Freelancer HD Edition 0.6 is out, and the short version is: this is now the standard starting point for any Freelancer install.
If you're new here — HD Edition is the comprehensive modernization mod that any returning or first-time player should install before anything else. It bundles widescreen resolution support, AI-upscaled textures, an FPS uncapper (removing the physics-breaking 30-FPS cap), and modern GPU compatibility work. It doesn't change the game. It makes the game run properly on hardware built after 2003.
Version 0.6 is a meaningful step forward from 0.5. The texture work has been extended and refined — more of the game's assets have been upscaled, and the approach to the upscaling has been improved to produce results that are cleaner and closer to what the originals would have looked like at higher resolution. Compatibility work has also continued; the team has addressed issues that surfaced on specific GPU configurations that caused graphical glitches or crashes, which 0.5 hadn't fully resolved.
The installation process has also been streamlined slightly. If you installed HD Edition under an earlier version and ran into setup friction, 0.6 is worth a fresh install.
A practical note for new players: the correct install order is — vanilla Freelancer (with the official 1.1 patch applied first), then HD Edition 0.6. Do not reverse this. Apply the 1.1 patch from the base install before you add anything on top. The full step-by-step is in the install guide.
If you've been playing Freelancer without HD Edition: you're playing a worse version of the game than you have to. This is not a dramatic visual overhaul that changes the aesthetic. It's a quiet upgrade that removes the friction between a 2003 game and your 2022 monitor. Worth the fifteen minutes it takes to set up.
ModDB hosts the current version. Search "Freelancer HD Edition."