Antares Mod: a Whole New Dimension for Freelancer
-
>>The Antares Mod<<
(click for link to the home website of =VFF= Productions for the DL & instructions)
brought to you by the team of =VFF= Productions, Team Leader and original author Achilles of GrimAxeYou flew all the missions of SP as Edison Trent and ended the Nomad threat to Sirius…or so you thought. Fifty years after what is now known as the First Nomad War, the Nomads are back with a vengeance. Humanity is evacuating the planets and bases of the Sirius Sector and withdrawn to the newly discovered Antares Sector.
>>The 2nd Nomad War<< brings unique challenges and opportunities to Freelancers and Clans. Gone are most of the bases and tradelanes in the Inner House systems. A few bold Freelancers continue to smuggle refugees past the Nomad Fleet. Opportunities arise in the buildup of infrastructure safely for the moment hidden behind an ancient alien Hypergate in the recently discoverd Antares Sector.
The Antares Mod brings Freelancer into a whole new dimension, with new systems, new factions and bases, including player designed and built custom bases and planets. A dynamic new commodity system updated with each release of Antares Mod Updates allows great opportunities for trading…and for piracy.
The equipment is totally interchangeable, and players can order new weapons designs. Ever wish you could arm a patriot with code guns and nomad weapons? Now you can. Modular design allows players to customize thier ships with unique powerplant, reactor, thruster, armor, scanner, and tractor beam designs.
The Antares Mod features dozens of new systems, an improved physics engine, myriad new modular equipment options and scores of new ship designs ranging from screaming fast Light Fighters to heavily armed Torpedo Bomber Very Heavy Fighters, some with multiple CD/T Launchers, all the way to player flyable trains, gunboats, and capitol ships.
>>The current direct connect IP for Vanguard 2 can be found here<<
>>If you have trouble getting the Antares Mod to work try checking here<<
For an In Character Tutorial on how to thrive in the Antares Mod, check out >>The Adventures of Alvin Noob<<
[XD]This is a PvP Server
Player Looting is Enabled
While most of the players there are friendly to newcomers, once you are established you may be attacked at any time without provocation by pirates (or by police and navy if you are a pirate or a smuggler) and Nomads (Nomads are for the time being limited to the Sirius Sector and the Zeta Corridor linking Sirius to Antares)…all in good fun and in the interest of keeping the action lively
-Please respect the {Vanguard} and {Sentinal} Server Admins-
Remember: they’re there to help the community, and they’re doing on thier own free time!
No swearing allowed in System Chat, period.
No swearing allowed in Private Chat or Group Chat without the consent of all parties.
Please keep in mind that the ‘vicious pirate’ or [NOM] you’re mad at could very well be a ten-year-old kid or somebody’s grandpa with his grandkids watching him play Freelancer over his shoulder.
Please read and abide by the server rules! >>Vanguard 2 Server Rules and News<<>>Roleplaying is strongly encouraged<<. After a hard mission or a breathtaking battle come join your comrades and adversaries in our RP bars.
The Vanguard Federation of Freelancers
=VFF Productions=
Antares Mod Team:
Achilles
CK
Han Solo
Poidrac
Lancer Solurus
Mutilator
Haunt
Ruppetthemuppet
Scorch
Maxwell
Killer BSpecial Thanks to Ship Contributors
XMT
Panther X
Mini-Me
Mancer
Forsaken
for contributing ships to the upcoming Antares 5.0 releaseAdditional Credits from the FLMM read-me for Antares Mod by Achilles of GrimAxe:
Giving Credit where credit is due!!
This MOD would not exist today without something these people have in some way added to it or to my knowledge of Freelancer MODDING
Thanks go to all those who have offered their modding knowledge up to help new modders on The Lancers Reactor forums, this has gotten me past quite a few bumps while making this mod.New Ships created by
Baene
Ceptyr
Redemption
Shifter MK I
Seething Fury
Scourge
Bloodrage
Switchblade
Spectre
Darkhorse
Plague
Colossus
Elite Defender
Draconji
Starskipper
Guardian
Gunstar
Interloper
Enfilade
Ragebringer
Silverfish
Marauder
Devestator
Starfield
Juggernaught
Outrider
Demon Experimental
Starshift
Anomaly
Bullpup MK I
Bullpup MK II
Bullpup MK III
Elite Nomad Fighter
Hydra MK III
Rapier
Silverfish MK II
Skiff
Templar
Stumpy Tug
Undertow
Zeus
Ferocity
Grim
Miser
Orb
Pantheon
Phoenix CR
Peregrine
xR844 Interceptor
Pod
Meesa Racer
Vortex
Soul Reaper
Assassin Mk 2
Demon Mk 2
Artemis
Final Breath
Ceptyr A-3
Defiant
Emperor’s Might
Ubermacht
Bloodfeast
Baene’s Tooth
Black Dragon
Crusher
Nephthys
Praetorian
LokiFireBase
Ghost
Basilisk
Black Specter
Death Scythe
Phantom
Ravenclaw
SlipstreamAstral Prime Studios
Starviper
Cougar
Hornet X
APS Pegasus
APS Griffen
APS HydraAug Ship Pack
Gaijin MK I
Gaijin MK II
Halycon MK II
Halycon MK I-A
Halycon MK I
Ryuoken
Seraphim
Behemoth
Hawkeye MK IIAluminumHaste/Argh
Enforcer - Civilian
Enforcer - PirateDwD/Wanderer
Thunderbird
X Fighter
Y Fighter
Z Fighter
RavenCaid
Bretonia ChampionOspery
OspreyHavikar, UltraLeon Works
SwordFishBuckaroo Banzai
StarblazerDS9 Starfighter
Thunder (aka Aen Nnea Thhaei)Author Unknown (please send me any information reguarding authership of these)
Mauler
Hydra
Longsword
Order BomberThanks to Nephilim and his Capital Ship Encounters Tutorial on Lancers Reactor that got me stared in modding.
Alcander is also due some thanks for the transferable engines and credit limit incress patches he created, keep up the good work Alcander.
Nebulae Wolf for the of the icons used for some of the new equipment.
Wyrmblight Dragonsbane for the new commodity icons, the opening splash screen, and the Universe map background.
Haunt for several new weapons.
Han Solo for his work on the Saskatchewan system and a few new toys to go with it.
CK, Poidrac, Scorch and the rest of the Vanguard Mod Team for their assistance, it would not have gotten done without all you guys.Icon Pack v1.0 by Nebulae Wolf
Some of the new weapons were taken from the “Just For Fun MOD v 1.1” by Jim Rupp (Old Beowulf).
Of the following I atlered a few things to better fit the Antares Expansion MOD but left as much of Beowulf’s work as I could.–-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mines and Countermeasuers:Liberty Experimental Mine
Bretonia Pursuit Mine
Order Plasma Mine Mk1
Order Plasma Mine Mk2
Missiles:
Javelin C Missile
Eraser C Missile
The above 2 missiles use the standard ammo but mount on the cruise disruptor hardpoint.Liberty Experimental Missile
Order Missile MK1-C (cruise disruptor mount)
Order Missile MK1 (class 9 gun hardpoint)
Order Missile Turret MK1 (class 9)
Order Missile MK2-C
Order EMP Missile MK1 (cruise disruptor mount)
Order EMP Missile Turret MK1 (class 9)
Nomad Torpedo
Nomad Cruise Disruptor
Dragoon Type 4 (Outcasts, class 7)
Dragoon Type 4 Turret (Outcasts, class 7)
Funny thing here. The Outcasts had class 6 and class 8 tachyon-based weapons, but no class 7, so I added them.Guns and Turrets:
Naginata (Blood Dragons, class
Death’s Hand Mk IV (Order, class
Death’s Hand Turret Mk IV (Order, class
Death’s Hand Mk V (Order, class 9)
Death’s Hand Turret Mk V (Order, class 9)
Reaper Mk IV (Order, class
Reaper Turret Mk IV (Order, class
Reaper Mk V (Order, class 9)
Reaper Turret Mk V (Order, class 9)
Hornviper Mk III (Rhineland, class 10)
Tizona del Cid Turret (Corsairs, class 9)
Kraken Turret (Outcasts, class 9)
BLOODSTONE TURRET (Bretonia, class 10)
Tobie’s Edge (Bretonia, class 7)
Tobie’s Edge Turret (Bretonia, class 7)
Bretonia Pursuit Gun (Bretonia, class
Bretonia Pursuit Turret (Bretonia, class
Bretonia Pursuit Cannon (Bretonia, class 10)
Xenos Solution (Liberty, class 1)
Xenos Solution Turret (Liberty, class 1)
Liberty Experimental Cannon (Liberty, class 6)
Class 10 Turrets:
Bretonia Cannon Turret
Hornviper Mk III Turret
GOLDEN BLADE Turret
ARCHANGEL Turret
DARK BLOSSOM Turret=======================================================================================
----------)XTS Station Pack V2(----------
XTS Nova,
XTS Xbase,
XTS uhmrah,
XTS sirius wheel,
XTS Solar Refinery,
XTS Meridian-Station,XTS Solar Refinery, XTS Nova, XTS Xbase, Modelled by: XTS-ImperaTodd
XTS uhmrah, XTS sirius wheel, XTS Meridian-Station, Modelled by: XTS Rankor
Hardpoints & Script: XTS-TheXtreme
XTS Solar Replacement Mod
Model & Texture created by XTS ImperaTodd
Hardpoints & Script done by XTS The Xtreme
XTS-Vancusz
Model & Texture created by Todd
Hardpoints & Script done by The Xtreme
-
-
It’s too bad that after all the years you guys took credit for this, you forgot to add that you took the mod, renamed it, and claimed all rights to it without asking the original author of the mod if it was “cool”.
A little backstory on the Antares Mod.
Used to be called the Hunters Mk II Mod.
Originally the Hunters Mod was designed for use on the HA1 server, which was the flagship server for the HA community. The original Hunters Mod was not as extensive, but was the groundbreaking (shall we say) for the idea of what became the Mk II version of the mod. Over 500 man hours were put into the first versions of the Mk II mod by the original author (Brandon L. Stefanelli, aka Skyevallen). Eventually financial issues arose and the mod was moved over to the HA2 server, which was run by who decided it was a great idea to take a mod without permission and rename it (Edward Norton, aka Achilles of GrimAxe). The confusing point in all this modding was that, for a time, both Skyevallen and Achilles worked on parts of the mod; I guess that’s where the “It’s Okay” came into the playing field for taking the mod and doing as they pleased with it without giving credit to the original author and modder came from.
Due to personal differences that ended up becoming a major fallout between the Allies of the HA community, you ended up with Achilles of GrimAxe and a bloke over in the UK that went by Predator (Michael Aldcroft, HA3’s owner) that formed the VFF community. For several years after the fact, the HA community was bashed because people couldn’t be civil. Dischord ensued and eventually I just moved on and closed up the HA community and its servers.
So, now that that is out of the way……give credit where it is properly due…to the original owner, that god forbid if had to, has all the original modding work saved to discs, including the Mk I version of the mod. Yes there were others that were involved, as far as ship models that were allowed to be used through express written permission first obtained from those editors (and yes they were mentioned in the info logs of the mod for credit due). Yes, the VFF guys did go further into modding and eventually created newer things for the mod. This was a major idea, a major re-creation of Freelancer, at least be honest about the mod’s origins.
Yours Truly,
SkyeOriginal Founder of the Hunters Association Community and Author of the Hunters Mk II Mod (renamed Antares Mod).
-
Hi there Killer and Skye, although it’s over a year since I stopped working on the mod I feel it’s necessary to comment on some points raised here.
The Antares mod apart from the concept of being set after a second Nomad war has very little in common with the Ha 2 mod (which I played and enjoyed).
They do share a number of ship types but the ships are the intelectual property of the original shipwrights and as far as I’m aware the permission for use was asked for and granted whereever possible (after all this time some shipwrights are impossible to contact).
Like the equipment the ship were rebalanced with shiparch edits (revised hold sizes, additional thrusters etc) and in some cases revised hardpoints.
Apart from original game systems the mod was built with completely new systems and the universe structure was very different to the Ha2 mod.
The game economy was completely new and built to match earnings with the mission payouts and sometimes exceed them with some very challenging commodities and trade routes (refugees via the Zeta’s anyone? :-o)
The may be common weapon types but all the weapons have been rebalanced several times so in reality they share the same name and very little else.
The same applies for the engines and powerplants as the range of both was expanded significantly and went through several rebalancing exercises.
I had a look at some backup files myself and the Ha2 mod had been renamed Aurora (Sept 06) not Antares, anyway time to move on as sadly Freelancer has a very limited player count these days although I’d struggle to find a space/combat/trading game that I’ve enjoyed anywhere near as much.
All the best CK(256)
