GPC0177FS2.MC.C1 10/27/99 11:35 AM Page 1 ©1999 Volition, Inc. All Rights Reserved. FreeSpace, Interplay, the Interplay logo, and “By Gamers. For Gamers.” are trademarks of Interplay Productions. All Rights Reserved. Volition and the Volition logo are trademarks of Volition, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:29 PM Page 1 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS STARTING FREESPACE 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Installing FreeSpace 2 Creating a Pilot The Flight Deck Training Missions Debriefing Combat Ready! 3 4 5 6 7 8 THE FLIGHT DECK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:29 PM Page 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Countermeasures Advanced Targeting Matching Speed Ending a Mission Energy Transfer System (ETS) Weapons Selection & Linking Hotkeys Hotkey Usage Defining Hotkeys 40 40 41 41 42 43 44 44 45 STARTING FREESPACE 2 INSTALLING FREESPACE 2 Please see the Installation Instructions insert found in your FreeSpace 2 box. If you have a problem installing FreeSpace 2, please consult the README.TXT file.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:29 PM Page 4 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 THE FLIGHT DECK The Flight Deck screen is the main menu for FreeSpace 2. From here, you can access the Ready Room, Barracks, Campaign Room, Tech Room, Options screen, or Exit (to Windows). Repeatedly clicking the right mouse button cycles through the various hotspots in the Flight Deck. Once you’ve set up things the way you’d like, click on the button.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:29 PM Page 6 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 TRAINING MISSIONS When you create a new pilot and enter the Ready Room, you’re placed in the first training mission’s Briefing screen. F R E E S P A C E™ 2 For help with flight and combat controls, press F1 during a mission. Screens listing the current control keys will appear. You may also use the Reference Card in the FreeSpace 2 box for lists of the default control keys. Follow the instructor’s commands during training missions.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:29 PM Page 8 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 By pressing the “Recommendations” button, you can see specific tips on how to meet all outlined objectives. THE FLIGHT DECK You may also view your pilot’s mission statistics from the Debriefing screen. To the upper left of the screen, you see the “Statistics” button. Clicking on it enables you to view Statistics for the mission you’ve just flown. Reviewing mission statistics is a good way to evaluate your performance.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:29 PM Page 10 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 in FreeSpace 2 by pressing the F2 key). From here, you can change the sound volume, skill level, detail settings, controls configuration, and other items. Volume: This section has three separate controls for the volume levels for sound effects, music, and voices. Voice Effects: This enables you to turn on or off the voice reading the mission briefing text. Mouse: Turn this option “On” if you use a mouse to control your ship during missions.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:29 PM Page 12 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 By using the “Custom” setting, you can change each of the individual detail settings (the column of settings on the left side of the screen) separately. This is useful if you find a particular detail setting more important than others. Changing any one of these individual settings automatically changes the Preset Detail Level to “Custom.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 14 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Weapons: Weapon control functions, including countermeasures Misc.: Other functions, such as wingman command shortcuts, energy management, and multiplayer messaging Each category contains a list of functions to the left and the current key or controller bindings to the right. For the Targeting and Misc. categories, use the scroll arrows or slider to the far right, as those lists are too long to fit on a single screen.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 16 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 When set to “Off,” a gauge or indicator is drawn in gray on this screen (it won’t appear at all on the in-game screens). Otherwise, it displays in either the general HUD color you select or its own custom color, if you assigned one to it with the RGB sliders. F R E E S P A C E™ 2 BARRACKS You can manage your FreeSpace 2 pilots in the Barracks screen.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 18 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 pilot in a given player mode, you must create another before leaving the Barracks. Convert: This copies the current pilot but places the new pilot in the opposite player mode (Single or Multi). Example: If you Convert a single-player pilot, this creates a multiplayer version, complete with the same Control Config and Option settings. NOTE: Clone and Convert do not copy your pilot’s statistics, only the Options and Control settings.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 20 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Captain Commander Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Lieutenant Junior Grade Ensign TECH ROOM In the Tech Room, you can view Database information, fly missions in the Simulator, view previously seen cutscenes, and see the list of game credits. MISSION SIMULATOR The Mission Simulator enables you to replay single missions that you have completed during your Campaign.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 22 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 VIEW CUTSCENES This screen enables you to view cutscenes you have seen previously while playing a FreeSpace 2 Campaign. Your current pilot must have seen a cutscene during Campaign play for it to appear on this list. CREDITS This screen lists the people (and organizations) who contributed to the development of FreeSpace 2. CAMPAIGN ROOM FreeSpace 2 missions are generally arranged into Campaigns.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 24 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 GAME MISSIONS Playing missions is what FreeSpace 2 is all about. To help you get the most out of the game, each mission is preceded by a briefing and followed by a debriefing. The briefing tells you about the upcoming mission and how it fits into the Big Picture, while the debriefing gives you feedback on your performance and what it means to the war effort.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 26 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Bonus Objectives result from unforeseen events that occur during a mission. Thus you will never see a bonus objective in your Briefing. For example, an enemy cruiser arrives unexpectedly, but you and your wingmen manage to destroy it. Since Command did not expect this ship, you were not briefed on it. However, once it arrived and you dealt with it, you were awarded a successful bonus objective for destroying it.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 28 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Ship Selection enables you to outfit your forces the way you want. To the right of the ship diagram, each Secondary weapon icon has a number displayed. This is the number of missiles of that type the ship is currently carrying. Ship classes all have different missile bank capacities, and each type of missile takes up a different amount of space within a bank.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 30 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 IN-GAME SCREENS THE HUD (HEADS-UP DISPLAY) This is the main game screen for FreeSpace 2, the screen you see during all the action. Though it may seem like a daunting amount of information, the more you learn about the HUD, the better you’ll play. Also, any of these gauges and displays may be turned on or off in the Options/HUD Config screen. 30 1. Message Display - Incoming messages appear here.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 32 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 32 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 9. Ship Overhead - This displays the shield and hull information for your ship. 10. ETS Display - These bars indicate the current power settings for your ship’s Energy Transfer System. Vertical bars show the power output to your ship’s Guns (G), Engine (E), and Shields (S). 11. Auto Target/Auto Speed Toggles - These two indicators show the current on/off status for your Auto-Targeting and AutoSpeed Matching. 12.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 34 10/27/99 12:30 PM Page 34 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 missiles. Waiting until this indicator is in the bottom half of the orbit before launching your missiles gives you a better chance for a hit. 23. Direction to Target - This triangle points off-screen toward your target, indicating the direction to turn to bring it onscreen the fastest. 24. Afterburner Energy - This shows the energy level in your afterburner reserve. 25.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 36 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 RECIPIENT The first level of options lets you pick the message recipient(s). Your choices at this level are as follows: 1. Ships - send a message to a specific ship. 2. Wings - send a message to an entire wing (Alpha, Beta, etc.). 3. All Fighters - send to every friendly fighter and bomber in the battle. 4. Reinforcements - call in reinforcement wings, if available. Once they have arrived, they may be sent messages using options 1-3. 5.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 38 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 REARMING & REPAIRING In many missions you may run out of missiles or receive serious subsystem damage to your ship. Allied Command often has a support ship fueled up and ready to assist you and your squadmates. In-flight rearming and repairing in FreeSpace 2 is a simple matter. Once you have requested Rearm/Repair (either through the SHIFTR shortcut, or the “C” Comm Menu), a support ship quickly enters the battle area via subspace.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 40 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 A remote-activated missile fires onto a single target and is activated by pressing the Secondary weapon fire button a second time. COUNTERMEASURES All fighters and bombers are equipped with a set of specific missile countermeasures (default key binding is “X”). These are small electronic decoys designed to mimic the flight signatures of that ship.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 42 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 ENERGY TRANSFER SYSTEM (ETS) Your ship’s reactor produces a certain amount of power every second. This power is directed to three primary subsystems: weapons, shields, and engines. The ETS enables you to change the amount of power directed to each subsystem, based on current need. Shield energy rate boosted, at the cost of Engine output and Guns/Energy Weapons recharging. The ETS display is in the lower right of your HUD.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 44 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Secondary weapon linking is done somewhat differently. Only one Secondary bank may be armed at a time, but you can set that bank to dual-fire mode (default binding “SHIFT-/”). This launches twice the number of missiles per burst than single-fire mode. F R E E S P A C E™ 2 DEFINING HOTKEYS Hitting F3 from any mission or pre-mission screen, including the game screen itself, will take you to Hotkey Assignment.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 46 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 MULTIPLAYER FREESPACE 2 single-player campaign, including multiple missions and mission branching. PARALLAX ONLINE (PXO) FreeSpace 2 multiplayer games always have one server and one or more clients. The server of a multiplayer game is the machine that runs the game simulation for all other players (clients) in the game. Additionally, there is always one host of the game.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 48 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Once you have joined a game, you are placed in the following screen: The type of game is represented by the following icons: Cooperative Dogfight Team vs. Team The status of the game is one of the following: • Forming - The game has not yet started. Depending on game options, a player may be able to join during this stage.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 50 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 STARTING A NEW GAME If you wish to start your own game, click on the “Create Game” button on the Games screen. Once you click this button, you see the following screen: You may pick a name for your game. You also have several ways to restrict who can join your game. The following is a list of options that you can choose: • Open Game - In an open multiplayer game, any player may join your game during the forming stage.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 52 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Host Options The host can set a number of options for a multiplayer game. The Host Options screen is reached by pressing the “Host Options” button on the Host Setup screen. F R E E S P A C E™ 2 Voice Transmission - Determines whether or not real-time voice transmission is allowed during the game. Voice Quality - Sets the quality of real-time voice transmission (if enabled).
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 54 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 STARTING A STANDALONE SERVER To run FreeSpace 2 as a Standalone Server, open an MS-DOS prompt to your FreeSpace 2 directory and type: FS2 -standalone Also, an icon for the Standalone Server can be found in the FreeSpace 2 directory off your Start menu. A Windows dialog comes up with a tabbed interface listing your Standalone Server options. Once the default Server Name has been filled in, the server is up and running.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 56 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 STANDALONE SERVERS & MISSION FILES Any FreeSpace 2 missions or campaigns appearing in your \data\missions directory are available for players to use on your Standalone Server. If a player does not have the mission file, the server automatically transfers it. Players are not able to upload missions to your server, however, so you have total control over the missions your Standalone Server offers.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:31 PM Page 58 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 players can outfit only their own ships. The host has the ability to outfit his ship and any AI ships. In cooperative missions, all players share the same ship and weapon resources (i.e., the ships and weapons taken by other players are not available for you). In team vs. team missions, all players on a particular team must share the same ship and weapon resources.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:32 PM Page 60 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 If you register with Parallax Online (PXO), you may use the area at the bottom left of this screen to type in your PXO username, password, and squadron (if you have one). When you enter the Ready Room, FreeSpace 2 validates your username with PXO and logs you on automatically. Once validated, any multiplayer game that you start is automatically registered with PXO. Also, any game statistics are transferred to PXO once you are done playing.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:32 PM Page 62 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 ~ key, which is directly above the TAB key. While holding this key, speak into your microphone. Once you are done, release the key and your recorded voice is sent to all other players in the game. The length of time you can talk is set by the host (see the earlier section on “Host Options” for more details). During a mission, voice works slightly differently. There are four separate keys available for real-time voice and typed messages.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:32 PM Page 64 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 CREDITS VOLITION, INC.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:32 PM Page 66 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 CREDITS TECHNICAL SUPPORT INTERPLAY TROUBLESHOOTING DOCUMENTS ONLINE! Producer Jim Boone Package Design Craig Owens – Redbox Design Group Line Producer Primo Pulanco Manual Layout & Design Michael L. Quintos V.P.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:32 PM Page 68 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 If you need to talk to someone immediately, call us at (949) 553-6678 Monday through Friday between 8:00AM-5:45PM, Pacific Standard Time with 24 hours, 7 days a week support available through the use of our automated wizard. Please have the above information ready when you call. This will help us answer your question in the shortest possible time. When you call you will initially be connected with our automated wizard.
GPC0177FS2.MG.C1 10/27/99 12:32 PM Page 70 F R E E S P A C E™ 2 from all or any portion of the software or anything incorporated therein or permit or encourage any third party to do so. INTERPLAY WEBSITE Notice: Interplay reserves the right to make modifications or improvements to the product described in the manual at any time and without notice.
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GPC0177FS2.MC.C1 10/27/99 11:35 AM Page 1 ©1999 Volition, Inc. All Rights Reserved. FreeSpace, Interplay, the Interplay logo, and “By Gamers. For Gamers.” are trademarks of Interplay Productions. All Rights Reserved. Volition and the Volition logo are trademarks of Volition, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
