Freelancer Mountables 1.0

Freelancer Mountables
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August 7-9, 2007, Steve Breslin

The purpose of this archive is to provide information, shots, and 3d models for
the mountable equipment in the game Freelancer. I don't know what this might be useful for, and I myself certainly do no know *anything* about modding, so use this at your own risk.

This archive includes:
- ReadMe.txt -- this file
- gun_models.xls -- references each gun's name with its model number
-- Screenshots, numbered 1-13, one for each gun model
-- .ms3d files, numbered 1-13, one for each gun model
-- More .ms3d files for the other mountable equipment (6 total)
--- Textures for the .ms3d models

To open the .ms3d files, you'll need to download Milkshape.
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The game uses a total of thirteen gun models, which I have arbitrarily numbered 1 to 13. Of course there are a great many more guns in the game (161 to be precise, in over 40 broad families), so the same model is reused for several, sometimes many different guns. I compiled "which gun uses which model" in the weapon_models.xls file.

The screenshots show a sample of each model, mounted on a Dagger docked at the Equipment Dealer in Buffalo (which conveniently gives 'top' and 'side' shots). The Dagger is a lower-class ship, incapable of mounting all the guns, so I used the Ironcross editor to force the guns onto the ship, for the sake of display.

To view the .ms3d models, you'll need to acquire Milkshape, which you can get
from its homepage, http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/ -- But if you get into this, you'll probably want to search the net for an older version of Milkshape
(version 1.7.x), because the Freelancer importer does not at present work with the latest version (1.8.1b as of this writing).

As for mountable items other than the guns, the game uses:
1) one model for all eighty-one Turrets
2) one model for all thirty Shields
3) one model for all five Thrusters
4) one model for both of the Torpedoes
5) one single model for all fourteen Missiles and the two Cruise Disruptors
6) one single model for all Countermeasure Droppers and all Mine Launchers

Those six models, plus the thirteen gun models, comprise the full range of
mountable equipment.
To view the models in all their glory, you'll need to right-click on the viewing
panel (in Milkshape) and turn on 'Textured'.
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JoeBoomz' "IONCROSS Freelancer Character Editor mk.V" was of great help in
sorting through all the weapons, and in producing the screenshots. It's
available from Lancers Download 574.

To extract the models from the Freelancer game files, I used Kurt's "Freelancer 3DB/CMP importer plugin for MilkShape" (available from Lancers Download 466).

To get the gun barrels to render properly in lod0 (the highest level of detail),
I had to decompose ("un-compound") the .cmp file by removing the 'Cmpnd' node, then reposition the components manually in Milkshape, as necessary. For editing the .cmp files I used the "FreeLancer UTF editor (w/ MFC)" (available from Lancers Download 202).

Thanks to everyone who wrote and/or contributed to the resources and tools
mentioned above.
Thanks also especially to Bejaymac for solving the problem with the barrels!
(And thanks also to Cold_Void for pointing in the right direction.)
I put this little package together for "Gearz" -- an expert card modeler who has (lucky for us!) taken Freelancer as his subject. But it may be of interest to
others so I decided to post it publicly as well. It's nothing amazing but I hope
you enjoy it for what it's worth.
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steve . breslin @ Gmail . Com

Corrections and suggestions are warmly welcome.
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