by Bronze_D » 19 Mar 12, 2:48 pm
coatsy22 wrote:DoHo_ wrote:I still play Freelancer if that's worth anything to anyone. >.>
*gives DoHo_ a star and a pat*
Hehe. I'm still not sure why Freelancer is regarded as the kiddy game of the genre. I actually thought the mouse control scheme was one of the best control systems for one of these arcadey space sims.
Otto-matic wrote:I think it's because Freelancer strayed to close to the space management game type (Elite, X, Privateer) rather than the Space Combat Sim (Wing Commander, X-Wing, Freespace).
Management is not the problem, it never has been as most of the old fans of the genre played many games with more management than what Freelancer have, (Independence Day anyone? and if that was the problem then Privateer and Elite would've never took off nor will Independence Day 2)
The real reason is the combat mechanic of Freelancer, contrast Freespace, Xwing, Wing Commander which are arcade space sims centered around the classic axis centered gun dogfighter, versus Freelancer and some of the other space sim that mimic it which are centered around free floating turret based plane.
Lining up your shots, and maneuvering into position to get a shot off and avoiding the same fate on you while evading missiles and firing countermeasures, and doing all this in the middle of a warzone are pretty much what define the genre. And in Freespace they created a magnificent warzone... full of giant capital ship that fires heavy ordnance, firing FLAK and missiles on hostile fighters etc, and bombers firing bombs and torpedoes towards the capital ships.
In freelancer instead, they simplify the shots lineup into point and click as long as you face them, to most of the old fans of the genre... that pretty much defeats the main attraction of the combat in the genre.
Mouse driven arcade space combat game in another word, is more of a shooter than about dogfights. And that's not what the old fans of the genre wanted. Ironically that is also why Freelancer is easy to adapt to for newcomers and why there are a lot of ppl who liked it, there are a lot more fans of shooters than there are dogfights.
