FreeSpace Port ReCharged Dev Log 10: Stay in Formation!
- Iain 'Sessile_Nomad' Baker
- Jan 16
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Welcome back, friends. In the last post, we investigated Fleet Actions in FreeSpace Port ReCharged, and how they improve upon vanilla FreeSpace One's large-scale warship-on-warship combat.
Now we will look at a key element of that improvement - fleet formations.
It’s worth reiterating that I can’t code, so I wasn’t able to create new gameplay mechanics from scratch. So, if I wanted to add something, I had to do it using what FSO (FreeSpace Open - the game's engine) already had available.
This meant a degree of lateral thinking would be needed to figure out how to use existing ‘facilities’ in new ways. Thankfully, it seems that’s something I have a knack for.
May The FRED Be With You
To fully leverage the Rock-paper-scissors aspect of fleet engagements mentioned in my last post, I wanted three-dimensional ship formations like in Homeworld.
Since it didn’t seem FSO had this feature, I tried using several kludges with mixed results.
I had about given up hope until late 2025, when, completely out of the blue, the solution presented itself.
On Discord, the legends from the Star Wars-themed Total Conversion mod Fate of the Galaxy (FotG) dev team pointed out that FSO does have a formations feature in the FRED mission editor.
However, the guides do not mention it, which is probably why most modders were not aware of it, and so didn't use it.
However, they had noticed it, and they did use it. They were even so good as to explain how it works AND how to create new custom formations!
This was exactly what I needed and had wanted to implement in the game for some time. Cue going back over previous missions and replacing my inelegant kludges with this far more elegant solution.
A Warship and Escorting Gunboats in FreeSpace Port ReCharged
Although the wing formations facility was probably intended for strikecraft, I used it for capital ships, warships and their gunboat escorts. This made choreographing complex manoeuvres in FRED much easier to design than before.
Now, a warship could move dynamically, and its escorts would move with it - all the while maintaining their defensive formation.
This little 'Sessile_Nomad' was pleased as punch with the results, as it added greatly to the gameplay by creating scenarios that the player would need to overcome.
Domesticated Warships
Sometimes the solution to these scenarios was the raw firepower provided by a friendly warship. However, by default, the player cannot boss around warships the way they can boss around strikecraft.
So, how would one solve this little conundrum? By fooling the game into thinking a warship is a fighter of course!
This was actually much easier than it sounds, and involved the difficult task of writing “fighter” in the right place of a .txt doc. Easy when you know how, I guess ;-)
The player could now order warships around the same as a fighter. But what if the player wanted a warship (or strikecraft for that matter) to occupy a specific empty spot in 3D space? That’s what we will discuss in the next post. See you all there.
Previous dev log posts
Iain is a 40+ author and gamer from England, who started his gaming journey on the Atari 2600 36(ish) years ago. His specialities include obscure cult classics, retro games, mods and fan remakes. He hates all sports games and is allergic to online multiplayer. Since he is British, his body is about 60% tea. He can be reached via email at nomadsreviews@gmail.com
Nomad’s Reviews now has a YouTube Channel - Nomad's Reviews Plays.