Posts by Bullwinkle

Swat_Op and Michael,

I agree that the infocards are much improved in CF 1.8.

However, I have observed several types of minor problems with the .DLLs. I thought they were known:

• Some infocards do not match the available commodities (minor severity -- probably known?).
• Some infocards are inconsistent with the system (minor)
• Some infocards are completely wrong. For example, several "Information" type cards contain ship information or other completely incorrect information (moderate).
• The DLLs do not appear to open correctly in FLed-IDs. (Could this behavior be related to your copy protection work?)
• Adding .DLLs to Freelancer.ini causes what appear to be unpredictable results. (Could this behavior also be related to copy protection?)

The last two points are important to some of us Single Players, but they are not an issue for Multi-Player.

I would be happy to provide screen shots if you can tell me how to do it without re-activating CF (I did not choose the screen shot feature when I activated CF).

If I must reactivate CF again... well, I might do it, just for you guys, since you have been so helpful.

PS to Swat_Op: For crying out loud, "modding" is not "cheating". Get over it, Man! I am surprised that you, as a modder, would even think that. I'm not trying to stir up an argument... I am just pointing out that Single Player is a different kind of game than Multi Player. Modding is part of the fun of the game (in Single Player)

Quote

Originally posted by Bond
Hey wait, but now i am confused, what are CDs and CMs, is there any difference between this 2.
As i understand CDs hunting CMs, then CMs trying to lure those CDs, but CDs disrupt missiles, then missiles and torpedoes hunt vessel and CMs lure them, or CDs lure them.

Hahaha! Yeah, this thread IS funny!

To recap:

• A couple of newbies asked for help with Mission 1. They did not get helpful responses, so I offered some tips that helped me when I was first starting out.
• One of those tips seemed to be previously unknown here. Since I am a newbie, a couple of regular posters thought that I was wrong (I was not).
• BUT I DID make one small typo, which caused some confusion.
• The result is a flurry of messages, back and forth, with various levels of seriousness, joking, and misunderstandings -- both intentional and unintentional.

At the risk of repetition, here are the main points, just for clarity:

• CM = Counter Measure
• CD = Cruise Disruptor
• Cruise Disruptors are a type of missile.
• Therefore, Counter Measures are effective decoys against Cruise Disruptors.
• Counter Measures can be put into "automatic mode" by selecting them in the Weapons panel (while in flight). This fires CMs whenever a missile is launched at the player's ship.
• Automatic CMs work whether the attacking missile is a "normal" missile or a Cruise Disruptor.
• Manual CMs also work against CDs, but CDs are so fast that it can be difficult to react before they hit.

Whew! Does that make sense?

Quote

Originally posted by Michael
those are just patches made by OP to fix bugs in the multiplayer server. The patches autoinstall when starting the launcher, so when you get in the game you have the latest version ...

The main anti-cheat program is on the server, what you get with the launcher is just a needed patch to fix some bugs that are happening on the server, that provokes crashes, kicks, items dissapear, etc. It's just an update to the latest version.

I repeated myself a bit, but hope you get the point, what you said as 'anticheat' for singleplayer, it's not made for that goal

Thank you, Michael and Corynthos, for explaining this better. "Clarification" is a good thing, and it sometimes requires a small amount of "repetition", so thank you for clarifying.

If I understand this correctly, we have several unrelated factors that add up to "unintended behavior" on the client side:

• One of your goals is copy protection (understandable).
• The launcher has an auto-updater (good).
• The launcher assumes that IT always has the most current files (bad).
• Most of you focus on Multi-Player (MP), so you do not completely understand the way that a dedicated Single Player (SP)plays the game. Your code that is good for MP is not so good for SP. That's OK if you want it that way... I am merely reporting unintended behavior.
• Many of you seem to assume that multi-player is "better". I understand why you might think that -- humans will always be smarter than AIs... at least during this century. However, I can tell you that there are many of us who think that multi-player is not nearly as much fun as a good game against AIs (NPCs). To completely explain that would require another thread, but I/we have good reasons for preferring single-player. (And we are not stupid, lazy, or inexperienced! ) In the end, it is just a matter of personal preference, in the same way that some people prefer Juni's Outfit #1 while others prefer Outfit #2.
• Your attempts at copy protection are probably doomed to fail from the start. Many development teams have tried, for many years, to enforce digital copy protection, and NOBODY HAS EVER FIGURED OUT A GOOD WAY TO DO IT. We all hate DRM, right? It's the same kind of thing... the attempt to copy-protect your data causes more trouble than it cures.

This set of circumstances explains another question that has been bothering me (which I did not ask): "Why do the infocard .DLLs not work correctly in Crossfire?". Am I correct in thinking that the DLLs are buggy for the same set of reasons -- an attempt to enforce copy protection?

If that is what is happening, then I can understand how and why things are the way that they are. My suggestion is that you are attempting the impossible, and the attempt causes trouble. But, please, do what you want to do.

I can only report that a change in the past week causes a small amount of trouble for me and some of my friends. I hope that you can, in the future, find a less troublesome way of achieving your goals.

I believe that you all have answered my question, so thank you for your patience, perseverance, and (minor) repetition.

As I have said several times, [SIZE=3]Crossfire 1.8 is the best thing that has happened to Freelancer since Freelancer itself.[/SIZE]

And, in my opinion, Freelancer is the best space simulation game ever made, so that is saying a lot. You deserve to be proud of your work. Thank you. I hope that you all get high-paying jobs at game development companies, if that is what you want!

Quote

Originally posted by SWAT_OP-R8R
u just confused a few ppl by mixing up CDs with CMs (nothing else)

Haha! OK, now I understand.

I had to re-read all of my notes to see what you were talking about, because my original post correctly described CMs and CDs.

However, in one of my follow-up responses, I mentioned BigDaddy allows "160 CD Flares", which is obviously a typo.

So, yeah, I meant, "CM Flares". You're right!

Quote

Originally posted by Corynthos
... prevent anyone to use any CF content in their mods & then call them ''their own''. (We had such an incident just recently)

Oh, like copy protection? OK, I can understand the desire for that, because there must be thousands of man-hours of work in Crossfire!

Freelancer is designed to be "open" so I am not sure how you can achieve the goal, but I can at least understand the desire for it.

And it simply is not possible to copy protect a .INI file (because the Windows API assumes plain text format). I only asked the question because Crossfire began to overwrite my .INI files a few days ago, and it surprised me.

Quote

make 2 copies of Vanilla FL on your HDD and install CF on one of them. Then use the clean copy to do your own creative work.

Oh, I have plenty of copies. That's not a problem! The point is to make mods that work WITH Crossfire. And I am not talking about anything huge... I might tweak the handling of a ship to improve the autopilot, or experiment with different weapon combinations. Or put big guns and shields on a Dagger, just because I like the looks of it.

In multi-player, everybody has to have the same environment. In single player, it does not matter, so why does Crossfire care whether I edit a .INI file?

That is all I was trying to ask.

Anyway, as I said, I have an adequate work-around -- for myself. But other folks have asked me for some of my little tweaks, and Crossfire 1.8 recently began "breaking" them. So it is really more of an issue for less-experienced players who want to play Crossfire in Single Player mode, and want to make minor adjustments of their own.

Here is another way of saying it: Half of the fun of playing (seven-year-old) Freelancer is in modding it. CF 1.8 spoils a little bit of my fun, and I am just trying to understand how Swat or Crossfire benefits from that.

Quote

Originally posted by Michael
Most CF's machine is made to be safe against...steals.

"Steals"? What is that? Sorry... I am not understanding what you mean there.

Quote

no need to make issues on the forums about it...

Wow... maybe we have a language barrier or something, because you were one of three who made an issue out of nothing, aren't you?

I only came here to rave about how good Crossfire is, help out some other newbies, and ask a reasonable question (to which nobody has given me a more thoughtful answer than "we don't want to"). And that answer is "good enough" for me, which is what I tried to say to Swat_Op.

I see that this is a very international forum and that English is probably a second language for most of the people here. So, if I misinterpreted your enthusiasm as antagonism, then I apologize. No disrespect intended.

I am just here for the game, Man. Peace!

Quote

Originally posted by Bond
Do not pay attention at some hunters and spammers.

feel like at home m8.

Thanks!

I am comfortable with what I know, and one thing I know is that there are people here who know more than I do about many topics. I might also have an occasional tip to contribute to the forum. I figure that is what forums are supposed to be about... sharing knowledge and "give and take".

Apparently I stumbled onto a good one -- and surprised a couple of the experts! That was completely unintentional.

I was just trying to help out a couple of other newbies who were struggling with combat basics.

Anyway, I'm cool, but I appreciate your reply!

Quote

Originally posted by Michael
Edit: seems you replyed yourself heh

One reply to Swat_OP and one to NucNuc.

You guys can read, can't you?!

Just kidding... but lighten up, ok?

As for my original question, I don't understand why you guys think that "modding" is "cheating", especially when you make mods. How does that make sense?

But, obviously, it's your mod and you can do whatever you want with it.

I'm just glad that you made Crossfire, because it is a beauty.

Quote

Originally posted by Michael
And yes, the tip is not for CDs(Cruise Disruptors), just for CMs(Counter Measures).

Man, what is it with this place?

I posted my first message this morning, and you are the third person to tell me I am wrong when, in fact, I am correct.

Weird attitude. Guys, instead of jumping down a newbie's throat, how about investigating the facts, first?

I just stopped in to say how much I liked Crossfire. Sheesh!

CMs work very well against CDs. If you look at weapon_equip.ini, you can see that CDs are just missiles with two lines changed:

[Munition]
cruise_disruptor = true

[Gun]
hp_gun_type = hp_torpedo_special_2

Quote

Originally posted by SWAT_OP-R8R
1. CD = Cruise Disruptor
2. Countermeasures = CM

you are talking about 2 completly different objects

Actually it is the same topic: Cruise Disruptors are just missiles. Counter-Measures stop them some percentage of the time.

CM stops CD (usually)

It may consume a few flares, but it works great.

Quote

Originally posted by NucNuc
[SIZE=3]Hey Bullwinkle ![/SIZE]

Easy solution to your problem: just turn off your internet connection ...

That would work, but then I wouldn't have access to email, web, this forum, or, dare I mention... real work! I just blocked the launcher with my firewall and it is good to go.

Quote

I'm doing quite the same as you: "adjusting " some bits and pieces ... ( .ini files, some .cmp files ). I think you could call it "CHEATING", ...

I don't think it is cheating at all. I beat the game in vanilla mode years ago. From then on, it is only modding. It is fun to make my own mods, and doing it along with Crossfire is the best of both worlds.

Quote

One more tip : ... make a back up

Obviously!

Quote

Originally posted by SWAT_OP-R8R
u are right - you dont know anything about the code and the way it does work
it can not and will not get deactivated
either you play the mod as its meant to be or you play something else

OK, no need to be touchy about it. Reasonable question, reasonable answer.

I can work around the launcher... I really asked about it because other people have asked ME about it since I have been raving so much about how excellent Crossfire 1.8 is.

Quote

Originally posted by Lone_Renegade
I think the anti cheat cannot be dissociated from SP without removing it from MP

Why would that be? The launcher has two different buttons, which means that the code has two different branches. Just turn off the anti-cheat functions in the Single-Player branch.

Unless I missed it the first couple of times that I played 1.8, I believe that the launcher CHANGED in the past week to ADD anti-cheat to Single Player. If I am correct about that, then turning it "off" should be just as easy as turning it "on" was.

I'm not saying that I know anything about the code... I don't. I am just curious why you said what you did.

Quote

Originally posted by Lone_Renegade
Uh CD dropper in "automatic drop mode" ???? I never heard of that function and I've been playing Freelancer for a looong time. I'm curious to learn how thats done.

I just told you... select the countermeasure dropper in your weapons panel (while in flight). You know, as though you were adding it to your current Weapons Group.

I do not recall seeing this tip in the Freelancer manual... it is just a tip that I picked up while reading the boards.

In BigDaddy Storyline, pirates are so tenacious with cruise disruptors that automatic countermeasures are one of the few ways of having even a chance to escape from being hammered early in the game. Fortunately, BigDaddy lets you carry 160 [CounterMeasure] flares!

=============================================

Edit: Originally I had a typo above "160 CD flares". That typo (and Lone Renegades's above) caused half of the confusion in the following messages. Sorry!

=============================================

PS: As with Crossfire's very creative NPC work, BigDaddy's NPCs are also very funny at times. They:

• Set ambushes (cloaked)
• Split into two wings so that one wing chases you while the other wing cruises past you and attacks from behind... even when you are sliding backwards.
• Disable Trade Lane gates when you try to use a Trade Lane to escape.
• Fire multiple cruise disruptors in order to defeat countermeasure flares that you might drop.

Still, I have to say that the funniest NPC experience I have ever had was in Crossfire. I was stopped in an asteroid field to check the Nav map. Four neutral ships slowly circled around my ship and came to a dead stop. I was curious about them so I targeted one. The second that I targeted one ship, all four turned red and blew me out of the sky. I got a good laugh out of that one.... great work, guys!

=============================================

While I think that multi-player is extremely cool, my lifestyle is single-player oriented.

I also have as much fun modding Freelancer as I do exploring the game.

So I was surprised when CF 1.8 began to overwrite my mods every time I launched the game! I can work around it by blocking Freelancer.exe in my firewall, but Crossfire's behavior seems unnecessarily invasive.

I can understand why it is important for everyone to use the same .INI files in multi-player, but I cannot think of a good reason to do it in Single Player mode.

Would you please turn off the anti-cheat in Single Player?

Thanks!

Otherwise, CF 1.8 is the best thing that has happened since Freelancer itself. I cannot think of enough good things to say about it.

Quote

Originally posted by wootmaster
i'm on the [last part of Mission 1], where you find the rogue outpost in the cloud, theres about 8 fighters and 2 weapons platforms.

I'm not new to crossfire or Freelancer, ... however, ... It only takes about 2 min for me to die, and it's just way to hard. ...

Is there ... anything anyone can suggest ... ?

Mission 1 is always tedious because you are restricted to the ultra-light Starflier. While the Starflier is maneuverable enough to avoid taking too much fire, it just doesn't hit hard enough with the stock Liberty Lasers to take out enemies quickly.

Tips:

- Sell your nanobots and shield batteries before your very first flight. Buy LavaBlade Plasma Cannons... they hit MUCH harder than the lasers. You won't need bots or bats on the first flight.

- If you don't already slide in combat, then LEARN TO DO IT. I turn off my engines before combat (Z key) and slide through the entire battle using only thrusters. (I don't know why King does not teach you to slide... it seems like an unfinished part of the game.)

- In rare circumstances, I don't do what I just said. When chasing some very quick light fighters, it can be easier to use less than max engine speed, or just match their speed.

- Take out the Weapons Platforms before attacking the fighters. The Weapons Platforms have long range and high power... THEY are probably killing you faster than the fighters.

- Buy a counter-measure dropper and SELECT IT in your weapons panel in the cockpit. That puts the counter-measure dropper into "automatic mode", where it will release a flare whenever a missile is launched at you. You will run out of counter-measures more quickly that way, but it may save your ass if you are being overwhelmed by too many enemies.

Suggestion for the mod:

- I have always thought that Mission 1 was more boring than really "difficult". If we could buy a Rhino or Patriot on Manhattan at Level 0, then Mission 1 would be more fun.

Crossfire is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

You guys have made a breakthrough in Freelancer mods that is long overdue: extensions to the story line (Mission 14, Jack Blinch, etc.)

While multi-player is an amazing capability, I am really a single-player fan at heart. Open SP just doesn't cut it, because there is a huge difference between directionless exploring and exploring for the purpose of following an ongoing story.

Most mods don't even attempt to extend the story line because they get stalled with the problem of creating new cut scenes. Your use of Rumors, News, and Secret Containers to add puzzles is brilliant.

And Mission 14 is the most creative and funny Freelancer mod I have ever seen.

Thank you... and I hope that you will add more puzzles to extend the story line for us single players in the future!

PS: The new uniforms for Juni rock! My fav is #2.