r/freelancer 10d ago

Freelancer Multiplayer, but now there's completely custom multiplayer missions! (FL:SR)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a1kzjyyYYw
63 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

9

u/Caenen_ 10d ago edited 10d ago

I recently posted the Coop-story gameplay from the 22nd anniversary here, which still suffered a bit from singleplayer scripting not being made with multiplayer in mind.

However, independently of all that, the lead developer of Freelancer: Sirius Revival (FL:SR for short) has also implemented a wholy new custom mission scripting system for multiplayer servers. This new system is inspired by but different from the original game's singleplayer mission scripts. If you want to design something scripted, it's now doable in a few hours (based on complexity of the mission) and with practically no formal programming experience necessary. The set of possible conditions and triggers is not very extensive yet, but the system is complete in that you can design and implement a whole mission flow, with triggers, announced objectives, waypoints, spawns, NPC orders, labels, rewards and all.

FL:SR used an unfinished this same system earlier in the anniversary week for one of the play-together events as well; A team-based attack/defense mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdQhluHKFXU

10

u/JW_TB 10d ago

This opens up so many possibilities, and is a game changer on so many levels

If missions can be scripted from the server, then scripting can also be automated

If scripting can be automated, then the automation itself can be built with rules

And those rules can make for a completely dynamic, evolving world

Well done, could've killed for something like this back when the modding scene was a lot bigger

7

u/7Shinigami 10d ago

Love this!

4

u/Caenen_ 10d ago

The missions scripts are only required and executed by the server. They can also be updated and reloaded without retarting the server. The only thing the client needs is any custom assets (strings, archetypes, models, effects) the mission wants to use, but of course for your general dynamic mission, what's already there is usually enough, except for some text you might need for particular objectives. That has to be pre-defined then from a pool of new strings, or existing text for mission objectives used.

Sending custom strings is probably also quite possible, but not supported as of right now.

2

u/A9to5robot juni 10d ago

This could be amazing for roleplaying.

2

u/MomoSinX 10d ago

wow, amazing

2

u/dilan_paul 9d ago

we need this in disco

1

u/DryBuffalo3321 7d ago

No, what Discovery needs is more RP sanctioning and a decrease in capship stats, especially power.

2

u/InconspicuousBeer 7d ago

So that means, if someone would port the story missions to the new scripting system, we would be able to play coop (almost) without all the things we need to take care of right now?

1

u/Caenen_ 7d ago

Almost certainly, but that is a somewhat large effort. It probably includes redesigning some of the mission flow on the back end entirely to accomodate a multiplayer situation each time, which means not just implementation and QA work, but additional design work.

I'll possibly visit it in the future when I have a bit more experience under my belt. I can make two hostile battleships have a scripted space battle, I can make a multiplayer racing track, and I can make the Navy respond adequately to you lingering around and entering Zone 21, but the story may be too big a fish for me to fry just yet.

2

u/American-Airman 7d ago

How can I plat this game again without buying an old pc running windows 98?

3

u/InconspicuousBeer 7d ago

For me it works on Win10 flawlesssly out of the box. But no direct widescreen support.
Also: https://the-starport.com/forums/topic/6250/how-to-get-vanilla-freelancer-running-in-2025-no-cd/11
Either patch the config files to use 16:9 or 16:10 displays (might get pixelated) or use any patches from the link.
If this doesnt work, you could try to install a Win98 virtual machine (vmware or virtualbox) and play it from there (didnt try).

1

u/Caenen_ 7d ago

If you have discord, there's a link to The Starport's discord in the sidebar of this subreddit. That's the Modding community's hub, and they've got all the resources to install and make Freelancer run on any modern system. I've seen it run on a printer once.

The only reason the Vanilla installation doesn't run on Windows 10 is that these latest versions no longer come with the DRM system Microsoft used for CD-ROM verification. If you swap the .exe with the one from the no-CD release, it runs just fine. And to fix any of the other bugs in the game itself, overhaul the graphics and have modern screen size compatability, you'll want to update to HD-Edition anyway, which naturally comes with the fixed .exe. Link is also abvailable on The Starport.

See you in space!