woops. wrong post-quote

I have given much though about having a FS2 mod here in Sins. But the limitations are similar to other materials, like Battlestar Galactica, or StarLancer, or Star Wars, Wing Commander, etc.

Most of those universe revolve around the Fighters class ships. The personality of those titles are given by the fighters dogfighting. In Sins fighters take a seconday role in combat. And IMO, Freespace without the dogfighting is rather boring and generic.

I don't want fighters to be as unimportant, fragile, expendable, small, generic, insignificant unless you have a swarm type of unit, just as they are rigth now in Sins.

Now, if it can be done so that a flight of 12 Hercules is a force to be reckoned with, then go ahead.

FYI, an original copy or a GOTY copy of FS2 commands quite a bit of money on eBay. Only 37,650 copies TOTAL were made. Now, only about 34,000 sold, so in a handful of GameStop bargain bins are copies of a really good, really expensive game. Personally, I think it worth every penny. Oh, and get the Inferno campaign/mod, its AMAZING.

As has been pointed out, the HW2 freespace mod does exist. The models used in that are straight rips from freespace 2 itself (not the SCP, but the original FS2). I should know, I worked on putting a few of the ships into that mod. Just wanted to say that the models already exist, and that they can be taken straight from the game and converted into any format that is required. If the original models are high enough quality for you, I'm sure the guys at the SCP will lend you their high-poly ones, but I don't think that would go very well performance wise.

Actually, I think i'll post a short tut, in case anyone wants to pick it up (at the moment I don't have the enthusiasm/time to get into modding another game, but anyway).

Firstly, you will obviously need a copy of freespace 2. This can be obtained from a couple of places on the net for free. Now all the models that FS2 uses are packed into .VP files. Using a program like ModelView32, you can open up these .VPs and you will get a look at the models contained within. Using this, you can note the names that each model has (for example, the Orion model is called capital01) and what textures it uses (also contained in the .VP). Now with VPVIEW32, you can open the .VPs and actually extract the files (a model file .POF, and various texture files) that you need. The textures can be converted to DDS (I assume that is what Sins uses) with something like photoshop, but the .POF is a bit more complex. There is a program called POF Construction Suite that can convert these .POFs to .COBs. Now that we have a .COB, I used Deep Exploration to open that .COB and save it to my file type of choice. (Once again, no idea what sins uses, but no doubt you could get it to the proper format from most of the common filetypes with sometype of tool). Granted most people will not have a spare copy of Deep Exploration lying around, and in that case I don't know of any other program that will open it and convert it to whatever you want. All I can say that a .COB is used by Calgari Truespace modelling software, and I think there is a trial available, so perhaps you could use that.

Phew, sorry for the lengthy post, but I just wanted to point out the models are out there, ready to be used.

Yeah easy part's done now. All that's left is the massive balancing and playtesting. Oh, but if the FS2 races are added to the original races, I have an idea for how that would happen.

Remember, the TEC used to be the Trade Order, whose purpose was unifying the human worlds by trade. There was a massive human empire and something broke it up. So that's why the Advent were there in the first place on their desert world. So lots of planets the Trade Order found had people living there. Now, what if the capital of the TEC isn't Earth? What if Earth has been long forgotten? What if Earth went out on its own and found the Vasudans and the Shivans? Hey! The Vasari could be running from the Shivans! Well, we all know whatever drove the Vasari on the run came from phase(sub)space so the Shivans make sense for that. Plus the wanton destruction the Shivans love makes them excellent candidates for wiping out and destroying every single Vasari world. But lets say the GTVA is exploring after the Second Great War and BAM! It finds the Vasari, TEC, and Advent all blowing the hell out of each other. And then come the Shivans on the heels of the Vasari, hoping to eliminate those damned humans once and for all!!!

I'm lucky and I happen to have the GOTY Edition, with the FRED and all that stuff. The sticker on the box says it's 1462 out of 2000. Must just be that production set.

If I can figure out just how to extract the models from the game and turn them into a format for Sins, it'd be great. What I'd really like though is to get in touch with some people about this and start a mod team. If there're any volunteers, feel free to message me.

EDIT: Wait, nevermind, there's a certain lengthy post I didn't read all the way that explained all of it (about the models). I think all that will be do-able then, so long as it's mostly freeware. The offer for the team still stands though.

Mostly freeware Rallis? Try completely open-source. Cinematics, models, hardpoints, everything is available for you to mess with.

And as for a team, I know absolutely nothing about modding whatsoever, and tend to be very lazy. However, for a FS2 mod for Sins, I might be able to actually work up the willpower to actually do something. Models and textures are already completed, but hardpointing might need some work in order to work with Sins and its hardpoints. I know nothing, but I'm willing to learn anything.

Edit: When this mod is done, I hope people try to mod this mod and give us Inferno Sins and Into the Depths of Hell Sins, and lets not forget Procyon Insurgency Sins as well.

Aren't what you guys doing a bit..stealing?

the game is no longer on sale, and im pretty sure interplay doesn't exist other than on the internet, as a defunct website lol.

Uh guys. Freespace 2 is completely open-source. Meaning we can use whatever we want as long as we don't try and make any money off it. Since mods are non-profit, no problems whatsoever.

Sounds like a great idea guys. Lemme know if i can help out, ive got expierence modding all the homeworld games, as well as being familier with some different 3d software. So gimme a shout and lets get this thing off the ground!

Alright Freespace MOD!

As soon as I started playing this game i wanted to somehow make it into a freespace scenario. Me personally I would just be happy with a map and correct starting points for Terrans(TEC) Advent(PVN) and Vasari(Shivan), and I think a great war scenario would be AMAZING!

I wish I was more skilled at MODing and graphics so I could help out, but let me know if you need somebody to test it!

I think im gonna go re-play freespace2 now.
FREESPACE MOD!!!

Am I the only one who gets reminded of an Orion when he sees a Sova? Their main superstructure is surprisingly similar.

I kinda see what your saying but not realy, I see the Vasari sentinel resembling a mara and one of their strucktures (dont know which one) resembles a shathanis.

Yaaaa, Another who plays Freespace!!!! Go fo it!

Alexmase, you ever play the Second Great War Part 2 Mod for FS2? So bad it almost rolls completely around to being good. Almost. But, you get to fly a GTVA-made Mara fighter later on, which s awesome cause the Mara kicks absolute ass.

i see what your getting at, i think they do look similiar.

Thank you Mazer, I wondered if I was losing my mind. Nevermind I lost it years ago now that I think about it. Anyways there are two Fs2 Mod Threads, and the other one has stuff besides idle chitchat on it. So I suggest we all move there.

No I dont beleive i have, but I do remember in fs2 you do get to fly a captured mara twords the end of the game in one of the volentary missions.

There might actually be a Freespace 3. It really depends on the success of the new Earthworm Jim title. Interplay is trying to produce games again since they made a bit of money and mostly got out of debt from selling Fallout 3.

Well, Alexmase, it is not a SOC loop or anything. You actually fly a Mara as your main fighter craft. Hell, your whole wing can even fly Maras. And the Shivans will never know what hit them. Of course, you might accidentally hit an ally, whose in a Mara.

That's in the FS2 main campaign. You and a wing of the Special Intelligence Recon (something like that anyways) members fly into an area of Shivan space where there are those massive machines you have to blow up, since they think they're communication units. You fly a Mara in that one, and they are VERY fast and VERY maneuverable. I was running circles around one of the Dragon fighter Aces in that thing.

And when I said freeware, I meant the tools to build the mod and convert/make the 3D models.

No Rallis. I'm talking about a FS2 mod here, not the vanilla campaign. In the mod, which has the worst case of BoE syndrome ever (like every mission, there's even one with multiple Sathani and Colossi going at it), is completely unbalanced, and generally sucks so bad its almost good.

Hahaha, I made a map with a huge fleet of everything, and more than one Sathanas and other Shivan cruisers. There was one Sathanas I put in the center of the group that I edited the explosion radius and damage on, so when it blows you up have to out-run it's explosion and the ones from all the other ships it kills. I never beat it yet. lol I wonder if we could put the explosions into Sins somehow? So that they kill fighters and damage cruisers.

I doubt this, but I wounder if there is a way you could have a unit blow up a star like the shathanis.