 _____  ____   _____  _____  _      _____  __  _  _____  _____  ____
|  ___||    \ |  ___||  ___|| |    |  _  ||  \| ||  ___||  ___||    \
| |___ | []  || |___ | |___ | |    | |_| ||   | || |    | |___ | []  | []
|  ___||    / |  ___||  ___|| |    |  _  || | | || |    |  ___||    /
| |    | |\ \ | |___ | |___ | |___ | | | || | | || |___ | |___ | |\ \  []
|_|    |_| \_\|_____||_____||_____||_| |_||_|___||_____||_____||_| \_\
 ____
|    \
| []  |   Freelancer: Rebirth is a new, unique Freelancer modification
|    /    based in the primitive Sirius Sector...
| |\ \
|_| \_\   For decades millions have died for the same piece of rock, Earth.
 _____    This planetary jewel was thought for millenia by scientists to be
|  ___|   the only habitable planet in the universe, until terraforming was
| |___    discovered...
|  ___|
| |___    By using the atmosphere present on a desolate planet, inserting
|_____|   greenhouse gases, and allowing the planet to expose itself to solar
 ____     radiation, a planetary atmosphere habitable in human terms will form.
|    \
| []  |   The moons of the gas giants in Sol were terraformed, and hence were
|    <    inhabited and populated...
| []  |
|____/    But that is where the similarities end between the Western Alliance
 _____    and the Eastern Coalition, two groups formed on twentieth-century
|_   _|   grudges...
  | |
  | |     The peaceful Alliance was set upon in a surprise attack whilst their
 _| |_    forces were standing down in preparation for a peaceful end to a
|_____|   conflict which had lasted for more than a hundred years, the reason
 ____     forgotten, the bitterness remembered...
|    \
| []  |   A further struggle by the Alliance proved futile, and their only
|    /    option was to flee. But to where? Alliance scientists had long thought
| |\ \    of the Sirius Sector as a new home, but it had not been fully explored
|_| \_\   due to the second phase of the War...
 _____
|_   _|   Five colony ships were launched, one believed lost en route, to begin
  | |     again, far from the war and strife that had befallen the Solar System,
  | |     to new worlds of peace...
  | |
  |_|
 _   _
| | | |
| |_| |
|  _  |   And Freelancer, that is where you come in. As a stowaway on board one
| | | |   of the colony ships, you have the choice of which Alliance member you
|_| |_|   will join: Liberty, Bretonia, Kusari, or Rheinland...



-=-=-=||=-=-=-
   Contents
-=-=-=||=-=-=-

1. Kryosphere Studios            [The Modding and Testing team         ]
   1.(a) A Message from the Boss [A rather long message from cardam|ne ]
2. Freelancer's History          [Where Freelancer starts              ]
3. StarLancer's History          [Where StarLancer ends                ]
4. Where You Come In...          [How to play                          ]
5. Rebirth:- The Future          [What's next for Rebirth              ]
6. Known Bug Issues              [What we know's wrong wi' it          ]
7. FAQs                          [Frequently asked questions           ]



-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Kryosphere Studios
-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-

cardam|ne
---------
Chief Executive Officer, systems designer, factions editor, IDS names, infocards, scripting, movies, music, web site hosting, file hosting



M{}J{}
------
chief tester - extensive testing



-----------=-------------
 A Message from the Boss
-----------=-------------

Dear Tester/Player/Modder,

Unmodded Freelancer, as many of you will know (and either agree or disagree here), ended disappointingly, on a cliffhanger. In the hope of a Freelancer sequel being created, many Freelancer fans have appealed to a now somewhat non-existent Digital Anvil, with petitions backed up by hundreds, even thousands, of fans...

So it clicked... instead of waiting for a sequel/prequel, why not MAKE one? So I posted in the Freelancer MOD Announcement and Starlancer Discussion forums of Lancers Reactor, in the hope of receiving some help... I received interest from potential Beta testers, but no offers of help...

The original plan was to have you involved in an escort mission from Sol, but my limited knowledge of scripting didn't help the situation, so that idea was out the window. I tried modelling in Milkshape, to no avail... I couldn't understand it at all, and when I started to get the hang of it, my 30-day trial ran out :P! I wasn't a happy bunny...

So I started pratting about with Freelancer Explorer. My opinion of it is that it's like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it! Or some might view it more like spiders or wasps, a necessary evil... I took to it like a fish to water... and loved it... many thanks go to Louva-Deus and the clever buggers at the EOA Player's Consortium or whatever it's called (http://eoa.seriouszone.com/)! And so was born Logical Jump Holes V1 and V2, both available on Lancers Reactor...

I had the same problem everybody has with IDS entries, and found a way round it... whether there's been a newer version released since April 2004, which is when I last went on the net for Freelancer, I don't know, but I found an older version of FLE on a German website, along with FLED-Thorn and FLED-IDS, which I also downloaded, installed that, but it didn't work... Puzzled, I installed the newer version, and strangely enough, IDS names worked :P! In an attempt to prove to myself that it wasn't a one-off, I did the same on my brother's computer, and it worked too! Cool...

And Freelancer: Rebirth was reborn... Having a go at new intro sequences was my next major step, and thanks to a tutorial I found via Chips (thanks bud) on the Excelcia forums (I think it was some form of early Freelancer server), I made the FL Rebirth intro sequences, which were then released on the internet on my old website and also on Lancers Reactor...

And now you have it... Freelancer: Rebirth BETA 1... Thanks very much for reading this readme, as boring as it is, and for taking the time to use mine or the Lancers Reactor's bandwidth :P...

Regards, and thanks again,

cardam|ne
CEO of Kryosphere Studios




-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Freelancer's History
-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-

Freelancer starts with the destruction of Freeport 7, a neutral space station in the system of Sigma-17, a Border World system between the Houses of Rheinland and Kusari. These two separate cultures are at loggerheads over the mining of H-Fuel in the Crow Nebula border worlds, with this dispute not aided by the Kusari support of Rheinland's enemy, the Gas Mining Guild, with whom Rheinland lost an eighty-year war...

An alien race, known to few as the Nomads, had been, unbeknownst to the other Houses, slowly infiltrating the Rheinland hierarchy, and using the Rheinland Military muscle to critically damage the other House defenses so the Nomads could move in with relative ease...

A radical group known as The Order, presumed to be terrorists by the four Houses in Sirius, are blamed for this terrible act, with the official death toll having been given at 2,600, making it the worst disaster in the history of humans in the Sirius Sector...

Freelancer: Rebirth is set a long, long time before any of this, but I thought I'd throw it in to make the readme longer :P




-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Starlancer's History
-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-

<insert text here>




-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Where you come in...
-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-

1. Intro

= SINGLE PLAYER =
For the time being only New York exists, so just explore, trade, etc. and report back on http://kryosphere.vze.com/ any errors you find!


= MULTIPLAYER = [NOT YET AVAILABLE]
Freelancer: Rebirth is an open-started and open-ended modification. There are no story missions, partly because I've struggled to find anybody remotely skilled in this aspect who is willing to write me new missions, and partly because I didn't want to make a modification that would only appeal to a select few...

This modification is more than a modification, it's a whole new world, with previously undiscovered places, anomalies, and even whole star systems hidden away throughout the galaxy...

You play this game as you would after the original Freelancer storyline... as a Freelancer... choose your role in the universe as a trader, with massive prospects and even greater profits, if you are willing to sit and wait while your ship 'jumps out' to the chosen star system. Or choose to be an escort for your friends, and share the profits of your compatriots trade runs...

You will also notice the lack of Random Missions, such as those offered by the Job Boards and NPCs in bars in Freelancer... There is one simple reason for this: There are no missions, as there are no pirates to kill! However, if you choose not to become a trader or an escort, then why not turn rogue and become a pirate? Plundering your way through life in new worlds... I do offer one tip of advice for anybody wishing to do this: Only attack the odd NPC freigher, but attack as many human players as you please, as these will not affect your reputation!

   RULES:
   Sorry guys, but this is only fair...
   1) It is considered to be unfair to new players (a.k.a. n00bs) if you are to hang around outside the Nexus base poppin' em...

2. How to play
i  ) You start on a Nexus base, where you select a ship, the matching weapons, and purchase a reputation hack from the bar for your desired House...
ii ) Once you've left the Nexus base, you cannot reland there and change your mind, so make sure you choose right the first time...
iii) Upon leaving the base, fly at least 1K away, so you are not attacked by the base, as it is run by Nomads...
iv ) Fly to your selected House's jump hole, which corresponds with the location of that House in Freelancer [See Figure 1]

     [Figure 1 - Diagram of the Nexus System]
     ----------------------- ----------------
    |                       | Key-           |
    |                       |----------------|
    |                       | N = Nexus Base |
    |       N    K          | K = Kusari     |
    |                       | L = Liberty    |
    |                       | B = Bretonia   |
    |            L          | R = Rhienland  |
    |                       |----------------             
    |                       |
    |       B         R     |
    |                       |
    |                       |
    |          NEXUS        |
     -----------------------


v  ) Once through the jump hole, you will be directly below the capitol planet of your House. Fly to it, and from there, do as you please...




-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Rebirth:- The Future
-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-

<insert text here>




-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Known Bug Issues
-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-

We are fuly aware of the following issues:
1) The exiting point of the jump holes from the Nexus system are unnamed
   [REASON: So that people do not attempt to reselect a house, or go n00b hunting]
2) Only New York exists
   [REASON: It's all I've done :P]
3) Tritium is in fact labelled as Deuterium
   [REASON: FLED_IDS isn't working for me ATM so I've had to leave it for the time being]
4) No music on the menu
   [REASON: To make this Pre-Release version of Freelancer: Rebirth smaller for d/l]
5) No splash screen
   [REASON: To make this Pre-Release version of Freelancer: Rebirth smaller for d/l]



-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-
         FAQs
-=-=-=-=-=||=-=-=-=-=-=-

Q) When will it be released?
A) Within 24 hours of it being finished! Sooooo many mods set a release date, as did I at the beginning of the design process for this modification (which I obviously missed :P) and it just puts people off completely!




