Elite mixed with Freelancer

[scorpyon]

Please bear in mind this is just a personal opinion.

For me, Freelancer has always beente beat and most engrossing space game i have ever played. It is very similar to Elite in its sandbox side, though the main difference I've found is that FL managed to drive you to progress further.

Admittedly this was in large part due to the story aspect of the game which isnt the direction Frontier want to go and thats fine. Though there were plenty more areas that added to its greatness.

The thriving space atations filled with life and the bustle of activity. The way that you were able to or seem to have impact on the state of political affairs around you.

The way that jumping into another system gave you shivers of anticipaion mot knowing what battle fleet might wait for you on the other side.

A lot of these things maybe stuff that Frontier is planning for at some point which is great. For me, I'm hoping that in another year or two, I'll be able to honestly say that ED has replaced that lofty mantle currently held by Freelancer as the greatest sandbox space game of all tiiiiiime!

(Again, subjective. You dont have to agree! Heh!)

 

[DimGook]

Maybe wait for the actual sequel to Freelancer, SC? *ducks*

 

[Tarman]

I always liked bugging NPCs to see where they were going; maybe tag along as an escort if it was headed my way. Lots of fun with the bustle you mentioned.

 

[scorpyon]

Maybe wait for the actual sequel to Freelancer, SC? *ducks*

I am going to hunt you down.
It doesn't matter where you go.
I will search for you.
I will find you.
And when I find you...
...I will tell you you suck.

 

[Cmdr Pli55ken]

Freelancer is, to me, a totally different critter from Elite. Don't get me wrong: Freelancer is a good game, but it suffers massivley from 'superman syndrome' (not unlike most other spacesims: X-wing/Tie-fighter, X-series,... ) .
I'm pretty glad that Elite isn't chooinsg that route. If I want to play something like Freelancer I play...erm...Freelancer. Neither should replace the other.

 

[scorpyon]

Freelancer is, to me, a totally different critter from Elite. Don't get me wrong: Freelancer is a good game, but it suffers massivley from 'superman syndrome' (not unlike most other spacesims: X-wing/Tie-fighter, X-series,... ) .
I'm pretty glad that Elite isn't chooinsg that route. If I want to play something like Freelancer I play...erm...Freelancer. Neither should replace the other.

Oh, I totally agree with you. I wouldn't expect Elite to BE Freelancer.
Just that there were some wonderful gameplay mechanics / nuances that would really work well in Elite and help the game in terms of immersion and feelings of progression / influence, etc.

 

[Monk]

I love Freelancer...in fact, my current character in ED is a descendant of the RP character family I had in Discovery Freelancer, the Edgecombs.

Blood Dragons forever!

However, ED resolves a lot of the issues I had with that game. First and foremost, planet size. The planets in FL are just comically small and distances between celestial objects is nothing more than a short stroll. Even flights to jump holes well off the trade lanes seem like quick jaunts compared to supercruise. Also, the flight mechanics of ED win hands down. The point to fly/shoot mechanic worked quite well and engine kill moves are pretty satisfying but it all feels a bit off and disconnected from the actual control of the ship.

What Freelancer has in spades though is drama and flavor. Each of the major factions' systems have distinct characteristics and themes. Compared to ED, the factions just feel a lot more established and developed in FL. Weapon variety between factions is also something I think ED could take a cue from. Especially with the back story of the Empire, much of their technology should have diverged from Federation technology...Though, I suppose it is possible that the major galactic corporations were bridging the gap between the two factions well before they had borders that were touching each other.

 

[Muthax]

Didn't Freelancer (or was it Starlancer) start CR obsession with strafing and turning any fight into Quake in Space?

 

[theriverlethe]

Despite it's flaws, I've already played Elite way more than I played Freelancer. Freelancer was just too casual for me. I actually like the cargo scoop mechanic in Elite, as opposed to just flying into a "power-up."

 

[Cmdr Pli55ken]

in terms of immersion and feelings of progression / influence, etc.

As I see it the galaxy - or even a single planet/station - in Elite is supposed to be (a lot) bigger than the player. So influence by one player is something I would not expect in this game. And progression is also not something that is part of Elite (as there is no defined goal). You set your own goals and thereby define what progression means for you.

As for immersion...I'm not sure where Elite is lacking in that respect. And one of the things that has been announced for future expansions is planet landings and walking around on space stations, so that's only gonna get better.

 

[theriverlethe]

Did Freelancer even have joystick support?

 

[Monk]

Did Freelancer even have joystick support?

I suppose you could map a joystick as there were bindable controls for roll pitch and yaw (not sure on the yaw). Though you would lose so hard since you would be limited in your firing ability. Most weapons have full turreted capability and you controlled where those turrents shot by aiming your cursor (which also affected the turn of your ship unless you disabled mouse flight).

Jousting is about the only kind of PvP combat tactic available (1v1 in anything smaller than gunboat). Though there are other styles that weren't as widely used. I would use a bomber to stuff Novas down enemy throats...almost no gimbal on it but you could equip two of them on a bomber and one shot opponents if you could line them up without eating a torrent of laser fire.

Also, capship fighting is better with this kind of aiming since you could line up a broad side shot or shoot behind you.

 

[NumptyScrub]

For me, Freelancer has always been the best and most engrossing space game i have ever played. It is very similar to Elite in its sandbox side, though the main difference I've found is that FL managed to drive you to progress further.

Freelancer was great, but it was a series of small sandboxes connected by railway tracks. Imagine E: D where you can only visit 10 systems at first, can only buy the Sidewinder, Eagle and Hauler, and only buy E rated gear, until you have more than X monies and have passed story mission 5.

Then another 10 systems open up, you can buy 2 more ships (Viper and Adder) and D rated gear, and can't progress until you've made 10X monies and passed story mission 10. Et cetera

That part always grated a little, because I could sandbox my way to megabucks but then had to actually run story missions before I was allowed to upgrade, and the upgrades were usually orders of magnitude better than the old gear. I don't think you could take the starting ship with the starting guns to the end area and even do damage to enemy ships :/

The X series is a giant sandbox, and in some cases I totally forgot there were story missions at all If you like space sandboxes then see if you can pick up one of the X titles cheap; X3: Albion Prelude would be my recommendation, bear in mind that while X: Rebirth is the latest release, it was plagued with game-breaking issues for months and that put me off playing it a while ago (I should probably fire it up again, I already paid for it after all).

 

[CMDR Jenna Nord]

Freelancer is, to me, a totally different critter from Elite. Don't get me wrong: Freelancer is a good game, but it suffers massivley from 'superman syndrome' (not unlike most other spacesims: X-wing/Tie-fighter, X-series,... ) .
I'm pretty glad that Elite isn't chooinsg that route. If I want to play something like Freelancer I play...erm...Freelancer. Neither should replace the other.

Ever played Freelancer in Multiplayer? You get no "superman syndrome" there, it is quite a lot of fun to be honest. In fact, its really a shame to say, but you got the things there that should be in ED too.

A universe thats gave the illusion to live (random chatter from nearby pilots). Some faces (just visit a bar). Exploring was fun (you ever flew through a gas/storm cloud with zero sight and then suddenly discovered a derelict ship or a secret base?). If you worked on a faction you got some rewards too (ships and weapons only buyable from that faction). "Wings" already worked in that game (one click and you have a formation with your friend(s)).

 

[Tarman]

Ever played Freelancer in Multiplayer? You get no "superman syndrome" there, it is quite a lot of fun to be honest. In fact, its really a shame to say, but you got the things there that should be in ED too.

A universe thats gave the illusion to live (random chatter from nearby pilots). Some faces (just visit a bar). Exploring was fun (you ever flew through a gas/storm cloud with zero sight and then suddenly discovered a derelict ship or a secret base?). If you worked on a faction you got some rewards too (ships and weapons only buyable from that faction). "Wings" already worked in that game (one click and you have a formation with your friend(s)).

For as teeny and boxy as the game felt on a galactic scale, it nailed a lot of the little details really well.

"This is... Black.. Seventeen. I'm taking a load of... Water to the... California system."

 

[DimGook]

Ever played Freelancer in Multiplayer? You get no "superman syndrome" there, it is quite a lot of fun to be honest. In fact, its really a shame to say, but you got the things there that should be in ED too.

Yes, playing freelancer pvp you find out real quick you're no superman

 

[Steve50]

I have to be honest and say I hated Freelancer.

It really really bugged me that I was attacked EVERY 3-4 minutes no matter what I'm doing or where I was. It was incredibly irritating and put me off the game in the end.

 

[Mangotrees]

I love Freelancer, i still play it now.

If Star Citizen is anywhere near as good as Freelancer was then im afraid Elite Dangerous might be in trouble of losing a lot of its players, maybe thats why they released it so fast?

Many people say theyre both completely different games, but from what i hear, Star Citizen will have a single player game built into an open world experience - kind of like Grand Theft Auto (Either follow the missions or go off doing what you want)

To me thats the best of both worlds, if they pull it off, it will make Elite Dangerous kind of redundant, if you can do everything in one game, why do you need a second game that only does half of what the first game does?

 

[General Specific]

I love Freelancer...in fact, my current character in ED is a descendant of the RP character family I had in Discovery Freelancer, the Edgecombs.

Blood Dragons forever!

However, ED resolves a lot of the issues I had with that game. First and foremost, planet size. The planets in FL are just comically small and distances between celestial objects is nothing more than a short stroll. Even flights to jump holes well off the trade lanes seem like quick jaunts compared to supercruise. Also, the flight mechanics of ED win hands down. The point to fly/shoot mechanic worked quite well and engine kill moves are pretty satisfying but it all feels a bit off and disconnected from the actual control of the ship.

What Freelancer has in spades though is drama and flavor. Each of the major factions' systems have distinct characteristics and themes. Compared to ED, the factions just feel a lot more established and developed in FL. Weapon variety between factions is also something I think ED could take a cue from. Especially with the back story of the Empire, much of their technology should have diverged from Federation technology...Though, I suppose it is possible that the major galactic corporations were bridging the gap between the two factions well before they had borders that were touching each other.

Blood Dragons...pah!!

Had a lot of fun on Discovery though...Spyglass ftw!! Well until they ruined the flak guns :-(

 

[Monk]

I have to be honest and say I hated Freelancer.

It really really bugged me that I was attacked EVERY 3-4 minutes no matter what I'm doing or where I was. It was incredibly irritating and put me off the game in the end.

Yeah, starting out was tough...even the weakest of bandits could give you quite the headache. Once you upgrade a bit though....like fish in a barrel

Pirating or being one of the bandits was pretty fun in MP. Some trade ships could broad side your fighter and leave you smoldering. Other times, when they would try to run, it was actually a pretty fun race to disable them or get them to stop before they could get to the jump gate.