Discovery Mod

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.

Source: http://www.discoveryfl.com/html/introduction.html

Features

• 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:

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.

• 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.

Source: http://www.discoveryfl.com/html/features.html