I got an idea keeping this game alive

@foxUnit01:

@FriendlyFire:

We could make a pool of each mod’s footage and then give everyone the chance to make their all-around video. The best is then voted for and used.

The modders and communities would decide what footage to give out (we can give limits on time and content), everything is pooled together and video makers are asked to do their best stuff while respecting some guidelines (like including an equal share of all mods and such).

Quoted for truth.

Also, w0dk4, that is indeed a huge hurdle. It would probably have to be an action-packed trailer, because let’s face it - nobody cares about pretty system flybys unless they’re into the whole space thing. Also, as much as it irritates me to say it, pretty graphics are a good way to show the casual passer-by that a game is still alive and kicking modding-wise. It would probably be a good idea to start and end the video with a graphics-heavy mod (at the start to draw the user in, and then at the end again to “reassure” the user)

Absolutely. I see this as a challenge. I would love to do a video. Just send me lots of source clips and I will see what I can do. Over-dramatizing stuff is my specialty. I particularly want footage from Firekiss/Plasmafire as graphic whoring is the way to go when you want to sell something.

Just send clips of the most cinematic things you can think of. This does not necessarily mean battles, as 100% battles for a video is no good. Just send me lots of clips, with descriptions of the videos and plus points to the mod in question.

Well then… FriendlyFire, you said there was some sort of “Save FL” forum? Looks like this just may get underway after all.

I think system flybys can be done in a particularly fun way: get your ship moving at good speed (set cruise to say 1000) and record in a straight line (remove your SUR, give yourself green rep, remove all HUD).

Once the video is done, speed it up so the whole system is crossed in about 5 seconds. The effect should be similar to EVE, which many say looks “gorgeous”. Would be worth a try, no?

And I agree; we should mix action-packed, colorful sequences a bit everywhere, particularly at the start and end.

EDIT: fox, you’re in

EDIT2: Why, I’ve added you too.

Again! The priority is cinematic. Camera work is of utmost importance. If that means you have to cheat to set these up, then so be it. Setting cockpit FOV to much tighter than usual makes for a great camera ship as well.

I’m in…

I don’t know where I am going however. Do I pass on good looks alone?

With regards to the video I was proposing. Here is the benchmark.

I made this video to show everyone what I meant by camera angles and all that nonsense. If people send me their footage I can put together similar videos for the Freelancer community as a whole.

Super High Quality: http://tinyurl.com/6luwbb

High Quality: http://tinyurl.com/6mjsgk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXD4N_Mi1iE

As M0tah put it, one of the most epic FL videos I have ever seen. The video makes a powerful statement on how Freelancer can still capture life in an open universe. If multiple mods could be wrapped up in a presentation similar to this, that would be stellar. You do a good job at pulling the viewer in with the text introduction, solumn music, and first shot of scattered debris (is that Freeport 7 in the Sigmas? lolepic)

Also, fair warning, the following is a completely bias comment, as I worked on the AI in question in the first place - but it’s great to see AI NPCs - the bulk of Freelancer’s population - as the star of a video. It seems most videos are heavily PvP oriented (even mod advertising videos), and while this may be amusing to pure competition gamers, I do not think it appeals as much to the crowd that would be potentially interested in Freelancer, who would like to see a world that is as “alive” as possible. After all, the core aspect of an open world game - the “people” that inhabit it, which is again for Freelancer its AI NPCs - must be as powerful as all of the other elements, and I can not help but feel that they are overlooked.
If you want to look at it another way - past the immersiveness standpoint, and more from a pure gameplay standpoint - don’t most of you spend a good chunk of your Freelancing time blasting these NPCs?

just one question
when you have that vid finished… what do we do with it?

@Why485:

With regards to the video I was proposing. Here is the benchmark.

I made this video to show everyone what I meant by camera angles and all that nonsense. If people send me their footage I can put together similar videos for the Freelancer community as a whole.

Super High Quality: http://tinyurl.com/6luwbb

High Quality: http://tinyurl.com/6mjsgk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXD4N_Mi1iE

epic! Wow, really nicely done, you sure know how to do videos

words cannot speak how awesome that video is.

Just out of curiosity as to the procedure… Did you use a cockpit view with a smaller FOV for the shaky camera sequences? Does Itano Circus use a bit of bloom? Did you modify your camera ship to be invisible, have no thruster effect, etc?

The effect given by this video is truly stellar. If all mods can pull off such things, I belive we could even try to re-release FL as a 2008 game ;D

If you could detail your technique, Why, maybe some mods can then use the help to make even better videos.

Also, remember to send us a news item about the video/initiative so we can put it up for everyone to see.

I forgot that the post detailing the Camera ship was on the private forum. (Why is that forum private anyway? Of all things that should be open, wouldn’t something like “Saving Freelancer” be one of them?)

This sets up the camera FOVs as well as gets rid of the mouse.

http://files.filefront.com/Camera+plus+noxhairrar/;12611850;/fileinfo.html

However everyone has different ship code. I took the smallest ship I have (Patriot) and just modified these lines.

mass = 300
camera_offset = 0, 0
camera_angular_acceleration = 0
camera_horizontal_turn_angle = 0
camera_vertical_turn_up_angle = 0
camera_vertical_turn_down_angle = 0
camera_turn_look_ahead_slerp_amount = 0
nudge_force = 72000
strafe_force = 72000

I am also using a modified OPEN SP to give me a patriot when I do a new game. The loadout in loadouts.ini was modified to add this.

equip = cloak_fighter, HpCloak01

The higher mass gives you a much smoother platform as well as a ship capable of moving at great speed in all directions. I recommend you add and bind the strafe up/down commands as well.

With all this put together, you get a ship that flies pretty stable. Is invisible. External view is slightly zoomed in FOV, and Cockpit view is zoomed in. You can easily switch between the two zooms just by switching cockpit/external.

I also hex-edited the targeting bracket multiplier so that the brackets appear at only super close range. However this has unusual side effects in asteroid fields so be aware of that. On top of that, I added type = NON_TARGETABLE to mines so that they do not display the little red Xs. Again, using OPEN SP, I made it so that I am neutral to all factions.

Have you encountered issues with the bracket highlights showing up despite the EXE hacks? I know I’ve tried doing a similar No-HUD mod, but if I hover over a ship with my mouse, the brackets will show up again and will flash yellow (despite the brackets being invisible in all other cases). I believe this is using another part of the code, but I haven’t found any way of disabling it.

EDIT: I’ve also taken the liberty to host your No HUD mod here. You can download it at the following address:
http://the-starport.net/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=105&Itemid=43

EDIT2: I’ve made the save FL board public, as you’re right, I don’t know why we put it private in the first place ::)

@FriendlyFire:

Have you encountered issues with the bracket highlights showing up despite the EXE hacks? I know I’ve tried doing a similar No-HUD mod, but if I hover over a ship with my mouse, the brackets will show up again and will flash yellow (despite the brackets being invisible in all other cases). I believe this is using another part of the code, but I haven’t found any way of disabling it.

This does still happen. Fortunately however, this is entirely present in the video that I posted and it really is not all that noticeable unless you look for it. Don’t worry too much about it. The biggest issue is in asteroid fields. It causes the [Cube] asteroids to randomly appear/disappear while you fly through them. For the Tau-31 shot I recorded about 2 minutes of footage and used the best couple seconds I could find with minimal popping.

Cheese on toast said he managed to get a hudless FL, last night actually, all spam his PM inbox

lol, i said id nearly done it its getting there tho XD works more

also note FF has done most of the work on top of what WHY has already done

@cheese:

lol, i said id nearly done it its getting there tho XD works more

also note FF has done most of the work on top of what WHY has already done

OK Everyone instead of spamming his inbox with mail about getting this hudless INI, spam it for not doing it quick enough

sorry cheese for the misunderstanding, I’ve rectified it

no worries now excuse me while i go destroy my f**kin router -_-