Freelancer - Pre-Release Discussion

I assume it wouldn’t work because iirc, the game locks in your score/time etc the moment the exit is activated. I assume the completed/failed objectives would also get locked in at this point too.

You might be right. But there can be a complication (in some Contracts for example) where you’re not allowed to kill non-targets. Take the white car exit in Sapienza. If the yellow shirt guy is walking in the path of the car - he gets ran over and dies, you then auto-fail the contract even though the exiting sequence is still playing out.

So that’s why I’m wondering if (my idea) would actually work or not. Because the game would still detect any NPCs being killed.

I’ll see if I can get it to happen, but I assume the difference here is that its a fail condition in your example above and since you’re still technically in the level when the exit cutscene plays it can still be triggered. Where as anything that affects scoring etc after the exit doesn’t apply (ie the glitched Berlin manhole exit at launch that you could kill everyone after activating it and still get SA).

1 Like

You’re probably good enough to figure it out. But here’s what I did (in the normal game)…

Backseat Gaming

It might work best if you have the RFID coin/explosive.

Be in Sapienza. Shoot a mansion guard a couple times from the clock tower to get him to come to your location. It cannot be either of the 2 guards at the main gate. Set down the RFID coin in the stairwell somewhere below the top floor. Watch in instinct to make sure which guard picks it up (if more than one guard goes up there). This other guard may need to be slowed down when going back with a dropped coin or 2 (after you’ve placed the explosive).

Now set the explosive closer to the guard on the right (in the brown shirt), but not too close and behind. The guard in the blue and white shirt shouldn’t notice, the one in the brown shirt will likely see it if it’s evenly between them.

As the guard that went to the clocktower returns with the RFID coin in his pocket, wait to activate the exit after he sees the explosive, maybe give it a second…

Then, hopefully, profit.

Edit: I know the combination of these scenarios might be rare… So, good luck. :frowning_face:

Edit2: Or KO guards near an exit, then toss a proximity explosive. :man_shrugging:

It’s not about playing their way; it’s about playing the way the game, and indeed the franchise, has most heavily leaned and guided players toward all along. Hitman as always emphasized Silent Assassin style gameplay as the highest attainable rank, and has used it as the benchmark to gauge how well you’ve done. To have a mode that out of blue does not emphasize that is like whiplash. Note I’m saying emphasize, not require; we know people have always had the ability to play the game however they want, but it was never designed around rewarding people for that except for in-map challenges that required you to forgo it in order to unlock them. It does not matter if this mode allows other styles of play, as the game has always done that; it’s that it doesn’t carry the same reward system it always had for a particular style of play that has always been top priority.

Do you have to respond to every point someone tries to make with sarcasm and a rude tone?

1 Like
  • No it’s all about Silent Assassin you play wrong!
  • No it’s about freedom you should play whatever you want!
  • But SA should have better rewards!
  • No SONKO should be a prestige most rewarded objective,
  • but I want to blow up everything and get reward!
  • but that is how you shouldn’t play Hitman!

And so on… quote one lady from Mumbai:

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! XD

No matter what you say Freelancer is build on different aspect of gameplay. It’s a fact, deal with it. End of story. Can we move on please?

3 Likes

In the main game, SA is literally imposed by the game, that is, there are only two passages: to green pistols and not. In freelancer, SA is not required, which is great, because now it makes sense to use sniper rifles, play aggressively. SA simplifies life not from the point of view of receiving a salary, but from the point of view of gameplay: by arranging skirmishes in locations, you have a higher chance of dying, and the alarm does not disappear on them the next time you play. If some bonuses are given for the SA, other than those given for additional tests, then again the meaning will disappear in any other passage of the location.

I believe that the fact that there are additional conditions that the agent can take on SA is already enough.

5 Likes

Someone (I think it was Kevin Rudd?) mentioned earlier they looked at the NPC files and found some for new NPCs. I’ve seen a few of them as targets (during regular missions, not showdowns), like a naked guy in Berlin, in the bikers building :smiley:

I ran over that guy a few times and it never stopped me from achieving SA :thinking:

5 Likes

It used to affect your score in H1. They fixed it.

2 Likes

while i can’t argue that it is held up as one of the highest ranks we can attain, i don’t think it is fair to say “sa is literally imposed” on players when we can complete literally every mission without getting it.

3 Likes

Maybe not literally, but a serious passage always goes only to SA. And as I said, there are only green and red (well, yellow) pistols: either SA or not.

1 Like

The new target in Berlin caught me off guard, and gave me a chuckle. I mean if there is a NPC that would wander off in places he shouldn’t go, this is the type.

Nice to see IOI hasn’t lost their sense of humor.


As for the “vehicle drives and kill an NPC during an exit, costing SA”, I remember that it infamously costed SA rating for some players on some Sapienza Elusive Targets.
If you were ever wondering why the Deceivers ET has the car exit next to the mansion disabled, this is why (it has a chance of running over the cyclist, or the flower delivery man at the crash site.

I believe that they resolved the issue by freezing the score when (or slightly after) the player pushes the exit button, instead of when the cinematic ends.
This is also why the sewer exit on Berlin was bugged : the player could use the exit prompt, but no exit would actually be made. The score (and timer) was set, while the run continued. Which allowed for things like killing non-targets without losing SA.

2 Likes

Oh boy, here we go.

Freelancer is almost fully managed by the game client, the servers just provide all the challenges, mastery & contract data, etc. All of which could be moved offline.

Challenges are fully tracked by the client, the little completion notifier in the top right is fully done by the game, separate from the servers. Same with the XP you get from things like guard headshots, etc. That hud element is tracked by the client. They’re just not offline although they feasibly could be.

I’m not saying it would be easy for IOI to fully phase out online mode, it would obviously take them time, but the foundations are already there for them.

20 Likes

Ive always liked your input, @AnthonyFuller. Well, that’s a lie, but more often than not, I’ve liked it.

1 Like

The fact that the game rewards you for sniping a target, doesn’t allow for freedom of play. It is forcing you to play the game a certain way to achieve the most payout. So regardless of game style, this “freedom” is made up. The only way the game is “freedom”, is when it’s any any.

When I say SA, I’m not talking about a play style, I’m talking about a reward system.

There have ppl who sniped the sensation ET and got SA. THATS what I’m talking about.

1 Like

Maybe IOI could just go for a compromise regarding Prestige Objectives.

Basically at the beginning or each campaign phase you’re choosing what type of playstyle you prefer and that’s what determines which category of Prestige Objectives appear to choose from.

Purist always gives a choice between 3 same objectives (Silent Assassin, Silent Assassin Suit Only and Sniper Assassin).
Speedrun gives 3 random timed objectives.
Freestyle gives 3 random non-timed objectives.

They more or less already do that. Each campaign type is suited towards a specific play style. They’d just need to make sure that the prestige objectives were better tailored to the campaign type.

3 Likes

Sure I get it, but at least for me, when I played campaigns tailored towards more silent approaches I was also doing a non-SA related objectives.
I don’t think that I’d like if more professional types of campaigns restricted random objectives to ones only related to SA.
That’s basically why I prefer more choices when it comes to the ability to shuffle available possibilities.

1 Like

Fact is they are never going to manage to please everyone. There will always be players who insist that Silent Assassin, Suit Only is the only legitimate end goal and any rewards geared towards “lesser” play will be put down.
Other players will want rewards for other styles of play and will complain that Silent Assassin is so highly revered.
Still others will just want to blow everything up and ignore any sort of ranking whatsoever.

IOI will release Freelancer and it will be what it will be.

8 Likes