Freelancer
Windows - 2003
Description of Freelancer
Freelancer is a direct sequel to Microsoft’s mission-based space combat simulator Starlancer. However, unlike its predecessor Freelancer combines combat and trading within an open world environment. Due to the involvement of Wing Commander's creator Chris Roberts it is largely considered to be the spiritual successor to Origin Systems’ Wing Commander: Privateer.
Set 800 years after the events of Starlancer, the game revolves around the adventures of freelance pilot Edison Trent, survivor of an attack on the space station Freeport 7. Having lost the deal of a lifetime (worth a million credits) in the attack, Trent teams up with Jun'ko ‘Juni’ Zane, of the Liberty Security Force, and together they begin to investigate events connected to the attack.
While the story progresses through the completion of specific storyline missions, Trent is free to spend time exploring, trading, or even smuggling. He also has the option of taking freelance combat missions offered by the many factions that inhabit the 48 star systems within the game.
The star systems themselves are beautifully detailed. A vast range of planets await exploration, along with brightly burning stars, nebulas, treacherous asteroid fields and vast expanses of space junk (often home to hostile outcasts).
One striking feature of Freelancer is the way it is controlled. A joystick is not required as the game is keyboard and mouse driven. Keys control the forward movement of the ship while moving the mouse with the left button held down allows the ship to change direction. At the same time the targeting crosshair is dragged across the screen by the movement of the mouse and the right mouse button is then used to fire the ship’s guns. This works surprisingly well making it an instantly accessible game.
Review By Richard
External links
How to play Freelancer Windows
Freelancer still has very active fan community, you can find many mods, fixes and fan patches for the game on fansites like The Starport or Discovery Freelancer. We made the guide how to play original version of the game without mods, but if you're looking for more gameplay experience of Freelancer - make sure to visit that websites.
The game version 1.1 with Jason's Freelancer Patch v1.25 and NoCD has been tested on Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 10, works fine. You may experience some small troubles when you play the game on modern systems, check our Guide and Notes for details, additionally you can check the guide by PlayOldPCGames or video guide by j76
Install & play guide:
- Mount the disc image. You will need the utility for mounting disc image files, like WinCDEmu, UltraISO, Alcohol 52%/Alcohol 120% or Daemon Tools Lite
- Install the game. Install it not in default path
C:/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Freelancer
, but in some non-system folder, likeC:/Games/Freelancer
, otherwise you may have difficulties with fixes - Also it is recommended to install DirectX 8 from the disc (if you're using Windows 10 - enable DirectPlay, read this or this guide how to do it)
- After you installed the game - install official patch 1.1
- Then install NoCD, simply copy Freelancer.exe from the archive and put it into
Freelancer/EXE
directory, agree to replace original file - Right click on Freelancer.exe - Properties - Compatibility - Set "Run this app in compatibility mode with Windows XP" and "Run as administrator"
- Launch the game and play. If the game doesn't work in compatibility mode with Windows XP - try to launch it in compatibility mode with other version of Windows (Windows 95, 98, Win2000, etc.)
That way you will get "vanilla" Freelancer game properly working on modern systems. But original game works only in 4:3 resolutions, so if you want to play in widescreen, you need to do few more steps.
How to play in widescreen:
- The easiest way to play the game on modern systems with widescreen support is to install Jason's Freelancer Patch. That patch includes developments of other fan patches, including Freelancer Unofficial Patch 1.4, and fixes some bugs, adds additional improvements and some new features (additional controls, including rolling and vertical strafing), plus full widescreen support. We recommend to use it if you want to play singleplayer campaign of Freelancer without any troubles on modern machines
- Another possible way is to install Freelancer Unofficial Patch 1.4 with Freelancer Advanced Widescreen HUD mod
- However, if you don't like the changes that were added in unofficial patches - you can manually edit ini-files to launch the game in high resolution, the guide is available on PCGamingWiki
How to play with mods:
- Freelancer has a large number of mods, ranging from simple enhancements like HQ Music addon and HD textures, to global mods like Freelancer: HD Edition that aims to recreate original Freelancer with HD models and textures. Plus there's a lot of total conversion mods with completely new storylines and locations, such as Freelancer: The Nomad Legacy or Crossfire 2.0
- The number of projects is too large, so we leave researchings at your discretion. To find more mods visit PCGamingWiki, ModDB, The Starport, Discovery Freelancer forums, SWAT-Portal or any other Freelancer fan site you will find, there's a lot of them, just type "Freelancer game mods" in any search engine
How to play in multiplayer with other people:
- Microsoft officially stopped supporting the game on April 8, 2008 which included the shutdown of the global list server. However, it is still possible to create your own multiplayer game with Freelancer listserver utility
- Thanks to unofficial multiplayer utilities, fans launched a big multiplayer server, such as Discovery Freelancer mod, that sometimes gather over 200 players at once, making it like a small space MMO. Discovery Freelancer gets new updates all the time, here's the video from update 5.0. We recommend to visit Discovery Freelancer forums or The Starport community, and then follow their guides how to start playing Freelancer in multiplayer. Here's also short video guide for Discovery Freelancer
- Please note that some of singleplayer mods/patches may be non-compatible with multiplayer mods, like it is not recommended to use Jason's Freelancer Patch with multiplayer mods
Notes:
- If the installation doesn't start - try to launch Setup.exe in compatibility mode with old version of Windows (98, 2000 or XP)
- NoCD is required for the launch because the game is using SafeDisc DRM protection, which doesn't work on modern systems. That NoCD "breaks" DRM protection and allows the game to work on modern systems
- The game works on DirectX 8, so if you're using Windows 8, 8.1, 10 or 11 - you need to enable DirectPlay: Go to Control Panel, and select 'Programs'. Select 'Turn Windows features on and off', click on 'Legacy Components' and check the box 'DirectPlay'. Select OK, once the installation is done, restart your computer
- It is recommended to install all versions of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for the correct work of the game
- Also it is recommended to install RAD Video Tools and K-Lite Codec Pack for the correct work of the game
- Official patch 1.1 fixes some minor bugs in multiplayer part of the game, so in main menu you will still see V1.0. That patch is not necessary for singleplayer game, but we recommend to install it, because most of the mods require the game version 1.1
- If you have trouble with fonts in game, like when instead of menu elements you see "????" - it means you don't have required fonts in system. The game is using Agency FB and Agency FB Bold, so just download that fonts and put font files in
C:/Windows/system
directory - There's a bug when the game may crash if you press Alt+Tab to minimize the game, so better not to press it
- There's a rare bug when the game crashes at second launch, like when you ran the game first time, played it a little bit, closed and then ran it for second time, and it crashed. If that happens - go to
Documents/My Games
and delete/removeFreelancer
folder - The game was using EAX sound system, so you may have sound issues on modern systems, like some voices or music cut in, or no sound at all. If that happens - disable 3-D sound in game settings
- Another solution can be to enable EAX with DSOAL utility: install OpenAL and then DSOAL, that will make DirectSound (and EAX as well) to work through OpenAL sound system. Here's the guide how to install DSOAL (it's on Russian, use translator)
- Also, if you're using old Windows system, like for retro-gaming, and have same sound issue - you may need to install sound codes mentioned here
- If you have graphical glitches, like flickering models or black lines at UI elements - try to run the game through dgVoodoo(copy the dll-files from the MS/x86 folder, dgVoodooCpl.exe and dgVoodoo.conf to
Freelancer/EXE
folder, then run the game from Freelancer.exe). Also, with dgVoodoo you can play the game in high resolution with anti-aliasing and texture filtering, for better graphics. Run dgVoodooCpl.exe, open DirectX tab and select the settings you want. After that click "Apply" to save settings, close dgVoodooCpl and run the game. We tested the game with Jason's Freelancer Patch and dgVoodoo on Windows 7 64-bit, it worked fine -
For Windows 10 & 11 users: if you enable Vsync in setting of your video card, it probably won't work with Freelancer, because Microsoft disabled DX8 support in some revisions of Windows 10 & 11; if that happens - download this d3d8to9 wrapper by croise and put d3d8.dll in
Freelancer/EXE
folder. After that Vsync should be working stable - Also, use that wrapper if you have graphical glitches, like broken lights, on Windows 10 or 11
- If you have troubles with Russian version of the game - check this thread
- Don't forget to check PCGamingWiki page if you have troubles
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Mean Pirates 2024-11-13 2 points
Spent 600k to fix the relationship, bought spaceweed from outlaws, then I got robbed by them during taking off.
Ghaulhammer 2024-10-03 3 points
I am not sure why Microsoft has treated this game like a shirt with to many holes. Even today Freelancer is better than most of the games I see. Freelancer could have easily been sold as a private server game.
Kwantumhab 2024-06-20 2 points
DENNIS VAN LIEMPT - You dont need cheatcodes, you have admin commands for your server. Google. There are plenty help for it. Check for ioncross server operator. There are plenty of them even galaxy editor.
hotshotGG 2024-04-13 0 point
nvm.
The "Repack by MagiPack (includes Jason's Freelancer Patch v1.25) English version works clean on Steam Deck OLED when installed via Wine in Desktop Mode!
dothackjhe 2024-04-13 0 point
I installed MagiPak Repack version and was surprised to see the game running just fine on Windows 10 (2H22) from the get-go. I did not even have to set the game to run "in compatibility mode to Windows XP" or have it run "in admin mode". The sound also works just fine, too, even with the "3D Sound" enabled by default.
Lord_Snoodles 2024-03-25 0 point
I couldn't get this to work on WIN10 machine. Working great on my XP machine with Jason's 1.25 patch. Not even going to push my luck with the 1.4 patch.
larry 2024-03-12 0 point
two words: perfect game!
could be considered as a true successor to Elite series
Franki 2024-02-12 0 point
von Anfang an gute Einführung, leichte Erklärung, und ein Spiel mit Spannung und viel Aktionen. Wenn ihr beim Mod herumstöbert, findet ihr vielleicht ein seeehr gutes Schutzschild. ich würde es jedem empfehlen der des Spielens willen nicht oft neubeginnen will. ich habe es oft und lange gespielt und habe es vor kurzem wieder rausgeholt, da es ein apdate gegeben hat und ich es wieder spielen kann!
danke für dieses upgrat!!!!!!!!!!!!
haken64 2024-01-07 0 point
hello, the webpage is unrecheable - the download of freelance, can you fix it pls ?
Pixel 2023-12-19 0 point
Does the widescreen mod and patches work with cd versions? I have a physical copy of this game.
admin 2023-09-28 10 points
We have updated the game, added some new language versions plus fixes, and the guide how to use fixes.
The guide is only for original Freelancer and its singleplayer campaign. If you want to play with mods or on unofficial multiplayer servers - check the links in guide. There's too many of mods to create the guide for all of them :-D
Anon 2023-08-04 7 points
Ignore Killer. Game installs and works perfectly if you follow the instructions. Some people are just retarded.
celem 2023-07-10 11 points
A classic from years gone by. From the mind of the man who made Wing Commander, we'll just pretend he didn't go on to StarCitizen.
This game was actually supposed to be what SC claims to be, but it was even more of a pipedream 23 years ago and Freelancer was pushed out the door in the state it was in, without the persistant universe and deep economy promised. In retrospect a good idea, Freelancer made money and is fondly remebered, and here I am two decades later replaying it.
Ender 2023-06-20 0 point
Watchout is another person that doesn't understand how games used to work with physical copies, key generators and as a result ISO's. Probably doesn't even know what burning a disc or Daemon tools even is or mean. And how to get around these protections cracks had to be made and because of the way they work show up as Trojans or Viruses. Especially on bloatware scanners such as McAfee and Norton which have to block "threats" even when they aren't present, so the poor people that don't know any better feel that they are being well protected and aren't getting ripped off every year when they renew their subscriptions. "It must be good, it's constantly telling me it's removed or blocked a threat. Take my money for another year"
All those people that used to sit on torrent sites saying every game was a virus or malware, while thousands were happily playing without any security issues.
Used to love this game. The best mod is Tekagis Treasure. Gigantic galaxy size map, faster ships and tighter controls than vanilla. And on top of that, EVERY single ship and fighter from popular sci-fi TV and movies. And I mean every.
Want to use the Defiant to fight a Battlestar Galactica Vyper, yes. Want to fly an F302 from Stargate against a Klingon Raptor? Yes. Want the Daedalus battleship to jump in and start slugging it out with rail guns against the Galactica? Yes. And these are just a few of my favorites that I remember from playing 15 years ago. Want the best shields in the game? You have to journey to the center of the universe and go to Nirvana and learn to pilot a maze of mines to get to the station in the middle? Yes.
And all these things are spread out and hidden throughout the galaxy in different regions, rewarding exploration. You might fight nothing for 10 sectors and think ok this is area I'll go somewhere else and boom you missed that badass set of laser cannons at the smallest base in the corner of the next sector, or flying through a sector with zero light and no sensors, you think there is nothing here I'm going back, but you didn't find the hidden base that you don't know is there unless you already know, or the wormhole in the corner that you can't find unless you are right on top of it that turns out to be a shortcut to the other side of the galaxy.
Mod was amazing. Trust me, if you have a group of friends, set up a server and have an amazing time finding everything and having iconic cross over space battles. And even if you just go solo exploring and find your favorite ship or fighter it's worth it as they all have different firepower, handling, max speeds, accelerations, armor, every ship feels different. Just have a notepad and pen to note things down because it's so huge until you have played a lot you will forget what was in each region, where the best shield, lasers, thrusters, power supply and trade routes are, etc.
The mod was Tekagi's Treasure, It's still around, and now I've thought about it, I have to go and play it again. Just wish I had a group to do it with, like back then.
And the kicker is what killed it was Star Citizen, everyone just decided we will wait for that to release to replace it. Hahahahahaha, we will probably all be long gone before then.
Jack 2023-04-01 1 point
people keep saying stuff on the ISO download....i am going for the Ra7en download i would say it has always worked for me but i would say scan it before doing anything i always do.
Whesto 2023-03-30 0 point
Works great, lots of good old memories from this game. Great story and arcade-y space combat with decent options.
For multiplayer the largest community right now is the Discovery roleplay mod. Try it!
DreadfulBride 2023-03-17 2 points
My favorite game of all time and that is a lot considering I started playing on a Commadore64.
JustAGuy 2023-03-08 0 point
@WatchOut
nowadyas all keygens and hacked .exe are considered "viruses" by Windows defender and other anti-viruses. You'd wanna actually run it and through an antivirus and you can always isolate it from connecting to the web.
WatchOut 2023-03-07 -5 points
This Freelancer iso contains various trojans/malware.
You can view the details yourself on "virus total" website and search for the report for hashcode (from Freelancer.iso): ad059c80b62042ad1334c06e7a0a5fb1b299b3ab948fc63900516ddd8a109744
Top bad results of meta scans:
Cyren engine: W32/Patched.S.gen!Eldorado
DrWeb engine: Trojan.DownLoader34.40165
McAfee-GW-Edition engine: Suspicious Keygen!rar
NANO-Antivirus engine: Trojan.Win32.SMSSend.expsay
Infected files in the iso:
CRACK___/FREELANC/FLUADDON.RAR
REDIST/VCREDIST.EXE
CRACK___/FREELANC/FLKEYGEN.RAR
CRACK___/WINRAR_4.EXE
GAME/EXE/FREELA_1.EXE
vrozk 2023-02-16 0 point
so got the game to start up but when it gets to saying freelancer after menu game closes itself and doesnt go to menu. how do i fix this?
KIZA 2023-01-14 0 point
I played this game a long time ago. I'm very sorry that they didn't make more maps and that they didn't improve it. Thanks a lot for the download.
The game is superb and runs smoothly
Puggles2g 2022-10-09 0 point
Play Elite Dangerous for an experience like this. But Freelancer is playable offline and Single player. And there are some really good expansion packs/mods for it now too...
Thalatash 2022-09-03 0 point
I just downloaded and installed using the Installer by Ra7en and it worked perfectly. I was prompted to install DirectPlay which I assume came with it. I installed DirectPlay as well and everything is working great so far. Thanks!
SamboNZ 2022-07-18 0 point
I followed the instructions posted by SOLIDG and the game is working perfectly under Win10. Thanks!
Pilot231 2022-07-16 1 point
So when I try to run the game, it says to run as administrator, but when I select that, the game does nothing. Is there some patch I need to add to it to help play it?
Red 2022-07-01 -1 point
Yeah when I try to extract the Cracked Freelancer file to the EXE folder it says acces denied. Anyone got a solution for it?
{Spectre} Slicer 2022-05-26 1 point
The communities i found playing this online were both the best of times and the worst of times. The single player was good the online versions were fantastic. The learning curve was simple, know your ship and nothing was impossible, then mods opened the ability to fly Battleships from every major game, series or movie.
One of the best, immersive, and visually stunning space games i've played with nothing comming close in 19 years.
To the modders, admins and patrons who made it all possible, Friends and enemies alike i miss you all.
RIP: Discovery, BSG, Nightstalkers and the best mod of all Aurora
BlackDogs 2022-05-16 6 points
Even in 2022, I can still count on the amazing community to keep these childhood gems alive. Big thanks
Irishman 2022-04-10 1 point
For those who uninstalled the game and reinstalled the game. Followed the install instructions. Then game crashes after intro. The fix is to delete everything on your PC with any link to Freelancer. To do this click on File Explorer. Click on This PC. On the upper right is Search This PC. Enter the word "Freelancer." Let the search run. Several files and other stuff will show up that has a Freelancer tag on it. Delete as many of the files you can. It turns out there are some files are left on the computer that interferes with a new install. It may be in the users file but I did not experiment to see. I wanted to play the game. You may also have to this to the One Drive cloud also. Hope it works for you.
Logan 2022-03-15 3 points
If you want to get out the maximum from this i recommend to use Discovery mod (after you played thru main campaign ofc) it is expands the universe and you can host your own "MMO" with this... okay technicly it is not an mmo.... or is it? it comes from a time that the games had sensible multiplayer mods(not just ONLINE ONLY ALWAYS like nowadays...) and the mmo games were so few in numbers that this is technicly not an mmo... so this game gives you the cd key(or player ID), not asking for it XD a bit ironic...(okay this has CD protection, but nothing is perfect...) and you can host a server with a max of 128-200 player slots... your own private sandbox mmo-like universe... with lot of coop or optional pvp/factions... there is no game like this anymore, not everything is just mmo and server side... in this case you own your stuff/players :D ant the universe is HUGE, despite that the graphics not aged so well... this is an all time favorite... For everyone it is a must-have :D also there is an online-fix for this to be able to post your own server to a public list again and get some players if any... (this game has playerbase up until this very day...)
reddog1775 2022-03-02 0 point
I downloaded the program but every time I hit play it just blanks out to my desktop. Any advice anyone?
VedantP 2022-02-16 1 point
year2022. just opened up the old CD and installed the game again on Windows 11. cant believe its been ages. its evergreen. Squadron 42 doesn't compare to freelancers simplicity.
GODSPEED7 2022-02-06 3 points
Ignore the losers complaining about download caps.. Talk about being pretty dimwitted; you can FREELY download a game someone else spends time managing and pays for the server space without asking a penny from you!
STFU!
THANK YOU for putting this game up here! Time to relive one of the great Space Shooters of the generation!
Crimson81 2022-01-24 -2 points
100k/sec cap? naaaaaaaahhhh ...
more like 3000k/sec O.o ...
probleme not on server side ... then.
alright time to get back to freelancing in freelancer.
DJDoctorWHO 2022-01-07 -7 points
WTF is this only downloading at 100K/Sec.. WTF, this should have been done in a less than a fucking moment
Tekeshi 2021-12-31 -4 points
Anyway to bypass this capped download speed? Its capped at 200kb/s..
Somedude 2021-12-28 0 point
I'm not even that old, born in 95 and this is still one of my top 4 GOATs , that and Deus Ex, AoE 2 and old runescape
Ben 2021-12-10 -27 points
They should remake this into a play-to-earn game. It's perfect for that. And the graphics are a lot better than any NFT game I've seen so far.
ericdl 2021-09-24 2 points
Could not get the game to run on Win10. Kept double-clicking the program icon and nothing would happen. To fix this, it was necessary to uninstall the game completely and then reinstall by running Setup.exe as administrator.
[COH] HAMMER-OF-GOD 2021-06-20 4 points
Used to play this a LOT back in the day. Alpha Centauri 2 server was home.
Lead a clan with over 120 active fighter pilots and merchant marine wing.
Crushed the AJ's (allied juggernauts) and RastaFleet in two wars of clan extinction.
Overran two more servers and LOVED the Nexus mod.
It was a sad day the global server went down.
Chris777 2021-04-24 17 points
Yo, this game is great. I actually am trying to revive it at the moment, and already have quite a few hits. I've got a vanilla version of this ISO as well at a link in my forums, and a chill 6 step guide to getting it running on win10! If anybody is interested, The guide here https://chris777gerard.wixsite.com/website/forum/gaming-forum/how-to-install-freelancer-on-windows-10-2021
and our twitter as well! https://twitter.com/FLRevive
SOLIDG 2021-03-30 14 points
I downloaded the ISO version, mounted the cd image and ran the installation file. After that I just followed the readme.txt instructions inside the patches and crack folder and it's running smoother than a baby's butt.
Now, about the game, I can totally say it's one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had in my life. The graphics are stunning for a game almost 20 years old, the gameplay is very fun and intuitive, the map is freaking huge and the story is very interesting. I honestly can't believe this game became an abandonware and isn't being remade for the current generation.
10/10 must play.
vbrkrt 2021-03-24 1 point
Just quoting from a posting I saw to avoid spending a lot of time. Of course my personal suggestion is never to store critical data on a computer that you use cracked programs with.
Crack - techniques of avoiding genuine checks
Now I will mention two kinds of implementing cracks and I will tell some words for each of them.
Patching an executable file
The crack opens a executable file (.exe, .dll, …) and make corrections inside it to avoid checks for legality. Changing executable files is specific action for viruses and the antivirus could create false positive result.
Injecting code into program threads
This is some kind of in-memory hack to cheat checks for legality. It is typical again for viruses and the crack could be detected as a virus.
Conclusion
So two of the most common approaches of implementing cracks are highly suspicious actions, which could make the AV software think the crack is a virus.
https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/129762/is-malware-distributed-with-pirated-software-actually-common
Mustanrnr 2021-02-20 0 point
I have this game on cd used to play a lot, its the best game .but when I upgraded to windows 10 from windows 7 it tells me I am missing a dll file have not tried to go back to 7 it just mite work again.
ACE 2020-11-23 -1 point
When I try to boot the game, errors pop up that several dll files are missing and crashes during boot. I'm running on Windows 10 and running game on XP SP3 compatibility. From the comments other people got this running. What am I missing or is this a corrupted iso? Also tried running with all the patches installed and same error. I think there may be something screwy with the ISO file itself.
Snakeskin 2020-11-12 19 points
Me and my boys are going in on this beautiful old game tonight.
mess with the viper, and you'll get the fangs
sadface 2020-10-09 1 point
I've always wanted to play this game it brings back memories, but I can't seem to download it in windows 10. I already install and uninstall and even go to starport to get the "no cd EXE.", I followed instructions on youtube but I can't seem to open it, when I open my taskbar its says "suspended" can someone plss help me :(
FL wide 2020-10-08 1 point
Greetings MCFAILSAUCE and all
search for 'dacom.ini' and 'jflp.dll' in the google, GOG.com can make this game return to live
McFailsauce 2020-10-04 2 points
Excellent game and still holds up, even in 2020.
Just curious, but has anyone found a way to increase the resolution to desktop?
Dheu 2020-08-23 2 points
Concerning Vinsup's possible virus comment: Ran Windows Defender scan on Windows 10 (Security intelligence version 1.321.2021.0 (8/23/2020). Performed full scan of ISO: 12624 files scanned, 0 threats found.
That said, when you download the zip, it may not always come from the same server (may redirect to closest local mirror). So it is possible there is an infected copy/mirror out there. Everyone should make sure and run Windows Defender scan on any downloaded zips before opening them.
Vinsup 2020-05-28 4 points
Windows Defender reported that the crack & tools subfolder of the zip file for Freelancer contains a trojan horse called Win32/Wacatac.C!ml. Could someone confirm on his side ?
Asdf 2020-05-07 -3 points
Is there some kind of anti-piracy thing in this game that's not disabled? Enemy ships all seem to shoot me and only me and it's getting really, really old.
Slops 2020-04-20 0 point
Runs like a dream in Linux under Wine.
Search for the "Discovery" expansion pack after you've played the original game.
Brometheus 2020-04-12 3 points
I would recommend the Discovery mod as well. It add a ton of new ships including capitals. https://discoverygc.com/
ThePlagueDoctor 2020-03-12 1 point
I had this downloaded and after much working with getting the stuff from this site; https://the-starport.net/freelancer/download/viewcat.php?op=&cid=1 downloaded, I was good to go. I also went and got IonCross single player file manager put in place and went through a lot of trouble getting that up and going. Keep in mind that I'm running a home built computer which is running Windows 10. However, as long as you know what you are doing, you will have everything up and working.
And I am quite happy to say, I got what I wanted except for the multiplayer up and working due to that thing that Microsoft did. I have tried the work-around bit but no dice. I'm thinking that after work or when I have more time, I'm going to be trying it again.
Zerix 2020-02-28 3 points
I missed this game, it is one of my favorites! Thanks you so much for providing this service!
beatz31 2020-01-19 0 point
There is one android game like this but its small. Galactic Phantasy. Worth the play
Guenni7 2020-01-06 -1 point
To get the game running smoothly on newer machines (especially Win10) you best go to the SWAT-portal and download crossfire MOD, install it and most problems are gone. If you still have problems, ask in the SWAT forum, there's always someone online to help you.
dockzero 2019-12-25 0 point
nice game truly one off the best space games ever hope i can make it work agin
Vulk 2019-11-22 2 points
There is still a active modding community, we chose to stay slightly more true to the vanilla lore as opposed to Crossfire's "More Stuff".
https://discoverygc.com/
Sahid 2019-10-29 3 points
Share your gamer memories, help others to run the game or comment anything you'd like. If you have trouble to run Freelancer (Windows), read the abandonware guide first!
wynnde 2019-10-06 1 point
long shot, but does the multiplayer aspect of this game still function?
Baggerton 2019-08-15 -3 points
I've installed as per instructions and enabled Direct Play. Click on icon - do you want this to make changes - yes- nothing happens after that. Please help I love this game!
cinder 2019-05-23 -3 points
can anyone help, I've done what was instructed but now the game has a framerate of 1 frame per 10 seconds, interdicted by a black screen for 2 seconds... i have a dedicated gaming pc from 2012, also i have the tech savvy'ness of a 3 year old
ThePlagueDoctor 2019-05-23 -5 points
This game could definitely use a bit of a revamp. But please absolutely NO paid DLC or any of that kind of bull crap.
Micropoint 2019-04-26 4 points
Crossfire mod 2.0 the best in my opinion. :)
https://swat-portal.com/forum/lexicon/
https://www.moddb.com/mods/crossfire
StoneY 2019-04-23 0 point
Loved this game, was my 3rd and probably my most beloved online game. Graphics were out of this world for the time, as was the physics. Ahh Microsoft why did thou close thy gaming studio's, and servers? I miss Combat Flight Simulator one and 2, and Freelancer. Yay for abandonware!
Professor Peregine 2019-04-15 3 points
My virus program found a trojan in FREELA_1.exe called Eldorado, so be cautious.
Thumper606 2019-04-09 2 points
Runs on Windows 10 64bit:
Install with Administrator rights, install patch for ver 1.0, right click on freelancer exe, set admin rights and windows xp compatibility (service pack 2)
RSC 2019-03-26 0 point
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/ this is the guy that made starlancer and freelancer
tank20101955 2019-03-11 0 point
loved this game right up till a friend of mine sat on my disc, only wish is for the server to be faster than 56k dial-up!.
Wonkavicious 2018-12-08 -1 point
when i press new game i get no video clip and start with 10 mil or something... any way to rectify that?
Heros5k 2018-08-21 0 point
My game worked before, uninstalled it and reinstalled it again. Now it crashes after the intro.
Heros5k 2018-08-21 0 point
My Freelancer Crashes upon starting the .exe, can anyone help me?
Also, the install instructions are very poor.
Jman 2018-08-05 1 point
Man it has been years since I have played this game. I can't wait till it finishes downloading!
Nahadoth 2018-07-23 0 point
I've been telling my wife about this game recently and over the years. I am so happy to have finally found it. I hope to get her into as well. It kind of reminds me a preamble to Eve Online, but this game is not about mining. :P
LawnGnome 2018-06-09 0 point
This Link Allows you to play the game and overwrite the No CD .exe file given with this download on any version of windows.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3086255/ms15-097-description-of-the-security-update-for-the-
graphics-component
To do this, type the following commands at an elevated command prompt. You should press Enter after
you type each command.
To disable the driver's service, type the following command:
sc config secdrv start= disabled
To set the driver's service to manual, type the following command:
sc config secdrv start= demand
To enable the driver's service (and to set it to automatic), type the following command:
sc config secdrv start=auto
To manually start the driver's service, type the following command:
sc start secdrv
To manually stop the driver's service, type the following command:
sc stop secdrv
Here is another good explanation of required steps.
http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/freelancer_windows7.htm
LawnGnome 2018-06-09 3 points
Very rich Easter egg content. Love the smuggling and missions fighting the rouge factions. many advanced weapons to be found on abandoned spacecraft, hidden worm holes for fast travel. No matter the age, the immersive setting of this game is unmatched.
Araconus 2018-04-26 1 point
Freelancer is one of my all time favorite games. I have played the original version from beginning to end many times varying how I played the free build up time and how I played the after game. Some of the mods have been great for changing even the campaign making it more challenging and spicing it up with different ships. After all these years, I still keep coming back to play the campaign about once a year. I hope I can get it to run on my latest platform.
Pogrom 2018-03-31 4 points
Downloaded, followed Read Me instructions to install no cd exe and patches. Working as intended with Windows 10 OS. Pure nostalgia. Amazing game for it time. Had a hiccup with first mission where I lost mouse and keyboard control, but restarted game and all is well.
Jefferson 2018-01-26 2 points
Thanks for this upload , it works perfect !!
The hardest part was installing deamon tools lite , that took over 1.5 hours .
But now i play one of the finest games with much joy .
Aardvark 2017-12-06 0 point
@ Ryan P
I Googled that problem, and found a "fix". It's a bit complex. But try reading this link.
http://shadowoffear.net/portal/?p=394
Ryan P 2017-12-05 0 point
Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately it didn't. DirectPlay was already active on my PC. I'm tempted to resurrect my old desktop that I used to play this game years ago. Not likely to work after all this time, but maybe it will. My other option is to buy a 3D capable video card.
Aardvark 2017-12-05 -2 points
If Freelancer can't start, fx. in Win10, then go to Control Panel, find Programs and Functions, click "Turn Windows functions On or Off".
Find Legacy Components, and enable "DirectPlay".
Hope this will work for you :)
Ryan P 2017-12-05 -2 points
Can't get it to run on Win 10. "Freelancer did not detect a 3D capable video card in your system"
I didn't have a 3D card on my old computer which was 7-8 years older than this one.
Mixis Spittlelick 2017-12-02 0 point
https://discoverygc.com NEW Remade new systems and online play pvp/pve. also get the retexture mod ... looks GREAT !!
Aardvark 2017-11-15 -2 points
I got it to work on Win10.
If anyone has that problem, just comment here.
Aardvark 2017-11-10 -1 point
Its one of the best Space trader sims, despite its shortcomings.
BUT, can't get this version to work on Win10, and I have used the crack etc.
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