Various Terms

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This is a list of terms, abbreviations, and other jargon that the FreeSpace community uses.

Acronyms

  • CB - Command Briefing.
  • CBAnim - Command Briefing animation.
  • FRED - FReespace EDitor. The program created by Volition to make the mission and campaigns for both FreeSpace games. Released to the public along with said games.
  • SEXP - Symbolic EXPressions. Special function strings within FRED that allow for complex mission objectives and other things to be carried out by a mission bulider.
  • FS1 - Descent: FreeSpace, The Great War. Also called Conflict: FreeSpace, The Great War in Europe. The first game of the series.
  • FS2 - FreeSpace 2. The second game of the series.
  • FS3 - FreeSpace 3. Would be the third game of the series, but it won't happen. There is no FS3.
  • FS2_Open - The open source version of FS2.
  • FSO - The open source version of FS2. Used interchangably with FS2_Open.
  • SCP - Source Code Project. The people responsible for creating, maintaining and debugging FS2_Open.
  • V or [V] - Volition Inc., the developer of FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2.
  • VBB - Volition Bulletin Board. The boards Volition maintained as a centre for the FS community. Now defunct.
  • HLP - Hard Light Productions, the hub of the FreeSpace community.
  • VW - Volition Watch, developer fansite covering the FreeSpace, Red Faction and Summoner series. Awaiting demolition.
  • F2S - FreeSpace 2 Sector - Smaller FS2 community.
  • SG - Sectorgame - Network which hosts F2S. Often used interchangably (though inaccurately) with F2S.
  • FS2NetD - FS2 Network Game Monitor - Utility used to monitor FS2 network games being operated on the FS2Net servers.
  • FSPort - FreeSpace 1 ported to run on FreeSpace 2.

Abbreviations of campaign names

  • The 158th: The 158th Banshee Squadron
  • AAB: Ascension and Beyond (dead)
  • AHTW: All Hands to War (not hosted at HLP)
  • AotD: Angels of the Damned (not hosted at HLP)
  • TAP: The Apocalypse Project
  • TBP: The Bablyon Project
  • BtRL: Beyond the Red Line (not hosted at HLP, it can be found on GW)
  • BWO: Blackwater Operations
  • CoW: Casualties of War
  • CoS: Nukemod - Children of Shiva (also refered to as Nukemod-CoS or just Nukemod)
  • DEM: Deus Ex Machina
  • FA: FRED Academy (This is not a campaign)
  • FotG: Fate of the Galaxy (also known as the Star Wars Conversion)
  • FSC or FSPort: Freespace Conversion or Freespace Port (they're the same project)
  • FSU: Freespace Upgrade Project
  • INF: Inferno, can refer to any Inferno mod
  • INFA or INFA1: Inferno Alliance
  • INFA2: Sequel of INFA1 or INFA
  • INFR1: Inferno Release 1
  • INFASA: Inferno Alliance Standalone
  • INF SCP: Inferno SCP
  • ITHOV: Into the Halls of Valhalla
  • JAD: Just Another Day
  • JtEP: The Journey to Epsilon Pegasi
  • LM: The Lightning Marshal
  • MT: Machina Terra
  • MG: Mind Games
  • NTV: Neo-Terra Victorious
  • PI: The Procyon Insurgency
  • RR: Renegade Resurgence
  • SA: Scroll of Antankharzim
  • SoL: Shadows of Lylat (not hosted at HLP, it can be found on GW)
  • ST: Silent Threat
  • ST:R: Silent Threat: Reborn (a Freespace Port campaign)
  • SWC: See FotG (Fate of the Galaxy)
  • TI: Twisted Infinities
  • ToT: Teeth of the Tiger
  • TTP: The Titan Project
  • TS: Technological Superiority (discontinued)
  • TVWP: Terran-Vasudan War Project
  • WCS: Wing Commander Saga

Designation Prefixes

Designation Suffixes

  • _A - AWACS
  • _B - Bomber
  • _C - Cruiser
  • _Ca - Carrier (non-canon)
  • _Cv - Corvette
  • _D - Destroyer
  • _Dr - Drone
  • _Dn - Dreadnaught (non-canon)
  • _EP - Escape Pod
  • _F - Fighter
  • _Fg - Frigate (non-canon)
  • _Ff - Frigate (non-canon)
  • _Fr or FR - Freighter
  • _G - Gas Miner
  • _H - Hive (non-canon)
  • _I - Installation
  • _J - Juggernaut
  • _M - Medical Ship
  • _NB - Navigation Buoy
  • _S - Support Ship
  • _SG - Sentry Gun
  • _SJ - Super Juggernaut (non-canon)
  • _T - Transport
  • _W - Weapon (FreeSpace 1)(FreeSpace 2)

Ingame Terminology

Wing - A unit of fightercraft, varying in size from one to six ships. The normal number is four. Ships of a wing are labelled by their wing name and a number (i.e. Alpha 1, Alpha 2, and so on). The GTVA uses the Greek alphabet for its wings and the signs of the zodiac for hostile wings. In FS1, Shivan wings were named after Hindu gods. Wing is also sometimes used for freighter or transport groups.

Cruiser - Smallest combatant capital craft classification. Cruisers are at least several times the size of a fighter or bomber and possess mainly antifighter weaponry, with one or two (or in the case of the SC Rakshasa, three) anticapital weapons. The defensive fire of a cruiser is rarely capable of stopping a determined bomber wing, and most are vulnerable to even a well-handled lone fighter. Unable to carry fighters. Canonical examples include the Fenris and the Leviathan. In FS1, cruisers were deployed for both offensive and defensive tasks by all sides to any situation not requiring the attention of a destroyer. In FS2 Shivan cruisers are often deployed in mainline antiship and strike roles, while GTVA cruisers tend to be used as escorts and patrol craft.

Corvette - Middle ground combatant capital craft, falling between the cruiser and the destroyer in size and capablity. Equipped with between two and four anticapital weapons and considerably more impressive antifighter armament than a cruiser. Corvettes are capable of defending themselves adequately against a small number of enemy fighters or bombers. With the exception of the SCv Moloch, corvettes are unable to carry fighters of their own. Corvettes appear to handle most of the antiship and strike duties for the GTVA fleet; Shivan corvettes are extremely rare and have only been deployed against GTVA destroyers canonically. Whether this is their role or not is guesswork.

Destroyer - Large combatant capital craft, combining the functions of destroying enemy ships and transporting fighters. Destroyers vary wildly in armament and effectiveness against different types of targets. They will have at least one heavy-calibur anticapital weapon and probably several more, plus a number of cruiser-corvette anticapital weapons. Destroyers tend to need fighter cover more than corvettes; some of them actually mount fewer antifighter weapons, and all have much larger amounts of surface area that needs to be defended. Any situation with the direct involvement of a destroyer-class ship is by definition serious.

Superdestroyer - Bigger, meaner, and tougher than a destroyer, yet too small for the juggernaut classification; first applied well before the juggernaut classification came into existence. Only the Hades and Lucifer have canonically been given this classification. The nature of the canonical superdestroyers was such that any appearance by them indicates the major effort by the controlling side. Their success is often decisive for that system, while their failure is a blow that is difficult to recover from.

Juggernaut - The pinnacle of combatant capital craft, a juggernaut is capable of making mincemeat out of an enemy fleet singlehanded and is superbly equipped to combat other capital craft. Due to its large surface area its defenses against fightercraft attack are generally somewhat thinly spread, but a juggernaut's sheer ability to absorb damage means that only another juggernaut or a mass attack by corvettes and destroyers is capable of destroying one in anything like a timely manner. Only the SJ Sathanas has canonically been given this classification, though the Colossus could also be classified as juggernaut. The presence of a juggernaut, like a superdestroyer, indicates the controlling side considers the mission absolutely essential; decisive for the system if not the campaign or the entire war.

Installation - A space station, described as "installation" because of its size, self-sufficiency, and permanence. The only installation class canonically known is the Arcadia. The GTVA's naming system for installations generally includes something indicating their nature. Installation Riveria, Tombaugh Station, Enif Station, and the Vega Installation are examples.


The following information has not been confirmed by Volition and is therefore not canon for the FreeSpace universe.

Carrier - Ship of any size whose primary purpose is to carry fightercraft, whether directly into combat or standing off and lending fightercraft support to ongoing operations as needed.

Frigate - Semi-canonical ship class, both the Hippocrates and the Iceni have been referred to as frigates; the normally accepted role of a frigate is that of a pocket destroyer, lacking a fighterbay and fighter support facilities/crews enabling the ship to be shrunk down to only slightly bigger than a corvette.

Dreadnought - Generally understood to be a destroyer-sized craft, but built for the sole purpose of ship-to-ship combat and lacking a fighterbay or supporting a very limited number of fighters purely for self-defense.



Terms related to modelling

  • Greeble: Small piece of detail which serve no other purpose only to make a ship look better.
  • LOD: Level of Detail. The further you get away from a ship, the less detailed it will be rendered.
  • TrueView: A plugin utility for TrueSpace. Ideal for building hierarchy, however, not a must.
  • Single-part turret: A single-part turret, is, in a word, a turret without any barrels.
  • Multi-part turret: A multi-part turret is, in a word, a turret with one, two or three barrels.
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