First in this weekly update, we bring you the news that affects just about every single Freelancer Mod out there: With the Lancers Reactor being somewhat... finicky as of late, FriendlyFire/programexpert decided to take it upon himself to create a new HUB of Freelancer Mods called "The Starport". This will work almost exactly like the Lancers Reactor, except with better organization and much more reliability! You can go there for tutorials, Modifications, or help creating your own. The site can be found here, so I recommend you go there, get registered, and bookmark the place.
"The 'Critical Threat Range' isn't expressed as an actual number; all it says in that column is "Yes"....
Well, anyone and everyone who has ever read a Halo novel will know about the powerful weapon that is the Magnetic Acceleration Cannon. So massive that entire warships are built around one, so powerful that they fling slugs of ferric tungsten or depleted uranium at a fraction of the speed of light, and so destructive that they can punch clean through exposed hulls or bring down the Covenant's impenetrable shields, it's no wonder that the MAC is the UNSC's main weapon. The only issue was, it took fifteen minutes to fire a second shot.
Well, here at Black Dawn, we wanted to ensure that we kept that same powerful feel to the MAC; it is a weapon to be feared, and to be used sparingly. To make it feel that way, we designed it to have an extensive range, with an extreme amount of power (it can down anything smaller than a UNSC Cruiser in a single shot), but with HUGE power requirements. Firing an MAC will drain your entire power reserve, which will slowly refill itself back up again in three minutes' time. With the added limit of Ammunition, and the inability to purchase more (the weapon is designed to give you shells when you first purchase it, so you'll have to repurchase the cannon to get your ammo back), we can guarantee you that the weapon will feel both powerful, and rare. One of those... "combat opener" type of weapons.
Also, because the cannon is built into the very superstructure that keeps a vessel together, firing it during combat will require you to turn your entire ship in order to fire it. During close quarters combat, that will be more difficult for the larger vessels. You'll have to work hard to keep your main weapon pointed where you want it.
Quite easily one of the most recognizable class in the entire UNSC Navy thanks to Halo 2 and Halo 3, the Orion-class is home to great vessels such as the In Amber Clad and the Forward Unto Dawn. It's also one of my personal favorite ships.
And what Halo Mod would be complete without the Frigate? Freelancer: Black Dawn will feature the Frigate as a playable vessel, and one controlled by NPCs as well. As its name suggests, the Orion-class Guided Missile Frigate will feature more Archers than any other weapon on board. Exact specifics as to the number of weapons OUR frigate will carry are not available right now, since we're still experimenting, but we can guarantee you that it will not be an easy vessel to down.
Here is the model that Warsock has very nearly finished, and will look excellent in-game!
This week, programexpert, ApocSky, I interviewed Dark_Angel, the other Lead Developer of Freelancer: Black Dawn. Here's the inteview, with some interesting results!
Descender: Heya, Dark Angel! Nice of you to take some time out of your busy schedule to be interviewed this week.
Dark_Angel: Busy... Yeah. :) Getting ready for the pre-alpha *cough*. No ok, truthfully at this moment in time, I am currently converting the models, I got from Apoc to the correct format and I am going to start coding tomorrow some time, as it is rather late her and I don't fancy making some mistakes.
ApocSky: those models are rather nice, ain't they. I mean, wow!
DA: Indeed, the Rapier could do with some depth in the wings, however apart from that, you could actually believe that they came from Bungie studios. Considering you have only really just started they are insanely good, you have a talent for it.
D: Yes, they are fantastic, the models coming from Liam and Warsock as well!
DA: Indeed, very talented young people we have, making SUR files is going to be...hellish to say the least, so it looks like a box or cylinder SUR file, sweet and simple.
D: Speaking of SUR files, what exactly is it you do for the mod?
DA: What don't I do is more the question! :P Ok well, I am coding the Systems, a mix of FLE and hand-coding works best *thanks for that tip PE* so I will be doing that, I will be pissing around with HardCMP which is always a pain, but will be done quickly, I will also be training DarkFire to use HardCMP, destructible bases are something to look forward too, I will be doing the ship coding, and that is just for the pre-alpha and that's not even all of it I don't think! And that is in-between my daily life of drinking lots and hanging around listening to rather loud music; however I will be completely sober when writing the coding for FL:BD.
D: I'd hope so! I'd hate to see what ships do if they're coded by a drunk coder... At any rate, that's quite the pile of work! Do you enjoy what you do?"
DA: Yes! Actually, no, I hate coding; it's long and boring. HOWEVER, seeing your hard work and effort put into a game and it working, it's a wonderful feeling. I just hope I can live up to some of the great system coders of our time, such as PE.
D: Yes, it will be exciting to see how it turns out! Well, what got you started on Black Dawn, anyway?
DA: Ermm, Well I love FLCE to bits, however the "we aren't going to give you a playable version OR let you have any updates" was kinda annoying, but at the end of the day, you have to do what you have to do, and that always tickled my fancy for flying around in Capital ships blowing the crap out of everything else really, and then my love for Halo, I could go on for days about it, one of my all time favorite things, next to freelancer, music and drinking, definitely a passion of mine.
D: Yes, I'd have to agree with you on the Halo bit. *laughs* Well, we've got a lot of really cool features planned for FL:BD. Of those we have planned, which is the one you're most looking forward to?
AS: Finding out Apoc's favorite colored thong of course?"
D: *laughs* That's gameplay, not feature, Apoc.
DA: Ermmmm, the more canonical battles and the Fleet Engagements for sure, and then some ideas that I would like to run by you two, and then some of my own easter eggs.
D: So there will be some things that you think players should keep a sharp eye out for?
DA: Oh, definitely, but in systems up to 200km by 200km missing something may not be too difficult.
D: Well, in conclusion, is there anything else you'd like to say to the players?
DA: Ermm... God, where to start? There are hundreds of things, first of all these are just my ideas so don't expect them all to be in but anyway, 2nd is the RP system, that will be intense, want to make a new Frigate? Then pool the needed resources and hand them to an admin, and it will be made for you, but you will be limited to what is has, if you want speed then you lose firepower, there will be no uber ships at all, another thing is factions, it will have the two main, which will branch off, with certain clans(which will be player owned) only allowed certain ships depending on what they do, with the two main factions (admin owned) having access to the more powerful stuff, with the corporations giving them money, fourthly is the combat system, one word, wow! and the last but definitely not least, is the weapons these are going to be amazing. Thanks for asking me these questions, ermm I might go to bed now, I may not, it depends on which thong Apoc is putting on, regardless however thanks for reading and supporting Black Dawn!
D: No problem, DA! Get you some rest.
Just so the community knows, as far as internal dates go, we're right on track! As Dark Angel mentioned, we're getting our Dev-only Pre-alpha ready, and as soon as kinks are ironed out there, we'll be very very close to having something playable for you all! We're pushing forward, and we're all very excited!
Descender, Head Director
