Freelancer

[Kal-Nor]

So I had my first full day with the Freelancer, it's early days and with all the hype and reads ups I was expecting this to feel great. The Freelancer, like with many individual players is going to be my personal ship of choice, my "go to ship" when I just want jump into a solo game and try a few different roles.

But after spending a large part of yesterday flying around in her I just wasn't feeling it. First off, like the Connie she's not a solo ship, yes she's smaller than the Connie but I could see where having a second player or even NPC could be a benefit. This isn't a big deal as this is classed as a two man ship and I could overtime get used to flying her solo. But i hate to say it but the lack of visuals did bother me. Now I already said in another post that Lando has suggested the cockpit will be more visual on the DUR due to it being an explorer, which I'm hoping will make a difference. I also think that if your going to have such a poor line of sight then you should have a better radar/sensor display. For some reason the Freelancer has none (that I can see when messing with the huds), I know the freelancer will get a exciting 3D type of hud, which I hope is going to be a Misc thing across the board as they all have that style cockpit. But I need a good radar in place if they intend to keep with this present style.

I know it's a lot smaller ship but when I'm in the SuperHornet, it feels right and I got that from day one and I want that feel with the Freelancer. In contrast I felt more comfortable with the Connie, it's a ship I never had much expectation for but if I was given a choice so far then I'd prefer the Connie over the Freelancer. Regardless of the cost the Connie seems to out match the Freelancer, but so far doesn't need that much more work to fly.

But as I say it's only my first day, we have many more trial days and many more systems to put in place before a decision has to be made. But since day one I've always steered away from the NPC crew thing and wanted a player base game. For the first time yesterday I was hoping that the NPC crew live up to expectation as I may need to consider the Carrack as my "Go to ship" for that single player experience as well as my multi-crew ship experience. I guess time will tell.

[TeaLeaf]

The Freelancer will never feel like a Super Hornet, so I'd suggest that's an unrealistic comparison.   Ships with the capacity to haul and do other things are not going to give you the same feel as a thoroughbred fighter.  I'd be guessing that the planned 3D UI will give you the abilty to track well enough to not need the visuals of the Super Hornet.  Certainly I often fly on the radar to track, not by turning my head and trying to look 'up and backwards'.  I only switch to visual when I need direct line of sight, so when I'm tracking the radar is fine and that's what the UI will hopefully provide.

As you say, early days!

[smilodon]

I find the Cutlass to be a really nice solo craft.

• It's got amazing all round vision
• some serious firepower
• incredible maneuverability
• can be flown solo
• can also accommodate two passengers
• has a moderate amount of cargo space (33 units as opposed to Freelancers 52)
• has beds
• has a head
• has a cool tractor beam (or will have)
• is an iconic looking ship
• is due a rework so will look even better moving forward

Downsides

• Currently horribly bugged on Stanton. It's larger than most single seater fighters (3m shorter than a Freelancer) but seems to be delivered to pads too small to accommodate it. This results in it hitting the structure of the space station and taking damage. I'm not sure if it's been fixed for 2.1 though. It really needs to sit on a larger pad.
• The hud is broken (missing) so you can only see speed data. Everything else is only visible on the actual ships panels. This will obviously be fixed.
• It suffers with the falling through floor bug, or did in 2.0.

So my daily solo runabout is the Cutlass which I find a better fit for general solo use than a dedicated fighter or a larger carrier.

[Kal-Nor]

@ Tealeaf. Your right it's a unfair comparison to compare it to a fighter. But in many ways I was trying to say that I feel more comfortable in the SH compared to any other fighter. Maybe it the number of hours I've spent in SH but I wanted that to be the same with the Freelancer in comparison to the other ships similar in its class, Cutlass and Connie.

Connie leading it for me so far..

@ Smilidon, I think they fixed the Cutlass landing issue in 2.1. I've always wrote off the Cutlass as I've counted on the Freelancer. I have a tempory Cutlass so maybe it's time I try this out also.

[Obsydian]

The Cutlass was originally touted as the "Freelancer's evil twin"

[smilodon]

Ironically I just got a Freelancer DUR for trundling about and finding stuff. It's a lot faster than the Cutlass but obviously not as maneuverable as what is considered to be one of the most agile ships in the game.

The new Hangar ready DUR is much prettier than the flyable Freelancer base model though. Really looking forward to it being fully functional and flyable.

[AndyBee]

Maybe I should try my Cutlass out again since it sounds like you guys like it, was a bit buggy pre 2.1 for my liking, I'm most happy in the SH too at the minute and though I will defo keep it as my go to combat ship I do still have a couple of LTI Auroras and a ton of store credit waiting to add at least 1 more ship. I had a Retaliator but didn't get on with it somehow and though I like the Connie it feels weak, though I don't intend being combat orientated at all, so maybe a Connie Taurus for trade runs may be where I go.... I suppose when we can throw money at upgrading a Connie into a tank with better shields etc it may fit the bill, but how it's been sold/marketed (iconic bounty hunter, smuggler and millennium falcon wannabe) doesn't fit with how it feels right now to me...

[Kal-Nor]

I felt exactly the same in the Connie as it felt like a large glass target. Although I've never really liked the cutlass I will admit it has surprised me. When your EVAing a lot it's a perfect ship to get in and out of and the same with the freelancer. The Connie is difficult and the warden could be better, the cutlass has moved up in my ranking based on using it as it's very practical. But I still prefer the Freelancer over the two.

[TeaLeaf]

I have a Cutlass Blue and it is the only ship of that size that has survived in my fleet.   I gradually fell out of love with everything else and really like it!

[BrotherTobious]

I have a Cutlass Blue and it is the only ship of that size that has survived in my fleet.   I gradually fell out of love with everything else and really like it!

Let me know if there is a deal on your sentinal

[AndyBee]

Sorry having diverted this off topic ... back on topic, has anyone got a Freelancer Max ? just wondering if it seems huge inside, stats say it should be mahoosive !?

[smilodon]

Just for you. There's no on or off topic. I might create some more forums and split out posts into ship stuff game stuff etc.

[AndyBee]

Cheers for that, it's pretty damn huge !! ... and probably more manageable solo or with just 1 friend or an NPC crew than a Connie Taurus i imagine.... i wish i knew what those extra 2 seats in the cockpit were going to get used for though !?

[smilodon]

As do we all, currently all three extra seats control shields and power settings.

[BrotherTobious]

Also we need some to change the bulb when we go to red alert

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