Author Topic: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!  (Read 3086 times)

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Offline Goober5000

  • HLP Loremaster
  • 214
    • Goober5000 Productions
Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Missed the actual day by that much...

HLP was founded 18 years ago by Setekh and Thunder.  What started out as a small board on UltimateBB hosted by 3DActionPlanet has grown into an enormous self-sustaining community with thousands of remarkable achievements.  I bet none of the original members had any inkling the site would be around this long. :)

It is pretty incredible to look through some of the threads over the years and see how FreeSpace, HLP, and even the Internet in general evolved over time.  Consider that in 2001, we didn't have YouTube, Facebook, or even the source code.  We had mailing lists, such as the FreeSpace Developer List -- sadly defunct when Warpcore lost its backups.  And we also had web-rings, with some prominent sites -- such as VolitionWatch and Descent Network -- and many personal sites of varying quality.  (RIP GeoCities, though I'm pleased to say that Angelfire is still hanging in there.)

Modding has come a long way.  The original Descent: FreeSpace encoded its table and mission files with a "top-secret Canadian encryption program" to discourage players from hacking the game.  Later VPView32 was created with the ability to decrypt files, and in any case the encryption was removed in FreeSpace 2.  FRED has been around ever since the original release, and now we have the source code -- it's hard to say which of the two has contributed more to the longevity of the game.  Now we have Knossos, which makes installing and running mods stupid-easy, especially to someone who remembers juggling mission and table files when changing campaigns.

I'm not sure what the next few years will bring.  HLP and FreeSpace are still going strong, but Internet activity these days seems to be geared more toward video and social media than text and forums.  That's why we've enlisted the talents of Iain Baker to improve our social media presence and community engagement.  Once we solve some of the problems with the main page, we'll have more featured content there as well.

I would encourage people to post a comment or two to mod creators to show your support for their hard work.  Most of us create art for art's sake, but it is also tremendously rewarding to see feedback and comments from players who have enjoyed it.  And consider checking out something you haven't played before, such as one of the hosted projects or even one of the short missions or campaigns in the Releases board.  There are a lot of up and coming FREDders producing great stuff.

 

Offline Turambar

  • Determined to inflict his entire social circle on us
  • 210
  • You can't spell Manslaughter without laughter
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
I'll just chime in with my "I wouldn't have my job without this site"

I learned how to texture, then model on projects here, and (more importantly) that taught me a whole lot about what makes a game a game.

You changed my life!
10:55:48   TurambarBlade: i've been selecting my generals based on how much i like their hats
10:55:55   HerraTohtori: me too!
10:56:01   HerraTohtori: :D

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
freespace is kool

celbrate freepsace

yaya  :D

 
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
BTW Thunder goes as Fineus nowadays... when he comes here.

 

Offline Colonol Dekker

  • HLP is my mistress
  • Moderator
  • 213
  • Aken Tigh Dekker- you've probably heard me
    • My old squad sub-domain
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Sooooooo HLP,  I hear you're 18 now?....</quagmire>
Campaigns I've added my distinctiveness to-
- Blue Planet: Battle Captains
-Battle of Neptune
-Between the Ashes 2
-Blue planet: Age of Aquarius
-FOTG?
-Inferno R1
-Ribos: The aftermath / -Retreat from Deneb
-Sol: A History
-TBP EACW teaser
-Earth Brakiri war
-TBP Fortune Hunters (I think?)
-TBP Relic
-Trancsend (Possibly?)
-Uncharted Territory
-Vassagos Dirge
-War Machine
(Others lost to the mists of time and no discernible audit trail)

Your friendly Orestes tactical controller.

Secret bomb God.
That one time I got permabanned and got to read who was being bitxhy about me :p....
GO GO DEKKER RANGERSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
President of the Scooby Doo Model Appreciation Society
The only good Zod is a dead Zod
NEWGROUNDS COMEDY GOLD, UPDATED DAILY
http://badges.steamprofile.com/profile/default/steam/76561198011784807.png

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!

 
 

Offline Colonol Dekker

  • HLP is my mistress
  • Moderator
  • 213
  • Aken Tigh Dekker- you've probably heard me
    • My old squad sub-domain
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Campaigns I've added my distinctiveness to-
- Blue Planet: Battle Captains
-Battle of Neptune
-Between the Ashes 2
-Blue planet: Age of Aquarius
-FOTG?
-Inferno R1
-Ribos: The aftermath / -Retreat from Deneb
-Sol: A History
-TBP EACW teaser
-Earth Brakiri war
-TBP Fortune Hunters (I think?)
-TBP Relic
-Trancsend (Possibly?)
-Uncharted Territory
-Vassagos Dirge
-War Machine
(Others lost to the mists of time and no discernible audit trail)

Your friendly Orestes tactical controller.

Secret bomb God.
That one time I got permabanned and got to read who was being bitxhy about me :p....
GO GO DEKKER RANGERSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
President of the Scooby Doo Model Appreciation Society
The only good Zod is a dead Zod
NEWGROUNDS COMEDY GOLD, UPDATED DAILY
http://badges.steamprofile.com/profile/default/steam/76561198011784807.png

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
lol guys this topic is for a commemoration of HLP, not getting bogged down in... less than quality posts.  :nod:

 
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Isn't that what being 18 is all about tho

 
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
lol guys this topic is for a commemoration of HLP, not getting bogged down in... less than quality posts.  :nod:

You started it!

Besides that, I have safed whatever has been archived of defunct HLP projects on the webarchive, maybe I release it someday as somekind of HLP history...

 

Offline Goober5000

  • HLP Loremaster
  • 214
    • Goober5000 Productions
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
BTW Thunder goes as Fineus nowadays... when he comes here.

He went as Kalfireth for some time between those two.  Even though at one point he said his alias "always will be Thunder".


Besides that, I have safed whatever has been archived of defunct HLP projects on the webarchive, maybe I release it someday as somekind of HLP history...

I would love to have an archive of the FreeSpace Developer List, if anyone still has one.  A small fraction of posts are archived by the Wayback Machine, and every so often you run across interesting messages like this one...

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

  • PVD_Hope in a former life
  • 29
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!

 

Offline Nyctaeus

  • The Slavic Engineer
  • 212
  • My "FS Ships" folder is 582gb.
    • Minecraft
    • Exile
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
I'll just chime in with my "I wouldn't have my job without this site"

I learned how to texture, then model on projects here, and (more importantly) that taught me a whole lot about what makes a game a game.

You changed my life!
Story of my life too. Freespace gave birth to my passion, community and modding - to occupation. Half of my friends are people associated with FS somehow. I even was with a gf that I first met at party of one of my FS friends.

This game and community aren't changing lifes. They sets their direction :yes:

For this, and many other reasons... Long life FS! Long live the king! And long live HLP...
Exile | Shadow Genesis | Inferno | Series Resurrecta  | DA Profile | P3D Profile

Proud owner of NyctiShipyards. Remember - Nyx will fix it!

All of my assets including models, textures, skyboxes, effects may be used under standard CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

 

Offline 0rph3u5

  • 211
  • Oceans rise. Empires fall.
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Happy Birthday HLP,

you can finally stop pretending to have never drunk hard alcohol.... Okay, that was way funnier when I turned 18; also for context to all you dry people: where I life the legal drinking age for beer and wine is 16, with regards spirits is 18 - which is pretty low compared internationally and ever so slightly unreasonable considering the effects of alcohol consumption during adolescense


But in all seriousness, this milestone is one to celebrate. And to feel nostalgic about, even if like me you have only been around since 2006'ish.
A lof of my life would have turned out quite differently without HLP and its people, even if don't engage the with community too much. Thanks for that, and I hope the content I actually release over years suffices.
"As you sought to steal a kingdom for yourself, so must you do again, a thousand times over. For a theft, a true theft, must be practiced to be earned." - The terms of Nyrissa's curse, Pathfinder: Kingmaker

==================

"I am Curiosity, and I've always wondered what would become of you, here at the end of the world." - The Guide/The Curious Other, Othercide

"When you work with water, you have to know and respect it. When you labour to subdue it, you have to understand that one day it may rise up and turn all your labours into nothing. For what is water, which seeks to make all things level, which has no taste or colour of its own, but a liquid form of Nothing?" - Graham Swift, Waterland

"...because they are not Dragons."

 

Offline Gloriano

  • silver dracon
  • 210
  • Machina terra
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
18 years already?...good lord Happy birthday HLP
You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.- Nietzsche

When in despair I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won; there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.- Mahatma Gandhi

  

Offline Hunter

  • 27
  • Ross128, Freespace 2 Sector, Freespace Files
    • Sectorgame
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Happy Birthday HLP! :)
FreeSpace Files | Overload | Sectorgame Forums - For those times when HLP is down (or because you want to keep me company)

Volition BB Survivor - Nov 1999 to April 2002 / Yes I know *some* folks in Hollywood, and no I can't get you on TV.

 

Offline Galemp

  • Actual father of Samus
  • 212
  • Ask me about GORT!
    • Steam
    • User page on the FreeSpace Wiki
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Glad to be here.
"Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he's supposed to be doing at that moment." -- Robert Benchley

Members I've personally met: RedStreblo, Goober5000, Sandwich, Splinter, Su-tehp, Hippo, CP5670, Terran Emperor, Karajorma, Dekker, McCall, Admiral Wolf, mxlm, RedSniper, Stealth, Black Wolf...

 

Offline Firesteel

  • 28
  • Some Kind of Writer
    • Steam
    • Twitter
    • YouTube Channel
Re: Happy 18th Birthday, HLP!
Happy birthday to one of my big reasons for doing what I'm doing now!

And on that note, happy early 20th birthday to the big reason we're all still here!
Current Projects:

- Video Critiques of Freespace
- Re-learning FRED