Freesynd 0.7!

[Hythlodaeus]

Probably one of the projects I've been following as religiously as OpenXcom is Freesynd, but boy do they take time between releases.

https://freesynd.sourceforge.net/

For those who don't know, Freesynd is to Syndicate what OpenXcom is to the original X-COM: an open source engine re-implementation. I love the original Syndicate, but I also acknowledge it has always been a deeply flawed and partially incomplete game, with shitty AI, unpolished gameplay and, for some reason, no interior graphics whatsoever. The sheer brutality and fast pacing of Syndicate is what made it so great, along with the awesome industrial cyberpunk setting. But now, fortunately, there's Freesynd, restoring the hopes that someone, some day, might actually pick it up and use it to rebuild Syndicate as the game it always deserved to be.

The aim of the current team is to have everything up and running at 1.0 and only then start adding improvements, but since they can take YEARS before releasing an update, it might still be a long time before we see a proper advancement of classic Syndicate. As of 0.7, there's still a lot to be  fixed and implemented as the game still isn't completable at all. And remember kids, you need and original copy of Syndicate, (which can be purchased here, for what I consider to be a more or less unfair price) in order to play Freesynd.

[SHADO]

This looks cool- don't think I heard of it before.  Is it similar to X-Com (maybe the question should be if X-Com is similar to it since it looks like it was released before X-Com) in that there's both a strategic and a tactical side to it?  Also, you only have four agents throughout an entire game?  Or you can only send four out on any given mission?

[Hythlodaeus]

This looks cool- don't think I heard of it before.  Is it similar to X-Com (maybe the question should be if X-Com is similar to it since it looks like it was released before X-Com) in that there's both a strategic and a tactical side to it?  Also, you only have four agents throughout an entire game?  Or you can only send four out on any given mission?

Well it's hard to explain, but if you want to play the original, I'd say stick to play it pure on DosBox. The "world management" bit is a little like RISK, i.e, you have to "conquer" each nation individually by performing whatever mission it requires you to, in order to fall under your company's influence. Missions are controlled in real time by controlling a squad of four operatives only. Gameplay is far less tactical than it is on X-COM, and the AI is famous for behind kinda crappy, but it's the action and violence that really pays for it. Because of the latter it's considered a classic, but I prefer to see it as a bit of a flawed gem.

You can buy the original here.

And like with most old DOS games, remember to read the manual.

[kkmic]

And like with most old DOS games, remember to read the manual.

Just a little nitpick here: remember to read the "fine" manual

[luke83]

Do they have a forum??? i cant find one.

[moriarty]

lots of information about syndicate here: https://syndicate.lubie.org/

the developer team of freesynd appears to be much less active and organized than the openxcom community... I think I stumbled into a forum today, accessible via the sourceforge page, but it wasn't really an active forum.

[SHADO]

Thanks for that link- lots of good info there.  Syndicate's on my list of games to check out.

Question for Hythlodaeus- wouldn't you recommend Freesynd over the original?  Like for me, I would definitely recommend OpenXCom over the original at this point.

[54x]

Thanks for that link- lots of good info there.  Syndicate's on my list of games to check out.

Question for Hythlodaeus- wouldn't you recommend Freesynd over the original?  Like for me, I would definitely recommend OpenXCom over the original at this point.

The "at this point" is key. We're some bugfixes and one feature away from having everything the original game had.

Freesynd has a larger job, (and thus aren't as far through) especially given the original game had some design problems, wheras xcom mostly had bugs, all of its design issues are essentially caused by how long ago it was developed.

[Hythlodaeus]

Pretty much what 54x just said. Whereas OpenXcom already makes the original game not only fully playable, but also improved, Freesynd is still barely working at this point, not counting the original game's problems, which will only be fixed after 1.0. I'd say this a nice project for prospective contributors to help, or for fans of the original to keep an eye on, because frankly, at this point, there's still much to be done.

[SHADO]

Gotcha- my mistake of assuming all things being equal.  Thanks for the 411 on this.  I'll definitely try out Syndicate.  While I'm at it, I'll probably also check out Freesynd just to see what that's like.