Freespace series

[CeeKay]

GOG is supposed to be having a big Interplay sale tomorrow, and these are on my list to get.  the big question is are these games playable with a mouse/keyboard combination?  also, any must have mods for the game?

[TiLT]

Considering I played through them with a mouse and keyboard combination, I'd say they're definitely playable that way. I'd still recommend getting a force-feedback joystick though, if nothing else just to feel the afterburner and the kickback from your missiles.

[Chaz]

So if I've got both FS 1+2 on CD, is there any reason to consider getting the GOG versions? I've never tried running them under Win7.

[Blackjack]

A little Googling reveals mixed results...

http://www.warp2search.net/contentteller/compatdb_details/freespace_2_windows.html

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=65097.0

Their observations reflect my own spotty luck with older games in Vista 64-bit.

I do recall it was relatively fun to play via mouse/keys, though I always treated it as an excuse to wipe the dust and cobwebs off my CH Flightstick Pro.  

Echelon, a Russian-made space combat game published by Bethesda way back, was probably one of the few space combat games I tried that seemed esp. friendly to mouse/keyboard users.
http://games.toptenreviews.com/reviews/g8728.htm
It's no Freespace (Echelon's far less ambitious), but I have a few faintly fond memories of it.

[cheeba]

I thought Echelon was awful and perhaps the worst game purchase I've ever made. It was incredibly buggy and difficult, and you don't even have chaffe to defend against missiles. If anyone shot missiles at you, you were pretty much instantly dead and there was nothing you could do about it.

The Freespace series, however, is all sorts of awesome. It's worth getting a joystick for. You'll never really feel like you're flying with the mouse and keyboard.

[Daehawk]

Last time I played..this year..I used some new texture mod.

[Zarkon]

Just so you guys know, I'm working up a review of Freespace via GoG, on Windows 7 64-bit.

[CeeKay]

Just so you guys know, I'm working up a review of Freespace via GoG, on Windows 7 64-bit.

awesome.

[Chaz]

If they definitely work on Win7 64, I'll probably grab them.  Especially since they'll only be $6.  Gives me an excuse to dust off the old joystick.

[Caine]

I thought Echelon was awful and perhaps the worst game purchase I've ever made. It was incredibly buggy and difficult, and you don't even have chaffe to defend against missiles. If anyone shot missiles at you, you were pretty much instantly dead and there was nothing you could do about it.

The Freespace series, however, is all sorts of awesome. It's worth getting a joystick for. You'll never really feel like you're flying with the mouse and keyboard.

i remember having only a smattering of fun with it and that was due to the low level flight and the ground effects you got from flying nap-of-the-earth.  i never got very far with it though, and even with the patches, it was definitely a very flawed game.  sad, it had potential too.  i also grabbed the sequel for a few bucks some years later, but didn't get much out of it either.  the community was pretty memorable though, and i still remember how pissed everyone got when the sequel was announced while we waited for the promised 'uber' patch.  also one of the biggest regrets and sadly a recurring thing with many early eastern european games.

[Zarkon]

Early blurb on Freespace 1: 

It runs /great/, although make sure your firewall is set beforehand, because you cannot alt-tab out of the game and back in.

The graphics definitely show their age, and newer joysticks need to have sensitivity turned down.  I'm going to look to see if mod support is available, and if so, I think ther'es a texture mod.  Anything  Ifind that I recommend will be part of the review.

[TiLT]

You might want to run the mod that lets you play Freespace 1 as a mod to Freespace 2 instead. Lets you get the advantages of the improved engine.

[Zarkon]

Yeah, but it defeats the purpose of reviewing the original game. 

Besides, it plays /fine/.

[CeeKay]

new Freespace Open trailer.  very impressive!

[Greggy_D]

Dammit... I thought this was going to be about Freelancer.    To this day I confuse Freelancer and Freespace.

[kronovan]

Wow! That video makes me very glad I own a copy of FS2.