With about 14 thousand members of our board, every day of the year brings many, many birthdays. However, one is special: birthday of the board itself.
Precisely 4 years ago, on June 14 2005, I've created the first introductory threads of the Discovery Gaming Community. You can check out those two, for example: Welcome to Discovery Gaming Community, and Discovery Launched!. No one could predict back then that Freelancer will become our main subject for years to come.
Around that time, the first version of Discovery, 4.72, was released, and later Discovery 4.73 was uploaded to Lancer's Reactor, being the first public release of the mod for the community. So, June 14 can also be considered the birthday of our mod. We will soon work on collecting an archive of early Discovery versions, some of which are not available for public download anywhere right now.
Surprisingly, the recent How long do you play on Discovery? poll showed that at least two of our members were playing for more than 6 years. This shows that even with current level of technology time travel is not such an unrealistic thing. Also, this obliges us to continue running the server for at least two more years, otherwise the space-time continuum will be deteriorated... oh well.
Some things on Discovery history that are worth checking are located in the depth of the General Discussion forum. For example, Know your admins thread contains info on all Discovery server admins, old and new. As of more recent stuff, Discover Development Team listing thread gives you insight on who was working our recently released mod version, Discovery 4.85: Reunion.
Regardless if you've been with Discovery for years or just joined: stay with Discovery, and if you left, remember to return one day!
The development of Discovery 4.85: Reunion has taken 1,5 years to complete. Now we, the newly formed Discovery Development Team, present to you the result of our work. The wait is over. After months of online beta testing, Discovery Freelancer 4.85: Reunion is released and available for download.
Year is 817 After Settlement (A.S.), 16 years after the single-player campaign of Freelancer, and one year after Discovery 4.84 took place. A Sirius-wide war is on the brink of engulfing the sector. While Kusari pushes its onslaught against Bretonia deep into the Leeds system, Bretonia attempts to surround Kusari forces in Tau-31. Liberty attacks Rheinland in Bremen and Hudson, and Rheinland has to pull back to defend its own borders. As if this was not enough, in late 817 the Independent Miners Guild encountered a large number unknown ships in the Orkney system. The ships belonged to a rebel group formed within the long-lost House of Gallia, the existence of which remained unknown for centuries.
The storyline is just a portion of the progress taking place in the new Discovery version. Increased development time and an increased number of developers allowed us to finalize all the features we were planning to implement, and make 4.85 the largest ever update for Discovery mod. We introduced 110 new ship models, with most new ships receiving custom hitboxes. More than a hundred new weapon and equipment types have been added, many with custom weapon projectile and hit effects. 11 new systems were included, and about 30 previously available systems were updated, all of them following much higher quality standards than in previous versions.
The mod now has a renewed balance system for weapons, equipment and ships, plus a fully revamped economy system that provides profitable routes for all locations and factions. To add depth to the new economy, 46 new commodity types were introduced. The role-playing ID system (used on the official server and most other servers running our mod) has received 53 new IDs. The new version also contains about 7000 new and rewritten infocard texts for various new and old ships, items, and places.
The integrated Discovery automatic updater allows players to download and apply new updates easily without having to re-download and re-install the whole package. The updater does not restrict offline play, and you will still be able to play single-player without an internet connection.
If you prefer online play, you are welcome to join the official Discovery Freelancer RP 24/7 server and a number of other servers running Discovery. Server operators are welcome to run Discovery mod without any restrictions. All servers that have our mod installed are listed in dsupdate.cfg file located in Freelancer\EXE folder to allow quick connect to all of them without using shortcuts or patches. To add another server, simply add its address to dsupdate.cfg.
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).
The development of Discovery 4.85 has taken 1,5 years to complete. Now we, the newly formed Discovery Development Team, present to you the result of our work. The wait is over. After months of online beta testing, Discovery Freelancer 4.85: Reunion is released and available for download.
Year is 817 After Settlement (A.S.), 16 years after the single-player campaign of Freelancer, and one year after Discovery 4.84 took place. The Sirius Sector is on the brink of global war. While Kusari pushes its onslaught against Bretonia deep into the Leeds system, Bretonia attempts to surround Kusari forces in Tau-31. Liberty attacks Rheinland in Bremen and Hudson, and Rheinland has to pull back to defend its own borders. As if this was not enough, in late 817 the Independent Miners Guild encountered a large number unknown ships in the Orkney system. The ships belonged to a rebel group formed within the long-lost House of Gallia, the existence of which remained unknown for centuries. Creation of a path into Gallia adds a new, powerful, player to the scene, and no one can tell what goals the new House will pursue in these troubled times. Rumors arise that the nation of France was betrayed during the Exodus, making historians and politicians of various Houses search deep into archives to find out what truly happened more than 1000 years ago in Sol.
Storyline is just a portion of the progress taking place in Discovery 4.85. As it was with previous Discovery versions, we created the mod as a full-scale expansion pack that adds diverse new content and yet remains balanced for online play, is stable, and is as bug-free as possible. Discovery 4.85 is the first version of the mod that was developed from the start by the Discovery Development Team, a dedicated group of 3D and 2D artists, coders, designers, writers, and testers.
Increased development time and an increased number of developers allowed us to finalize all features we were planning to implement, and make 4.85 the largest ever update for Discovery mod, which now became of the few mods that actually add more to the game than the original has. We introduced 79 brand new ships with new models, with over 30 previously included ships completely re-designed. Accurate hitboxes had been implemented for almost all ships, old and new. More than a hundred new weapon and equipment types have been added, many having custom models of their own, as well as custom weapon projectile and hit effects. Out of eight dozen new systems Discovery has, more than a half received significant updates, and 11 new ones were included, all of them following much higher quality standards than in previous versions.
The mod now has a renewed balance system for weapons, equipment and ships, plus a fully revamped economy system that provides profitable routes for all locations and factions. To add depth to the new economy, 46 new commodity types were introduced, and nearly all commodities (including original ones) received new detailed icons. The role-playing ID system (used on the official server and most other servers running our mod) has received 53 new IDs with clear and detailed descriptions. The new version also contains about 7000 new and rewritten infocard texts for various new and old ships, items, and places.
Some statistics for the mod include:
- 260 player flyable ships in the game total, of which 225 are introduced by Discovery;
- About 110 new player flyable ship models introduced by version 4.85;
- 134 systems in the game total, of which 79 are introduced by Discovery;
- 11 new systems in 4.85, with about 30 systems receiving significant updates in the latest version;
- 448 bases in the game total, of which about 275 are introduced by Discovery;
- 91 factions in the game total, 44 new factions added by Discovery, of which 11 were introduced by version 4.85;
- Over 100 new weapons introduced in 4.85, upping the number of new Discovery weapons above 200;
- 46 new commodities introduced in 4.85, with multiple new trade routes;
- 117 role-playing IDs in Discovery, of which 53 introduced by version 4.85;
- About 10,000 new infocard texts introduced by Discovery, of which about 7,000 added or rewritten for 4.85.
The mod now has an integrated automatic updater that allows to download and apply new updates easily without having to re-download and re-install the whole package. The updater does not restrict offline play, and you will still be able to play single-player without an internet connection.
If you prefer online play, you are welcome to join the official Discovery Freelancer RP 24/7 server and a number of other servers running Discovery. Currently active servers include Discovery USA RP 24/7, Discovery UK RP 24/7, Discovery Server Berlin, Discovery Kansas, Discovery of Discovery, Rise of the Fallen Empires; information about these (and other) servers is listed in our wiki. Server operators are welcome to run Discovery mod without any restrictions, IONCROSS data files are included, and we provide help and support for all servers running the mod. All servers that run our mod are listed in dsupdate.cfg file located in Freelancer\EXE folder to allow quick connect to all of them without using shortcuts or patches. To add another server, you simply need to add its address to dsupdate.cfg.
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).
List of General Features for Discovery 4.85:
New Content:
- 79 brand new player-flyable ships with custom models;
- About 30 previously added ships received new, custom-designed models;
- 11 new systems in 4.85: Languedoc, Dauphine, Burgundy, Champagne, Lorraine (Gallia); Pennsylvania, Kansas, Ellesmere (Liberty); Tau-39 (Border Worlds); Omicron-81 (Hispania); Unknown system (Nomad Worlds).
- About 30 existing systems received significant updates in 4.85, including Alaska, Alberta, Baffin, Bremen, Cassini, Coronado, Dundee, Frankfurt, Illinois, Londonderry, Minnesota, Munich, Okinawa, Omega-52, Omega-54, Omega-56, Omega-58, Omicron-80, Omicron-91, Omicron-94, Omicron-99, Omicron Iota, Ontario, Orkney, Tau-42, Tau-45, Vespucci;
- 11 new factions, most with their own NPCs and ship lines: Gallic Royal Navy, Gallic Royal Police, Council, Gallic Metal Service, EFL Oil & Machinery, IDF Shipping, Maquis, Unione Corse, Gallic Brigands, The Coalition, Colonial Remnant;
- Over 100 new weapons introduced, many of them having custom models and effects;
- 46 new commodities introduced, with multiple new trade routes;
- 53 new role-playing IDs introduced;
- Customized NPCs on many new bases, NPCs in Gallia have newly designed costumes;
- About 7,000 infocard texts added or rewritten for 4.85, including lengthy news texts and descriptions.
- Revised and detailed Readme.txt and other mod documentation, added the new Discovery system map.
- Included the Discovery automatic updater with an integrated list of Discovery multiplayer servers.
Storyline:
- Introduction of a new house: Gallia, with its own lawful and unlawful factions, and 5 densely populated systems with over 40 bases to explore.
- Fully formulated history of the new House which is embedded in the ongoing and dynamic discovery chronology/history, including rumors on new and old bases, faction adjustments, political adjustments and behaviour of interacting factions;
- Dynamical adjustments concerning the war between Kusari and Bretonia;
- Political adjustments concerning Rheinland and Liberty;
- Many detailed news items present on all bases to reflect storyline developments.
Revised Gameplay:
- Adjustments to NPC AI and repair abilities;
- Rebalanced NPC loadouts and difficulty;
- New NPC behaviour that allows friendly fire (CDs do not cause instant aggression from allied NPCs anymore);
- New wrecks and lore;
- New NPC mission difficulties to reflect a better adjusted difficulty level and to provide more challenges to even high ranks;
- Changed reputation relations between various factions to ensure smooth player reputation development.
Rebalancing:
- Unique and accurate hitboxes (collision & weapon fire hits) for almost all the ships, old and new;
- Fully revised fighter and bomber weapons along with new weapons for these classes;
- Fully revised capital ship rebalanced based on player specifications;
- Rebalanced weaponry for all ship classes;
- Revised special weapons on capital ships (ship to ship torpedoes, flak cannons);
- Rebalanced damage on explosives;
- Rebalanced vulnerability of all ships to achieve equal vulnerability across old and custom ships;
- Revised equipment (CMs, CDs, Mines, etc.) along with durability, efficiency and functions;
- Revamped capital ship patrols are now more appropriately balanced towards their supposed power.
Enhanced Trade System:
- Enhanced commodity system with many new items based on the House economy as well as role-play demands;
- Fully revised and rebalanced trade route system based on logical offer and demand as well as logical placements of commodities;
- Adjustments on profit, danger, flight time, political changes to reflect a complex economy;
- Graphically enhanced commodity icons for a better differentiation.
Graphical Enhancements:
- New weapon projectile and weapon impact effects;
- Large and detailed explosions for ships;
- New custom models for guns, turrets, and other equipment;
- Optional ENB mod that enables bloom (please read documentation and DO NOT enable it unless you are sure what you are doing).
*FLMM is unable to remove ENB mod during de-activation. You will have to remove d3d8.dll from the freelancer/EXE folder manually.
Testing, Bug Fixing, Performance:
- Fixed a number of bugs remaining from the last release;
- During 9 months of internal testing and 3 months of public testing, fixed multiple bugs related to new features;
- Thoroughly tested balance for both old and new ships and equipment;
- Ensured maximum clientside and serverside performance, fixed multiple graphic-related issues.
New in Discovery 4.85 Reunion final release: (compared to Beta 7)
- Added the new version of the updater by Cannon.
Updater now runs as a .dll along with Freelancer.exe. It is no longer necessary to run DSUpdate.exe. Discovery shortcut now points at Freelancer.exe, like before.
- Added an expanded list of servers visible by default when launching LAN multiplayer. The list now contains all Discovery servers available on our Wiki server page.
- Included revised market_commodities file by Xoria.
- Included new Kadesh Heavy Fighter replace by Jinx.
- Included renewed texture for Greyhound by Doom.
- Changed engine for the Taiidan Bomber.
- Added multiple new NPCs and rumors for Holmfirth and Kaiserslautern by Blodo.
- Added Raba transport to Cape Soya (fix by Blodo).
- Colonial Remnant NPC faction is now affected by changes in IMG reputation.
- Many other empathy.ini fixes to get the rep relationships more inline with current mod RP.
- Added 3 news items for Rheinland by Kress.
- 1 new EMP sound (used for capship and station EMP), 5 new one_shot_sounds by Hribek.
- Changed engine type for the Train to reduce recharge time (for newly bought Trains).
- Fixed Silver icon by Mjolnir.
- Added new name and infocard for ship formerly known as Kadesh Heavy Fighter by Dusty Lens.
- Flashpoint turrets on the Council repair ships replaced with Council turrets.
- Added correct description entry for Altona shipyard from the DsyAddition.dll.
- Changed capacity and recharge rate for the Mjolnir power supply (also applies to Junker Bomber).
- Enhanced missions and encounters for Bremen and New Hampshire.
- Added missions and correct NPCs to Munster Research Station.
- Added secret mission report to one of the wrecks in Gallia.
- Renewed pictures for news related to Gallia.
- Fixed heads for female Gallic IDF NPCs.
- Fixed incorrect reputation for one of the components of the Chanai Research Complex (Tau-65).
- "Rheinland Navy" changed to "Rheinland Military" in all infocards that contained the former.
- Fixed remaining encoding errors in rumors.
- Fixed market_ships error for Omega-52 bases.
- Included a large update for Okinawa system by Dab, including updates for ship loadouts, NPC encounters, and base NPCs.
- Added renewed ID descriptions for a number of factions by Kuraine (some changes revised).
- Fixed many names for all former Homeworld ships, Council Battleship, Battlestar, Red Wyrm, and Blood Dragon.
- Fixed model for Barghest by Angel of Mercy.
- Added new market_misc file by Blodo, with the following changes:
Added high level fighter shields on Dabadoru Station.
Added train CD ammo to Bottrop Depot.
Added capship pulse cannons to Chalons-en-Champagne and Dijon stations.
- Renewed Discovery Rules item text and Discovery Introduction item text.
- Now NPC ships cannot have more than 18 bots or bats onboard (done to fix the drop bug).
- Added complete set of correct NPCs to the Aland Shipyard; Aland traders now have custom names.
- Removed excess NPCs from Rostock Base.
- Fixed bug with NPCs not present in Schatten Research Facility.
- Fixed guard NPC spawns outside Schatten Research Facility.
- Changed one of the sounds for the former Marsflyer engine.
- Enlarged exclusion zones for the Gallic mine fields to make jumping safer. Corrected directions of the Jump Holes.
- Implemented fix for disappearing dealer NPCs in Omega-54 by Blodo.
- Updated GC Bomber model and texture by Angel of Mercy.
- Fixed planet infocards in Omega-52 system.
- Changed description for Red Hessian Gunboat and Cruiser turrets by Blodo.
- Transport cargo capacity limit for all military and police factions, as well as their guard factions, rised from 1000 to 3000.
- Liberty Navy ID no longer allows to go into Omicron systems unchecked (this does NOT mean that Liberty Navy Guard are completely restricted to enter Minor and other Omicrons).
- Reduced rear turret level for loadouts of some of the top-level NPCs by Mjolnir.
- Changed Guard pilots to Corsair pilots for a Corsair NPC loadout used in normal space.
- Fixed bug that did not allow top-level Corsair and Outcast NPCs to use shield batteries in combat.
- Added news to Aland Shipyard.
- Fixed infocard bug for Planet Junyo description.
- Only the transports supposed to be able to carry cargopods can equip level 1 freighter shields now (which are the cargopods).
- Changed former Marsflyer engine sounds for the Harvester Drone (name of the ship is Harvester Drone now).
- Infocards for planets Gammu and Primus no longer mention Zoners.
- Added more bribes for Gallic factions on Junker bases in Gallia.
Junker NPCs offer bribes for Gallic Metal Service, EFL Oil & Machinery, and Gallic Royal Police (yes, Police is corrupt). You have to be on more or less good terms with Junkers to get one. Junker bartenders have bribes only for Gallic unlawful factions.
- Added custom infocards for Small Transport Turrets.
- Added Ioncross hash file entries for new power supplies to avoid character corruption related to IFSO usage.
- Increased Barge armor to 1700000, fix by Mjolnir.
- Expanded Reunion station in Orkney with additional components.
- Fixed several minor issues in Okinawa related to encounters and wrecks.
- Changed Council female NPC costume to original costumes to remove the graphic glitch.
- Optimized configuration files (removed most comments).
- Removed two updater-related .dll files that are no longer necessary.
- Included the new Discovery system map by Blodo.
![[Image: discovery485.jpg]](http://igiss.net/images/discovery/discovery485.jpg)