I've always been a closet fan of space sims. I especially enjoyed the epic releases like Freespace^, Freelancer (1, and 2 to a lesser extent), and X1/2/3. How's this release? Quality? I want the input of some fellow simmers because Gamespot forums and Youtube comments are useless garbage!

I would say super-high quality in all aspects except the fan voice acting, which I would place slightly below the work done on Blue Planet at this point. Technically, and graphically, the game far exceeds anything that was done in the originals and the storyline is fully comparable.The game runs well on almost any modern machine, and employs almost all of the latest tricks from the busy modders at the source code project. In fact they have added some innovations of their own that I expect to see incorporated quickly into upcoming release candidate builds.In short, if you liked Wing Commander 3, you will love this as it is set during the same time.As for detail, if you download and install the game, you will find a 102 page technical manual in PDF format in the install folder. These guys are serious fans! :(

For everything Freespace related, Including other fan-made campaigns and the latest graphical updates, look here: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/The original game can still be downloaded from Good Old Games for about $4If you like The wing Commander saga, and want more, here is how to install the original Freespace 2 plus the new updated graphics/engine assets and quite a few mods, all automated for convenience.http://www.hard-ligh...p?topic=42854.0

First patch released. (that was quick!) Some professional games that ask for money don't get as quick attention as this free one!http://www.wcsaga.com/downloads/files/details/patches-darkest-dawn-1-1-0-7822-setup-exe.html-Addressed an issue that was causing launcher to not save sound device properly on some systems.-Added tool-tips for autopilot and glide usage.-Alternative mouse steering is now available. You can choose between the WC and FS controls depending on your personal preference.-Losing the TCS Aurora would block the game's progress. This has been addressed.

Not really completely disappeared. Freespace and Freespace2 were released at about that time as well, but when the company went under, it released the source code of those games to the community. That community has been working away like busy little beavers during the intervening time, nearly completely modernizing and rewriting the code to the game, bringing it up to modern standards, and in the meantime, many outstanding fan made campaigns have been released.The Wing Commander Saga project is just one of the latest and most ambitious................

Yup - there are a few out there, based on the FreeSpace 2 source code. Including the 'Babylon Project' (based on the 'Babylon 5' TV series): http://babylon.hard-light.net/, which is also impressive in its own right.