day run. Not sure what's next. Probably ST:R naturally but I don't know if I'll start tonight, tomorrow, or a while from now.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: SypheDMar on January 14, 2020, 08:27:09 pm
I just finished ST:R. The Hades suddenly went from 10% to 0% at the end, though. Dialogue implies that the Hades was supposed to reactivate its engines but instead it self-destructed. Maybe because I was constantly lobbing harbingers at the engine subsystem anyway?
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on January 14, 2020, 11:06:24 pm
The Hades is scripted to self-destruct if it's disabled; you must have disabled it immediately after it repaired its engines.  There's no wait for the dialogue before it does the check.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on March 26, 2020, 11:00:43 am
I completed my medium no-death runs of FS1, FS2 Blue and Demo with all the new shinies (only restarts were due to beams as usual, though the Aquitaine only survived with 2% hull on Argonautica). I'm starting on the best fan campaigns now. I'll likely end with WoD, BP and Solaris. 
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Iain Baker on March 26, 2020, 05:21:12 pm
Scroll of Atankharzim. bloody fantastic campaign. Just wish I knew how to pronounce it  :lol:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Cobra on March 26, 2020, 05:25:54 pm
Ah-tan-car-zim?
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Su-tehp on March 26, 2020, 06:21:51 pm
Scroll of Atankharzim. bloody fantastic campaign. Just wish I knew how to pronounce it  :lol:
Ah-tan-car-zim?

But which syllable is given emphasis? Is it AH-tan-car-zim, Ah-TAN-car-zim or Ah-tan-CAR-zim or even Ah-tan-car-ZIM? :confused: :confused: :confused:

(I think it's the third one, but that's just me.) :p
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on March 26, 2020, 07:26:46 pm
Ah-tan-car-zim?

Ahh dat car sim
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Su-tehp on March 26, 2020, 11:39:42 pm
Ah-tan-car-zim?

Ahh dat car sim

Which car sim? :confused: :confused: :confused:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on March 27, 2020, 07:28:39 pm
The one with the zods trying to gain experience at 4-wheel drives.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Su-tehp on March 27, 2020, 10:26:11 pm
The one with the zods trying to gain experience at 4-wheel drives.

How do you Kneel Before Zod (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KneelBeforeZod) while driving? :confused: :confused: :confused:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on March 28, 2020, 05:52:44 am
THE TERRANS WILL NEVER KNEEL BEFORE THE ZODS..

ew

GTVA :(
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 28, 2020, 08:36:29 am
I've said it before and I'll say it again.....

The only good zod, is a dead zod. 👌
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Nightmare on March 28, 2020, 02:39:25 pm
I've said it before and I'll say it again.....

The only good zod, is a dead zod. 👌

VOTE BOSCH AND ENLIST
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on March 28, 2020, 03:24:54 pm
Stop the Supremacists, vote Vasudan!
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 28, 2020, 03:36:57 pm
Zods eating heads caused covid-85  :nervous:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on March 29, 2020, 05:52:19 pm
Zods eating heads caused covid-85  :nervous:

Which year? 2285? 2385? 2485?

(That you don't know that the number-suffix is the abrivated year of the first confirmed case diagnosed, is one more item on "why terrans can go home"-list :P )



Back on topic

Twisted Infinities and The Aftermath: Reboot II
Holding my judgement.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on March 29, 2020, 11:24:27 pm
Scroll of Atankharzim. bloody fantastic campaign. Just wish I knew how to pronounce it  :lol:
Ah-tan-car-zim?

But which syllable is given emphasis? Is it AH-tan-car-zim, Ah-TAN-car-zim or Ah-tan-CAR-zim or even Ah-tan-car-ZIM? :confused: :confused: :confused:

(I think it's the third one, but that's just me.) :p

The second and fourth syllables are given emphasis.  Word of Sesquipedalian. :nod:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Su-tehp on March 30, 2020, 03:08:26 am
Scroll of Atankharzim. bloody fantastic campaign. Just wish I knew how to pronounce it  :lol:
Ah-tan-car-zim?

But which syllable is given emphasis? Is it AH-tan-car-zim, Ah-TAN-car-zim or Ah-tan-CAR-zim or even Ah-tan-car-ZIM? :confused: :confused: :confused:

(I think it's the third one, but that's just me.) :p

The second and fourth syllables are given emphasis.  Word of Sesquipedalian. :nod:

So it's Ah-TAN-car-ZIM?
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 30, 2020, 03:55:25 am
Zods eating heads caused covid-85  :nervous:

Which year? 2285? 2385? 2485?

(That you don't know that the number-suffix is the abrivated year of the first confirmed case diagnosed, is one more item on "why terrans can go home"-list :P )



Back on topic

Twisted Infinities and The Aftermath: Reboot II
Holding my judgement.



Clearly 2385, its a key point in the NTF Manifesto 😜😂
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on March 30, 2020, 12:59:35 pm
So it's Ah-TAN-car-ZIM?

Yup.  The second syllable is emphasized the most.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on March 30, 2020, 01:12:59 pm
Guys, gonna give a controversial hot take,
Force Entry... it's real good!
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Iain Baker on April 10, 2020, 10:54:56 am
Finished the 2nd branch of Scrolls this week, so now I have completed both the spec-ops stealth branch and the head on assault branch. Both bloody fantastic. Looking forward to the next instalment 😊
Also finished boomerang this week. Superb three-mission Capella era mini-campaign with voice acting and a superb BoE (Battle of Endor) mission as a finale 😊
Not sure what to play next…
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: caine440 on July 14, 2020, 08:40:59 am
I played Freespace and FS 2 years ago and was very happy to find them on GOG to play them again on a newer computer.
Then I found Hard-light while looking for a walk through.
All the mods are amazing. I have played Cardinal Spear, Awakenings, Crucible, and Destiny of peace. I have just started New beginnings and look forward to playing many more.
Thanks to all of you for making these mods!
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Goober5000 on July 14, 2020, 09:09:12 am
:welcome:

Enjoy your stay. :)
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Det. Bullock on September 27, 2020, 05:47:48 pm
I'm replaying Silent Threat Reborn.
The low poly asteroid stations in the middle of so many hi poly models is weird.
It's also the first time I'm playing it on medium (having no reflexes I mostly play on easy) and is it me or it's much easier to lose entire systems in this compared to FSport? Usually the comms is the first to go which is annoying but I find myself often completely disabled and got away only because the AI doesn't seem particularly good at hitting small unmoving targets which gave me the time to have a support ship repair me.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Det. Bullock on November 21, 2020, 06:35:08 am
Boy, it was at least five years since I had played Freespace 2. For some reason I have been replaying the Freespace Port in the last few years.
There is so much stuff I either forgot or never considered at the time. Last time I played I still had a 4 button Saitek stick so I never even considered using the Maxim at long range to disarm capital ships because before my CH Combatstick I just couldn't aim from a safe distance at ship components.
Like with my latest playthrough of FSport and ST: R I played on Medium and while a lot was more difficult obviously my slightly obsessive way of playing the game got me all medals except the Order of Galatea by the end of the game.
The HD cutscenes when present were impressive to say the least.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Buckshee Rounds on November 22, 2020, 08:21:44 am
Boy, it was at least five years since I had played Freespace 2. For some reason I have been replaying the Freespace Port in the last few years.
There is so much stuff I either forgot or never considered at the time. Last time I played I still had a 4 button Saitek stick so I never even considered using the Maxim at long range to disarm capital ships because before my CH Combatstick I just couldn't aim from a safe distance at ship components.
Like with my latest playthrough of FSport and ST: R I played on Medium and while a lot was more difficult obviously my slightly obsessive way of playing the game got me all medals except the Order of Galatea by the end of the game.
The HD cutscenes when present were impressive to say the least.


I've spent more time than I'd like to admit just replaying missions over and over to make sure I get those sweet sweet capship kills. I've always wondered if it's possible to get promoted to Captain in any of the retail campaigns as I never get that far up the ladder.

Been playing through some fsport recently too. Frontlines is always good fun, but I really love that campaign where you play as the Vasudans (can't remember the name right now).
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: caine440 on November 24, 2020, 06:34:45 pm
Finished  Sol: A history and Gehenna's Gate, part of the Series Resurrecta .
Just started The Spirit of Ptah.

All these campaigns have been great fun.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 26, 2020, 12:16:00 am
Gate slipped sunder my radar when it released.   I plan on rectifying that mistake.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Blue Lion on December 01, 2020, 02:24:33 pm
I have a horrible confession to make. I not only have not played FS2 in well over a decade. I have never played a player made campaign or mod outside the one I worked on myself.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on December 02, 2020, 08:44:21 am
Play derelict..... Play it now.   That needs to be everybody's first non retail campaign.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Mobius on December 02, 2020, 09:03:08 am
I have a horrible confession to make. I not only have not played FS2 in well over a decade. I have never played a player made campaign or mod outside the one I worked on myself.

You should definitely make up for it. There are soooo many campaigns around there that deserved to be played... and re-played.  :)
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on December 02, 2020, 09:26:36 am
Windmills is nice and short but...... Wow.  What a ride.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: caine440 on December 07, 2020, 08:39:04 am
Just finished the Unification war.
 I learned that with out the tech (targeting and such) I am a crappy pilot.  It was entertaining and challenging campaign.
 I have just started Frontlines.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: caine440 on January 22, 2021, 08:13:59 am
I have been playing Into the depths of Hell.
It has been great, a long campaign with lots of twists and turns.
A few glitches here and there but nothing to take away from the fun.
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Iain Baker on January 24, 2021, 01:27:45 pm
BP AoA, the rest of BP inc the new Neptune mission next.

If you want a challenge I highly recommend  Bem Cavalgar. I feel every one should try it at least once. The behaviour of the Shivans has been tweaked so they all circle strafe, fly sideways, backwards etc. which makes the game a hell of a lot harder. Seriously, BC on medium is on par with most campaigns on very hard. Even Fury AI campaigns seem tame in comparison. Just surviving is a challenge.

Thankfully you don't fail a mission if you jump out early, it just makes you feel bad by telling you how many people died because of it, and you will have less resources for your next mission. Plus you can choose which missions to take part in - but you can only do half of them per play-through since you can't be in two places at once. Do you save civvies, or military targets, since you can't save both.

Its the only time I have played FS in a LONG time where I truly felt like a victim, and not "I AM ALPHA ONE, HEAR ME ROAR!!!". Instead, I ended up feeling like the universe's ***** and wanting to cry out for mummy to take me home.  :lol:  It actually made me feel just how desperate the fight against the Shivans in Vasuda would have felt if I were a Vasudan and it was real.


A few hints to help you survive more than about sixty seconds  ;)

1: When chasing and shooting a fighter after you land a few shots it will pivot on its axis 180 degrees so its facing you and will start shooting back. Considering that both the  Shivan's shields and weapons* are MUCH stronger in this campaign you can't play chicken with them and expect to win. Hit and run tactics are your best bet.  Wear down its shields a bit then break off. Then re-engage and wear them down a bit more and break off again, rinse and repeat until its dead.

*Think what being on the receiving end of TEV Balors in BP is like. Now imagine every Shivan fighter and bomber having these.

NB - Basilisks now have shields stronger than a vanilla Seraphim. Scorpions and ****ans have shields about as strong as a vanilla Nephilim, and a Nephilim (when you include its shields) takes almost as many hits to kill as a vanilla Fenris. Remember that first mission in retail FS1 when you engage the Scorpion and ****ans with your utterly ineffective guns? Its almost like that - EVERY. SINGLE. MISSION. At least your sensors work...

2) ...unless they get knocked out that is, which is quite likely if you get hit by a missile. Missiles hurt A LOT in BC and will likely wreck multiple subsystems if you get hit by one.

3) If a fighter gets on your a$$ target it then spam the 'attack my target' command to all your wingmen, this should save you.  Also, stick close to your wingmen and keep them alive, as you will NOT survive on your own. Let them go ahead of you then shoot at the Shivans shooting at them - this is probably the best way how to prioritise targets.
 
4) When the Shivans send in reinforcements of hunter-killer teams - usually consisting of Dragons (which have shields at least as strong as a vanilla Basilisk) - its time to drop everything and jump out. Order your wingmen to do likewise otherwise they will get schwacked and will not be available in the next mission. Any mission objectives not completed by this point will just have to stay uncompleted, because even mere survival is unlikely if you hang around.

So, good luck with that  :lol:  I may even replay it on Hard and Insane just to see how quickly it hands me my a$$  :lol:
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: Glowhyena on September 05, 2022, 11:37:59 pm
Last week, I started playing Descent: FreeSpace under FSO. So, today, finished the first game on a medium difficulty level, then started with the expansion Silent Threat on the same difficulty level.

I don't know if this topic is too old to post a message. If so, I'm sorry!
Title: Re: What Freespace are you (Re)Playing Now?
Post by: jr2 on June 09, 2023, 05:29:38 pm
Battleships Forever (http://www.wyrdysm.com/bfdownload.php) (yes it works on Windows 10).