Missions are not always combatcombatcombat. You spend time waiting for the next hostile to arrive, listening to chatter or watching cutscenes (playable and not). During that time I tend to gawk at the various models around, see if I can't get off a screenshot or 2 and just feel that this game is awesome. So no, that detail does not go unnoticed, I promise you.
Very much this!
I don't know if I'm the only one who immediately makes a beeline for the Tech Room to stare in awe at The Pretty™ whenever he opens the game, but I bet there's a lot of us who like to gaze at all of the nebulas (nebulae?), ships and general awesomeness which is Freespace Open. One example which immediately comes to mind is The Sixth Wonder. I generally send off my minions to deal with the last wing or two before the arrival of the Colossus, simply because I love watching The Big Bads™ explode out of subspace in all their fury. That means I just sit there gazing at the general vicinity of the Hawkwood; the Deimos whom the NTF have carving up Enif Station into tiny little pieces. Sometimes I go for a close up view - others I just wait for the beams and the death and the explosion.
Seriously, most of the work won't even be visible during gameplay... everyone except Quantum Delta will likely be too busy playing the missions to notice the details on the craft.
created something very special, and when the final contributor leaves Freespace Open a very big part of my childhood will die. I like to think that when I secure a full-time job I'll find the time to learn how to be a helpful member of the community and create something which others will enjoy. Until then, I'm deeply grateful for every last detail lovingly crafted on into this Deimos. Each bug fix, each new SEXP, each pipe on a model took time and effort. It might not be something that you personally will notice, but it's something which improves the overall quality of the game. I'm sure there's a campaign out there which would have been impossible without the work of the Source Code Project. Did you notice when those necessary SEXPs were created? Did you care? Probably not.
You're entitled to your two cents, but it's a shame you spend your time demoralizing those to who you have so much to be grateful for.
