[Sandwich]

Welcome one and all, to the reborn FSU!

You may be wondering why this is labeled as "reborn". While once a campaign, or two campaigns, or something, the FSU is now a completely open project, with two goals:
<ol>
<li>The advertisement of the SCP. This will be accomplished in two ways, a trailer (video), and a playable technology test:
<ol>
<li>The trailer will use the coolest in-game imagery available, from any source (campaign, modelers, etc) willing to contribute.</li>
<li>Secondly, the technology test will be a fly-through of the new features and capabilities of FSOpen, contained in a 2-3 mission "campaign". No storyline needed nor desired; briefings and in-mission voices will address the player directly, pointing out features such as specular lighting, HTL, etc etc.</li></ol></li>
<li>The second goal of the FSU will be to upgrade in every way possible the main FS2 campaign. Graphic enhancements using hi-poly models, mission and model bug fixes - the works. No changes to the gameplay (exceptions will be allowed by FSU staff consensus) and no changes at all to the storyline (no exceptions) will be allowed.</li></ol>
Both the technology test and the FS2 Campaign upgrade will be accompanied by the most comprehensive media.vp that the community can put together, with regular updates (new hi-poly models, etc.) as often as they come out.

[Galemp]

Kick ass!

Thanks Sandy. I guess now we need someone to bring over all the HTL threads from everywhere here.

[Taristin]

Like a FS Modding moderator? >..>;

[Sandwich]

What we need before that is a structured way of working alongside the SCP, handling the media.vp, etc. Any suggestions, anyone? I hate to admit, but I don't keep upt-o-date with the SCP, and so I'm definitely not the best person for the job.

[Singh]

<li>The advertisement of the SCP. This will be accomplished in two ways, a trailer (video), and a playable technology test:
<ol>
<li>The trailer will use the coolest in-game imagery available, from any source (campaign, modelers, etc) willing to contribute.</li>

*sneaks in from nowhere
>_>

<_<

>_>

<_<

>_>

*disappears into nowhere

[WMCoolmon]

Both the technology test and the FS2 Campaign upgrade will be accompanied by the most comprehensive media.vp that the community can put together, with regular updates (new hi-poly models, etc.) as often as they come out.

Mmm, except I never said 'yes' to the idea. My response was along the lines of "No, needs improvement". A bit annoyed that you went and posted it out here...

The thing is, there are a bunch of problems with having an "up-to-date" mediaVP set as opposed to occassional releases. As of now, the packages are 50+ MB large. They could probably be optimized quite a bit, which is on the table for 3.6.8. Meaning that every time they're updated, it takes a while to upload them, and they're massive downloads, meaning large bandwidth usage.

The BT tracker might help with this, although my luck with BT has been extremely spotty, and I'm technically not allowed to have a server going. If I can get it to work, seeding once would be fine, but I'm wary of doing more than that. I like my internet.

Here's how I think things could be efficiently expanded.

A) The main mediaVPs are torrented, but stored on someone else's computer or on warpcore or hard-light, so that they're accessible
B) A thread is created that only one user has access to. Or is locked and that person can unlock it. Every time an update is posted, they package it in a nice little VP file and post it in the thread.
C) When a new release is made, the thread is cleared and the torrents are updated.

I toyed with the idea of a development version, that's updated as updates come along, but that would use loads of bandwidth from people repeatedly downloading the full-size files. If that's acceptable to Inqui or HL, it's doable and might help catch a few bugs.

Finally, I'd like to investigate handing over individual VPs to different people with the time and skills to keep them in tip-top condition. Say, GalEmp takes models, makes sure that all the models have textures without jpgtga off, removes redundant textures, compresses textures where appropriate, and of course adds new models...that sort of thing.

[Setekh]

Welcome one and all, to the reborn FSU!

...

I can't believe you posted that whole thing from your mobile.

[vyper]

I was about to say, that was mighty impressive for T9 input...

[Galemp]

>_>

*disappears into nowhere

Gah!
Please, I never intended that kitbashed font to actually be used for anything. Argh, that text is horrible!
The font Volition used is based off Insignia, a commercial font. You might be able to string something together using this tool.
Alternatively the Finchley font is free and quite similar, or just use Bank Gothic.

Aside from that, it shows promise. I like the fade, though a closer view would emphasize the contrast. You should definitely use FS2 music, it's bound to be more unfamiliar than Halo 2 music, and it's authentic.
Perhaps speed the pace up a bit, maybe with vertical scrolling. Most people won't want to download a hundred megs of video when half of it is text.  You might also want to rephrase it a bit; the code wasn't so much abandoned by as it was Volition, it was adopted by us. Give them some credit for giving it to us as a gift.

Good job, not bad, you have the talent. Keep it up.

[Sandwich]

Both the technology test and the FS2 Campaign upgrade will be accompanied by the most comprehensive media.vp that the community can put together, with regular updates (new hi-poly models, etc.) as often as they come out.

Mmm, except I never said 'yes' to the idea. My response was along the lines of "No, needs improvement". A bit annoyed that you went and posted it out here...

Sorry, bad wording. I didn't mean moment-by-moment updates.

Look, this is what I had in mind. Using my position as HLP staff, I wanted to rally the troops and to make the FSU into what the title suggests it is - an upgrade package for Freespace. Something akin to what Counterstrike Source is to the original CS. I want to see the FSU work hand-in-hand with the SCP, where the SCP makes the advancements, and the FSU takes advantage of them. Until now, that's all been under one big (and slightly messy) banner called "SCP". I believe it will be beneficial for there to be a certain level of seperation (out of organization, not out of parting ways) between the code and the upgraded resources.

However, I fully realize that I'm completely out of touch with the current state of the SCP. Therefore, I need help from people such as yourself, WMC, to figure out what the best way forward is. I want to help, to use my abilities as a community leader to aid the SCP in any way possible. I have a few fairly specific ideas about a couple of things (namely, a tech test and a trailer), but the whole issue of organizing the media.vp, gathering resources, etc... that's out of my league. The FSU needs help and guidance from others in those areas, not me.

So... are you willing to help here? We could use it.

[WMCoolmon]

Ahh, I see. Yeah, I'll help.

[Sandwich]

Then enjoy the new avatar.

So................. suggestions?

[WMCoolmon]

After discussing it with redmenace...

The mediaVPs are not a project or a convenience tool...they're an end product. In the beginning, they were something of a convenience tool, but now they are an integral part of fs2_open releases. They're not meant for modders, as much as they're meant for people who are just downloading Freespace for the first time. It's not necessary, nor is it even a good idea to keep them constantly updated with all new happenings on the forum.

So here's the updated plan.

• MediaVPs will continue to be version-incremented only when a new fs2_open release comes out.
• However, patches will be released on every weekend that there is a new piece of art. The original set will not be modified.
• If a new piece of art requires a feature that's only available in CVS builds, it will be withheld from the mediaVP patches until the next official fs2_open release is out with that feature. (However, we should have a wikipedia page for those features.)

[Sheepy]

All i want to know, is if we are still continuing with the original plan of this project thingy ...

[Sandwich]

All i want to know, is if we are still continuing with the original plan of this project thingy ...

If you're referring to the campaign, then that's been moved and renamed to Unsung Heroes. For the goals of FSU, see the first post in this thread.

[Boomer]

Man, *shakes head* I leave for just a few months to play Halo, and what happens?  The entire community undergoes a freaken metamorphosis!

<not that that's a bad thing...>

Count me in guys!