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There was also one called, "I've Found Her" which, in spite of the strange name, I recall being an impressive looking demo.

Yeah, that's the one. "I've found her" was the name and they released a prequel campaign called "Danger and opportunity". You can still download it from the site.

The site looks kinda dead on a first glance since januari last year. Too bad.

The flight controls in X3 at least, where like flying through a thick atmosphere. I personally like Babylon 5: I Found Her, It plays exactly how you'd expect a Starfury to.

Regards
elFarto

About gameplay physics: yes, I know a game that comes close to "real-universe physics in a space environment," meaning mostly that momentum is conserved. And it ain't Orbiter, although that one is a riot. Guess what: the game is actually fun. Link to game (Bonus: game is based on Babylon 5).

Seriously, a B5 space combat sim was in development by Sierra, but they pulled the plug in 1999, months before it was due out. You can see what it was going to be like here. But see also the main Firstones page for other signs of hope.

Seriously, a B5 space combat sim was in development by Sierra, but they pulled the plug in 1999, months before it was due out. You can see what it was going to be like here. But see also the main Firstones page for other signs of hope.

Give me a turn based strategy game (MOO2 style) and a Flight Simulator and I will set for life, err, until the next big thing

Is this close to what you were thinking for the latter?

What would be really interesting would be if they could use the footage of the main characters shot for the unreleased game Babylon 5: Into The Fire and work it into these prequels somehow. I've always wanted to see that footage - and, besides, it includes some unreleased and unseen video of Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar.

Well, someone http://ifh.firstones.com/ has been doing a B5 combat game... I've poked around in it a bit and it looks kindof cool. There is apparently multiplayer added as well....

Undoubtably having a space combat game that uses -real- physics would have been awesome (none of this "ship drives like a car" stuff)

I remember really looking forward to this game when it was announced . . . it's a bummer that it got canned.

Howver, for those that still want to fly a 'Fury on their PC, there's this:

http://ifh.firstones.com/

I believe there are some B5 Freespace mods as well.

Babylon 5: Into the Fire.
Now that was a game that deserved to see the light of day.

But no, Sierra in their infinite wisdom canned it, and several other worthy games, in favour of gems like Virtual Bullrider, or whatever it was.

The freeware game B5: "I've Found Her" has picked up the mantle quite nicely, but it would have been great to see what the original team would have produced -- especially as it was an officially sanctioned project, and had original footage featuring many of the cast from the series. Sadly, all that material is now lost to the vaults of Sierra.

Interesting. B5 changed my life at the time. It helped me see things differently. Even it this is the past and I'm focusing on other issues now, B5 will always have place in my heart.

Some great links:
Babylon 5 Lurker's Guide
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html
B5 quotes I gathered (and published in an open book):
http://www.alexandre.leroux.net/quotes/quotes_e.ht ml#b5-anchor
Free B5 great game:
http://ifh.firstones.com/

Cheers :-)

There's a freeware B5 game available at http://ifh.firstones.com/ called "I've Found Her: Danger and Opportunity". It's a prequel to a full game, and has a good couple of hours of playability in it.

It's not a mod, as far as I know. In any case, you don't need to install any other game in order to play it.

It's a linear mission-based fighter game (Starfury), similar in structure to X-Wing, Wing Commander or Starlancer.

I enjoyed it.

There is a B5 mod out for the game Nexus. I haven't followed it at all but a co-worker talks about it all the time. Check it out at http://b5col.firstones.com/

You might want to check out B5: I've Found Her for a really hardcore space combat sim project set in the Babylon 5 universe.

From what I've heard, there's also quite a community around the Freespace 2 engine. Why not see if you can google up something interesting.

Independence War 1 and 2, however, really capitalized on Newtonian flight physics. IW2 got it completely right.

It's an incredible feeling, sliding along the skin of a capital ship while laying down a barrage of fire on its broadside, then blasting out sideways at a crazy angle.

There's even a conversion from Independence War to a Babylon 5 universe: see Buda 5.

It may not be *massively* multiplayer, but the folks of the

Babylon 5 : I've Found Her

project have done some marvelous work. Its in progress right now, but I had quite a bit of fun with the (free) prequel campaign. It is one of the few space fighter sims that seems to understand that momentum is conserved. They have both 'controlled' flight, where the corrections are made for you, and 'free' flight where you can gather enormous speeds.

I don't see it as a positive sign at all.

Nearly six years ago, Sierra cancelled production on their "Babylon 5: Into the Fire" game. (They booted numerous employees as part of a facility consolidation that resulted in the death of other games as well.) Most of the head developers expressed an interest in finishing the game they had put so much work into, and so they approached Sierra/Vivendi with an offer to purchase the work they had already finished. Sierra refused.

In the time since then, the rights to develop the B5 license into a computer game reverted to Warner Brothers, leaving WB with a license but no game, Sierra with a half-done game (and a crapload of voice acting and original music) but no license and no designers, and a bunch of designers without their old jobs. The inertia was gone, the designers had moved on to other companies, and the game is pretty much officially dead.

(Fortunately, the mod community is pretty strong for the B5 universe, and there's a team of Russian programmers who have come up with a nice rendition of the universe, sans license. http://www.firstones.com/)

The moral of the story: Just because a company refuses to sell you something doesn't mean they plan to do jack with it themselves.

...yes at least the mods keep us happy after the The Babylon 5 Combat Simulator was canceled by Sierra.

Just to pick nits (what is a nit, anyway?) the IFH simulator isn't a mod -- they wrote the engine from scratch. That's a pretty impressive feat to me, especially seeing how good the final result is -- IFH is certainly commercial-quality.

However, there are other projects based on Freespace 2 and similar games that are mods to existing engines -- check out http://ifh.firstones.com/news/press/pcpp0404.shtml

...yes at least the mods keep us happy after the The Babylon 5 Combat Simulator was canceled by Sierra.

I'm looking forward to the fan film Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning getting Finnished.

Movies on another site, the space battles, are kind of amusing, but pretty silly.

The Lurker's Guide (already in the threads)

B5 quotes

More quotes

I Found Her - Free great B5 game (worthed a look)

Probably much more interesting links. I *really* liked B5. It helped me see things differently and actively participated in my "growing up". I published a Babylon 5 book of quotes if you're interested. Like many others, I fear a movie won't be good enough. One of the strengths of B5 was telling a story over countless episodes, not only 2 hours. Time will say.

"We create the future, with our words, our deeds and with our beliefs"
- Lady Ladira, B5: "Signs and Portents"

While you're waiting for the movie, check out the fan-created flight sim, complete with a detailed story, realistic physics, and great ship models:

http://ifh.firstones.com/

Enjoy!

Speaking of Sierra, they canned (a couple of years ago) Babylon 5: Into the Fire. When the developers got some investment together and tried to buy all the IP from Sierra (which, because WB had by then revoked Sierra's license, Sierra was *never* going to be able to use), Sierra declined.

Now we have countless B5 mods for various games, and a group of (mostly) Russians are working on a freeware B5 space combat sim.

...I'd like to see Sierra's decision to can the Babylon 5 game on the list. Then, I'd like to see, at the next "worst" position, Sierra's decision not to sell the completed portions of the game property to the developers (whom Sierra had earlier also canned) who were trying to pick up the game and finish it. Now it's all gathering dust, and the idea is being left up to the mod community and a few guys in Russia who have been working on a standalone game for some time now.

Ive been watching these sites it helps some but not much :(

FirstOnes They actually snorked a copy of the sirra web site. So all we can do now is drool over something that will never happen.
Ive Found Her They are making a B5 game. The pics they have been posting look semi cool.

Course the B5 first season set is selling pretty well I hear. So maybe WB will realize they have a fairly hot property. That can be exploted into a game (HA).

I have been boycoting Sierra because they no longer make the games I like. I like adventure games. They used to make some of the best. Now they make 3d FPS and boring 'family' games. I havent been really wowed by a FPS since DOOM.

The advent style game Ive been waiting on lately has been Full Throttle 2. FT2 Least Lucasarts still has somewhat of a clue about games... But some of the SW games are getting as bad as a star trek game. You just know it will be lame.

Vulcans Fury was one I was waiting on as well. If I remeber correctly it was during a time of reorg. The game was way over budget and getting worse. They cut their losses and wrote it off. Personaly I am glad they cut it instead of shipping it before it was done. If it had shipped it may have been regarded as one of the buggiest games ever. Now it has a mythical feel to it :)


they chose to throw away the work done instead of selling it

More than likely they were more interested in the tax write off at this point. If they sold it, it became a asset. If they held onto it, it became a tax write off. So they priced it in the range where it made them money. Instead of offloading it. Who knows what goes through the heads of some corp ladder climber. They probably could have priced it about even with their write off/sunk cost. Maybe they tried to get that little extra out of em. Or maybe the other company was way under bidding hopping to scoop it up for nothing. Why they are sitting on this title is beyond me. Talk about a built in audience! They were able to SELL the extra junk they were going to stick into boxes. That should have told them something!

Ive been watching these sites it helps some but not much :(

FirstOnes They actually snorked a copy of the sirra web site. So all we can do now is drool over something that will never happen.
Ive Found Her They are making a B5 game. The pics they have been posting look semi cool.

Course the B5 first season set is selling pretty well I hear. So maybe WB will realize they have a fairly hot property. That can be exploted into a game (HA).

I have been boycoting Sierra because they no longer make the games I like. I like adventure games. They used to make some of the best. Now they make 3d FPS and boring 'family' games. I havent been really wowed by a FPS since DOOM.

The advent style game Ive been waiting on lately has been Full Throttle 2. FT2 Least Lucasarts still has somewhat of a clue about games... But some of the SW games are getting as bad as a star trek game. You just know it will be lame.

Vulcans Fury was one I was waiting on as well. If I remeber correctly it was during a time of reorg. The game was way over budget and getting worse. They cut their losses and wrote it off. Personaly I am glad they cut it instead of shipping it before it was done. If it had shipped it may have been regarded as one of the buggiest games ever. Now it has a mythical feel to it :)


they chose to throw away the work done instead of selling it

More than likely they were more interested in the tax write off at this point. If they sold it, it became a asset. If they held onto it, it became a tax write off. So they priced it in the range where it made them money. Instead of offloading it. Who knows what goes through the heads of some corp ladder climber. They probably could have priced it about even with their write off/sunk cost. Maybe they tried to get that little extra out of em. Or maybe the other company was way under bidding hopping to scoop it up for nothing. Why they are sitting on this title is beyond me. Talk about a built in audience! They were able to SELL the extra junk they were going to stick into boxes. That should have told them something!

If you're in need of Farscape episode information, check out The Snurcher's Guide to Farscape.

It is simply the best reference site for Farscape episodes, trivia, and other little random tidbits of information!

Having just watched the Season Premier, I've got to say it got off to a nice start. Great sets, pretty good acting, but some incredibly fun moments. I'm not going to reveal them here. It might spoil the fun. :)

--Sanfam of Firstones.com

Thank you for the amazing breakdown. I myself am a Huge Fan of this series, and was watching since GROPOS. It's a must-see. Infact, the only series to actually come close to its glory has been Farscape, but still has not beat it just yet.

Some good sites to go to for Babylon 5 information and discussion:
The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5. A great reference source. It has THE most comprehensive episode guide for the series, it's movies, and its spinoff, Crusade. They Include a Synopsis, Notes, Comments from JMS, and other related information. The site also includes a B5 term encyclopedia, which can be beneficial for those who don't understand a term.
B5 Tech Reference. This site, while containing large amounts of fictional information, is a decent reference for anyone seeking information on the spacecraft of Babylon 5.
FirstOnes.com. While this is a shameless plug, If you want to talk with other babylon 5 fans, go there and visit the forums. You'll meet some interesting people from around the world. While it's primary mission has been abandoned (to raise the Babylon 5 Space Combat Simulator, Into the Fire, from the dead), it is being transformed into a source for everything Babylon 5. (well, that's the plan, at least =) )
Hyperspace Ship Guide. Another great reference page for the spacecraft of babylon 5. This has less fanfiction than Babylon 5 Tech, but less information as a whole. It has some great images, though.
The Down Below Sound Archive. This Page has a sound bite of just about anything you could want from this show. It's a great place to go if you want something along those lines.
Babylon 5: The place to be. This is another great site, loaded with 3D art and the models to make your own! Check it out sometime.
The Music of Babylon 5.. This is another great Babylon 5 Resource. It's webmaster posts various soundtracks from Babylon 5 on a regular basis. Most recently, the site had put up Battle Sequences A-F, the Sampler tracks for the music in Babylon 5: Into the Fire. Take a few minutes and listen to it.
The Shadow Information Office. A great page dedicated to correcting the popular belief that shadows are evil monsters. Rather, it shows that they have a very incolved culture, and exist for the sole purpose of assisting the other races. Check it out.

I hope these links are put to good use. There is a lot of information on the web. most of it bad. This should clear up some of that. Sanfam Out.

The thing that pisses me off when I read about half ass games that get published is I wonder what was sacraficed to breathe life into this turd.

I wanted to see Babylon 5:Into the Fire. It was a game that was high on my "to buy" list. I had been to Sierra's site several times to check out the screenshots, mpg movies, and occasionally read the developer's .plan files.

As many of you know, Sierra fired a bunch of it's developers. The development staff of B5 (as well as the developers for Middle Earth) was given 30 days notice and the software was cancelled.

OH, but Thank God Sierra spared 3d Virtual Bullrider!! It was bad enough to see B5 axed, and the LOTR game killed with a major motion picture on the way - but I really would have gone fscking nuts if they had cancelled the Bullrider game!!!

So Daikatana sucks. It will soon be forgotten. At least John Romero could afford to buy nice tits for his girlfriend.

I spen more time thinking about great games that died than half ass ones heading for the closeout bin at Best Buy.

Okay, this is just slightly off topic, but I think it's close enough (flame me if I'm wrong and I'll apologize personally).

Babylon 5: Into the Fire was/is a sim based on the StarFury fighter in B5. If you haven't heard about it, it hasn't made it to life yet. It has now been dropped around twice or so, and a last-ditch effort to save it is continuing.

If anyone cares, you can see the current status at FirstOnes.com. If you liked the show, and might like the true inertial space flight sim (you can spin around in mid flight just like in space and the show), support B5:ITF now and we might even be able to convince them to port it to Linux once it's actually revived... again.

(Just thought it would be informative for those who really liked the show and would like to fly a 'Fury. If you don't like this post, please just flame me and let me apologize in person; don't moderate it down.)