Comments - jcdenton2k

I haven't used this old account in ages. Surprised it still works!
Just wanted to :wave: to everyone and see if we can get a community-discord for Freelancer going perhaps? I feel it might really help out moreso than just having forums.

So far, the Starport is pretty neutral-ground (more or less) so a Starport-based Discord server might be really nice.

If anyone wants to chat, best way to reach me is via Discord.
Discord.gg OR Discord.me

I'm going to comment for the first time in a long time.
Please release v9.0 of this mod even without the installer. We are Deus Ex fans. We know how to copy and paste files (which is all an installer really does).

If you want to crowdfund a proper programmer for a custom installer then feel free. Maybe ask Kentie:
Kentie.net

I'm sure if they were offered enough money or support they would be willing to hash out an installer pretty easily.

A simple internet search finds many possibilities:
Zero-install.sourceforge.net

Instead of making excuses and denying Deus Ex fans some amazing features, let's get some heads put together and come up with something fantastic.

There's no reason to have a pure 'undo' feature when installing. Tell em to make a backup copy of their vanilla files elsewhere so they don't have to reinstall each time. That's what FreeLancer does. Bingo, done.

I hope the author of this mod can reconsider and deliver us a really awesome v9.0 of this mod before the year's end.

Quick FAQ here:

Q: Where is the non-Steam Installer?
A: There isn't one due to the deal that was made with Square-Enix in order to get this officially released on Steam. Steam was chosen so that this fantastic game could get a new breath of fresh air and most importantly to draw attention to the awesome DX fan community work from the New Vision and HDTP (High Definition Texture Pack) creators.

Q: Why not just make it non-Steam?
A: See above. High profile releases like this may spur additional sales/demand of the newer DX games and get us more fantastic DX games in the future.

Q: Why is Square-Enix bugging about a mod? They can't mess with it!
A: They own the current IP and all the Deus Ex stuff related to it. Technically they can DMCA every DX mod online if they felt like it. Other companies (Nintendo, SEGA, Konami) have done far worse. Having this mod be legit on Steam will hopefully open the door for other mod creators to open a dialogue with Square-Enix for similar deals.

Q: I hate this mod! I hate that it is on Steam only! I own the original and I demand you cater to my needs!
A: Those aren't questions and we aren't required to listen to your petty demands, especially considering this is a completely free mod. If you have issues with it then read the comments and figure out how to install it outside of Steam. We CANNOT officially support a non-Steam release at this time.

The mod is still being developed.

In game development you can control one of three aspects: cost, time, quality.
You get to pick 2 that you want, while the remaining one will suffer.

-If you want something free and high quality then it will take a very long time to do.

-If you want something free and quickly, then it will be low quality.

-If you want something high quality and quickly, then it will be very expensive to produce.

****Be sure to read the installation instructions before doing any installing!****

Just an update for anyone reading this before download.

1 - If you forget to deactivate the mod through FLMM before uninstalling it, then you'll have to manually go in and delete FLMM entries in the registry before you can redo it. This is a highly advanced task and it is recommended to ask a tech-saavy person to help you with this.

2 - This mod may have higher system requirements than the Vanilla/Standard/Original FreeLancer installation. You should make sure that the game runs perfectly without any mods before attempting to use this mod.

3 - Make a complete backup of your FL install folder BEFORE doing anything. It saves a ton of hassle with doing uninstalls/reinstalls later on.

4 - Install the mod from this download but make sure to BLOCK the mod from connecting to multiplayer. There is an issue with the latest launcher patch that breaks it on many computers. My recommendation is again to prevent it from auto-updating (by blocking it from any inbound or outbound connections through your firewall). Then you want to make a full backup of the game folder and then attempt the update. If it breaks, then at least you can just copy/paste the backup and still play single player mode.

5 - This is one of the only mods with a complete extended single player campaign after the main storyline.

6 - Enjoy yourself and remember the mod is recommended for advanced players who had no problem beating the main vanilla storyline :)

Yes it is a false alarm.
Many advanced programmers use special compression techniques to lower the file size of stuff they distribute.
Since similar techniques are often used by virus/trojan writers, many over-reactive antivirus vendors automatically flag them as suspicious.

If you are going to release a game or demo as an indie, I should never be forced to 'install' it. I want to just download it and run the exe (or the equivalent of an exe on other platforms). No install no registry entries NO ********.

I was looking at 'DarkAge' and a few other nice indie games. Saw it required an install. Wasted my ******* time. Deleted and never looked back.

Very simple.
Want to stop piracy of your product?
MAKE A GOOD PRODUCT.

-It should be DRM free
-Stable, not have tons of bugs/crashes (spend some time actually testing/debugging it)
-Give us a good value for our money
-Have a reasonable price based on self-perceived value by the developer as well as market realities (or you can price it high and then put it on 'sale' if the high price doesn't sell)
-Not include multiplayer or online-anything unless it adds value to your product in a meaningful way.
-Block the pirates from multiplayer by having hardware-hashes done to tie the game to specific hardware once they try to go online.

Finally:
Focus less on piracy and make the games you want for the consumers who pay for it. Those who don't pay for it will miss out on updates, expansions, features, etc.
If all else fails, use crowdfunding to get your game paid for in advance! Pad it out with some extra funding/stretch goals if possible. Have a contingency in place (through preproduction) if you are below the target goal to see if it is feasible for a reduced-scope version of the game.

You're playing it on a laptop, there's your problem right there >_>

Kidding aside, make sure you do the usual stuff. Download and upgrade your DirectX, video card drivers, motherboard drivers, BIOS, etc etc etc. Run chkdsk, defrag, etc etc. Scan for malware, viruses, etc etc. Optimize your computer by disabling unneeded Windows services, etc.

If you don't know how to do any of this, ask a computer tech guy to do it for ya, and pay em to do it.
16GB of RAM is way overkill, especially when faster RAM is already going to be available before the end of the year, but you do what ya need to do.

NEED CUSTOM KEYBINDINGS OPTION NAO PLOX

Please add option to customize keybindings fully, thanks :)

Aesthetics: Sci-Fi all the way! Clean, simple, and worthy of Wing Commander or other series! Still obviously primitive but has lots of potential for polish :)

Sound: Music kinda cuts in and out, might not hurt to use some public-domain classical music to fill in the gaps if you need to do so, or some free music released under a 'do what you want with it just give me credit' type of license. Sound effects are pretty sparse but nicely done when present.

Gameplay: Fantastic work as far as exploration and such. Combat is a bit clunky and takes a bit of getting used to the controls but works fairly well. If you want good mouse-based movement, go get a copy of Freelancer and give it a go.

UI: The UI work you've done is really nice (no clutter!) and well-done with a clean interface. You could borrow/be-inspired-by the 'transparent' Aero look that is in MacOS or the one stolen from MacOS by Win7. I would ask for unique/customizable crosshairs since not everyone wants that big diamond (that doesn't change in size even if you zoom in/out) taking up so much of the gameplay area. Taking another cue from Freelancer, having the spacebar switch between 'mouselook' and 'camera view' modes.

Native 64-bit version: Compatible with 64-bit right now but would be nice to have a 64-bit Win7 version in addition to the 64-bit Linux version that is already present.

Linux support (!) : Take my money nao! =D

First I understand this is an 'alpha' and the price requested is reflective of this. That's fine, any more than the current price and I'd probably have passed on it. As-is, it is an excellent value for the amount of gameplay provided.

The generous and pretty light-restrictions in the demo (letting us play a dozen missions at least) was a very refreshing change of pace from the 'one level and some cutscenes' stuff done by other developers. Kudos! Reminds me of the original demo for Deus Ex 1, though it was only a few missions (about 25% of the full game) each mission had such huge replayable levels that there was absolutely zero reason not to go out and buy the full version afterwards. Even those on limited incomes were able to enjoy the demo quite a bit until such time as it came down in their price range. :)

Now a 'first impressions' of the first 10 minutes or so.

Graphics: Graphical quality is somewhat primitive but the focus on high-quality modeling and texturing is evident throughout the game. Fantastic work on this! I would wonder why your planets/moons look worse than those in Freelancer (made almost a decade ago) but I'll leave it to 'limited art resources'. Space should look beautiful and it might not hurt to get some artists working on it. Also it might be prudent to have an option of 'beautiful' colorful space backgrounds or 'plain' standard black space with white dot backgrounds as an option. And yeah, Freelancer has sadly not been surpassed in quality since it was released oh so many years ago.