Author Topic: Just Another Day: A New Dawn  (Read 2973 times)

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Offline Torchwood

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  • Mechanical Templar
Just Another Day: A New Dawn
This is an open letter to the illustrious Freespace community and its developers:

I've played Just Another Day when it first came out. From there, I've seen it grow from a light parody that was little more than a spiritual successor to Deus Ex Machina, the mod campaign I remember most fondly for persistantly attaching a baby face to the sun in my first clumsy attempt at installing a mod. The Just Another Day of today recently released is nothing like the early releases.

Which is by no means a bad thing. Because underneath the parody of various popular media, there is a layer of diamond-encrusted solid gold waiting to be found. I'm referring, of course, to the various displays of innovative features that have not been seen as such. Back in the day, the very idea that you could have interactive cutscenes, quick time events, or tower defense sections in Freespace would have been laughed off as impossible fever dreams. Yet now we have mod campaigns that have all these features, and then some. SCP is a fountain of limitless potential waiting to be tapped. And I wanted to personally congratulate our very own developer here for making it possible. Axem, you have gone above and beyond the call of duty to showcase the possibilities. Raise your head high and know that you deserve to be counted among the most creative developers Hard Light has ever seen.

A word on characters. They are, of course, exaggerated stereotypes. We have a little girl heroine who runs everything on the lovely little girl logic that can coherently explain the most bizarre of paradoxes, the generic stoic guy who fails at being cute unlike his light blue haired female counterparts and is therefore doomed to the uncally valley, and the redheaded heartthrob who is doing his best to prove himself to the world. Because this is not a drama, they shall be measured by their most important merit: Their ability to entertain. And they certainly did. I had a great time watching all the clubroom flicks with them. On that occasion, I would like to extend my thanks to Spoon for bringing them to life and brighten up the world. The universe is dark and full of Shivans, but that does not mean we should not stop once in a while to celebrate the fun things.

For the missions of the new JAD, we are looking at a plentiful potpourri of ideas. As expected from development trends, no two missions are alike. This can be hit or miss - on the one hand, repetition. On the other hand, if you are not prepared for a stealth mission or a sudden Ace Attorney style investigation, you could find yourself disappointed, wishing you might have spent time blasting Shivans instead. Nevertheless, I've found doing things this way is a good staging area for future projects. Throw out random ideas, preserve the best ones for future use.

All that is missing is an audience. FSO has the splendor of a modern engine with the pricetag of a retro game. Unfortunately, what it lacks is advertisement. We are in a cornucopia of great treasure with so few to share it. But the day is darkest the hour before sunrise, and I have faith that we will be witnesses to an extraordinary future for Freespace. The resurgence is coming, and when seekers looking for a quality space sim experience come knocking at our portals, we will be ready for them.

A new day is dawning. And we shall be its heralds!
« Last Edit: March 01, 2017, 10:09:12 am by Torchwood »

  

Offline Axem

  • Moderator
  • 211
Re: Just Another Day: A New Dawn
I saw the title, expecting some sort of JAD/WoD crossover fanfic, but those glowing words of praise are a pretty good substitute. :)

I just wanted to point out that I did make JAD:XA where you can have fun for 40 days and 40 nights endlessly blasting Shivans with zero plot, and I tried to balance the optional stealth mission with a absolutely-no-stealth path and a way to complete the stealth path with zero stealth at all. I tried to make a little something for everyone's selective tastes.