B5: I've Found Her Prequel

[Keith Heitmann]

I don't know who these people are or what they do for a living but they've created a very entertaining FREE standalone campaign game based on the Babylon 5 universe.

I spent two days downloading the 220MB file from Fileplanet and installed it last night. I must say for a free game effort I'm impressed. This thing has everything, 3D modelling of the B5 spacecrat, music, voice acting, sound effects, 3D movement and flight in space, and more.

In this sim you are flying a Star Fury for the Earth Defense Froces leading Alpha squadron. You'll face off against various enemies in this campaign. I've only just started and am trying to complet mission 1 successfully, where I must protect a decoy freighter from "raiders". I've destroyed the enemy raiders with the help of my squadron multiple times but I've either lost the freighter or missed the jumpgate event at the end resulting in a mission failure.

This is no pushover sim. You'll be flying in 3D space using real physics. You can fly in the direct thrust mode, that makes you go where you aim your ship, or intertially, where you coast on bursts of thrust, or you can also keep flying in the oirignal direction but spin around in a 180 and fire at pursuing enemy ships pursuing you ala the tactic used by Star Furies on the B5 tv show.

The HUD provides you with waypoint or target info, speed, direction or slip relative to your flight direction info. The target mode will provide you with a aimpoit reticle when firing at the enemy ships, and the lead is considerable in many cases it almost looks like it has you firing at nothing at all. The aim point is all calculated by your flight distance, angle of approach and the enemy ships actions.

Taking hits will bounce your ship violently around spoiling your aim and damaging your ship, unlike other sims where you continue on as if nothing has happened at all.

If you want a new space combat sim, check this one out. If you are a old B5 fan, check this one out.

www.fileplanet.com/files/130000/135040.shtml

[Keith Heitmann]

Two screenshots

[Redbirdy]

I've always loved B5 and haven't played a space "flight" sim since Elite... but doubt I'll have time to check this one out. Thanks for the heads-up though.

-J

[Keith Heitmann]

JWin said:

I've always loved B5 and haven't played a space "flight" sim since Elite... but doubt I'll have time to check this one out. Thanks for the heads-up though.

-J

I tell ya, it seems to be only two missions long so far, and it's very good and very difficult to complete each one. Well worth the download.

My main problem seemed to be rendevousing with the the specified ship for the "jump" to hyperspace in the short time announced at the end of each mission.

In mission one, you are protecting a cargo ship acting as bait to sucker raiders into attacking. Protect the freighter until it jumps out then wipe out the raiders. Then the story suckers you into rendevousing with the EA destroyer after you've wiped out the raiders, then tell you that you are to meet another ship at a specified point in 3 minutes. Of course this is in the opposite direction, so you do a 180 and hit the afterburners to get there as fast as you can, but you have to start slowing down soon enough or the inertia of your burn will carry you past the point. You have to be at a point in space or near it (they don't say how far you can be from it) AND facing the right direction when the hyperspace portal opens. Then you have to fly into it at full throttle before it closes and the mission fails.

Ine the second mission, you have to wipe out a Narn exploration fleet and rendevous back with the EA destroyer you arrived in. You first have to take out a transport that will ram the destroyer while avoiding the Narn fighters, then wipe out the fighters, no easy task. Then get back to the ship in the a porper location and facing so as make to the next "jump".

I must have flown each mission a dozen times or more, usually either getting killed or missing the jump points, but I eventually mastered them.

I found that in mission one that I should let my squadron deal with the first batch of raiders, and I should stick near the jump gate and wait for a second batch of raiders that "jump in" and protect the freighter from them. In mission two, one should blasts out of the launch bay under full power and afterburner locked on to the distant transport and ignore the enemy fighters. Take out the transport, then zip back to the EA destoyer "Monolith" and huddle next to it while taking potshots at the rest of the enemy fighters while your squadron mates deal with them. Then you'll be right in the right spot as the jump portal opens.

I hope they add more missions to this thing before long. Too bad they don't offer an editor with it.