Freedom Force

[wbonnell]

What an incredible game! My son (7 yr old) and I finally beat the game after 2 months of on and off play (he is not allowed to play games during the school week). I've never had an interest in comic books, but this game's perfect combination of tactical combat and RPG-like character building quickly won me over. Moreover, the heroes and their stories have been lovingly crafted. By game's end, I had unexpectedly developed a geniune affection for them. If you're looking for something different, and you don't mind the cheesy "silver age of comics" motif, this is one game you absolutely must play. Amazingly, even though the game is barely a year old, it can be found for less than 15 bucks!

For freedom!

[vex]

Originally posted by wbonnell
(he is not allowed to play games during the school week).


I wouldn't have made it through my childhood had this rule been in effect at my house.

[samifan24]

I bought the game after hearing about it on the boards a few months back. I took it back to school with me and my girlfriend started playing when I was studying or reading. Turns out, she got hooked and beat the game in a month. She usually hates games I play, but I come in and she's playing FF again. Finally she understands how games can become addicting. :D What an awesome game.

[Tarkus]

Computer Gaming World just named this the best strategy game of the year.

Tarkus

[sabotai]

"I wouldn't have made it through my childhood had this rule been in effect at my house."

My thoughts exactly. I would have been school shooter #1 had it not been for my computer to divert attention from my miserable school life. :)

[Draft Dodger]

I had high expectations, but I just couldn't get into it. It wasn't the comic motiff - I liked that (even though I've never owned a single comic book).

I just didn't enjoy the gameplay itself. I know I'm the minority here, but it just didn't do it for me. Maybe the first game that WBonnell and I disagree on.

[wbonnell]

Originally posted by Draft Dodger
I had high expectations, but I just couldn't get into it. It wasn't the comic motiff - I liked that (even though I've never owned a single comic book).

I just didn't enjoy the gameplay itself. I know I'm the minority here, but it just didn't do it for me. Maybe the first game that WBonnell and I disagree on.

How far did you progress? It didn't actually get its hooks into me until the Liberty Lad missions (In the Nick of Time).

[wbonnell]

Originally posted by sabotai
"I wouldn't have made it through my childhood had this rule been in effect at my house."

My thoughts exactly. I would have been school shooter #1 had it not been for my computer to divert attention from my miserable school life. :)

I'm a "hands-on" dad. During the week, we're playing board games, reading books, playing outside, or going to tae kwon do. Oh, and he doesn't watch TV either. That said, we don't really restrict him on the weekend.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I thought the game was great. Tops all around. I enjoyed it immensely.

[Dutch]

My kids are computer game and TV zombies. I running a little test to see if this lands them in Prison or Permanent Juvie.....I'm curious.

[vex]

Originally posted by wbonnell
Oh, and he doesn't watch TV either.


I think I would run away:)

[JPhillips]

I love the origins of the characters cut scenes. The whole game has a wonderful campiness. I love this game. I just picked it up a couple of weeks ago and am almost through it.

[Hawaii Warrior]

I just bought the game after hearing the comments you guys have posted. I cannot play the game though because whenever I try to start it up I have this stupid thing pop up

Alert: init renderer

Do any of you have any idea what that could be?

[sachmo71]

Originally posted by Hawaii Warrior
I just bought the game after hearing the comments you guys have posted. I cannot play the game though because whenever I try to start it up I have this stupid thing pop up

Alert: init renderer

Do any of you have any idea what that could be?

This might help you:



My copy of Freedom Force reports: Startup error "alert: init renderer". What does that mean? Can my video card run Freedom Force?
This means that the game cannot initialize the renderer. Most likely this is due to either having a video card that does not properly support the game or to not having DirectX 8.1 properly installed. The full version of Freedom Force will install DirectX 8.1 when you install the game if you don’t already have it.



The following video cards are supported and should work with proper drivers, the correct version of DirectX and other compatible hardware:



16 MB Direct3D capable video card using the NVIDIA GeForce3, NVIDIA GeForce2, NVIDIA GeForce 256, NVIDIA Riva TNT2, NVIDIA Riva TNT, ATI Radeon 8500, ATI Radeon, ATI Rage 128 Pro, ATI Rage 128, PowerVR3 Kyro II, PowerVR Kyro, Matrox MGA-G450, or Matrox MGA-G400 chipset with DirectX 8.1 compatible driver.



To address these issues, ensure that you have the latest drivers for your card, check for information about your video card below or in the section below that tells you how to install DirectX 8.1.



If you don't know what version of DirectX you have you can check through your control panel (accessed from the Start menu/Settings/Control Panel). This should contain an icon labelled "DirectX", the first tab of which shows you which version you currently have installed. If this version is less than 8.1 then you will need to obtain and install the latest version as described above.



Alternatively, you can run the DirectX diagnostic utility using the Start menu/Run command and then typing "dxdiag". This will also show you what version you currently have installed.



If you run the DirectX installer on a computer that already has the current DirectX on it, the installer will NOT damage the existing DirectX installation. It might give you newer versions of the DirectX files, but it will NOT replace the files on your computer with older files.

I know I have DirectX 8.1 and the game still won’t run!
Make sure you have 3D acceleration enabled in dxdiag.exe. To do this, run dxdiag.exe, which normally lives in the system32 subdirectory inside your windows folder. Go to the ‘display’ tab and make sure both DirectDraw Acceleration and Direct3D acceleration are enabled.



At least one person has reported that dxdiag.exe has displayed 3d as being enabled when it wasn’t. If you believe this might be the case, click on the ‘disable’ button next to the DirectDraw Acceleration. If the message displays “This will enable DirectDraw for ALL display devices on your system…” then hit OK.

I have a video card with an Nvidia chipset. What drivers should I use?
Those running the game with NVidia chipset graphics cards should obtain the latest drivers from the NVidia website (www.nvidia.com). At the time of writing the latest version is 28.32.



I’m having trouble running the game with my Voodoo video card, or I’m seeing significant graphical distortions. What should I do?
Those attempting to run the game on Voodoo cards may find the following helpful. Although Voodoo cards are no longer supported by the manufacturer, the latest drivers can be obtained from www.voodoofiles.com.



Freedom Force is expected to run properly on Voodoo 3 & 5 cards under Windows 98 and Windows ME. However, there are known problems under Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The following hints may be helpful:



* Enable full screen anti aliasing. To do so, right click on your desktop and select "properties". Then, from the display properties dialog, select the "settings" tab and click on the "advanced" button. Now, select the "anti-aliasing" tab and ensure that the "Direct 3D" toggle is selected. From the list, select any option other than "best performance". This has been found to fix problems with flickering displays.





* For Voodoo 3 chipsets, the 4.12.01.0666 drivers have been found to be stable. If you have problems with other drivers, we suggest obtaining and using these.



Voodoo 1 and Voodoo Banshee chipsets will not work with Freedom Force.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally posted by wbonnell
How far did you progress? It didn't actually get its hooks into me until the Liberty Lad missions (In the Nick of Time).

I got to the ice park thing where that flaming guy (as in guy on fire) comes aboard. is it El Diablo? can't remember. I just kind of lost interest,

[Fritz]

THe game was fun, but I felt it had a low replay value.

[Qwikshot]

Originally posted by Fritz
THe game was fun, but I felt it had a low replay value.

I agree, for the longest time there wasn't a single player skirmish mode, and it's fallen off the radar with add-ons. I mean Morrowind already has one add-on available and another in the works for may. The Sims has had tons...

I guess they decided instead of an addon to prep for a sequel. I thought it was too short.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I agree. I thought it was too short as well. I burned through it pretty quick and loved every minute of it and then... it was over. I tried some of the skirmish modes, but found them pretty dull.

There is just something so gratifying about ripping a lightpost out of the ground and whacking people half-way across city blocks with it. I love that stuff.

The Bullet, however, was too powerful. I used him every time, but he just wailed on people so badly. No chance. None.

[Fritz]

There were a few super powers that made you uberstrong, and too many that were lame.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Agreed. I tended to ignore a bunch of the lame powers, even on characters I used a lot and tended to stick to the ones that worked.

I made up a character after an old "Vilians & Vigilantes" character I used to play (V&V was a superhero role-playing game). He had a super-strong "energy blast" and "teleport." That was it. It worked wonders. Teleport took very little power and could be done quick. The blast had a long range, high power, and good accuracy. Teleport in. Blast 'em. Teleport out. Repeat.

[GrantDawg]

Originally posted by Honolulu_Blue
Agreed. I tended to ignore a bunch of the lame powers, even on characters I used a lot and tended to stick to the ones that worked.

I made up a character after an old "Vilians & Vigilantes" character I used to play (V&V was a superhero role-playing game). He had a super-strong "energy blast" and "teleport." That was it. It worked wonders. Teleport took very little power and could be done quick. The blast had a long range, high power, and good accuracy. Teleport in. Blast 'em. Teleport out. Repeat.

Aaahhhh, Villian and Vigilantes. Played that a little. I also played the Marvel one, too, plus another one I can't remember the name of. The one I played the most though was "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." It was fun and had one of the best character creator.

[AgPete]

The way I heard it was originally they were going to create three games and each game simulated a different era in comic books. The first one that we played was a play on the early 20th century comics and radio serials. Supposedly, the second one is more along the lines of Marvel comics. (Spiderman, Incredible Hulk, X-Men, etc.) Maybe there were only two, I don't remember. I'm not sure what the third one would be about.

It was a fun game but I agree with others, way too short and some characters were too powerful. I could take Bullet out and leave everyone else behind. :D Still, cool story, voices and art. I love the campy cut scenes between missions. It makes me want to check out City of Heroes whenever it comes out.

[sachmo71]

Originally posted by GrantDawg
Aaahhhh, Villian and Vigilantes. Played that a little. I also played the Marvel one, too, plus another one I can't remember the name of. The one I played the most though was "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." It was fun and had one of the best character creator.

Was the other game possibly Champions? Great game, and I hear you on the character generator for TMNT. Paladium games rocked...you could throw as many genres into a game as you wanted. Sort of like GURPS, but with a better system.

[3ric]

Originally posted by Qwikshot
I agree, for the longest time there wasn't a single player skirmish mode, and it's fallen off the radar with add-ons. I mean Morrowind already has one add-on available and another in the works for may. The Sims has had tons...

I guess they decided instead of an addon to prep for a sequel. I thought it was too short.

No addons? Perhaps no commerical releases, but there's a lot of custom-made missions out there. Download at:
http://www.freedommods.com/ff-spm.html

[BishopMVP]

Originally posted by Dutch
My kids are computer game and TV zombies. I running a little test to see if this lands them in Prison or Permanent Juvie.....I'm curious.

You might want to move out of Turkey before you figure it out.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally posted by 3ric
No addons? Perhaps no commerical releases, but there's a lot of custom-made missions out there. Download at:
http://www.freedommods.com/ff-spm.html

Thanks for this! Some of these look absolutely fantastic.

[Hawaii Warrior]

LOL, I have a SiS 530 video card, Chip model SiS Rev 530 A3 that can only run DirectX version 4.09.00.0900. How much would it cost to get one of those high tech video cards to play this game?

That's why I only play Text Sims :p

[ISiddiqui]

Great game!!

I played it constantly for a week until I beat it :D.

[daedalus]

Originally posted by wbonnell
(he is not allowed to play games during the school week)

Entirely unrelated to topic, sorry, but I just wanted to say good job. I know (based on other threads) that you also read a lot with him. Kudos.

[sterlingice]

I played the free beta. It was really fun. I was thinking about buying it but I don't buy very many computer games. Still, it was a good couple of days of fun when I played it. I loved the atmosphere.

SI

[wbonnell]

Originally posted by daedalus
Entirely unrelated to topic, sorry, but I just wanted to say good job. I know (based on other threads) that you also read a lot with him. Kudos.

Thanks. I truly love rearing my children. Unfortunately, many parents can't (or won't) spend quality time with their children. The way I see it, my wants and desires are relegated to the back burner for ~18 years.