Author Topic: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken  (Read 5108 times)

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Offline Devrous

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Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken


No, you aren't seeing things...Devrous just did, in fact, post on HLP after all this time  :eek2:

Just got back from the Peace Corps and come to find my college bud Causality didn't get much of a chance to do anything with FS2H. He got deployed shortly after he tried to revive all of this and I'm sad to say he won't be working on it any time soon due to injury. He's ok now but his life marches on in a different direction. At last I had the chance to bring it up to him when he felt better and he said I'd be disappointed. I told him that was nonsense; the true disappointment was that all the folks that were so hopeful for this for so long saw it go no where and die at least twice. It's a shame, really, and I regret mismanaging it as I did. But that was then, this is now...

Now I'm back in the states, meaningfully employed and settled down for all this grown-up crap I've been putting off. In my free time over the last few months I've recovered all the FS2H data and worked to get the corrupted parts revived as best I could. Ever try to piece together a few gig's of information from a dozen sources spanning eight years? Whew!

Firstly I'd like to give my sincerest apologies to the community here and elsewhere that got their hopes dashed so utterly. I may not know a single one of you in person, but as I pour over the posts here I feel that I let a lot of people down in a big way. For that you all have my humblest apology.

Secondly, I don't have the free time I used to have in college and won't be able to turn FS2H into a full-time production like I'd love to. It'll remain a passionate hobby that I devote as much time as I can to.

Thirdly, there has been a lot of story come out of the Haloverse in the last few years. Halo: Reach retconed the ever-living crap out of the events that occurred on Reach in comparison to the book Fall of Reach. Not game-breaking, but it did introduce the Covenant Corvette and the UNSC Sabre into the mix. Perhaps it is coincidence, but I already had a fighter named the 'Saber' that fulfilled a similar role. Micro$oft hacking my files? Hmmm.... Point is I'll definitely be going off of the suggestion to go ahead with things and worry about making models and textures look better later. Story and gameplay are by far more important.

@Starlord, you're the hardest of the hardcore, buddy. Thanks for carrying the torch.

Also saw some requests for my models and collaborating with an RTS, etc. I'd love to but that sounds like it may be much more of an undertaking than I could commit to at this time. TBD for now.

As for the mod itself, I've got a base with complete VP's and a smattering of missions that never quite panned out or never got completed. The ships are not 100% balanced either and there are still issues with serious FPS problems due to my addition of smoke trails to the missiles; you get more than a few ships firing at the same time and the program starts choking on it all. I'm sure there are ways around it but I never found one. Hopefully it's as easy as making the image file the smoke trail comes off of smaller in file size. Additionally there are a wide array of things that really need to be polished on the version I was finally able to recover. However, the game at least works and there is enough content to have a bit of fun with. I really liked the "Hub Mission" idea Causality started. It would help make the game a little more interesting and less linear feeling.

Lastly, I was not able to find any of the storyline files for the three chapters I originally planned so all I have is what I remember - a basic outlines of what I would have liked each to cover. Chapter 1 - Colonial Unrest (pre-Halo 1), Chapter 2 - Cole Protocol (during the gap between the books and the Halo games), Chapter 3 - Retribution (post Halo 3) and the mini-chapter 'bonus' (dealing with a side story and Forerunner tech).

Now I know there may be a lot of apprehension from some and salivating from others. Either way my ultimate goal is to share this with everyone who wants it, and where it goes from there will just have to be surprises along the way. I'm probably a couple of weekends away from being satisfied enough that I rid it of all the corrupt data to release the base so people can start tinkering with it. I'd love for community members to enhance it with better texturing, crisper models, completed menu alterations, etc. I think it would be foolish to just release it to every person who asks and then watch a dozen different versions come out from different folks. At the same time, keeping all the files to myself does no one good and real life events could once again derail the effort, and I don't want that to occur a third time. I'm open for suggestions  :)

It's been a wild ride and I look forward to being able to upload what I've got somewhere and let people actually start tinkering with it. To those that kept believing - I thank you. To those that felt betrayed or let down - you have my apologies.

Now I just need to win the lottery so I can work on this like a professional  :lol:
« Last Edit: February 20, 2011, 02:04:57 pm by Devrous »

 

Offline karajorma

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Re: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken
Try the internal, you should have access now.
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

[ Diaspora ] - [ Seeds Of Rebellion ] - [ Mind Games ]

 

Offline Devrous

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Re: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken
Thanks karajorma  :yes:

I've got Causality's password and the like, but I'd hate to have two open accounts for moderating and posting. If you could retire him or whatever it is you do that'd be most appreciated.

I'll post a to-do list shortly; things like "omg I'm still using SCP 3.6.9 - update pl0x" and the like. Maybe there is enough optimizations to solve a lot of the development woes previously encountered.

Also, I'll add a few posts for different items to get things organized and the info out there (storyline, model discussions, etc).

 

Offline Mongoose

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Re: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken
Wow, it's great to see you back. :) I'm sorry to hear about Causality's injury, though it's good to hear that he's all right.  I know a lot of people here were looking forward to what you were working on, so it's good to see the mod back in action.

 

Offline The E

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Re: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken
If you want, I could help you with some debugging.
If I'm just aching this can't go on
I came from chasing dreams to feel alone
There must be changes, miss to feel strong
I really need lifе to touch me
--Evergrey, Where August Mourns

 
Re: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken
Halo to FS back. YES!

 

Offline starlord

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Re: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken
Causality injured? I hope he recovers swiftly!

Also, you're welcome! this was too unique to die this way!
« Last Edit: February 21, 2011, 04:20:05 am by starlord »

 

Offline Devrous

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Re: Changing Hands: The FS2H Curse Hopefully Broken
Caus is doing well nowadays, living the sweet life to be honest. He's got a good woman taking care of him  :yes: