[Mars]

Are the Freespace demos considered canon, they are made by Volition, but they don't seem to fall under the exact same timeline.

[StratComm]

The demo for FS2 is plain wierd.  I personally consider it quasi-canon (not "cannon", as in the gun, FYI) and tangent to the events of FS2 proper.  There's not enough in it to make a whole lot of difference to the story arc though.

[aldo_14]

Why, what exactly happens in the demo?

[Mars]

I know what he means, it's hard to explain, things just seem slightly... off. Go play the Freespace 2 Demo and find out. Really the Freespace 1 Demo is identical plot wise to the first few missions of Freespace, just without The Field of Battle, and a more difficult (not saying much) version of Eve of Destruction (I seem to remember dying in the demo over and over again), but the Freespace 2 Demo was just wierd.

[Goober5000]

Why, what exactly happens in the demo?

You fight the Shivans in the nebula, and then you fly escort for SOC transporting cargo from Capella to Gamma Draconis, and then you get transferred to the Aquitaine.

If it weren't for getting transferred to the Aquitaine, the missions could easily take place during the first act of FS2.

[Mars]

What about the GTM Tornados available right at the begining? Of course, I suppose it's possible that the demo takes place during the time the player (in the full version) is on the GVD Psamtik, but I don't remember a "cover the Psamtik while she takes down the Armaros" mission, so I suppose not.

[WMCoolmon]

You were granted access to weapons in FS2, rather than them being developed.

[Mars]

Does leave the possibilities rather more opened ended now doesn't it.

[StratComm]

The more pressing question is that there shouldn't be shivans if it were set at the start of FS2 or before.  Those didn't come about until you'd run a few missions.

[Mars]

No, the demo definitely occured between A Lion at the Door and Straight, No Chaser, between the arrival of the Shivans, and the destruction of the Psamtik.

[StratComm]

It probably happens before Alpha 1 is transfered to the Psamtik, as once Alpha 1 is abord it goes into the Nebula.  I'd put it right around the time of "A Game of Tag", personally.

The one other point it could have been would be while Bearbaiting/High Noon is happening, as the Psamtik would be chasing the Sathanas at that point in order to be able to launch you into the correct system.  Those are the only two fly-a-vasudan-fighter missions that occur in normal, non-nebular space.

[Mars]

Except that Capella and Gamma Draconis are evacuated in those missions

[StratComm]

If we're under the assumption that the transports are going from the nebula to the node, than that would make sense.  The Sath appeared while the GTVA was doing offensive operations, which makes the nebula mission make sense timing wise, and then the Psamtik could warp in to deal with the corvette while Alpha 1 is off taking the beam cannons out on the Sath.  Admittedly there's a real lack of panic from command at that point, but it's possible.  Though again, around "A Game Of Tag" and "Proving Grounds" is probably the best timeframe if we had to choose one.

[Mars]

Agreed, is the Freespace 2 Demo considered canon then?

[aldo_14]

Why, what exactly happens in the demo?

You fight the Shivans in the nebula, and then you fly escort for SOC transporting cargo from Capella to Gamma Draconis, and then you get transferred to the Aquitaine.

If it weren't for getting transferred to the Aquitaine, the missions could easily take place during the first act of FS2.

I dunno - who says you're the same person as FS2s' Alpha One?

[Mars]

No one is. We're wondering what timeframe the demo is compared to the main campagin, there is no swithing of the A1s.

[Setekh]

I almost thought this was a topic about the beam weapons on the Deimos.

The more pressing question is that there shouldn't be shivans if it were set at the start of FS2 or before.  Those didn't come about until you'd run a few missions.

I would argue, based on the fact that you could very likely be an SOC pilot (or at least an associated SOC volunteer) in the demo, that this is not really a problem. It's quite likely that the Shivans were met by some of our advanced forces before the Alpha 1 of the main campaign comes across them - I mean, when on the timeline exactly did the Trinity pass through the Knossos portal?

[StratComm]

I almost thought this was a topic about the beam weapons on the Deimos.

The more pressing question is that there shouldn't be shivans if it were set at the start of FS2 or before.  Those didn't come about until you'd run a few missions.

I would argue, based on the fact that you could very likely be an SOC pilot (or at least an associated SOC volunteer) in the demo, that this is not really a problem. It's quite likely that the Shivans were met by some of our advanced forces before the Alpha 1 of the main campaign comes across them - I mean, when on the timeline exactly did the Trinity pass through the Knossos portal?

I'd then provide the counter argument that there's pretty strong evidence of a panic by command when the Shivans blast the GTC Vigilant (a corvette and a destroyer to neutralize a couple of fighters and a cruiser?  I could do it in a Herc).  Not the sort of reaction you'd expect if there had been an ongoing SOC operation involving encountering Shivans prior to that command briefing.  The Trinity had been in the nebula for a couple of weeks, IIRC, but the odds of the SOC letting it just sit there while conducting other operations in the nebula as basic as "find and kill shivan cruisers" don't seem all that high to me. Especially since the SOC is an intelligence-gathering unit, and there is certainly more intelligence to be gathered from capturing the Trinity than from blasting Shivans.

That's why I say it happened during "A Game of Tag" or somewhere like that, because GTVA command was conducting a lot of operations like the demo nebula mission during that period.

[Mars]

Also the Shivans are running around in Capella, that is always a sign they might have come back, prehaps during the first Sathanas incursion?

[StratComm]

Think of that as an inconsistancy.  Think of those transports as going from Gamma Draconis to Capella rather than the other way around.  There's no good way to make the presence of the Psamtik and Shivans in Capella coherent, so just flip the systems and you're good to go.