Hovis race workaround

There are 11 replies in this Thread. The last Post () by Martind Forlon.

    Not sure where this should go, and I tried searching first but got no results.


    Anyway, I just reached the point in the campaign where you have to race this Hovis dude. After a few attempts it became clear luck was involved - sometimes Hovis would hit the side of a checkpoint ring, thus spinning out and giving you some time to catch up then pull ahead. But I noticed I was always screwing up the final approach, specifically the second last checkpoint. From a distance it looks perfectly doable, but when I'm about to reach it I find myself coming at it from the side, making it impossible to go through.


    Now, I could've raced like a few dozen times to find a sweet spot for that last ring. But I'm done with this crap. Worse since the game doesn't have an autosave at the countdown but instead only from before you launched, forcing you to sit through Hovis' introduction every single time.


    Being an enterprising Freelancer, my solution was to open up the game files and give that smug prick Hovis a shitty ass ship. Like a gunboat. All you need is a save file on the battleship Hood, just before launching to the race.


    1. Navigate to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Freelancer\DATA\MISSIONS\M06", and open up "npcships.ini" in notepad.

    2. The top two "[NPCShipArch]" entries are conveniently the ones you need to edit. We'll be changing values in rows 4, 6, and 7.

    3. Change them:

    row 4: ship_archetype = rh_gunboat

    row 6: state_graph = GUNBOAT

    row 7: npc_class = lawful, GUNBOAT

    4. Save, then load up the game again. Enjoy the "race".


    In a gunboat Hovis still isn't that slow, but it flies like a brick so he won't be making those sharp turns any time soon. Feel free to point and laugh.


    There is moment in 3/4 of the race when I "pause" supercruise using "reverse thrust". This simple maneuver is all what you need to beat Hovis also in small basic freighter. We have this video in our Crossfire wiki (Video Guides). Videos there offer to players easy way how to improve theirs skills.

    You sir have made my day and saved my keyboard from going through the screen.

    I had purchased one of the new Crossfire pack heavy fighters and it handled like an absolute cow, it was physically impossible to complete the course in that thing at cruise speed; there was quite simply no way to do it, I think the standard game (which I've never had a problem with for this course) only allowed much lighter fighters this early on in the game.


    It was enormous fun to watch that knob hulk along in that thing and be left behind, thanks again for the post!

    BTW the two items modified are nicknames "MSN06_Dexter" and "MSN06_Dexter_Escort" if there's any confusion in what to edit.

    a way around this mission even in this mod is to also use the hovis bypass mod as it is a simply edit of the one mission so wont change the game in any way look for it online it will be 2 files that tell the game that you progress even if you decline the race it forces the game to advance in that you get the info u need anyway he gives it after you undock from the Hood

    But ... why?


    The Hovis race is indeed not the hardest mission. Last time i fullfilled it in the first attempt, it was very easy.


    I can understand that some players have problems with that race, when they come in a freighter. but even this is not Impossible. at least i made it.

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    Changing this post to what I just found...

    This cheat will let you change how easy/hard the game is.

    the file you need to find is under you My Documents folder, not the Freelancer Game folder. "My Documents\My Games\Freelancer" is the path name. Once there, open the file named PrefOptions.ini. *Note*: This cheat has to do with modifying this file. It is suggested that you make a backup of the file first.

    Once you're in the file, look for a line that reads "DIFFICULTY_SCALE = 1.00". It's possible that the number is different.

    Change this setting to be higher to make the game harder, or lower to make it easier. Make it 0.00 to be invincible.

    Sigh ... I think it is much easier use ingame options for SP difficulty (and btw, there is moment in CF SP, when you go for a 1st time into Altair sector, when is needed to get some damage before is triggered next action)


    Difficulty.jpg