Upgrade Patch
-
As some of you may know, I am working on an upgrade patch for Freelancer, you may call it a mod, but I am not changing anything as of yet in the realm of the actual gameplay.
Mostly its visual changes, bloom, hi-res textures, planning on incorporating this new power mapping technique discovered recently.
I wanted to discuss thoughts on gameplay elements, no matter how small that you would change if possible and why.
Personally I like Fox’s modifications to render Freelancer in “high-quality”, I wouldn’t mind including that with his permission.
Also the combat system of 88flak, is pretty awesome, would you guys think you’d prefer that, or the regular form of gameplay?
Just looking for some feedback as you guys mostly have been here a lot longer and are in a better position to give me advice on what to include and what not to along with reasons.
Thanks
-
Again, you’re treading on thin ice here! How can you decide what’s an “upgrade”? I, for one, hate bloom. Is that an upgrade for me? Most definitely not.
If you want to make something that actually deserves the upgrade mention, you need to restrict it to the bare minimum; things that (almost) everyone will agree upon. You should also look into making the mod very customizable so people can decide to use only what they want, most likely through FLMM.
Any change to gameplay would be absurd. It wouldn’t be a patch anymore, since it would change core features.
Finally, on what do you expect people to play your upgrade? It likely will be incompatible with most mods out there. It may even cause compatibility issues with vanilla servers. Are you strictly expecting singleplayer use?
-
Rather than flagging it as a patch you should better call it a mod* and add in it the best things that YOU like from all the mods out there … but ask for permissions from those mod owners first.
My 2 cents -
You can talk about what things people like and what they don’t, since thats also the reason of this topic, but your logic applies to the vanilla freelancer as well. There are things some people would change, not like or like. If everyone stopped based on the notion of people disliking something there would be no movies, no games, no new products.
There is no difference except that I’m not Digital Anvil or a member of Microsoft Studios. As such there is no ice to tread on, I neither require nor need anyones permission here, let me just ask this; did any of you ask permission of your peers to complete your mods? I didn’t think so.
Unless I misread your meaning with the fact I am treading on “thin ice”, in which case I apologise.
As discussed in other threads the aim is to upgrade (for lack of a better word since I’m not a pedantic person and don’t argue semantics) the engine/data assets to a point where it would rival current and modern games, to put out screens and videos of gameplay via YouTube and other sites to get more people into Freelancer.
Then what mod they play is up to them. I don’t much care as long as I get them hooked or at least help push them towards the game.
-
One thing that everyone likes is updated graphics. More detailed textures plus bump maps and stuff like that. The rest can be discussed.
-
The thin ice I was mentioning is that calling a mod a patch can and most likely will put some people off. If you call it a mod, you won’t have the slightest issue. If you call it a patch, people will feel more entitled to demand that you fit everyone’s wishes, and will complain louder if the patch does not. It’s just a matter of wording, but just look at the reception Uberlancer got if you don’t believe me.
You may not be pedantic, but some people are and you especially don’t need any of what they could bring.
-
here we goes again…
FF has a point… Bloom can do bad things if not set right and coded around… Im still finding “glitches” and have been using it for a year now… (boxy FX textures… due to something in the ENB… probably additive light… or a shadow param… im still looking at a balance…)
we have seen what happens when you add stuff to FL… like 8 way strafe & roll (witch both rock!!) previously this year…
I personally give a 100% thumbs up to any advancement… even at the cost of some stability… but that’s me… you will hit great walls of “not on my server!” and that’s understandable, & most predictable.
Go for it though… as ye said… if we all ran the politically correct gambit… we’d all still be playing vanilla…
Look at the JFLP & Bas’s (sory m8… cant remember the name) mod first though… as both have done similar this year… but not to the point i can see you wanting to go to.
also ~Radiant~ released a HD texture pack… its not a full overhaull… but it does make alota things look 300% better
Best of luck!
-
I have included at the moment, jasons patch, an updated zlib file courtesy of strail of the void server, the hi-res texture pack you mentioned, and bloom, although I am still toying with it, and if you don’t like it too much FriendlyFire, you did mention envmapbasic had a lot of possibilities, if you can provide me with a copy of a modified one, I’ll use it as a replacement to bloom.
I just find the darkness options with slight bloom to look good, although there is certain times when it doesn’t play ball, like when entering a jumpgate from Magellan to New York, the star textures appear with black triangles around them.
About the changes, yes I guess you could call it a mod.
I had originally planned to include some gameplay changes to be of a similiar level in some other games.
After playing COD I imagined a sort of perks type system, you would unlock them as you rank up in worth.
Say for example extra damage with torpedoes, or a faster rate of fire, regenerating hull, quite a few options really, depending on the class you want to go for.
The roleplay elements haven’t really been expanded in the way of roleplay based equipment.
Pirates could have to stay within a certain proximity to steal your loot. A perk of this would be decreased time it takes to steal the loot. Or the other players could be using a Jamming perk, to stop them being able to steal without ordering them to via the standard tax message.
Navy ships could fire of a tracking tag missile or some such, and be able to see where the enemy is (until he/she dies obviously).
Even an ability to switch the roleplay class (maybe with some form of command and the player would be booted, when they come back they have their new ship and equipment options).
I can see a lot of possibilities although the ones above certainly would require a lot of hook use, and someone to program them.
But I think Freelancer multiplayer would be quite awesome with that in mind, along with the AI wingmen and player docking and the other cool features that have been developed over the years.
-
Finally, on what do you expect people to play your upgrade? It likely will be incompatible with most mods out there. It may even cause compatibility issues with vanilla servers. Are you strictly expecting singleplayer use?
This is, I think, the most important thing that has been asked in this thread.
As someone that runs a vanilla server, and already has enough problems with people running so-called “patches” that do nothing but cause problems that are immediately blamed on the server…
Let’s just say that the concept of having a “patch” that would create outright incompatibility would drive me half insane.
Call it a mod, and distribute it as an FLMM modpack if you plan on any changes beyond that which is purely graphical. Please.
-
While perks are nifty and bring a different style of play to the table, I don’t think they are a necessary element in freelancer. Developers drop those in to give their content lacking games some replayability.
We all know that freelancer isn’t missing any content, at all really. Not with the community it has. Don’t get me wrong though, taking the time to do it, and making it work, I’d like to see it, I think it would be pretty cool.
For now though, I recommend focusing on just beefing up the graphics, making them look improved, detailed and VERY appealing, and the easiest task to do on your list.
Make an extension mod after for your perk system if you can get it figured out, that way its an optional feature.
Also, for compatibility for those server hosts, use the SDK as a base for everything. Build up from that as I know the majority of vanilla servers use it for improved stability. More incentive for people to use your Enhanced Graphics.
Good luck!
