Discovery Mod

Freelancer: Discovery Mod v4.84

Before you start
Discovery mod was designed to be easy for beginners, but there are several things that you should know before you start.


 * 1) Before turning Open SP on, make sure that you have a backup of Freelancer\DLLS\BIN\content.dll file. Freelancer Mod Manager (FLMM) will delete this file during mod deactivation, and you'll need to restore it manually. If Open SP is not enabled, content.dll will not be deleted.
 * 2) It is not recommended to install any other mods or patches prior to and after Discovery activation. 1.1 official patch is included into the mod.
 * 3) If Discovery won't activate properly in FLMM, your Freelancer installation is most probably corrupt. Reinstall Freelancer, and FLMM, if necessary.
 * 4) Do not forget to transfer scanners, ID items, and armor upgrades each time when you buy a new ship. These items are displayed in 'Internal Equipment' section of ship inventory.
 * 5) ID items present in Discovery are not used only for role-playing. They also act as tractor beams. Freelancer IDs are available for purchase from every base (500 credits).
 * 6) If your large ship gets stuck while undocking from certain space stations, try moving backward and strafing, use thruster, or log off and on again with your character.
 * 7) If you are automatically kicked from multiplayer servers, either check your ship loadout for equipment that's no longer mountable on this ship, or stop cheating.
 * 8) Never enable Open SP when playing online.
 * 9) Make sure your cruise speed never exceeds 350 (Discovery limit). If it does, reinstall the mod, or you will be banned for speed modding in multiplayer. The speed limit might be higher than 350 due to FLMM error (1.4 beta in particular).
 * 10) Refer to this Readme if you need help and more information.

Overview
The award-winning Discovery modification was designed as a full-scale expansion pack for Freelancer. It breathes new life into the familiar PC game by adding lots of new features without taking away the atmosphere and balance of the original. Discovery allows players to develop and explore far beyond the reaches of unmodded Freelancer, both in multiplayer and in singleplayer modes. The modification adds 68 new systems, 152 new ships, hundreds of new weapons, equipment and commodities, new factions and NPC encounters, its own storyline, and much more - everything seamlessly integrated into Freelancer universe. View distance limitations, 1 billion player credit limit, and 10 million item price limit are all things of the past for Discovery.

Version 4.84 contains more changes than any previous Discovery version. Dozens of new ship models custom-created for the mod by our community members completely changed the way how the mod looks. Many more faction systems received long-awaited updates, and 5 new systems were introduced. With numerous new weapons for fighters and capital ships, it became much easier to create versatile and balanced setup for any ship you like. More equipment types were introduced, including new scanners, thrusters, and countermeasure droppers. In addition to that, many profitable and dangerous trade routes were added, involving both new and original commodities. Top-level NPCs became more challenging than before.

The year is 816 A.S., and the history of Discovery continues. While Kusari onslaught into Bretonia has been stopped, fierce fighting in Tau systems still continues. The Wild are building a Nomad gate in Omega, its destination yet unknown. Rheinland accuses Liberty of illegal experiments with Nomads in the Alaska system that could cause dangerous consequences for the whole humanity.

If you prefer online play, you are welcome to official Discovery Freelancer RP 24/7 and PvP 24/7 servers, and a number of other servers running Discovery mod. Server operators are allowed to run this mod without any restrictions, IONCROSS data files are included.

In January 2007, Discovery mod was chosen to receive the Simulation Genre Award of ModDB.com's Mod of the Year-2006 contest (MOTY-2006).

Visit Discovery forums at http://www.discoverygc.com and Discovery website at http://www.discoveryfl.com for more details.

Features
12 fully populated systems - Newcastle (Bretonia), Dundee (Bretonia), Munich (Rheinland), Omega-15, Omega-55 (Border Worlds), Omega-47, Omega-49, Omega-52, Omicron Delta, Omicron Eta (Edge Worlds), Omicron Iota, and Omicron-99 (Nomad Worlds); 30 populated faction systems; Arena system (Connecticut), Prison system, and many more.
 * 152 new pilotable ships of different classes, including brand new ships, custom ships based on original game models, and ships previously available only for NPCs: Starblazer, CSV, Juni's Defender, advanced versions of House fighters, transports, trains, liners, gunboats, cruisers, destroyers, and battleships.
 * Each new ship carefully customized - weapons, shields and equipment balanced, cameras placed where they should be.
 * 68 new systems, including:
 * Numerous new bases both in new and original systems.
 * Player credit limit increased to 2 billion; maximum item price increased to 1 billion.
 * Unique and simple docking system - large ships can dock everywhere.
 * New assignable hotkeys for up/down strafe and selecting subtargets.
 * Evolving storyline about the war between Kusari and Bretonia, the conflict between Liberty and Rheinland, and the pirate war between Corsairs and Outcasts.
 * View range increased - you'll see stations, ships, trade lanes from a longer distance (can be changed in mod options).
 * Numerous new factions, including 30 guardian factions, Freelancer faction, and more.
 * Many dozens of balanced new guns and turrets for fighters and capital ships.
 * New equipment, including armor upgrades, scanners, thrusters.
 * New commodities and trade routes; all ships drop pilots when destroyed.
 * Battleship encounters in most populated systems, Nomad battleship encounters in the Unknown systems.
 * Battleship killing missions available, all mission rewards increased.
 * NPC AI enhanced, NPCs use shield batteries and nanobots.
 * Faction IDs available for role-playing purposes. ID item also serves as a tractor beam.
 * Serverside options when activating the mod: server administrators can set starting money and reputation, choose character uniform.
 * Clientside options when activating the mod: players can disable or enable intro movies, player engine trails, spinning planets, change view distance.
 * Open Singleplayer (Open SP) can be enabled as mod option; players can choose Open SP starting system, credits and reputation.
 * Storyline singleplayer available when Open SP is disabled.
 * Correct and complete infocards for all new ships, items, and commodities.
 * Everything is ready to start your own server: IONCROSS data files included.
 * Many other features - see the changelog in this Readme.txt file!
 * And last, but not least - retained original Freelancer atmosphere and playstyle.

Discovery Clientside Installation

 * 1) Requirements:
 * Complete and clean installation of Freelancer without any patches or addons. English version is preferable, for all Discovery texts are written in English.
 * Freelancer Mod Manager (FLMM) version 1.3 or 1.4 latest beta (currently beta 4). You can get FLMM here: http://igx89.home.comcast.net/FLMM_Downloads.html
 * For activating 7zip version of Discovery, only FLMM 1.4 beta will work. For activating the zip version, both 1.3 and 1.4 are suitable.
 * 200 Mb of free space is required on the disk where FLMM is installed; 200 Mb of free space is required on the disk where Freelancer is installed. If Freelancer and FLMM are installed on one disk, 400 Mb of free space is required. No additional system requirements apply.
 * 1) When all required software is installed and ready for use, download the Discovery mod (.zip.flmod file) and double-click it. If FLMM was installed correctly, the file will be unzipped to FLMM folder. "Ready for activation" message will appear, and FLMM main window will open.
 * 2) On this stage, you should be ready to set up options for Discovery. If you are not sure what to choose, refer to appropriate section of the Readme.txt file. If you are going to play Open SP, backup Freelancer\DLLS\BIN\content.dll NOW.
 * 3) In FLMM main window you will see a list of all mods available for activation. Choose Discovery and press Activate. Mod options window will appear. Choose the options you prefer and proceed with activation; this will take some time (up to 1 minute).
 * 4) If the mod is activated successfully, you will see a green mark next to its name in FLMM. Everything is ready for playing now.
 * 5) To reset setup options, deactivate and activate the mod in FLMM. Deactivation of Discovery is absolutely safe and will not corrupt your Freelancer installation. If you enabled Open SP, copy the backup of content.dll to the original folder after mod deactivation.

Before you enable Open SP, don't forget to backup Freelancer\DLLS\BIN\content.dll file! After you deactivate Discovery with Open SP enabled, you'll need to copy content.dll back to Freelancer\DLLS\BIN\ folder. If you did not backup content.dll file before Open SP activation, you may copy OPTIONS\patch.dll file from Discovery folder into Freelancer\DLLS\BIN\ and rename it into content.dll.

Troubleshooting
---

Remember that cruise speed cannot be more than 350 in Discovery. If you are going faster, you will be banned for cheating. Also note that speed more than 350 will still be displayed as 350 in your HUD; compare speed of your ship to other ships to be sure.
 * 1) Make sure that freelancer.exe, flserver.exe and other programs that use Freelancer files are not running during the mod is activated or deactivated in FLMM. This applies to Discovery and all other mods.
 * 2) If you have other mods activated in FLMM, they MUST be de-activated prior to Discovery activation.
 * 3) If FLMM reports errors during the mod activation, it is highly recommended to reinstall Freelancer and FLMM. It is also recommended to delete all files from My Games\Freelancer. Make a backup if necessary.
 * 4) When using FLMM 1.4 beta, make sure you never activated/deactivated speed mod prior to Discovery. Speed mod in 1.4 is not deactivated properly, which might lead to increased speed in multiplayer and, as a result, ban from servers.
 * 1) If the steps listed here do not help, visit our forums at http://discoverygc.com/forums and report your problem there.

Clientside Options
Clientside options work both for multiplayer and singleplayer. If you run a server, changing these options will not have any effect on players.


 * Would you like the intro movies on/off? - Off is default.
 * What view distance would you prefer? - This setting changes view distance for space stations, jump gates, trade lanes, and other objects. NPC or player ships are not affected. Medium is Discovery default; Low is Freelancer original values; High is for the longest view distance, but might cause low FPS even on hi-end PCs in certain systems.
 * Would you like to enable spinning planets? - Spinning planets may not work properly on certain PC configurations. Planets often slow down and stop if you fly far away or just use Alt-Tab to switch windows.
 * Would you like player engine trails enabled? - No is default. Player engine trails don't cause graphic issues or slowdowns on most systems.

Serverside Options
These options are server-related and should not be changed by players unless necessary. Starting money and reputation options work for server administrators only. Uniform choice will affect singleplayer game.


 * Set amount of starting money for new characters - 8,500 is default, server administrators may change this value, ranging from 2,000 to 500,000,000.
 * Do you want new players to start neutral? - No is default and is recommended for role-play servers. Yes sets all factions to be neutral to beginning players, except Nomads and Administrator Faction.
 * What uniform would you like for server characters? - Trent's uniform is default. Choose carefully, for uniform applies to all new characters created on server. This option also works for singleplayer and Open SP.

Open Singleplayer Options
If you leave Open SP disabled, do not set Open SP options. FLMM won't let you activate the mod if you do. Before you enable Open SP, backup Freelancer\DLLS\BIN\content.dll file. When you deactivate Discovery with Open SP enabled, this file will be deleted by FLMM (reason remains unknown, probably FLMM bug). In this case restore your backup, or reinstall Freelancer. Clientside options will affect Open SP. Serverside options will not, except for player uniform option.


 * Would you like to enable Open SP? - Default is No.
 * Which system would you like to start in? - There are 53 systems to choose from, including several new Discovery systems.
 * How much starting money would you like? - Choose amount of starting credits, ranging from 2,000 to 1,800,000,000.
 * What reputation do you want? - Default Discovery reputation is the lawful role-play reputation used in multiplayer. Other options are: All factions neutral, friendly or hostile. Nomads are hostile regardless of your choice.

Do not enable Open SP if you are playing online. Storyline singleplayer will be active if Open SP is disabled. All clientside options, as well as uniforms, will work in Storyline SP.

RECENT CHANGES

 * New in Discovery 4.84:


 * 45 new ships:
 * Advanced Train
 * Arwing Light Fighter by Ryuujin
 * Barghest (Pirate Bomber) by Angel of Mercy
 * Border Worlds Transport by Mohr
 * Bounty Hunter Battlecruiser by Mancer
 * Bounty Hunter Bomber by Mohr
 * Bretonia Royal Liner by Doom
 * Bumblebee (Kusari Transport) by Doom
 * Challenger (Bretonia Bomber) by Angel of Mercy
 * Civilian Bomber by I m rdy
 * Corsair Cruiser by Angel of Mercy
 * Corsair Dreadnought by Angel of Mercy and Mohr
 * Dragon Battleship by Angel of Mercy
 * Dragon Bomber by Mohr
 * Dragon Cruiser by Angel of Mercy
 * Dragon Gunboat by Angel of Mercy
 * Falcata (Outcast Bomber) by Legeonation
 * Firefly by Godzero
 * GMG Miner by Doom
 * Havoc Mk II Bomber by Legeonation
 * Heavy Tanker by Mohr
 * IMG Gunboat by Doom
 * Kusari Bomber by Mohr
 * Kusari Transport by Angel of Mercy
 * Lane Hacker Gunship by dude42
 * Loki (Hessian Light Fighter) by Angel of Mercy
 * Mammoth (Liberty Transport) by Doom
 * Nomad Light Fighter
 * Nomad Very Heavy Fighter (limited access) by Treewyrm
 * Nomad Bomber (limited access) by Treewyrm
 * Odin (Hessian Heavy Fighter) by Angel of Mercy
 * Orca (Bounty Hunter Gunboat) by Angel of Mercy
 * Outcast Battleship by Epyon the Bored, Mohr, and Angel of Mercy
 * Percheron (Bretonia Transport) by Doom
 * Pirate Train by Mohr
 * Pirate Transport by Doom
 * Praetorian (Corsair Bomber) by Angel of Mercy
 * Rogue Gunboat by Doom
 * Scorpion Gunboat by TFK-Killermatrix
 * Thor (Hessian Bomber) by Angel of Mercy
 * Thor Mk II (admin ship) by Angel of Mercy
 * Viper Mk II by Nightstalker
 * Virage Very Heavy Fighter by Legeonation
 * Waran (Border Worlds Bomber) by RimShot
 * Zoner Destroyer by Angel of Mercy
 * 5 new systems:
 * Omicron Eta (Edge World system controlled by Outcasts and Corsairs)
 * Omicron Iota (Nomad system)
 * Omicron-99 (Nomad system)
 * Omega-58 (Edge Worlds system controlled by The Wild)
 * Bastille Prison System
 * 5 updated systems:
 * Baffin (Zoners system) by Denelo.
 * Londonderry (Mollys system) by Sawtyss
 * Puerto Rico (Junkers system) by Commodore
 * Sigma-59 (GMG system) by Commodore
 * Tau-44 (IMG system) by Denelo
 * 19 new stations in different systems, and one new dockable planet. More stations have ship dealers.
 * Extensive ship balance changes (see the ships table for details).
 * Cargo jettison hardpoints added for all new ships.
 * Countermeasure slots added for most transport ships.
 * Components of Vanilla VHF ships became less vulnerable.
 * Repair ship can hold 4000 nanobots and batteries now.
 * Many hitboxes for large ships updated.
 * Prices of all battleships increased by 100 million, all cruisers by 20 million.
 * Battleship License items added for sale.
 * High-level NPCs are now tougher; low-level NPCs slightly downgraded.
 * 12 new capital ship turrets added. More forward cannon types added.
 * All capital ship weaponry rebalanced.
 * High-level fighter weaponry rebalanced; more weapons added, including Nomad weapons.
 * 4 new codenames added, along with new wrecks. Sound effects for many codenames changed.
 * Supernova torpedo added to replace Nova; Nova remains an anti-capital energy weapon with extremely high energy capacity and very low refire rate.
 * Bombers are now the only ships capable of firing Nova or Supernova.
 * Maximum missile velocity is now higher.
 * Cost of all ammo types significantly reduced.
 * 2 new countermeasure droppers, 2 new thrusters, 4 new scanners added.
 * Price of all IDs reduced 10-15 times, except for Neutral ID and Xeno ID.
 * 5 new IDs added, including Miner ID, and Smuggler ID.
 * Freelancer ID is now eligible above level 40. Civilian ID replaced the former Freelancer ID for starting players.
 * 3 new commodities: Counterfeit Software (contraband), Plutonium, Slaves (contraband).
 * Many trade routes rebalanced. Smuggling became more profitable.
 * History of Sirius commodity available from major planets.
 * Certain mineable asteroids fields are now easier to mine.
 * Shields for transports and freighters separated in different classes. Freighters can no longer mount transport shields.
 * Names of two Unknown systems changed.
 * flconfigdatabase.txt file by Louva Deus added (helps in solving problems for certain video cards).
 * New admin notifications added: notifications will now specify which rule was violated.
 * The History of Discovery continues: added news about the war between Bretonia and Kusari, the Liberty Conspiracy, The Wild, and more.
 * Many more changes and additions (see the beta changelog). Multiple bugs fixed, infocard errors corrected, balance issues resolved.
 * Shortcuts for quick connection to Discovery Freelancer RP 24/7 and PvP 24/7 included.

Fighters and Freighters

 * * Statistics of original ships provided for reference. Some settings were changed.

Capital Ships
* = Special forward cannon installed. All forward cannons have different level and cannot be exchanged between ships. (Safe undocking from certain planets not guaranteed): It is known that some planets damage capital ships more than others. Generally, the larger is the planet, the more reliable is undocking.

Note that large ships often get stuck when undocking from certain station types, depots and asteroid bases in particular. This is an original Freelancer problem, and the mod cannot solve it.

Prices may increase due to additional equipment pre-installed. Price of battleship listed without Battleship License price included (250 million credits).

Ship selling locations
name               level  system Arrow              30     California Arwing             28     Omega-41 Camara             28     Hamburg Collector          32     New York Death Scythe       20     Omega-15 Greyhound          30     Dublin, Cortez Marauder           28     Omicron Theta Marsflyer          36     Somewhere in Nomad space Moldy Crow         26     Omicron Eta Raven Claw         32     Colorado Raven's Talon      32     Omega-49 Slipstream         24     Magellan Spatial            34     Dublin Stinger            32     Sigma-17 Talon              32     Somewhere in Nomad space Tiger Shark        28     Omega-7 Viper              32     Omicron Theta Viper Mk II        32     Omega-7 Virage             34     Omicron Kappa X-Shuttle          24     New Tokyo, Tau-31 Kadesh Fr          12     Stuttgart Kadesh HF          30     Stuttgart Kadesh LF          2      Colorado, Stuttgart Kushan Fr          30     Frankfurt Kushan HF          26     Frankfurt Kushan Scout       28     Frankfurt Kushan VHF         32     Somewhere in Nomad space Somtaaw SHF        34     Dresden Somtaaw HF         32     Dresden Somtaaw LF         7      Cambridge, Dresden Taiidan Fr         10     Leeds, Munich Taiidan HF         28     Munich Raiders Fr         32     Omega-15 Raiders LF         13     Shikoku, Omega-15 Liberator          27     Texas Executioner        26     Colorado Guardian           32     New York Avenger            32     Texas Anubis             16     Sigma-17, Omicron Minor Nephthys           32     Omicron Minor Hussar             28     Cambridge, Newcastle Templar            32     Newcastle Wyrm               28     Hokkaido Blood Dragon       30     Chugoku Chimaera           32     Kyushu Dragon Bomber      34     Unknown Phantom            28     Frankfurt Wrath              32     New Berlin Loki               28     Frankfurt Odin               32     Dresden Bactrian           28     Newcastle Hyena              28     California, Dublin Werewolf           32     Newcastle Starblazer         13     Colorado, New York, Dublin Griffin            28     Kyushu Scimitar           28     Frankfurt Decurion           28     Omega-41 Serpent            28     Cortez Manta              32     Manchester Nomad Assassin     34     Unknown Nomad Fighter      32     Unknown Nomad Light Fighter 28    Omicron Kappa Barghest           34     New York BH Bomber          34     Manchester Challenger         34     Leeds Civilian Bomber    34     Omicron Delta Falcata            34     Omicron Eta Havoc Mk II        34     Texas Kusari Bomber      34     Kyushu Nomad Bomber       34     Somewhere in Nomad space Praetorian         34     Omicron Delta RH Bomber          34     Omega-15 Taiidan Bomber     34     Omicron Delta Thor               34     Dresden Waran Bomber       34     New London CSV                12     New York, New London Repair Ship        30     New York, Colorado, Hamburg Behemoth           38     Stuttgart Bumblebee          38     Shikoku BW Transport       38     Sigma-13 Container Transport 38    New Tokyo Firefly            38     Cambridge GMG Miner          38     Sigma-13 Heavy Tanker       38     Frankfurt Kusari Cruise Liner 38    New Tokyo Kusari Transport   38     New Tokyo Mammoth            38     California Percheron          38     Leeds Pirate Train       38     Newcastle, Omicron Delta Pirate Transport   38     Cortez, Omicron Gamma Royal Liner        38     New London Whale              38     Texas Armored Transport  36     California, Stuttgart Transport          38     New York, Stuttgart Large Transport    38     Newcastle Lifter             36     Leeds Liner              38     Cortez Miner              38     Honshu, New Berlin Prison             38     New York, Hamburg Train              38     New Berlin Large Train        38     Newcastle Advanced Train     38     Munich LI Gunboat         38     Somewhere in Liberty LI Cruiser         38     Somewhere in Liberty LI Dreadnought     38     Somewhere in Liberty Osiris             38     Somewhere in Nomad space BR Gunboat         38     Somewhere in Bretonia BR Destroyer       38     Somewhere in Bretonia BR Battleship      38     Somewhere in Bretonia KU Gunboat         38     Somewhere in Kusari KU Destroyer       38     Somewhere in Kusari KU Battleship      38     Somewhere in Kusari RH Gunboat         38     Somewhere in Rheinland RH Cruiser         38     Somewhere in Rheinland RH Battleship      38     Somewhere in Rheinland NO Gunboat         38     Somewhere in Nomad space NO Cruiser         38     Somewhere in Nomad space NO Battleship      38     Somewhere in Nomad space Albatross BCruiser 38     Somewhere in Bretonia Assault BCruiser   38     Somewhere in Liberty Battlestar         38     Somewhere in Nomad space Battlestar Advanced 38    Somewhere in Omega space BH Battlecruiser   38     Somewhere in Omega space BH Battleship      38     Somewhere in Omega space BH Destroyer       38     Somewhere in Omega space BH Gunship         38     Somewhere in Bretonia Corsair Cruiser    38     Somewhere in Corsair space Corsair Dreadnought 38    Somewhere in Corsair space Corsair Gunboat    38     Somewhere in Corsair space Dragon Battleship  38     Somewhere in Kusari space Dragon Gunboat     38     Somewhere in Kusari space Dragon Cruiser     38     Somewhere in Kusari space Hessian Cruiser    38     Somewhere in Rheinland Huntress           38     Somewhere in Nomad space IMG Gunboat        38     Somewhere in Sigma space Kusari Explorer    38     Somewhere in Kusari space LH Gunship         38     Somewhere in Independent space LH Spyglass        38     Somewhere in Independent space LI Carrier         38     Somewhere in Liberty Rogue Gunboat      38     Somewhere in Bretonia RH PI Cruiser      38     Somewhere in Omega space Orca BH Gunboat    38     Somewhere in Bretonia Outcast Battleship 38     Somewhere in Outcast space Outcast Destroyer  38     Somewhere in Outcast space Outcast Dreadnought 38    Somewhere in Outcast space Scorpion Gunboat   38     Somewhere in Nomad space Talarca Cruiser    38     Somewhere in Kusari Zoner Destroyer    28     Somewhere in Omicron space Zoner Juggernaut   38     Somewhere in Omicron space

Change logs and credits
The change log and credits were not converted to the wiki due to time constrants vs. there relevance to our players. The work of the moders is highly appreciated. For this information, see either the readme.txt in the mod or the official website.