I fit into category 1 as far as FLShell goes, but perhaps you can accomplish some of what you want with Ioncross Freelancer Server Operator (IFSO). I’m not sure what you mean by personal banners; IFSO can do global banners and welcome to the server messages. No possibility of banners upon entering a system though.

Another update if finished. The mod is now on version 0.3 beta

As part of this update the visibility addon that Why485 did is now an option during activation. There is also an option to enable quick docking on a server due to many comments about how difficult is can be to dock (this has been enabled on the test server).

The Federation starships get a small makeover with a few new weapons and some small improvements to their turret coverage.

Well fiddling with the motor values works. I still don’t know exactly how though as increasing the engine life to 3 or acceleration to 100 both worked, but increasing the acceleration to 400 and reducing life to 0.25 didn’t.

At least I know what to fiddle with to make it work. Thanks for the help.

This is an odd bug that has been testing my patience. What happens is that the projectile effects for the flak guns I’ve added (essentially missiles with no tracking and a high explosive radius) just sit still in space where they were fired. This screen shot was taken two seconds after the guns were fired:

The effects were working fine until I installed the 1.1 patch for Freelancer, and reverting to 1.0 solves the problem again. I am not using a modified exe. Common.dll, Server.dll, and Content.dll are modified; however, replacing these with the unmodified does not solve the problem.

Some notes:

• This is a visual bug only, the weapons can still hit targets and deal damage.

• Other missiles show no signs of this problem.

• The projectile effecst will very rarely fly outwards as they are supposed to. This most often happens immediately after taking a screen shot.

• Increasing the acceleration applied by the motor results in the effect accelerating, but only directly forwards from the ship that fired the weapon and not in the direction the weapon was fired.

• Changing the constant_effect results in no change.

For reference here is the code for the flak weapons.

[Motor]
nickname = prototype_flak_5tur_motor
lifetime = 1.000000
accel = 1.000000
delay = 0

[Explosion]
nickname = prototype_flak_5tur_explosion
effect = ku_missile01_impact
lifetime = 0.000000, 0.000000
process = disappear
strength = 100
radius = 100
hull_damage = 22.2222
energy_damage = 0
impulse = 0.000000

[Munition]
nickname = prototype_flak_5tur_ammo
explosion_arch = prototype_flak_5tur_explosion
loot_appearance = ammo_crate
units_per_container = 10000
hp_type = hp_gun
requires_ammo = true
hit_pts = 2
one_shot_sound = fire_bolt_long
detonation_dist = 60
lifetime = 3.000000
Motor = prototype_flak_5tur_motor
force_gun_ori = false
const_effect = br_flakcannon01_proj
HP_trail_parent = HPExhaust
seeker = dumb
time_to_lock = 0
seeker_range = 2100
seeker_fov_deg = 0
max_angular_velocity = 0
ids_name = 550033
ids_info = 550033
mass = 0.000000
volume = 0.000404

[Gun]
nickname = prototype_flakcannon_5tur
ids_name = 550032
ids_info = 550032
DA_archetype = equipment\models\weapons\li_smlturret.cmp
material_library = equipment\models\li_equip.mat
HP_child = HPConnect
hit_pts = 5000
explosion_resistance = 0.800000
debris_type = debris_normal
parent_impulse = 20
child_impulse = 80
volume = 3.000000
mass = 3
hp_gun_type = hp_turret_special_1
damage_per_fire = 0
power_usage = 0.000000
refire_delay = 0.444444
muzzle_velocity = 399.000000
dispersion_angle = 1.333333
toughness = 2.400000
flash_particle_name = li_laser_03_flash
flash_radius = 15
light_anim = l_gun01_flash
projectile_archetype = prototype_flak_5tur_ammo
dry_fire_sound = fire_dry
separation_explosion = sever_debris
auto_turret = true
turn_rate = 90
lootable = true
LODranges = 0, 20, 60, 2000

[Gun]
nickname = prototype_flakcoil_5tur
ids_name = 550034
ids_info = 550034
DA_archetype = equipment\models\weapons\li_smlturret5.cmp
material_library = equipment\models\li_equip.mat
HP_child = HPConnect
hit_pts = 5000
explosion_resistance = 0.800000
debris_type = debris_normal
parent_impulse = 20
child_impulse = 80
volume = 3.000000
mass = 3
hp_gun_type = hp_turret_special_1
damage_per_fire = 0
power_usage = 0.000000
refire_delay = 0.444444
muzzle_velocity = 699.000000
dispersion_angle = 1.333333
toughness = 2.400000
flash_particle_name = li_laser_03_flash
flash_radius = 15
light_anim = l_gun01_flash
projectile_archetype = prototype_flak_5tur_ammo
dry_fire_sound = fire_dry
separation_explosion = sever_debris
auto_turret = true
turn_rate = 90
lootable = true
LODranges = 0, 20, 60, 2000

Asteroid visibility is unchanged from vanilla Freelancer.

Why458’s visibility changes really are excellent. In fact I’ve just finished updating the mod to include a lot of his changes.

The mod is now on version 0.2 beta (Download v0.2 beta).

The visibility is lower than Why485’s settings but there is also a link to files with his original settings (Download Why485’s visibility settings). I suggest downloading visibility changes from this link because of other changes to solararch.ini that are not included in Why485’s download.

Change list

• Added in most of the visibility changes by Why485 (ship and station visibility is lower than Why485’s setting by default)

• Quick docking at all stations (have to be within 200m of the docking point, about where the cut scene normally starts)

• Fixed capital ship railgun projectile effect

• Fixed bad loadout with one of the NPC ships

• Slight increase to cruise speed (350m/s now)

I’m quite glad this has caught a few of your eyes. It’s too bad that giving Why485 a heads up didn’t spawn a massive viral marketing campaign ;D.

Why485, it actually didn’t occur to me you would actually try the mod and so before I made this announcement I made a few changes. Therefore, you might have a different version of the mod from what I have on the server.

As for the server, it appears that Vista’s error reporting got in the way of IFSO from restarting the server. The error reporting is now disabled and the server is running again. Sorry for that oversight.

Independents Mod
Type: Conversion Mod
Current Version: v0.3 beta
Website: http://www.indy.ice-worlds.com/
Forums: http://www.forum.ice-worlds.com/

About the Mod
Independents is a conversion mod for Freelancer set in an original universe. The mod aims to make a more immersive experience by providing more contrast and variety than vanilla Freelancer did.

The mod is also lends itself more to encouraging teamwork by separating out rolls so that players can specialise more and complement each other when flying together.

The current version, dubbed the Alaska Prototype, is set up for the purpose of testing ships, equipment, combat, and the basic economy of the mod. Play is confined to the Alaska system, which has been set up specifically for testing with space for three of the mod’s primary factions and areas of varying levels of combat between them.

Combat
Combat in Independents can be fairly fast paced since weapons are a lot more lethal but with increased sensor ranges there is more tactical manoeuvring to get into a good firing position before combat really starts, epically for the starships.

Ships are not balanced so the biggest is best. In fact the smallest ships, fighters can be a real pain for larger ships that lack weapons to deal with them. Ships and weapons are fairly roll specific in Independents. There may be a best ship or best loadout for a particular job, but there is no best ship and no best loadout.

Trade
Trading is a rather risky occupation in Independents. With high commodity prices and larger trading ships it is very easy to spend every last credit on cargo, leaving nothing to spare in case of death. Of course some credits can be put aside, but that means buying less cargo or buying lower price cargo, both usually resulting in less profit.

There are also quite a few factors to consider when trading. Decisions have to be made whether to upgrade to a larger ship, carry more expensive cargo, or pay for a bribe with another faction to buy from them. Ship speed should also be considered as most starship don’t have cruise capability and have to trudge along at impulse speed.

Again, the goal is to not have a one-size-fits-all solution to trading. In safe space a fast ship might be best, on more dangerous routes having some self defence might be preferable to speed. A large starship might be able to carry more, on the other hand spaceships are usually faster and can dock anywhere.

Important Changes
Ranges: Sensor and combat ranges have been increased. Sensors have a maximum range of 10k. Ship sensors can be bought allowing for a customized choice based on detection range, scanning range, and sensor size. As far as combat ranges go, fighters still fight in about the same 1-2k combat range, but large starships can engage at much longer ranges.

Ship Types: Instead of the vanilla Freelancer ship types, which were based on ship size, Independents divides ships more by roll. Combat ship types include: fighters, corvettes, frigates, destroyers, and cruisers. Non combat ship types are: salvage, sloop, brigantine, barquentine, and freighter. (See Spacecraft of Independents for more info)

Ship Drag: All ships have much lower drag values than in vanilla Freelancer. As a result ships slide a lot more. So much that more manoeuvrable ships, such as frigates and small starships can end up flying backwards quite easily.

Fuel: Reactors in Independents have almost no energy regeneration. Once a ship runs out of energy it will have to limp home at significantly reduced speeds. This will add another factor to consider when selecting a ship and gives otherwise underpowered ships a niche as long range explorers.

Commodity Prices: Prices for trade commodities increase at an exponential rate while profits increase linearly. Low end commodities therefore have a much better profit per credit rate while high end commodities have a better profit per volume.

Alaska Prototype
The first released version of the mod, the Alaska Prototype Project is a prototype to for testing the ships and basic equipment for both combat and economic balancing. Much of the new universe is incomplete and so the Alaska system has been set up for this testing.

The prototype takes place in the Alaska system in which three of the four main factions are present and hostile to each other. Generic prototype weapons are shared by all factions for testing.

The Goal of the testing is to refine balancing before faction specific weapons are created and trade routes set up across multiple systems.

Getting Started

Getting the mod
Independents Downloads

Clients only require the Base Mod.

Servers require both the Base Mod and one of the Server Files downloads.

Installation
The base mod and server files can be activated with Freelancer Mod Manager. It doesn’t matter which order they are activated/deactivated in. If replacing an earlier version of the mod though, it is a good idea to deactivate it before extracting the new version.

Saved single player games may cause crashes on starup. Try moving or deleting single player games if you experience crashes (saved games are located in: Documents\My Games\Freelancer\Accts\SinglePlayer).

Test Server
Name: Iceworlds Independents
Address: 99.226.2.125
Server Rules

A small test server is running for anyone who would like to try out the mod. Since it is a test server free credits and rep changes can be provided upon request.

Please report any bugs encountered.
General feedback is very much welcome.

Videos
Independents Fighter Promo on Youtube

Independents Starship Promo on Youtube

Thank you.

Sorry if I seam to imply that there was ill intent over the crediting. I had assumed it was an error, either human or code relate, but I was nonetheless rather concered seeing someone eles’ name on my submission.

Anyway I hope I haven’t caused too much of an inconvence and I look forward to seeing the new downloads system.

I recently went ahead and submitted two small mods to the Downloads sections. I followed the Submitting Content, Files and Images tutorial, but there are numerous problems with both files I submitted.

For the first one, named Race Tracks Mod, I somehow ended up with some purple text in the description. I through I had cleared all the colours and none of the other formerly purple text stayed purple, but really not that big a deal.

What is a big deal is that the mod details shows freeworlds_sushi as the creator. This either has to be fixed or the file has to be removed from the Starport.

The second file, named Iceworlds Controls Mod, also has some formating problems. In its case the title has a background colour that hides the text. I really have no idea how that happened.

This time I did get credited as the creator, and I see there are some editing options listed under the mod. So that’s a huge improvement. However, the download doesn’t work giving the error: “The document is being edited/updated by a User and is unavailable at this moment.”

I have some more Freelancer mods that I can submit, but I want to know how these problems arose before I consider doing to.

I’m not sure how accurate this is but there is definitely a strong negative correlation between shield strength and the threshold value:

effective shield capacity = max_capacity * (1 - offline_threshold)

Shield will come back when both of these are true:
time offline >= max_capacity * offline_threshold / regeneration_rate
time offline >= offline_rebuild_time

To ensure any missiles you add don’t blow up too early here are some simple formulas for calculating the minimum time they need to reach their desired distance:

top speed = muzzle_velocity+accel * motor life
accel distance = muzzle_velocity * motor life + accel/2 * motor life

munition lifetime >= (seeker_range - accel distance) / top speed + motor life

Why can’t there be an extensive list of mods to accompany the promotion? I strongly agree with keeping the main promotion short to catch people’s attention but then if they’re interested give them a link to some more. In this case a list of mods. Keep the list simple, a name, a small image, a description in 500 characters, and a link to a promotional page for the mod, all supplied by the mod’s developer(s) of course.

That’s the sort of thing that would draw me in. Once something like this catches my eye I’ll happy spend some time browsing through a fairly long list relating to it, even more so if there is some images or colour to break it up.

Have you tried the poor man’s binary error checker?

Delete half the file and see if the problem goes away. If it does you know the problem is in that half. If it doesn’t, try the other half. If it still doesn’t go away delete everythign in the file. If the problem is still there you’re looking in the wrong file.

Then just keep cutting the code in half untill you isolate your bug.

A few notes I’ve picked up on weapon groups:

The ACTIVATE WEAPONS GROUP keys switch your active weapons to those in the selected group. Weapon selections for groups are automatically saved, there is no need for the ASSIGN WEAPON GROUP keys, although they will let you copy the currently active weapon group.

The FIRE WEAPON GROUP keys behave exactly as stated and fire all the weapons in a group without needing to activate the group.

Weapon group 1 is the default weapon group, and is active every time you launch or log into Freelancer (not when jumping between systems though).

Whichever weapon group you have active when docking or logging off will be overwritten with weapon group 1. Therefore always dock or log off with weapon group 1 active.

Ah that fixed it, thanks Cannon. I don’t normally use zoom, but I guess I must have accidentally. I still think that should probably be fixed if possible, but I can understand how it could easily go noticed.

Unless I am very much mistaken as to the intended appearance of the site, it is not appearing correctly in Firefox 3 for Windows. The problem is the sidebar is being place above the page content (see screenshot).  This problem does not appear to with: Chrome for Windows, Safari 3 for Mac or Windows, or Firefox 2 or 3 for Mac.

I believe this started fairly recently, maybe a week ago, but I might have just been using Safari before then and so not seen the problem it.  At any rate it’s getting annoying.  Please fix the css.

How do you balance it? Simple. Create a new mod from scratch with 1 ship and 1 gun. Make the gun fire two missiles that explode after 0.1s, do -1 damage, and have blast radii of 10000m. See, perfectly balanced. ;D

Also, not very much fun.

Actually…
On second thought, that might be kind of fun. I guess I’d be willing to host a small tournament like that where players start in separate bases and have to hunt each other down and the last player standing (or players if there are two) move(s) on to the next round. Don’t suppose anyone would be interested?

What about goal based team events instead of free for all? So like ]Imperium[Thrawn suggested but with a goal bedsides just killing everyone. In fact, you could allow respawns and let everyone continue to participate until one team wins.

We’ve tried a few goal based team events on the Ioncross server and in my opinion they shift focus from twitch skills to tactics. My explanations is that distracting a player is just as useful as kill if it keeps him from helping with his team’s goal, and by harassing multiple attackers instead of getting into a concentrated fight with one of them a single light fighter can significantly reduce how much attacking ships can focus on their target.

So far the goal of the events has always been to destroy or protect a player in a heavily armoured capital ship, but we’ve discussed other goals such as search and rescue/destroy, station blockades, convoy escort, and nomad invasions. The difficulty with some is that they require an impartial player to fly a target ship, so they don’t just hide in a station or off 1000k above the system. And others require some modding, which we’re not willing to do for a one day event.

Just something for whoever can host a tournament to consider.

A suburb collection of some very beautiful effects and sounds. The missile 02 effects are particularly stellar. Thanks for putting this pack together. I am definably going to have to play around with the effects some now.

I did have some trouble getting the explosion debris working. It appears that this entry, which is from explosion.ini in the Itano Circus mod, is not present in the copy of explosion.ini that I had. So, I created a new debris entry for the capital death debris and the effect worked fine.

[Debris]
nickname = debris_capital_death
death_method = exploding
lifetime = 8.00000, 16.000000
linear_drag = 0.1000
angular_drag = 100.000000, 100.000000, 100.000000
trail = gf_continuous_damage
;explosion = debris_flak_explosion

Running Freelancer now in Vista Home 64. It runs just fine, well after you get over the AV and IPv6 hurdles.

As for the AV hurdle I’ve tested both Avast and AVG anti-virus programs and both can work fine as of a few weeks ago. AVG’s Link Scanner caused problems as did Avast’s Network Shield, but those components need not be installed. I’ve also heard that AdAware’s Ad-Watch scanner should also be avoided, but I’ve never used that program myself.

I can’t say what needs to be run as admin because one of the first things I did with Vista was to turn off UAC.