I'm a big fan of the game Freelancer, but for some reason they decided not to finish the "play in a window" support. You can tell they intended to get it done, but I guess they didn't have the time. Anyway. I've hacked up the two binaries that need hacking to get it to work:
I did this with a little Direct3D8 debugger I wrote and some hex editing. Improvements include:
- SafeDisc removed, so you don't need the CD in the drive. (If you just want this, use this exe).
- The three (yes, 3) splash movies have been skipped.
- Starts up in a window, and doesn't lock the mouse.
The window resolution is set to 1024x768.. I haven't bothered trying to get 800x600 to work.
To install, copy the above files over the ones you have in the Freelancer\EXE directory - but I recommend you make a backup of the originals first. There's likely some bugs that I haven't fixed and you don't want to have to reinstall.
QuantumG
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Vesko says:
Why would anyone want to play FL windowed? Sure, you can see the other stuff on the screen, but the point of FL is to keep your head inside the game, not the percentage on your latest download!
Anonymous says:
because I'm not particularly bothered about immersion. Just like to play it whilst I perform other tasks.
agreed says:
games that do not have window or fullscreen window mode suck, im a huge multi tasker and any game where alt tab is required, does not even get installed on my machines
eveningztar says:
How about this...Make a dl hack thats just removing the SafeDisc and make the game playable without the cd/dvd. That would be a huge improvement.I love this game (Freelancer) and to be able to save my beloved cd (or dvd,whatever) for future use would be absolutly awsome.How about it? Im gonna check up here to see if u actually answer cause this is importent,hehe. Thanks for a great site btw.Later m8. =)
QuantumG says:
eveningztar: done, see the link above.
E. Trent says:
I have never had trouble running Freelancer in a window - just send -w on the command line.
The best way is to make a 'FL Windowed' shortcut
with the following text in the shortcut target field:
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Games\\Freelancer\\EXE\\freelancer.exe" -w
Then you can quickly choose if you want fullscreen or windowed.
The only downside is that FL stops rendering when the window loses focus
- I thought that was what you had fixed.
The no Safedisc hack is very handy though - thanks. :)
E. Trent says:
Ooops, that came out wrong - there should be one slash where there are two. xD