The Starport

Server Move completed & Donations

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:06:13 +0200

I'm glad to announce that the server move has been completed successfully without any major problems.

The archive has also been restored at
http://www.the-starport.net/archive

Furthermore, the new Forge site is up and running, with 2 mods already using the Starport's SVN server. (you cannot see them because they are non-public projects).
If you need any of the files hosted on the old Forge site, we have a backup!

In other news, the search function has been fixed and is now fully usable again, also searching the forums by default.

We also survived our first DOS attacks which happened at Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The server should now be pretty safe against simple DOS attacks.

Finally, while I dont want to beg for money, servers are not free. If you like what we are doing and want to help keeping The-Starport online, please think about donating to combat server costs.
I have added a paypal link on the left navigation menu.

greets,
w0dk4

Server Move

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:58:05 +0200

First of all, I want to thank Worfeh for hosting The Starport for so long, even through the tough DDOS times. He did a great job and I think we should all applaud him, without him Starport would not be here now.

That being said, Worfeh no longer wants to host The Starport due to understandable reasons. In the near future, I will host the site, so expect a downtime very soon (as in a few days).

There will also be some changes, mainly related to the Forge:
The current forge software will be replaced with a new one, named Redmine - http://www.redmine.org
I hope you are not mad at me for losing your projects.
Redmine has some substantial advantages, its simply more modern and also open source (GForge was closed source).
There were also serious problems in porting the Forge over to a new server, which contributed to this change (we would have lost data anyway, so to say).

Also, we will allow SVN for FL tools _and_ mods! You heard that right, also for mods. After experiencing team-development in an SVN environment within the Freeworlds team, I dont want any of you to miss out.

So, stay tuned and dont be frightened by a soon-to-come downtime.

~ The-Starport Administration

Discovery Freelancer: Mod of the Year Top-100 Feature

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:20:22 +0200

Discovery Freelancer is most widely known as a mod with a large server playerbase: the online count of the official RP server regularly reaches 200 players. Server statistics lead to a certain amount of criticism related to the fact that server online count has nothing to do with the qualities of the mod. So, apart from the huge playerbase, what is Discovery all about?

The mod is designed to expand the boundaries of original Freelancer. Story continues 16 years to the future from the Freelancer single-player campaign events. Some of the distinguishing features are more than 70 new populated systems, with large new regions like the House of Gallia and Nomad space, enhanced trade system, and improved RP potential. Like most FL mods these days, Discovery has a set of relatively standard features like numerous new ship models, weapons, equipment and NPC improvements.

Along with Crossfire, Shattered Worlds and Freeworlds, Discovery recently became one of the Freelancer mods that reached ModDB.com's 2009 Mod of the Year Top-100. The Starport was one of the websites that promoted the Top-100 vote among the community members; the site also gave the Top-100 finalists a chance to post a main page feature article describing their mods, which we are doing now. We would also like to thank everyone who voted for Discovery and other Freelancer mods on the Mod of the Year contest. The voting within the Top-100 still continues, and there's still time to vote for your favourite candidates!

Generally, what is new in Discovery 4.85? The year is 817 After Settlement (A.S.), 16 years after the single-player campaign of Freelancer, and one year after Discovery 4.84 took place. A Sirius-wide war is on the brink of engulfing the sector. While Kusari pushes its onslaught against Bretonia deep into the Leeds system, Bretonia attempts to surround Kusari forces in Tau-31. Liberty attacks Rheinland in Bremen and Hudson, and Rheinland has to pull back to defend its own borders. As if this was not enough, in late 817 the Independent Miners Guild encountered a large number unknown ships in the Orkney system. The ships belonged to a rebel group formed within the long-lost House of Gallia, the existence of which remained unknown for centuries. Creation of a path into Gallia adds a new, powerful, player to the scene, and no one can tell what goals the new House will pursue in these troubled times. Rumors arise that the nation of France was betrayed during the Exodus, making historians and politicians of various Houses search deep into archives to find out what truly happened more than 1000 years ago in Sol.

Increased development time and an increased number of developers allowed to finalize all features we were planning to implement, and make 4.85 the largest ever update for Discovery mod, which now became of the few mods that actually add more to the game than the original has. We introduced 79 brand new ships with new models, with over 30 previously included ships completely re-designed. Accurate hitboxes had been implemented for almost all ships, old and new. More than a hundred new weapon and equipment types have been added, many having custom models of their own, as well as custom weapon projectile and hit effects. Out of eight dozen new systems Discovery has, more than a half received significant updates, and 11 new ones were included, all of them following much higher quality standards than in previous versions.

The mod has a renewed balance system for weapons, equipment and ships, plus a fully revamped economy system that provides profitable routes for all locations and factions. To add depth to the new economy, 46 new commodity types were introduced, and nearly all commodities (including original ones) received new detailed icons. The role-playing ID system (used on the official server and most other servers running our mod) has received 53 new IDs with clear and detailed descriptions. The new version also contains about 7000 new and rewritten infocard texts for various new and old ships, items, and places.

For those who love numbers, here are some statistics:
- 260 player flyable ships in the game total, of which 225 are introduced by Discovery;
- About 110 new player flyable ship models introduced by version 4.85;
- 134 systems in the game total, of which 79 are introduced by Discovery;
- 11 new systems in 4.85, with about 30 systems receiving significant updates in the latest version;
- 448 bases in the game total, of which about 275 are introduced by Discovery;
- 91 factions in the game total, 44 new factions added by Discovery, of which 11 were introduced by version 4.85;
- Over 100 new weapons introduced in 4.85, upping the number of new Discovery weapons above 200;
- 46 new commodities introduced in 4.85, with multiple new trade routes;
- 117 role-playing IDs in Discovery, of which 53 introduced by version 4.85;
- About 10,000 new infocard texts introduced by Discovery, of which about 7,000 added or rewritten for 4.85.

The integrated Discovery automatic updater allows to download and apply new updates easily without having to re-download and re-install the whole package. The updater does not restrict offline play, and it is still possible to play single or run a LAN server without an internet connection.

Right now, development of the next version of Discovery, 4.86, is in progress. We have plans to complete the central systems of the House of Gallia, add a number of other new systems, continue to improve the role-playing system, trade routes, and balance. Version 4.85 is also regularly updated. Three updates were released to date, and Update 4 is still being actively worked on.

Interview with Shattered Worlds mod developer Forsaken

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:00:00 +0200

This is a Questions and Answers article about the Freelancer-Mod Shattered Worlds: War-Torn with the mod developer Forsaken.

What are the main features of Shattered Worlds: War Torn?

Forsaken: SWWT is an entire overhaul of the Freelancer game and everything we didn't like in other mods and in the vanilla game. This includes a full rebalance, major graphics overhaul while adding a good amount of content.
Polish, attention to detail, and the fact that we have stepped beyond the mold of the precedent set by vanilla and created an entirely new balance system that works... better than vanilla and those that emulate vanilla.
In our 1.3 dev, we've upped the bar significantly too. It is surprising how the dramatic the effect is when a bunch of little details are combined into one product.

Why players should join your server and
not anyone's else?

Forsaken: There are loads of great servers and admin teams in the FL community. So that is a tough one.
I think people should join our server because the mod and community is awesome *nudge, nudge*.
I believe our modding team is one of the more talented out there. We are a new mod that has advertised very little despite this we are growing at a rapid pace and are realizing success that very few FL server communities are seeing these days. Seeing as most of our players heard about us via "word of mouth" says a lot about the mod and our community.
As more and more people join our community, it will become attractive to more and more people because there is activity on the server and forums.

You mentioned the upcoming mod version 1.3. What will be new in this edition?

Forsaken: The number one thing for me during 1.3 dev was to make the mod compatible with single-player. There are many players who wanted to play the mod in single-player... I was constantly getting pm's and emails requesting a single-player campaign option. So we set off to make it work... It was a huge challenge because the mod was optimized for multi-player and the extent in which we overhauled the game mechanics. Nevertheless, we prevailed. I must say single-player never looked so good. I wanted to make it more of a challenge, but we needed to cater to a broader audience, so we had to tone it down quite a bit.
The new features for SWWT 1.3 that immediately come to mind are:

Full Single-player Campaign compatibility.

Missions vs. Battleships (not using workarounds to fake them either)

Battleship Encounters that are serious forces to be reckoned with.

LOADS of graphics improvements beyond what we already have in SWWT 1.2

Dynamic NPC spawn another feat exclusive to SWWT

The introduction of player flyable capitalships

New FX

Improvements to our exclusive and innovative mining system

New ship content

More balance tweaks to improve the gaming experience

Capitalships? This sounds a bit imbalanced....or do you have planned something for such a reason?

Forsaken: This is why we have the Bomber class fighters. It is a simple case of rock paper scissors and speccing your equipment/loadout to match your enemies. Bombers are easily killed by fighters, but bombers have the ability to take out capital ships.

How did you realize this?

Forsaken: Bombers lose the ability to utilized more advanced evasive maneuvers such as the engine kill slide. This makes them fodder for fighters, however, Bombers have the weaponry that make them a threat to capital ships.
Having said that, we have had concern among our players, regarding the server becoming a "cap whore" server like other mods. This is something we wanted to prevent, however, we wanted to make capships deadly (as they should be) but didn't want the server to be nothing but capships which is quite prevalent on other servers.
As a result, capital ships will be limited to factions and clans.
We haven't released the exact details or requirements, but hopefully it will be well accepted by the players. The players in our community are pretty sensible and understand the ramifications of rampant capship proliferation. They have an appreciation of the balance and wouldn't want it to be ruined by capitalships.

Sounds balanced. Can you examine the Release date for version 1.3 in weeks or months?

Forsaken: To be totally honest, I don't know. I want to release it ASAP, but it takes time to make something everybody is on the team is happy with. We have redone many things several times because we weren't happy with the results. I am not a fan of creating rules, and because of this, we are trying to utilize coding to prevent creation of rules to prevent exploitation of game mechanics. As a result, mod development for this version has taken longer than expected.
Hopefully we can get this thing out by the end of January.... but I don't know if I'm being too optimistic.

What kind of server are you running? PVP or RP?

Forsaken: Officially... relaxed RP.
Having said that... it’s more like PvP facilitated by RP.
There isn’t a bunch of people sitting in a system ganking each other. Instead, it is more like people from different factions/clans which have roleplays which are opposite in alignment duking it out. Many of the old-school Freelancer vets remember the Excelcia server... we're trying to emulate that environment. Many will agree that a lot of great wars, roleplay, and memories were created on that server.

Any screenshots or videos you want to show us?

Forsaken: Yes, we just finished our introduction video recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipe7rWuKvo8
Furthermore, here are some very nice screenshots:
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=advertpic19rl9.jpg
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=advertpic2gswa.jpg
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=advertpic3rtba.jpg
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=advertpic4fqzo.jpg
http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=advertpic5esdd.jpg

Anything else you want to add?

Forsaken: To sum SWWT up, it is basically a server and mod created by people from a bunch of different FL communities. Every group brought opinions what they did and didn't like about vanilla/other mods and created a mod which represents the way FL should have been. The server environment isn't laden with rules or a complex code of etiquette. Generally speaking, we are a relaxed community that wants to create the best Freelancer gaming experience possible, and have loads of fun with other fans of the space combat genre.
We have something for everyone, our RP requirements won't run off the casual gamer, but will allow the RP fanatic complete room to get the full RP experience. Our balance system works, you won't find everybody flying the same ship(s). Instead, you will find players flying the ship(s) that fit their flying style and you will see people equipped with a wide variety of loadouts which are specced out for the enemies they are facing.
So if you're looking for one of the most polished FL modifications out there and a enjoyable Freelancer experience, the Shattered Worlds::War-Torn server is, in my opinion, the place to be.
We've already merged with 2 other DevTeams and are willing to combine efforts with others. The mod you are getting isn't purely a perspective of FL from one community, but a combination of many different communities within Freelancer... something other mods really don't have.

MOD DB page of the modification:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/shattered-worlds

You can download the modification here:
http://freelancer-swwt.com/Forum/index.php?topic=58.0
(Registration required)

Media

Shattered Worlds - Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/shatteredworlds

Screenshots at MOD DB:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/shattered-worlds/images

Shattered Worlds forums gallery:
http://freelancer-swwt.com/Forum/index.php?action=gallery

Official Site
http://freelancer-swwt.com

ModDB Mod of the Year 2009

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:30:00 +0200

The MOTY are once again upon us! With this comes the challenge of reaching the top honors, of once again showing how strong a community we still are! Please, The Starport's staff wants you to vote. Not just for your favorite mod, for all of Freelancer's excellent showing this year. This is a community effort; we want our voices to be heard!

So go, cast your vote and may Freelancer shine once more!

Freelancer joins Facebook... again!

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:01:11 +0200

So here I am again, with another one of those 'gimmicks'. This time it is Facebook. After doing a lot of digging around I learnt that the current Facebook Fan Page was very inactive and so were the ‘Admins’ of the page. Therefore I decided we needed a new one.

So here it is: Facebook Fan Page

But there are differences compared to the already existing Facebook page. For instance we have the @Freelancer_MP Twitter updates feeding into the page (not yet update but configured) and also an ‘Events’ section where you can set up events for your server and add in details… resulting in the advertising of your server event to all the fan page members we hope to get.

I have disabled the message board option for the time being, until the page grows. There is no need to have a second message board when we have a community of sites and servers with forums already.

I am inviting everyone that uses Facebook, which I know is a lot of you, to get involved and become a fan, but to also start sharing your Server Videos, pictures and events on the page.

People say Freelancer doesn’t get enough advertising. Well I am trying to change that, one small step at a time. I haven’t rushed Twitter and Facebook, in fact the opposite. I have taken time between each one to monitor results. And will continue to do so for as long as I feel there is still a need for us to shout about Freelancer.

You can either love me or hate me for my enthusiasm. I don’t mind which.

Regards,

Kris
Aka Roo-Avery

SolCommand * 3D Models *

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:29:29 +0200

As a token of appreciation for all the hard work the Freelancer community puts in developing mods and finding new codes that add even more depth to our favorite game, I decided I should give a helping hand in the form of 3D models. I'm not much of an experienced 3D artist but I have the will to try and create models as best as I can for all those that need a new ship or base to spice up their mod. My collection includes ships, bases, asteroids and all sorts of objects that you might find in space ... and I'm adding new models to it almost on a daily basis. You can use all these models for any "Freelancer" mod, or even other games with the only requests of you telling me you're about to use my models in your project and also to mention my name somewhere in your mod's credits.
* Some models come with a background story: http://solcommand.blogspot.com/
* For more new and original models check my topic soon !
* If you have model requests post in my topic and send me a cold beer and you might just get yourself a new ship, or base or whatever you need.
* That's about it, enjoy them !

***************
Cheers
***************

24/7 Procyon Dedicated News

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:24:08 +0200

It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce a number of updates to 24/7 Procyon Dedicated's client-side enhancent package, ProcyonHook. Originally released in September of 2008, ProcyonHook introduced a large number of extremely useful and innovative features to the Procyon server. Though development on ProcyonHook stalled for a length of time, it has since resumed at break-neck speeds, bringing with it a number of features that have recently been developed and released:

- In-Game Clan Management and Chat

Working in conjunction with our own heavily rewritten and reengineered version of FLHook, ProcyonHook features in-game clan management through the /clan command, and the addition of an entirely new chat channel for clan members, allowing for members of a clan to stay in private communication without the need for constant group invites, as well as through the duration of the game's random missions.

The clan system's benefits do not end with the new chat channel however - we have a number of other features currently under development, such as the ability for clan leaders to mark other clans and - eventually - individual players as being friendly or hostile in game, allowing for easy target identification in battle. The clan accounts (and their soon-to-be synchronization with our web-based Clan Database) will also enable us to offer clans specific rewards and motivations for owning and holding systems against hostile clans - something that we plan on capitalizing heavily upon for future enhancements and features.

- In-Game Alternative Start Packages

Those of us that have played Freelancer for a long time can probably agree that creating new characters with the exact same starting ship, location, reputation, and so on can get a bit monotonous - ProcyonHook gives players the opportunity to mix things up a bit by adding the ability to select from one of several starting factions when creating a new character. The current faction line-up (which each package featuring unique starting locations, ships, loadouts, reputations and such befitting the faction for which it is named), which we plan on expanding heavily upon in the future is as follows:

- Xeno
- Rogue
- Outcast
- Liberty Navy
- Liberty Police
- Bounty Hunter
- Universal Shipping

In addition to standard starting packages, we also have plans to introduce special high level starting packages, which will become available for use from time to time, featuring factions like the Blood Dragons, Gas Miners Guild, and the ever respectable ALG Waste Disposal.

- Superior Widescreen Support

There is no shortage of widescreen mods for Freelancer - unfortunately many of them are configured in such ways that the changes they make to a player's field of view are downright absurd - to the extent that many of them could, and should, be considered cheats in and of themselves. ProcyonHook addresses this by enabling all widescreen resolutions supported by a user's configuration to be selected from the in-game configuration screen, while enforcing proper settings that do away with blatant advantages in combat. Being forced to edit Perfoptions.ini by hand be damned.

- Final Word

These are the three most significant features that we've added, developed over the course of the last month... and they represent only the tip of the iceberg - our to-do list for client, server, and web-based enhancements is only nearly as long as it is mind-boggling in scope.

We invite anyone interested in the finest vanilla Freelancer gameplay possible - powered by a solid and 100% stable system in conjunction with a high-speed fiberoptic line - to download ProcyonHook and give 24/7 Procyon Dedicated a try.

Screenshots

<img src="http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/412/ ... nth.jpg"</img><img src="http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6611/o41th.jpg">
<img src="http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1804/chartmj.png"><img src="http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/882/clanchatthumb.png">

Solurus Systems

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:40:00 +0200

Solurus Systems Mod is a Star Trek based Mod. The universe is laid out close to what you would find in the normal ST universe. It also includes other SciFi shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, Star Wars, Babylon 5 and many others.

This Mod usually takes about 20 minutes to install the first time, after that it will usually take less than a minute to get the latest update since it only installs files that have changed.

To install the Solurus Systems MOD, do the following...

Install Freelancer from your CD

Download and run the program from HERE to install the latest version. Use 'Install From Web'.

Click 'Run Freelancer' once the update is installed.

If you decide to play as a clan, role play is expected of you, freelancers are allowed to play in whatever fashion you wish. Clans are given their own forum once the leader reaches 20 hours of play time.

Griefing players is not allowed, 2 kills is the max unless you both agree to PvP, no exceptions, if you disobey this rule I will show you the true power of an admin ship and grief you.

Play fair and have fun, thats what it is all about. P.S. No cheating or modding the files.

Click here to visit Digital Brilliance

New Security Measures Enforced

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:13:05 +0200

Due to a large amount of hacking and denial of service attempts, we needed to strengthen the site's security and tighten certain restrictions. If you have issues accessing the site, please try again after a short while and deactivate download accelerators.

The Forge is also disabled until further notice.

Thanks for your understanding,
The Starport Staff