Thank you for downloading Freelancer Graphics and Sound Mod 1.0, previously known as Tasiin's Sound Mod, though it has outgrown that now.

GSM is not exactly a mod, but more of a game enhancement. It was designed to improve the game's mood; to make it more like the Alpha version. It combines new graphics and new sounds, to create an overall moodier Freelancer. Bigger explosions, darker systems, improved sounds, all combined together to improve the overall Freelancer gaming experience, and add a touch or realism to the game. One of the advantages of this mod is that it only changes things processed on the client's side that do not affect mutliplay, so it can be used in multiplayer, without causing any lag! GSM has been designed from the ground up to do this, and has been extensively tested (there were well over twenty public betas before this final release). 

Additionally, GSM makes some minor optimizations to Freelancer's code and removes unnecessary files to both free up disk space and make up for some of the performance loss you're going to experience from downloading this mod, as it uses much more complex effects than the stock version of Freelancer does.

In the event that you'd like to restore Freelancer's original files, there is really no convenient way of doing it other than backing up these folders in your DATA folder inside the Freelancer base directory:

UNIVERSE
SOLAR
SHIPS
SCRIPTS
FX
EQUIPMENT
AUDIO

I know this is a rather rough way of doing it, but due to the volume of files GSM modifies (97 at last count) it's rather difficult to make a simple backup utility. If someone has a better solution than this, please feel free to mail me about it.

To install, simply double click on the .exe, and point it to Freelancer\, for example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Freelancer\ by default.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please e-mail me at tasiin@hotmail.com.

If you are interested in beta testing this mod, please check the forum thread at:

http://neo.thenewfrontier.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=477

The newest versions will always be at the last page of the thread.

Change list:

Changed sounds:

Weapons:
-Torpedoes
-Nomad energy cannons and blasters
-Prototype class 10 weaponry, additionally, some of the class 10 guns possess unique sounds, as opposed to them all having the same sound previously
-Unique Outcast Dragoon sounds
-Cruise disruptors
-Tachyon cannons
-Laser weapons
-"Standard" missiles, and EMP missiles
-All photon weapon sounds have been replaced
-Projectile explosions

Shields:
-All shield sounds have been changed

Interface:
-New button sounds.
-New alert sounds.

Miscellaneous:
-Countermeasure sound considerably less annoying
-New music to go along with the new intros
-Dry fire sound has been modified
-New shield offline and online sounds

Explosions:
-Small ships now explode with a shrieking, high pitched explosion
-Large ships now explode with a heavy, plasma-laced explosion
-Medium-sized ship explosions use the original sound
-Transports now have different explosion sounds


Changed graphics:

Ambient lighting:
-Ambient lighting is now much darker and moodier in the systems that were previously saturated with ambient light. This has also been applied to nebulas.

Navigational lights:
-Depot nav lights now match the color of their storage containers.
-Some docking ring nav lights have been modified.

Engine trails:
-Corsair and Bounty Hunter player-owned ships now actually have the red-blue trail that the NPC ships have, but the player didn't for some reason.
-Player ships now possess the long contrails that previously only showed up on NPC ships.

Level of detail scaling changes:
-Relaxed LOD values for ships, they will now display at their fullest level of detail from a greater distance than before.
-"Prop" ships (non-interactive ships on planets) will now display at their fullest level of detail, all the time.
-Effects such as engine trails, flames, and muzzle flashes now display at a greater distance than before, and no longer inexplicably disappear at certain ranges. Muzzle flashes should always be visible in combat now, as well.

Damage effects:
-New ship damage effects; realistic smoke trails will follow heavily damaged ships as they move through space. More intense "sparking" effects have also been added.

Shield effects:
-High-level shields now give off a completely ship-encompassing "bubble" effect.

Intro sequences:
-Two new animated intro sequences, complete with their own unique music.

Miscellaneous effects:
-Some planets now have different ships flying around in the atmosphere when docked.
-Countermeasure effects have been modified. The "muzzle flash" effect that they used now matches the color of the actual countermeasure flare, and some colors have been swapped out.

Weapon effects:
-Certain weapons now possess more visually interesting impact and fire effects.

And of course, a whole lot of other changes that I've most likely forgotten to mention in here, it's difficult to keep track of the huge number of changes this mod makes.



