FreeSpace was one of the first games I purchased in 2000, when getting my first gaming PC, and I was immidiatelly hooked by great atmosphere,
storyline and gameplay. After a few years I almost forgot about it, but then I discovered Freespace Open project, and I was impressed even more.
FreeSpace 2, the sucessor to excellent
Descent/Conflict: FreeSpace - The Great War, was released in 1999, and
praised by all critics as the best space shooter game of all time, but failed to sell as anticipated due to poor marketing and distribution (even many
people that played FS1 didnt knew there actually was a sucessor, like me). So the developers decided to release the game source code into the public,
making it open-source. Modding community immidiatelly catched up, and now they brought the game almost to perfection. The engine (which was also very
advanced for 1999) now looks wonderful, utilizing SM 3.0 shaders and effects, advanced material system, high-poly models and dynamic lightning. Game
has also many new features and includes powerful mission and campaign editor allowing you to create your own space operas, and numerous high quality
mods and total conversions based on various sci-fi shows were released (Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Wing Commander Saga).
Freespace Open Trailer, fanmade using the editor, ingame footage:
Diaspora (Battlestar Galactica standalone total conversion) trailer:
Classic space simulator/shooter games have lately fallen into huge decline because of developers preferring more mainstream genres like FPS and RTS,
so FS2 Open remains the only game filling this niche. If you are into space games, definately check Freespace Open out, along with all total
conversions and mods and campaigns based on the engine. Trust me, you wont be dissapointed!
Originally posted by jpsdasnake
disapora looks awesome,i checked the page on ModDB and it has not been released yet,right? anyways,ill get it when its out,the game looks fantastic.
Diaspora has not been released yet, only the previous version of the freespace BSG mod is out -
Beyond the Red Line. Its also pretty cool.