[dex]

Hello! Well, as you can see from the title, I am completely new to this - and got hooked! I actually only know the original Freespace 2 and now found out about the mods, the open source project, user campaigns..

So here are three questions I have (and maybe you can help me? )

1. If it's possible - what's the best mod to make Freespace look as incredible as on most screenshots here? And what further graphical enhancements can be done?
2. What are the best mods/campaigns out there?
3. Has anyone had the idea of making a mod that allows Elite-like "trading" in the game?

That's all, thanks in advance for any advice! Have fun!

[MercFox1]

Welcome! I'm sure you'll find one of the deepest, most storied, longest-running successful games around the Internet.

Try some campaigns, some of the mods, and definitely the multiplayer!




...and, yes, I know my beam is crooked.

[dex]

Hey, thanks for the warm welcome

[karajorma]

So here are three questions I have (and maybe you can help me? )

1. If it's possible - what's the best mod to make Freespace look as incredible as on most screenshots here? And what further graphical enhancements can be done?

If you downloaded the media VPs using Turey's online installer you should already have the best graphics available. There are other things you can do (playing around with the ambient lighting is one possibility for instance but I'll leave it up to the members of the community who care about that sort of stuff to explain).

2. What are the best mods/campaigns out there?

Again, if you downloaded using Turey's installer you'll have had the option to install the best contenders for best mod. If not you'll find a link at the top of this forum. Run it and point it at your install and it will give you the option to add the stuff you're missing.

Since the installer doesn't give you them as an option I'd suggest trying out The Babylon Project and Wing Commander Saga from here on HLP and Beyond the Red Line (the Battlestar Galactica mod) from Game-Warden (Check the toolbar at the top of the page for links to all 3).

3. Has anyone had the idea of making a mod that allows Elite-like "trading" in the game?

Not yet. Shadowwolf's Mercs campaign came the closest but was never finished unfortunately.

[colecampbell666]

The blue planet mod, soon to be released (I hear) has graphics rivaling or even beating those of BtRL.

EDIT: See some screenies:
Blue Planet


Click the image to increase the size.


Some of my own:









Battlestar Galactica: Beyond the Red Line

[Fearless Leader]

well FS = the bombdig

[BloodEagle]

Curse you! Now I have to buy more RAM! 

[dex]

The Blue Planet mod looks incredible!! Well with this installer and the mods I have a lot to try out for quite some time Thanks for the information guys, it really helped saving time and getting started sooner!!

[Jeff Vader]

One thing that I don't think was fully answered yet. If you want to play the main FS2 campaign with funky graphics and you have the MediaVPs installed, open the Launcher, select the MOD tab, click on Select MOD, choose the mediavps folder from the list, hit OK, and hit Run.

The FreeSpace Wiki has an article about additional command-line options, mainly concerning lighting aspects. You'd be well advised to read it and try for values that seem nice to you. Dimmer lighting adds surprisingly lot to th egeneral atmosphere of the game. For starters, here's my Custom Flags line (in the Features tab in the Launcher):

-ambient_factor 00 -spec_exp 8 -spec_point 0.5 -spec_static 0.1 -spec_tube 0.4 -no_emissive_light

[Darius]

The blue planet mod, soon to be released (I hear) has graphics rivaling or even beating those of BtRL.

There's little in Blue Planet that isn't already in Media VPs, so you should be able to get screens like those with the retail Freespace 2 campaign plus Media enhancements.

But Stratcomm did an incredible job with his HTL fleet pack, which is why his ships look as good as they do

[karajorma]

The blue planet mod, soon to be released (I hear) has graphics rivaling or even beating those of BtRL.

Do I need to point out that some of those beautiful skyboxes were actually taken directly (with permission of course) from BtRL?

[colecampbell666]

Forgot about that.

[Grizzly]

Well, welcome to HLPBB!

Unfortanly, you won't be seeing any FS3... They say the franchise didn't sell to good... actually, the only reason they can not make a sequal is because Alpha 1 joined Greenpeace when they held their "Wanted: One person to save the world" campaign.

[colecampbell666]

3. Has anyone had the idea of making a mod that allows Elite-like "trading" in the game?

[dex]

In case you wonder about question 3.

Of course I know that this game is about combat and not trading. It's just that this is also a quite modable "engine", which I though someone might have put to good use and create something Elite-like out of it. I'd just love to see the two worlds combined one day, that's all. But screw that question since I can actually guess this is hopeless

Thanks for ALL the infos guys, very nice community and a good start so far!

[MercFox1]

Actually, if the SCP gets the right people for what I'm about to propose, it could be done...


A Freespace 2 "Eve-Online" like persistent universe?

Eh? Thoughts?

[colecampbell666]

What is Elite?

A good idea would be to make Squadwar a persistent universe, sometime in the future.

Is Squadwar slated for 3.6.10?

[Excalibur]

I want those planets and those suns

Are they available as sperate downloads or as a pack?

(Mabye they haven't been released yet?)

[Turey]

I want those planets and those suns

Are they available as sperate downloads or as a pack?

(Mabye they haven't been released yet?)

Most of them should be in BtRL.

[Grizzly]

What is Elite?

A good idea would be to make Squadwar a persistent universe, sometime in the future.

Is Squadwar slated for 3.6.10?

Whouldn't it be smart to just to start with a persistent server with map rotation?