Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Unknown Target on May 05, 2008, 02:28:12 pm
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http://www.freespace2.com/
RIP :(
Sorry if this is old news, just tried it.
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No! When? How? Why?
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WHY!!!!!!!!
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WRRRRY!!!!!!!?!????
AND I WAS JUST THERE THE OTHER DAY!!!!
This should be in the highlights. Or announcements. Or something. We need to remember this day :sigh:
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Ok... maybe it's just a technical problem...? :nervous:
We still have the FS1 Volition-inc.com site to visit though.... don't we? :shaking:
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lemme check.
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yeah, it's still there. But haloboy100 is right we need to announce this or something.
http://www.volition-inc.com/fs/
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This is one of the reasons why I say this website (http://www.archive.org/) should be more popular.
That said, legends never die... (http://web.archive.org/web/20070708010926/http://freespace2.com/)
They just get archived. :nervous:
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Registrant: Make this info private
Volition, Inc.
2004 Fox Drive Suite B
Champaign, IL 61820
US
Domain Name: FREESPACE2.COM
Promote your business to millions of viewers for only $1 a month!
Learn how you can get an Enhanced Business Listing here for your domain name.
Learn More
Administrative Contact , Technical Contact :
Muller, Mark **
[email protected]
2004 FOX DR STE B
CHAMPAIGN, IL 61820-7336
US
Phone: (217) 355-0320
Fax: (217) 355-0767
Record expires on 23-Nov-2008
Record created on 24-Nov-1998
Database last updated on 11-Mar-2008
That registry will be tied until November 23, 2008. That means 202 days till the registry expires.
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This is one of the reasons why I say this website (http://www.archive.org/) should be more popular.
That said, legends never die... (http://web.archive.org/web/20070708010926/http://freespace2.com/)
They just get archived. :nervous:
Yay!! It still breathes.
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That place died years ago but nobody could be bothered to clean up the mess.
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No, I was just on the freespace site a week ago and it was up.
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He's saying no one cared about it after a few years ago.
So we can buy the domain after November 23rd? I sense a redirect to HLP.
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He's saying no one cared about it after a few years ago.
So we can buy the domain after November 23rd? I sense a redirect to HLP.
I sense a new news announcement with a list of communities and some cool screenshots. If we managed to buy the domain, it could make some news for the online gaming community--since it's effectively an official game site now owned and run by the open-source community. The traffic would be minute enough that it could just piggy-back on GameWarden and Hard Light Beyond's servers--it'll probably be a few pages and consume a fraction the space and need minimal cycles to serve.
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I'm saying that we could direct people from fs2.com to HLP, to spread the word about FS2 to people who only know retail, or used HotU etc.
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That may provide some impetus for making HLP new-user-friendly at last.
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I'm saying that we could direct people from fs2.com to HLP, to spread the word about FS2 to people who only know retail, or used HotU etc.
First, we should make FSO actually accessible by the average n00b.
I spent a good hour trying to figure out where the hell you find the installer, and then another thirty minutes finding OpenAL to actually play the game. (the lack of a readme does NOT help).
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We seriously need a big button on the home page that says CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FSO
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Even if you provided a link, people wouldn't know what to do with it.
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They wouldn't know to click it? :wtf:
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Basically, we just need to streamline Turey's installer and explain bits of it better. Add two options, one for full install and one for installation on top of retail, instead of the huge checklist that currently exists, hide away the retail launcher, and make FSO's launcher more accessible.
Should be a piece of cake.
Oh, except for the fact that www.freespace2.com isn't even on the first 10 pages for Google. Nothing short of a full Googlebombing will get the site even close to being useful to HLP. If you want to get people playing the game, put something big on the forum main page so people know we're about FreeSpace 2.
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That's a really good point. I wouldn't even be able to tell this site was about freespace 2 if I first saw it, other then the shivan background image.
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You couldn't even see the Shivan before.
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You can on a widescreen TV.
But, Yeah. True dat.
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If we end up buying/registering the Freespace2.com domain, it is a much better option and less controversial than us buying a license. Good thing. What can we do with it? In short, I think we can all agree that, given the possibility, we should make it newbie-friendly. Links to and a better how-to to meet their wants and needs. One for Turey's installer--complete with everything for those who saw "awesomeness" in screenshots and through friends, but never owned Freespace 1, Silent Threat, or Freespace 2, or have lost the media. Another for a "liter" version of the game--including all Open files and setup for them to use properly, but not including the heavier (bandwidth and quality-wise) files like the Adv Media VPs. A third option to get all discs with Freespace--the two D:FS discs, the ST disc, the three FS2 discs, a CD with standard Media VPs, a CD with advanced Media VPs, and an "everything" DVD. Lastly, a link to the most popular campaigns (such as the FS1 conversion, our new Silent Threat, a link to Inferno, a link to... &c). Make it all-in-one, and they don't have to search around.
Link there too an "FAQ", including the most common stuff. Usually a link to OpenAL first, links to where to get nVidia and ATI drivers, a guide to how to setup the launcher and customizations, and then links or guides to how to go beyond the basic game.
The Freespace Wiki is great--but it's not terribly friendly for new people who want to download, game, and probably never join this forum. Of course we have to make it more newbie-friendly, but still make it clear that there is to be no "let's all throw in cash and buy the FS license" and that the older community probably isn't going to be happy with "what if ___ happened after FS2".
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Basically, we just need to streamline Turey's installer and explain bits of it better. Add two options, one for full install and one for installation on top of retail, instead of the huge checklist that currently exists, hide away the retail launcher, and make FSO's launcher more accessible.
Should be a piece of cake.
I was thinking more of something like option #1 "Click here if you do not know what to do and just want to play soon" and option #2 "Click here if you are an advanced user and want to configure the downloadable items yourself". Or something.
Oh. It would be cool to have some sort of scanning at the end of the procedure, where the Installer would check out OpenAL on the computer and advice the user to install it, if necessary.
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ya. i actually got the openAL patchy thingy when i got WCsaga
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It's the Apocalypse
Or maybe just Derek Smart taking down FS2 sites one by one before he moves onto the core, the very essence of FS - HLP.
If seriously, we need to advertise FS2, HLP and it's mods. And the main page should clearly explain what this site is about, plus give a link to the installer. You have no idea how much trouble does the current situation give to new players when they decide to get the game. I had to give a torrent to a DVD ISO download of FS Open, just because my friend could only get it by torrents, because the installer has a crap way of resuming downloads when they get broken, and his internet often crashes.
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It's the Apocalypse
Or maybe just Derek Smart taking down FS2 sites one by one before he moves onto the core, the very essence of FS - HLP.
If seriously, we need to advertise FS2, HLP and it's mods. And the main page should clearly explain what this site is about, plus give a link to the installer. You have no idea how much trouble does the current situation give to new players when they decide to get the game.
Seconded :yes:
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I think you have to watch what you're broadcasting all over the place, though. The full download of FS2 is still very much illegal, and probably the only reason it's been allowed to exist for so long is because it hasn't really been advertised. Start putting it on formerly-official domains or plastered all over the front page, and you risk attention from the powers that be. I understand the concern about new players, but at the same time, I remember how I was able to make do without the convenience of the installer when I started out. (*insert rant about kids these days and rap music here*) Sure, it took me a long time of lurking and reading before I felt I knew enough to take that first step and set up the SCP, but I think I was better off for having done so, since I had a good handle on how the mod system worked. (No fancy .ini files back in those days, thank you very much. :p) The price the community may pay for presenting an all-in-one option to new players is having those same new players come back later when they try to download their first campaign/mod without any idea of what to do.
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I don't think they should care for a not-produced-anymore game, with the source-code released, and noone making profit from it. Besides, if anyone actually DOES care, we can simply call the downloaders as "friends" and everything will become full legal.
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we can simply call the downloaders as "friends" and everything will become full legal.
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,49459.0.html
I'd still prefer the "Let's keep it low, man" method. Have the HLP. If someone finds out about FreeSpace, and FreeSpace Open particularly, they can come here, get the Installer and most importantly, ask for help. Even I sometimes geta bit annoyed when the nth thread about the invisible asteroids pops up, but we're still a very newb-friendly community that responds appropriately to questions and tech support pleas, instead of just saying "stfu, rtfm noob lol". If we advertise too much, certain parties might take note, especially of the fact that only the game engine is open source. All the retail material is still not free and it is illegal to just spread it around. Maybe if we can cook up a version of FSO that uses only the models, textures 'n that **** from the MediaVPs, as well as some all-new interface art, we could spread it freely and advertise. But for now, shh.
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Hmm. What about the other sites that advertise HLP and it's FS Open installer? Youtube comment replies that do the same too ? Youtube videos, google, etc. ? If someone cared, they'd already had HLP gone. Now we only need to advertise. And it's not like we're claiming that original FS2 content is made by the HLP community anyway...
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but doesn't the fact that it's open source amke it so that sorta stuff doesn't apply?
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Hmm. What about the other sites that advertise HLP and it's FS Open installer? Youtube comment replies that do the same too ? Youtube videos, google, etc. ? If someone cared, they'd already had HLP gone. Now we only need to advertise. And it's not like we're claiming that original FS2 content is made by the HLP community anyway...
When, or rather if, Interplay says "Do what you want with it", we can distribute anything FreeSpace 2 related anywhere. But until then, they might get edgy if people advertise heavily that you can download the game for free.
but doesn't the fact that it's open source amke it so that sorta stuff doesn't apply?
I have my trout ready. Be prepared...
The game engine is open source. What used to be FS2.exe is now fs2_open_yaddayadda.exe. The engine that runs it all. The retail models, textures, sounds, voices, music, the ****; it's still proprietary. We can hand out the FSO engine as much as we want. But certain legal limitations still apply to the rest of the contents. And that is why it is not necessarily wise to go shouting "DOWNLOAD FREESPACE2 FOR FREE!!!1" everywhere.
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Basically we own the .EXE and FRED. We don't own any of the original models, the story, the cutscenes, voice-acting - basically we don't own the original .VPs.
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Thank you. I guess people still have difficulties understanding what I say.
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There's also the pilot voices to consider
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That is actually a ****ing good point. We can't go truly free without redoing the voiceacting. And not many of us here are professional voice actors. Hmm. I wonder if we had to rewrite the dialogue as well.
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Basically we own the .EXE and FRED. We don't own any of the original models, the story, the cutscenes, voice-acting - basically we don't own the original .VPs.
"We" (by we I assume you mean those involved in the FSO project) own nothing. The fact it's open source doesn't mean Volition doesn't have any rights over it.
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They relinquished their rights to the source code, meaning that anyone can use or modify it... or compile it.
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No, they released the source code, they didn't relinquish their rights to it. They are still their owner.
"Copyright (C) Volition, Inc. 1999. All rights reserved.
All source code herein is the property of Volition, Inc. You may not
sell or otherwise commercially exploit the source or things you
created based on the source."
As in, you can do anything you want with the code as long as it's not for commercial uses.
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Which is fine for our purposes.
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That is actually a ****ing good point. We can't go truly free without redoing the voiceacting. And not many of us here are professional voice actors. Hmm. I wonder if we had to rewrite the dialogue as well.
More important than owning the dialogue is that we don't own the rights to the entire story, the concept of Shivans, the stylisation of their ships etc. We can't go truly free without rewriting the entire thing with completely new models and story.
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That is actually a ****ing good point. We can't go truly free without redoing the voiceacting. And not many of us here are professional voice actors. Hmm. I wonder if we had to rewrite the dialogue as well.
More important than owning the dialogue is that we don't own the rights to the entire story, the concept of Shivans, the stylisation of their ships etc. We can't go truly free without rewriting the entire thing with completely new models and story.
Aye. And that is why I still oppose overadvertising. We can't turn this truly free. So it's best to continue the hush hush policy. Those who can find FreeSpace 2 or FreeSpace Open somehow are more than welcome to play. And those who can't... life sucks and then you ****ing die.
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IIRC, strictly speaking, anything produced[/i using the Source code is also the property of Volition, though it's unlikely they'd ever bother "cashing it in".
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At least the way I read that copyright, the source code as it was released is what's the property of Volition. Any code that people write in addition to it is their own property.
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I wish to mourn her beautifull majesty, now newbies click on the ubdate link, and go, WTF!!!
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Wat.
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Wat.
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At least the way I read that copyright, the source code as it was released is what's the property of Volition. Any code that people write in addition to it is their own property.
Correct, there's no legal way that any company could put out a piece of source code telling people they can update it, but not profit from it, and then sell those people's work for a profit themselves without permission.
As for the site, depends how much it would cost to take over, it's not actually a bad idea to have a redirect here, but I also agree this place would have to look a lot more 'Freespacey' on the main page at the very least.
Anyway, I can't afford the registration, don't know about anyone else.
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At least the way I read that copyright, the source code as it was released is what's the property of Volition. Any code that people write in addition to it is their own property.
Correct, there's no legal way that any company could put out a piece of source code telling people they can update it, but not profit from it, and then sell those people's work for a profit themselves without permission.
As for the site, depends how much it would cost to take over, it's not actually a bad idea to have a redirect here, but I also agree this place would have to look a lot more 'Freespacey' on the main page at the very least.
Anyway, I can't afford the registration, don't know about anyone else.
If the rights to the domain Freespace2.com are relinquished, the registration should not be "expensive". Once their registration runs out, anyone can buy/register the domain.
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By not much how much do you mean?
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According to my dad, who knows a fair amount about domain names and websites (he created the site and bought the domain for his website from scratch), he says it shouldn't be much more then 10 bucks a month
...or maybe 100 bucks a month. My memory can't figure out how many zeros he was talking :blah:
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I don't think that domains are on a per-month basis. He was probably talking about hosting space.
A domain, as stated earlier in this thread, is registered for an amount of time.
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So what we can do is make a package containing the .exe's, mediavp's with community created HTL ships, maps, effects and user made campaigns, with a link somewhere to the original FS1 and FS2 campaigns and files somewhere.
THEN we could advertise all we want, because the download would consist of a. an open source code and b. stuff made by modders.
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But we haven't HTL'd all the ships, and it would be pretty crappy without voice-acting etc.
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He meant us advertising ONLY the mediavps, with a link to the full game somewhere else ( like a mediavp advertisment, with also a link to the full FS2 like from HotU ).
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According to my dad, who knows a fair amount about domain names and websites (he created the site and bought the domain for his website from scratch), he says it shouldn't be much more then 10 bucks a month
...or maybe 100 bucks a month. My memory can't figure out how many zeros he was talking :blah:
More like $9.95 a year for a .com domain. Either your dad misunderstood you or he doesn't know as much as you think he does. :wtf:
Using the freespace2 domain to promote our little community sounds risky. Very, very risky. You guys seem to forget that Turey's installer treads some very murky legal water, as does some of the other work done here. Think a bit before you get all up in arms about this, and keep Interplay's recent resurrection in mind as you do. I honestly feel they wouldn't hesitate to sue this place into oblivion once they felt we had outlived our usefulness, and I feel redirecting that domain here could give them a wake up call we don't want them to hear.
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who cares. We could have star wars in a campaign right now, call it ours, and nothing would happen.
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Shall we purchase the Fs2.com domain name then?
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:wtf:
I downloaded Ancients.zip from freespace2.com a fortnight ago!
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Shall we purchase the Fs2.com domain name then?
No.
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Shall we purchase the Fs2.com domain name then?
Yes.
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Shall we purchase the Fs2.com domain name then?
No.
Shall we purchase the Fs2.com domain name then?
Yes.
Compromise: Would if we could, but doubt it will ever get done.
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/me accesses www.freespace2.com.
Crap...looks like the site's gone for good. :sigh:
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Why on Earth are you praying on old-ish threads?
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I am?
/me checks the date of the last post before his.
Oh.
I was looking through Unread Replies. :nervous: