Freefall Free-For-All: BASE Goes Gratis

The nice chaps and chapettes at Moscow studio Digital Dimension Development have chosen to bow-out with a magnanimous flourish rather than a bitter "It was pirates and publishers what killed us!' rant. BASE, their scandalously under-marketed Jumping Off High Things simulation, has been handed over to fans in a final act of goodwill. You can grab the full version here or a lite build (missing the hefty El Capitan venue) here.

The addition of a modded launcher.exe and gameplay-d.dll does away with licence checking and means you don't have to put up with the fussier constraints of the ambitious dynamic career system. Check the launcher's 'freejump' tickbox and you move from venue to venue in the blink of an eye, and have instant access to the full range of events. The modders don't appear to have got around to a money cheat yet, so anyone wanting expensive gubbins like wingsuits early on, should spend a minute or two furiously tapping the fast-forward key on the map screen (In a lovely dash of realism, BASE avatars finance thrill-seeking through wage-slavery).

The jumping itself is surprisingly technical. Be sure to peruse the manual, memorise the control keys, and deactivate equipment failures before throwing yourself off your first cliff, bridge or TV tower. Oh, and check the wind direction too. A floating blue flag icon (look around for it) tells you whether the weather is going to blow you towards killy things or away from them.