Hard Light Productions Forums

Hosted Projects - FS2 Required => Blue Planet => Topic started by: Galatean on June 20, 2017, 02:17:53 am

Title: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Galatean on June 20, 2017, 02:17:53 am
I just finished Tenebra about ten minutes ago, and felt compelled to come here and thank the Blue Planet team. You’ve made something incredible here.

I’ve been playing (and periodically replaying) Freespace 1 and 2 since they were originally released – those stories, especially FS2, were as formative to my creative aesthetic as a writer, game designer, and sci-fi lover as Dune, Lord of Light, Ender’s Game, and A Canticle for Leibowitz. When I discovered years ago that passionate fans had extended the series, I admit, I initially wrote it off. Fan projects, even passionate ones, are notoriously shoddy, pale imitations of the original. It took me years to finally give Blue Planet a go, and oh, how wrong I was. The spirit of the Freespace story – the mystery, the chilling awe, the feeling of being at once heroic and yet so very, very small – is in full force here, and the technical achievements are remarkable. You’ve managed to make a “fan game” worthy of the original, and that bar was high.

It’s late, and I need to get some sleep, but I wanted you all to know that people are still finding your work, and are still deeply appreciative of your labor, your passion, and your vision. If chapters 4 and 5 are still in the works, even another 10 years down the line, it’ll be worth the wait.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: General Battuta on June 26, 2017, 07:47:30 pm
Hey, thank you! I'm sorry none of us replied earlier, but it means a ton to hear from fans.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Buff Skeleton on July 23, 2017, 07:59:53 pm
Well-put, and fully agreed! I came from the same kind of background, and BP really blew me away once I got to it. It's inspired me to work on my own story-driven campaign, though I haven't touched it for months (been busy busy busy with other stuff. And Brigador. And Doom.), yet I've been itching to get back at it again. Remembering BP and listening to the music from it really inspires the creative thinking.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Firesteel on July 24, 2017, 12:14:22 am
BP is one of the most impressive releases of any sci-fi game recently as far as I'm concerned. As for the quality of projects here (especially from those who've stuck around), I think retail Freespace's tone played quite a role in bringing and keeping the talent here. There aren't many games that end so darkly and still allow a bit of optimism to poke through. For how derivative the retail games could be, they were very much their own and I'd say the same holds true for BP. It's steeped in Freespace's plot but it takes, dare I say, a bit warmer, more human approach to the story and it pays off in spades. Additionally it goes much further into philosophy than the retail games to, to its massive benefit and it feels quite natural given how both the retail games end.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Bossman on July 27, 2017, 01:24:35 am
I definitely need to +1 this. Blue planet series is a really beautiful piece of art.

It's rare that you think of something much after you watch/play it. But BP just kind of sticks with you. For real, congratulations to the team.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: CaptainKoloth on August 07, 2017, 08:10:32 pm
I too wanted to express this exact same thought. I only just got into Freespace a few months ago though it had been on my list for quite a long time. I loved FS1, ST:R, FS2, but BP really brings it to another level. I finished WiH Part II last night, and what a masterpiece this truly was. It's truly remarkable that a fan-made mod, for which these talented people have given generously of their time to release something for free, is head and shoulders with any space game released at least since Freespace and possibly ever. Graphically incredible for 2017, a story on par with some of the most thought-provoking science fiction out there (it really made me think of Babylon 5 more than once), innovative and excellent gameplay, an incredible soundtrack- BP may just be the best and most complete space game package I've ever experienced. I cannot praise it enough or offer enough thanks to the developers for giving so much of their time to this. I will happily wait as long as I need to for future releases of BP in the coming years. Keep up the incredible work!

I was especially impressed by
Spoiler:
The "insanity" effects in the final mission- this was the most innovative use of this sort of mechanic that I've seen since Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem a million years ago on the GameCube. I especially loved the touch of kicking me out to the launcher with messages in the dump log as if I was trapped inside the computer and couldn't get out!

I also was really impressed at the Admiral Bosch voiceover in that mission- it was really hard for me to tell it wasn't Ronny Cox (unless it was something reused from FS2 but it didn't sound like familiar dialogue

Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: xenocartographer on August 09, 2017, 03:40:12 pm
Not to detract from the well-deserved praise, but those monologues are actually spoken by Bosch in retail cutscenes.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on August 14, 2017, 12:26:05 am
It really can't be said enough. Y'all did great.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Soulrheever on September 07, 2017, 10:10:54 pm
Having just finished my most recent playthrough of War in Heaven (Acts 1 and 2, will get to Tenebra shortly) that it is, without a doubt, the best ANYTHING that I have ever played. I have seen complaints that it's got too much "dialogue" and "emotion" in it. To that, I say "Go back to playing Battlefield Warfare Duty 23: The Shootening". I have never played through WiH without choking up, and it always fills me with a sense of awe and wonder. It's a massively compelling story, with amazing characters. It is well written, fun to play, and beautiful to behold. It instills emotion and refuses to be put back down once you've started. There is nothing more that can be asked for in any form of entertainment, and to see it in a fan-made campaign for a game that's nearly 20 years old is remarkable. If I were rich, I would see to it that the entire Blue Planet team could devote themselves full time to working on their glorious masterpiece, get everything polished and voice acted, and then I would spend the rest of my life playing it over and over.

Thanks so much, Team Blue Planet, for the best game I've ever played, one of the best stories I've ever experienced, and some of the most fun I've ever had.



...And it's only half finished.  :eek2:
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: bloated on September 08, 2017, 03:46:45 pm
Is the story finished with.... Tenebra?  Is this part 4 & does it wrap up the story?
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Soulrheever on September 08, 2017, 04:37:30 pm
Is the story finished with.... Tenebra?  Is this part 4 & does it wrap up the story?

Tenebra = Act 3

I may be mistaken, but I believe that Blue Planet 2: War In Heaven is planned to have a total of 5 acts, with Act 4 and Act 5 still in production.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 09, 2017, 04:53:31 am
Your TEV leaders thank you for your praise.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Bragdon on December 14, 2017, 09:03:36 am
Is the story finished with.... Tenebra?  Is this part 4 & does it wrap up the story?

That's simply epic. When are the 2 remaining acts going to be released?
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Cyborg17 on December 14, 2017, 05:41:59 pm
Could still be a while....  :(

It's worth the wait......
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: Abaddon on December 16, 2017, 09:53:07 am
That's simply epic. When are the 2 remaining acts going to be released?

Surprise Christmas present? Ah, one can hope...
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: General Battuta on December 16, 2017, 02:02:12 pm
Progress has been really slow. BP basically gets done in sprints when someone's working on it full time. Darius has a lot of missions in great shape, but we would need to actually devote a couple months of work to getting another act done, and between my book deadlines and Darius' :yes: SUCCESSFUL LIFE AS A DOCTOR AND A DAD :yes: that's hard.
Title: Re: You've made a masterpiece
Post by: johnney351 on March 24, 2018, 11:05:46 am
It really can't be said enough. Y'all did great.

+1