Broken Bonds
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Welcome to the Pleiades…
It was the twenty-third century: mankind’s darkest hour. The Coalition closed on the Alliance’s final bastions in order to finally annihilate the last vestiges of their way of life. Five great sleeper ships fled into the interstellar void, pioneers heading for the Sirius sector. But what of those left behind?Either destroyed by sabotage or direct conflict, the Australian, Italian and French sleeper ships had been eliminated. The French severed ties with the shell of the Alliance, going their own way. In a last-ditch attempt to escape the Coalition’s clutches, the people of the two remaining grounded nations, Italy and Australia, united to launch their own ship. They called it Invictus… the Unconquered.
Navigation all but crippled in a Coalition ambush, the Invictus flew blind, away from the blockade, away from Sol. Away from Sirius. Against all odds, the battered ship arrived with its precious cargo in the Pleiades, a sector glowing with new stars… and new worlds. The two nations went their separate ways upon arrival, stripping the Invictus and leaving it to drift.
That was six hundred years ago, when we came here to rebuild our lives. But now the bonds that joined us have been broken, and two nations once united stand on the brink of war.
North versus South. Empire versus Commonwealth. Tyranny versus liberty.
Where will you stand?
The Broken Bonds mod is a total conversion of the original Freelancer engine, set in the Pleiades. We’ll be using the same universe and timeline as the original Freelancer, meaning nothing will be happening here that isn’t plausible in the original game. There will be a notable lack of Nomads and other intelligent alien species, but we feel that’s for the best. Of course, without the blessing of Valhalla One (designed for the benefit of Sirius’ Nomads), the Pleiades’ new residents have had to figure out how to get themselves from place to place on their own.
Here’s a sample of titbits to drum up some interest:
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The Pleiades sector currently consists of 23 accessible systems (if you see the 24th you’ve been extremely naughty), spread across the three distinct regions of Medicea, Southern Cross and the Frontier.
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There are currently 15 entirely original factions, each with their own background, character and lore. More will probably be introduced as areas are perfected.
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New and diverse weapon types ensure your opponents will be burning, exploding, rupturing and disintegrating in cruel and inventive ways. You can look forward to working lasers, rail guns, plasma cannons, rockets and missiles alongside the stock weapon types of the original game!
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We place personal pride in our world building skills, having literally worked the writing team’s typing fingers into bloody mockeries of digits. In the Sardinia system alone, there are currently 193 unique rumours implemented across 6 bases, as well as numerous station and system specific news articles. Expect much more of the same!
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A multitude of ships will be open for purchase, ranging from speedy interceptors and racing ships to sluggish freighter-like bombers. Of course, that would be forgetting the wide variety of trade ships, frigates and cruisers players will also be able to acquire. For context, a Broken Bonds cruiser is roughly the size of a Rhienland Battleship.
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There is a whole new architectural style for players to explore, ranging from the behemoth Canberra Station in New South Wales, to the brooding Medicean fortress of Serviane. The jump gates and trade lanes of Sirius are also conspicuously missing, replaced by regional equivalents.
We are of course taking suggestions from the wider Freelancer community and would more than welcome any who are interested in this project to register on our personal forum or track us on ModDB in order to be notified of updates. Similarly, we will also welcome anyone with technical skills who wish to help out - after all, you can never have enough modellers or programmers.
Here are some useful links in case your interest has been piqued (although the Wiki is mostly unused at the moment. This will be fixed in due time).
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