#Vasudans

[nhaneh]

tbh I stand by the idea that FreeSpace 2 is and remains one of the best sci-fi space stories in games ever.

Balancing the mundane threat of Aken Bosch and his Neo-Terran Front and tensions between the Terrans and the Vasudans within the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance with the inscrutable and entirely alien foe that is the returning Shivans. Time and time again, the game lets you think you've gained some kind of upper hand on the latter, only to then pull back to reveal their forces to be far, far greater than anyone thought possible - that you might literally be fighting against the The Great Filter given form, and that against such an enemy there is no winning, there is only surviving.

Combine that with the way the game presents the speech of the Vasudans with this alien grumble-like noise followed by a computer-sounding voice overlaid as a translation for it, providing a baked-in reasoning for why the aliens are all speaking english that makes immediate and intuitive sense.

To me, FreeSpace 2 is a story that's grander than that of Homeworld, that pulled off the kind of sci-fi cosmic horror that Mass Effect tried to do with its Reapers but far better despite being 8 years its prior. It is an opus so good that it arguably killed its own genre, and it's a real shame that it's so heavily associated with needing a proper flight stick to play, because beyond being this exemplar of what makes a good space combat sim, there's a genuinely great and haunting story in there with some really solid voice work to back it up, that managed to reach places that neither X-Wing nor Wing Commander ever could. As much as I love TIE-Fighter and the spin it took on Star Wars, or Wing Commander and its fluffy widdle Kilrathi space kittens and its later goofy FMV era starring Mark Hamill, or StarLancer and its follow-up FreeLancer and its ridiculous protagonist voiced by Ian Ziering, or even that one-off Tachyon: The Fringe with a main character voiced by none other than Bruce godsdamned Campbell... in my mind, FreeSpace 2 is absolutely still the greatest when it comes to space combat sims, and I don't expect it to be dethroned anytime soon. There might be modern space combat sims that are far prettier, or have way higher production values, or are much more accessible to fly, but... I don't know if I can see any of them match the weight and gravitas of FreeSpace 2's plot - the constant jumping from victorious highs to desperate lows and back again as the combined might of two species united into a single nation standing together with 30 years of technological advancements at their back still turn out to be as mere children in the playground of space against the incomprehensively vast force that is the Shivans.

It's like that creepypasta, Radio Silence - if you want to live, don't let them hear you.

[thereadingaddic7]

[driftingsouls2]

››› Drifting Souls 2 – das kostenlose Weltraum-Indie-Browsergame ‹‹‹

forsche • expandiere • errichte • kämpfe • handle • verbünde • zerstöre • bevölkere • sammle • erschaffe • verteidige • schreibe Geschichte

››› www.drifting-souls.net ‹‹‹

[sindri42]

#the Reapers want what the Shivans had

The Shivans (if i’m thinking of the same group you are) could get away with being totally mysterious on a narrative level because they were just barely stronger than the young races, powerful enough to force the Terrans and Vasudans to stop fighting each other and work together, but weak enough to be beaten back with totally conventional tactics and equipment as soon as the infighting between the young races died down. Either their technology completely stagnated right after it passed what the heroes had, or they’re deliberately holding back enough to essentially throw the fight because they never actually wanted to wipe the young races out.

That approach doesn’t work for the Reapers, because it’s been established that they’re a much larger scale of threat and that they’re pretty much implacable. There are a variety of ways you might be able to do enough damage to force them to the negotiating table, depending on what their motives actually are, but outright victory would never come without a deus ex machina and that’s extremely difficult to do in a narratively satisfying manner. Any well-made ending to the Mass Effect series would require you to figure the villains out enough to either deceive or persuade them in some way.

Re: the Reapers, I think they never should have even attempted an explanation. Make them a wholly unknowable and alien force that drops out of the sky, obliterates all life, and then just disappears again with no explanation. Makes it scarier when they have no knowable motivation.

That's somewhat ruined by the fact that you repeatedly talk to Reapers, which limits their menace to a degree when you can therefore glean large portions of their motives.

[terryblount]

Freespace 2 is now available for free on GOG

GOG is currently offering for free Volition’s space game, Freespace 2. This free offer ends in around 39 hours from now, so be sure to get your free copy while you still can. As with all GOG releases, this version of Freespace 2 is DRM-free and works on modern operating systems.

Freespace 2 continues on the story from Descent: FreeSpace. Players will assume the role of a pilot fighting against the mysterious aliens, the Shivans. While defending the human race and its alien Vasudan allies, the player also gets involved in putting down a rebellion of those elements of Vasudan (Hammer of Light) and Human (Neo Terran Front) forces which don’t want to cooperate with one another.

Fresspace 2 also includes the FRED2 editor. The editor is available in the installation directory of the game.

You can get your free copy from here.

Have fun!

The post Freespace 2 is now available for free on GOG appeared first on DSOGaming.

Freespace 2 is now available for free on GOG published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[suth2436]

Guys, I don't think you understand how cool this is.

[driftingsouls2]

Hier eine kleine Vorstellung unseres Browserspiels. :) Zum Anschauen empfehlen wir, die Untertitel einzuschalten, um keine Informationen zu verpassen. :)

Spiel mit unter: http://ds2.drifting-souls.net/

[driftingsouls2]

Ein Langstreckenaufklärer konnte trotz erheblicher EMP-Intereferenzen einen Angriff der Boschseparatisten festhalten, bei dem ein unbewaffnetes Zivilschiff explodierte. Die Boschseparatisten haben sich von der NTF losgesagt & operieren im Verborgenen. NTF und NTB kämpfen dagegen an.

Wirf dich in die Schlacht unter http://ds2.drifting-souls.net/ !

[driftingsouls2]

Jüngsten Informationen zufolge hat die Galactic Terran-Vasudan Republic (GTVR) auch ihre Version einer schweren Korvette erfolgreich getestet. Scan-Daten zum neuen Schiff sind bereits in die Öffentlichkeit geraten.

Wie die Schiffe der Konkurrenz basiert auch die Diomedes auf Antarit. Die GTVR hofft nun, das Mächtegleichgewicht zwischen den großen Fraktionen wiederherstellen zu können.

http://ds2.drifting-souls.net/

Die NTCv Olmus der Galactic Terran-Vasudan-Republic ist bereits im Dienst.

Ebenso wie die VICv Amun des Vasudanischem Imperiums.

[driftingsouls2]

Spielbeschreibung

Beim Weltraum-Indie-Browserspiel "Drifting Souls 2" schreibst Du die Geschichte: Es verbindet Rollenspiel, Wirtschafts- und Handelssimulation, Strategie und Kampf auf einzigartige Weise.

Das Spiel basiert auf der Narration der Freespace-Computerspiele der 90er Jahre, allerdings werden Spiel und Handlung regelmäßig fortentwickelt. Mittlerweile schreiben wir das 25. Jahrhundert. Vasudaner und Terraner mussten vor den Shivanern nach dem letzten Krieg fliehen und sind nun in einem entfernten Teil des Universums gelandet.

Die Herausforderung ist, dass es keine vorgegebene Geschichte oder festgelegte Handlungsabläufe gibt: Drifting Souls 2 ist vollständig non-linear und rundenbasiert.

Du bestimmst, ob Du Händler oder Krieger, Rollenspieler oder Entdecker bist, ob Du viel Zeit oder wenig investierst. In den fast unendlichen Weiten der verschiedenen Sternensysteme wird für jedem das Richtige geboten.

Drifting Souls 2 wird von Spielern für Spieler programmiert, wird ständig weiterentwickelt und jeder kann daran teilnehmen, denn das Spielprojekt ist open source und seit 2003 ohne Reset. Das Spiel ist vollständig kostenlos, es existieren keinerlei bezahlbare Inhalte und auf Werbung wird gänzlich verzichtet!

Drifting Souls 2 existiert seit 2001. Das Spiel ist rundenbasiert (sog. Ticks) und hat zur Zeit aufgrund einer längeren Offlinephase (einige Wochen) noch rund 100 Spieler (Tendenz steigend). Als Spieler kann man u. a. Asteroiden besiedeln, Schiffe bauen, kämpfen, Bergbau betreiben und handeln.

Ein wichtiges Element ist das Rollenspiel; die Spieler schreiben die Geschichte des Spiels selbst. Zudem existieren diverse NPCs, die von erfahrenen, ehemaligen Spielern gesteuert werden. Es gibt zur Auswahl zwei Rassen (Terraner und Vasudaner) und man kann sich verschiedenen Fraktionen und Allianzen anschließen.

Neben dem Rollenspiel sind die besonderen Elemente die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten der Schiffsmodifikation, das komplexe Kampfsystem und die Herausforderung des Aufbaus eines funktionierenden Wirtschaftsystems. Das Spiel basiert auf der Story der Freespace-Spiele.

Spiele jetzt mit unter https://ds2.drifting-souls.net/!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DriftingSouls2/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/driftingsouls2

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8sIgkUJIu-zSDpkvpZstA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/driftingsouls2/