Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Lucika on August 04, 2010, 07:41:27 pm
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Dear fellow FreeSpace fans, lovers and likers! I have an important question for you all.
While the community is still having major plans with dozens of major campaign ideas spanning every year, multiple year-long projects being in the works for a long time now, with constant improvements in the source code accompanying them, I do have to ask the question: how long can this go? I express the highest concern about the future of the FreeSpace saga and all of its extensions, and I am afraid that a decade after release, we might be running out of the most precious resources: gamers and time.
Let's face it, ladies and gentlemen, even this game has a limited lifespan. The obvious factor is time, which brings us new technologies, growing importance of consoles (what would HLP do with the death of the PC gaming?), and, ultimately, a new generation. This last entry might sound like a bit of exaggeration, but consider that FreeSpace 2 was released ten years ago. Time is running quickly. While it would be a really nice sight to see people who were introduced to the FreeSpace universe as younglings showing the game to their children, it probably won't happen.
Dedication (and for some people, the lack thereof) really shows after a decade. I have joined HLP a year ago and I would have never imagined to see my thread with a two week-old post in the middle of the General FreeSpace Discussion Board's first page. I'm afraid to say but we seem to be dwindling seriously. Will the community live long enough to actually see the release of BWO? Or will Ransom Arceihn's interest live up long enough to make the continuation(s) to Sync? Will my campaign finish before this game gets abandoned again, waiting for another phoenix?
How far can HLP go, how far can the legacy of FreeSpace go? Who can imagine where gaming will be in, say, 2015? Thought control, et cetera? Let's face it: there are hard-coded things in the FreeSpace games, some of them made them what they are, what we love them for. On the other hand, some of them create gameplay limitations and technological ones as well. I think that the survival of FreeSpace is no longer about the newer and newer improvements of the source code. We're running out of people, time is running away next to us.
In my honest opinion, the size of the HLP community reached its peak a long time ago (way before my arrival) and it is slowly descending. Which is a sad necessity considering the age of the game. How could we get new people, the ever growing new generation into this wonderful universe?
In my opinion, that job is beyond our possibilities. The HLP team extended and still extends these games lifespan to an astounding length. However, this cannot keep on like that forever. I mean, we need people to play our creations.
When I've said that the continuation of the legacy is beneath us, I did mean :v:. While this doesn't mean anything good, I still have hopes in Secret Project X. I am not sure what we can do hear, but I fear a slow extinction. How much time do we have left? It might take another decade for Ransom Arceihn to finish the Sync saga. Who says that we will have followers to wait for it?
So, what are your plans for the future? Time is against us. And while some of you might give me a verbal kick for that, I still express hope for FreeSpace 3, because it would help. Not a little bit.
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Actually if you check the forum stats HLP active size and post activity is at an all-time high.
So, uh, cancel panic?
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As long as we love the game, it will not die.
And, you talk of all those old projects that have been stuck in Development Hell. Have you forgotten Silent Threat: Reborn, released after six years and one of the best things this community has ever produced? Have you forgotten Blue Planet, a relatively young mod that's being counted among the greats?
Old stuff may die off/get stuck, but new life is being breathed into things too. I've seen a number of people on various VG boards picking up Freespace and loving it despite its age. It's still gaining fans. I don't think it'll ever be a mainstream success, but it's certainly not dead or dying. I've seen dying fan communities, and Freespace is far from that point.
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Also, I think the growing number of TC projects in the works, as well as the ever-improving code-base (or, at least we'll hope is ever-imporving) will power FSO well, well beyond the lifespan Volition ever intended for the game/sim. Although FreeSpace itself may look less appealing to newcomers, again, TCs, which are by virtue of the release of the source code free, will keep this community alive at the least should interest in FreeSpace itself ever begin to drop. I can say personally that if not for BtRL, I would have never become involved with this awesome game/sim, and more so, community.
;)
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I would say that the total conversions such as SoL, FotG, and Diaspora/BtRL are continuously bringing in new blood, and will do so much more when they're actually released. We got a new guy on the SoL forums just today in fact. If all these new folks play the mods, they might start to look for more, similar games and see that they're based on FS2O, get interested, get involved and become huge fans and members of the community (ideally).
Yes, Thaeris said it first, but I had to second it :)
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Going by the number of people who keep showing up with questions like "how do I set up FS?" or "How do I install mods?" it's my belief that FS2, and by extension HLP, are as vibrant and lifely as ever. As long as there's a core of people who keep this community alive, it won't die. As long as there are still people who discover or rediscover FS2 through Goodoldgames, or the occasional bit of publicity, or through one of the big, FSO-based total conversions like Diaspora, this community will survive.
Also, what Dark Hunter said. The "big" projects that have been stuck in dev hell for years are frankly not where it's at. It's the small to middle-sized campaigns, like BP, or the one-man shows like Vassago's Dirge, Wings, Wings of Dawn that make this game great.
Also, I think the growing number of TC projects in the works, as well as the ever-improving code-base (or, at least we'll hope is ever-imporving) will power FSO well, well beyond the lifespan Volition ever intended for the game/sim. Although FreeSpace itself may look less appealing to newcomers, again, TCs, which are by virtue of the release of the source code free, will keep this community alive at the least should interest in FreeSpace itself ever begin to drop. I can say personally that if not for BtRL, I would have never become involved with this awesome game/sim, and more so, community.
;)
Same here, actually.
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No worries, the world will end in 2012.
Untill then, IT'S FREESPACE TIME!!!
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Actually if you check the forum stats HLP active size and post activity is at an all-time high.
What he said (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=stats). I don't see any worrying trends... who knows, maybe more attention is being focused on General Discussion, which is totally unrelated to FS modding, and that may lead to skepticism on the presumed "immortality" of this community.
If you posted this thread because of the number of dead/dying boards HLP has, I kind of understand the panic but don't justify it. I think it's a shame that progress on many projects has significantly slowed down, and I hope more efforts will be redirected to them.
I would say that the total conversions such as SoL, FotG, and Diaspora/BtRL are continuously bringing in new blood, and will do so much more when they're actually released. We got a new guy on the SoL forums just today in fact. If all these new folks play the mods, they might start to look for more, similar games and see that they're based on FS2O, get interested, get involved and become huge fans and members of the community (ideally).
Yes, Thaeris said it first, but I had to second it :)
I'm a bit skeptic about this: I don't think TCs based on popular sci-fi shows and games have that much of a potential at bringing new people.
It is true that many valuable community members have joined HLP thanks to BtRL, TBP and WCS, but I have the impression that the gross majority of the traffic TCs bring with them is a bit... unreliable. I mean, most of those fanboys don't even try to play FreeSpace 2, or we would have had a flood of new members and modders following the release of TBP, WCS and BtRL.
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We did. Those TCs have brought some of the biggest features and most talented members we have in the community today. 3.6.12 would not exist without Diaspora.
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I know, I know, but those TCs have been downloaded many hundred thousand times and the gross majority of their fanboys chose not to become FreeSpace fans.
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I would say that the total conversions such as SoL, FotG, and Diaspora/BtRL are continuously bringing in new blood, and will do so much more when they're actually released.
I do feel constrained to point out these projects have almost all been built around a group of community veterans and those who come for them alone rarely branch out into active, productive members of the community at large. So far the only such person who comes to mind is Orpheus.
At least judging by forum posts. So while they may actually drive development, I don't see a good case for them driving community growth.
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Let's face it, ladies and gentlemen, even this game has a limited lifespan. The obvious factor is time, which brings us new technologies, growing importance of consoles (what would HLP do with the death of the PC gaming?)
Are people still saying this?
Got nothing else to say, I'm with the people that posted above me :nod:
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Again, no one seem to have said anything about your plans for 2015. I am obviously not worried about tomorrow's nonexistent Epic Shutdown. I just wonder how long do you think we will be around.
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We'll cross that bridge when we come to it (in the post-singularity world!)
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As long as we will be around.
Seriously, noone here will know whether they'll still be here in a few years, working on and enjoying FS. Noone has that kind of foresight.
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I'm sorry but I don't usually think 5 years ahead in the future and I doubt anyone else here does that either.
What's the point of it anyway? What do you hope to hear? :p
We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Edit: Damnit batman!
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I don't see FreeSpace expiring until something else in the genre can scratch that itch we all have.
I would suggest that the once-thriving Quake III Arena mod community is dead, because there's just so many FPS games that modders will migrate to later versions of the iD Tech engine, or to the Unreal or Source engines, which are simultaneously more powerful, more popular, more versatile, and better looking.
FreeSpace doesn't have that advantage. We've seen a few mods for Homeworld, and occasionally a crossover will pop up for FreeLancer or something, but essentially the genre is dead. That means if we want to play games in our genre with new content, we have to work with what we have... which, I'm glad to say, is growing to be as powerful, as popular, as versatile, and as good looking as any professional studio today.
Until we get a space-shooter with an editor as powerful as FRED, a structure as simple as ships.tbl and weapons.tbl, and modding tools as good as VPView and PCS, FreeSpace will continue to draw talent.
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Seriously, noone here will know whether they'll still be here in a few years, working on and enjoying FS. Noone has that kind of foresight.
Yet still, we have campaign plans (or heck, strings of campaigns in motion) which would definitely take at least that amount time to create. Just for quick examples, I point to Sync 2-3, my campaign and BWO. Not to talk about NTV, Scroll of Anatalabalababa, etc.
You see, I would not bring far dates up if we would not need that amount of time to fulfill our present plans - not to talk about our future ideas.
That is my main concern.
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BWO has been 'done' for four years and if it hadn't got hung on models and VA would be out by now.
The other campaigns you cited there simply haven't been worked on (except yours, I'm guessing.)
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BWO has been 'done' for four years and if it hadn't got hung on models and VA would be out by now.
To be honest, this probably isn't true. When testing more or less stopped BWO still hadn't tested two or three missions, and the one we were on was in need of a complete rebuild.
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BWO has been 'done' for four years and if it hadn't got hung on models and VA would be out by now.
The other campaigns you cited there simply haven't been worked on (except yours, I'm guessing.)
Scroll of A. is, I presume. As for Ransom, I could have cited Project-03. My point still is that we have big plans but we are thinking about a status quo. Of course, since I am just a member of the community and not leading it by any way, I guess it is not my mission to question the establishment of future HLP'ing. I'd just like to point out that we have much greater plans than I think we should.
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I think you're quite wrong there. BP2 was as ambitious a campaign as we could imagine, and it went from first failed concept to fully rebuilt campaign in about 18 months.
Now granted, a lot of that is down to the BP team being very, very good at what they do, but it's helped by the fact that we had a very clear vision of what we wanted to accomplish, and a great deal of discipline regarding new assets and new ideas.
I should also point out that projects like BWO, NTV or Scroll of Athahardtospellword have, simply due to their age, suffered from a great deal of personnel rotation, which is the reason why they're not released yet. I do not know why they had these issues, but it's one reason why the BP team is trying very hard to only do stuff that we know can be done in a reasonable timeframe.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you commit to a long-term project, be clear about your priorities, and be conscious of your abilities (and, of course, don't be afraid to ask for help). Don't say "This will be doomed!", that's a sure way to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Make a list of what you need to have and what you want to have, and then look for people who can help you get these things, in exactly that order.
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I don't see FreeSpace expiring until something else in the genre can scratch that itch we all have.
I would suggest that the once-thriving Quake III Arena mod community is dead, because there's just so many FPS games that modders will migrate to later versions of the iD Tech engine, or to the Unreal or Source engines, which are simultaneously more powerful, more popular, more versatile, and better looking.
FreeSpace doesn't have that advantage. We've seen a few mods for Homeworld, and occasionally a crossover will pop up for FreeLancer or something, but essentially the genre is dead. That means if we want to play games in our genre with new content, we have to work with what we have... which, I'm glad to say, is growing to be as powerful, as popular, as versatile, and as good looking as any professional studio today.
Until we get a space-shooter with an editor as powerful as FRED, a structure as simple as ships.tbl and weapons.tbl, and modding tools as good as VPView and PCS, FreeSpace will continue to draw talent.
I came to post almost exactly this. :yes:
Right now, there is no space-shooter engine out there that can do what the FS2_Open engine can... much less one that does it for free. When eventually something better comes along, I'm sure there will be a mass migration to the new game.
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True, fs2o is still the best space shooter engine, got some hope with naumachia for the multiplayer part :D
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another aspect to all this is that with GoG there are now new legitimate copies of the game being distributed fuelling the expansion of the community
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I think you're quite wrong there. BP2 was as ambitious a campaign as we could imagine, and it went from first failed concept to fully rebuilt campaign in about 18 months.
Oh now I wouldn't call it a failed concept, it would still have been damn good if released in its first incarnation, IMO. Although the rebuilt version is so brilliant it functions like a whole new game.
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I should also point out that projects like BWO, NTV or Scroll of Athahardtospellword have, simply due to their age, suffered from a great deal of personnel rotation, which is the reason why they're not released yet
Can't speak for BWO or NTV, but Scroll of Atankharzim doesn't suffer from personnel rotation, but instead a lack of enthusiasm, and that the project leaders are either no longer active members or its staff is occupied by real-life or other preoccupations. Goober is ATM the project lead, and as we know he's an integral part of the SCP, and with 3.6.12 Final out only very recently, we understand why Atankharzim isn't progressing at the pace it's meant to.
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While it would be a really nice sight to see people who were introduced to the FreeSpace universe as younglings showing the game to their children, it probably won't happen.
Just introduced this to my brother in law last year... he loves it. (He's young-ish). I'm going to show him the basics of modding next week. But more importantly, he has introduced this to our nephews (age 12).
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Dude, people still play pong, pacman, and space invaders, and still find ways to remake or build upon those games. We not going anywherez essay.
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Hi all, another new user reporting!
This is how Freespace came into my life: it was recommended in every gaming site I've been so far. It was praised in every gaming forum I've read so far. The name Freespace will come up from everywhere, over and over again. So yes, I do believe Freespace isn't going anywhere that easy.
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Dude, people still play pong, pacman, and space invaders, and still find ways to remake or build upon those games. We not going anywherez essay.
And FreeSpace is possibly the least popular among those games.
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I should also point out that projects like BWO, NTV or Scroll of Athahardtospellword have, simply due to their age, suffered from a great deal of personnel rotation, which is the reason why they're not released yet
Can't speak for BWO or NTV, but Scroll of Atankharzim doesn't suffer from personnel rotation, but instead a lack of enthusiasm, and that the project leaders are either no longer active members or its staff is occupied by real-life or other preoccupations. Goober is ATM the project lead, and as we know he's an integral part of the SCP, and with 3.6.12 Final out only very recently, we understand why Atankharzim isn't progressing at the pace it's meant to.
What you're describing is personnel rotation. Remember that Scroll was started by Sesquipedalian, and led by him for about two years before he got married. Then it ground to a halt. Galemp and I are the only members of SA who were on the team when Sesq was active and are still on the team now. We were, and still are, very enthusiastic about SA, but we were busy on ST:R for all this time.
Now that ST:R has been released and we've had some chance to recover, I'm clearing out my schedule so that I'll be able to lead Scroll effectively. That's one of the reasons I handed SCP project leadership over to chief1983, and that's why I'm finishing up TVWP and getting that out the door. I don't have as much free time as I did in college, so I can't be working on a dozen projects simultaneously like I used to. ;)
Anyway. I have a theory about campaigns and projects hosted on HLP. It seems to me that if a campaign doesn't produce a major milestone within a year or eighteen months, it is very likely to take an extremely long time to develop. This can be due to personnel rotation, staff burnout, staff graduation from college/high school, etc. It's one of the reasons the 20-mission limit for hosted campaigns was introduced.
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Oh.
I thought personnel rotation meant "The current staff has no idea what the original staff wanted to do."
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Nope. :) It means that a lot of old people have left. Fortunately, in SA's case, I've been able to recruit a lot of new people in the past year to replace them.
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Hi all, another new user reporting!
This is how Freespace came into my life: it was recommended in every gaming site I've been so far. It was praised in every gaming forum I've read so far. The name Freespace will come up from everywhere, over and over again. So yes, I do believe Freespace isn't going anywhere that easy.
Welcome mate
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Welcome mate
That.
Welcome Villapipo :D
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Dude, people still play pong, pacman, and space invaders, and still find ways to remake or build upon those games. We not going anywherez essay.
And FreeSpace is possibly the least popular among those games.
You know, the fact that after all these years, and long periods of time with me just lurking these forums, the fact you are still here contradicting **** i say means nothing has or will change. :p
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Go get the latest mediavps, BP: AoA update and BP2: WiH and then tell me how FS2 is dying. :p
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There's almost an entirely different crew of people active here than there when I first found this website in '05.
Im not very active anymore (not that I was to begin with), but every couple years I see something that reminds me of this place, and when I log back in Im always surprised with new campaigns and mods. ;7
People come and people go, but Im fairly sure that there is not a near end in sight for FSO. This place looks better than ever :yes: and it really is the last best hope for Freespace. :warp:
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I have to chuckle at this thread, as I'm of the opinion that the FS community as a whole is the polar opposite of "dying." :p I mean, I started out my online days as part of the Descent community, and I'm still peripherally involved with it...if you want to talk about a legitimately slowly-dying modding scene, it's a far better example. (Kind of makes a good comparison, too, since Descent and FS are sibling series in a few respects.) Unlike FS, Descent's modding community always centered around the multiplayer side of things, with singleplayer missions never gaining much of a focus...and unlike FS2, Descent 3 never had its source code released, preventing any sort of massive upgrades or additions to the engine. (The source for the first two games was released, leading to a few separate projects that are still active today, but D3 is the most commonly played multiplayer-wise now.) So as time has gone on, and fewer people played multiplayer on a regular basis, level-making activity has also slackened off. There are still several projects in-progress and in the works, but nowhere near the volume of three or four years ago, and the corresponding player pool has shrunk to a small group of die-hards. (Hell, I don't even play regularly myself.) I don't really see that course reversing in the future, not unless Interplay by some miracle manages to turn that "Descent sequel" press fluff into reality and the end result isn't drek. (The MMO game Miner Wars does have some interesting promise too, but I don't know how well it'll translate over.) It makes me legitimately sad when I remember how things were five or six years ago compared to how they were now, and even that five or six years ago was well after the community's true peak.
So yeah...for a gaming franchise that hasn't seen a new entry in more than a decade, the FS community is amazingly vibrant and healthy, and with the absolute glut of released/near-released material over the past year, I don't see that changing any time soon. :)
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People (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=12222.msg227122#msg227122) have (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=15468.0) been (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=18352.0) talking (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=19267.msg374836#msg374836) about (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=15114.0) the death of Freespace (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=19267.0) for (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=12733.20) years (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=18930.msg369431#msg369431).
Now not all of those topics were negative but there was a lot of feeling that FS2 would die out soon unless drastic measures were taken. We're in a hell of a lot better shape than we were back then so I really can't see why anyone is predicting the death of FS2 now.
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yeah, the FS community is in much better shape than I was about 3 years ago expecting it to be in now.
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...there was a lot of feeling that FS2 would die out soon unless drastic measures were taken...
Well, if you consider the creation of the VBB, HLP, FSMods and :v: releasing the source code as drastic measures... :p
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Well, someone suggested publicity as one such measure.
A guy on ModDB just told me that more pimping on that site would be nice to promote FreeSpace, especially considering how games which are nothing compared to FS become very well known and popular with ease. I definitely think we could do more to bring more people in.
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Y'know, this thread could benefit from some cold, hard numbers. Someone's already pointed out the rise in HLP activity... and that's just HLP, which is not necessarily an unbiased sample of FS fans. But how many downloads has WiH had so far? How many FS downloads has GOG logged in the past year? How many downloads have the 3.6.12's had (both MVPs and FSO)?
Look at just the current highlights. Two great-quality campaigns and the latest installment in FS's improvement.
How long can FS live? Another decade? I wouldn't be surprised.
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IDK about you but i plan to keep playing FreeSpace for at least 10-30 more years D:
It's just so great, and as you said, new stuff get released. Plus there is all the old stuff to do :P
Of course there's a high probablity the game is going to be overwhelmed by games more efficient, with better graphics, stereoscopic 3D, blur, etc (eg. TrackMania has those 3) in some decades - but as far as i can tell, there are less and less space operas and sims being released (i might be wrong though).
Know of any good space sim fighting as realistic yet fun better than FreeSpace ? i searched for quite some time and haven't found anything like that so far...
One major force of FSO is that it's being ACTIVELY modified and improved, which AFAIK is not the case of traditional commercial games, where they just do small patches and bug fixing (as they develop other stuff at same time)
As long as it keeps being upgraded, it should be able to live on no problem imo.
I would add too, it's mostly a SOLO games with heavy immersion and stuff, which makes it really attractive imo.
Also allows modders to continue adding scripted features, workaround, beam-piercing effects and idk what shiny stuff.
A game like FreeAllegiance, that is still being upgraded (even though i guess alot less than FS) followed the same kind of history but has only few people playing it, since it's mostly a multiplayer game.
And even if the SCP team would stop NOW, the game and community would at least keep being active for something like 10 years, i guess, especially through modding.
I get the feeling FS2 will stay active much, much longer than MMOs like EVE Online for example :D
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Sync has a sequel?!! :pimp: linky pl0x
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Sync has a sequel?!! :pimp: linky pl0x
It's called Transcend, look on the Wiki or something.
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Since when is Transcend a sequel of Sync ?
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They take place in like, the same continuity, I think.
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I don't think so...
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They take place in like, the same continuity, I think.
Which still doesn't make it a sequel :p
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Aren't Warzone and Derelict in the same continuity?
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They take place in like, the same continuity, I think.
Which still doesn't make it a sequel :p
Aye, didn't Ransom say himself that Transcend was only a spin-off in the Sync continuity, and not a sequel ?
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Aren't Warzone and Derelict in the same continuity?
Admiral Jacob Cole, CO of the GTD Warlock in Warzone (http://ce.hard-light.net/bwo/fiction.php?id=3&type=char)
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For the record, MT never broke up; we're just in the middle of a 14 year-old vacation.
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Years and years ago Volition wouldn't/couldn't make Freespace 3 and Freespace was indeed dying...
... today - thanks to HLP - Freespace development is more vibrant and alive than most - if not all - commercial titles :lol:
How long can it live? I don't know. How long can you live? :lol:
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All the new people, and people coming out of the lurker woodwork, in response to War in Heaven have really encouraged me.
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I think the forum activity has in fact decreased in the last few months, but that goes up and down throughout the year and is not necessarily indicative of anything. If you look at a longer term picture, the frequency of campaign releases has shot way up since about 2007. From that point of view, the community is in a much healthier state today than it was around, say, 2005.
Individuals will of course drift out of the community over time (I have to some extent, although I still follow the big releases), but they get replaced by others. As Galemp said, FS has the advantage of having no real replacement among modern games, so space sim fans will keep coming to it.
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If you look at last month's pageviews, though, you'll notice that it's breached 2 000 000 for the first time ever.
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I wouldn't consider pageviews a reliable "activitometer", though.
If you take a look at certain boards, you'd see many unlocked threads with a lot of views and only a handful of posts. Maybe their titles and/or their content attract many guests, hence increasing the number of pageviews, but that's it. They constitute no real evidence of increased activity.
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They take place in like, the same continuity, I think.
Which still doesn't make it a sequel :p
Aye, didn't Ransom say himself that Transcend was only a spin-off in the Sync continuity, and not a sequel ?
Yeah, yeah, I know.
But I just felt that putting the above information out there would be beneficial in some way, shape, or form.
Don't mind me. :P
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i doubt that freespace will ever truly die off until something 'better' comes along to fill its niche... and let's face it, many have tried, and failed over the past decade.
so until some crackerjack development team can make something honest-to-god epic, Freespace will still remain the last, great space sim out there.
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so until some crackerjack development team can make something honest-to-god epic, Freespace will still remain the last, great space sim out there.
:yes:
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i doubt that freespace will ever truly die off until something 'better' comes along to fill its niche... and let's face it, many have tried, and failed over the past decade.
so until some crackerjack development team can make something honest-to-god epic, Freespace will still remain the last, great space sim out there.
Holy**** it's turnsky.
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On a (not really) related note:
Forum Stats
Locations of visitors to this page
1,337,919 Posts in 59,920 Topics by 9,021 Members. Latest Member: roncola
lulz. Before 81 (now 80) new posts are made.
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Freespace will die tomorrow.
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Nobody drink the water, BlackDove probably poisoned it.
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1,337,919 Posts in 59,920 Topics by 9,021 Members. Latest Member: roncola
Anyone else got his attention caught by this part ? :wtf:
I'd like to +20 Turnsky, too.
I'll add that IF (when?) FreeSpace dies, then we'll all have to be real happy, because that means there will finally be some omfgood-epic-wtf space sim to replace it :P
Now, when will FreeSpace die D: ? I hope real soon.
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1,337,919 Posts in 59,920 Topics by 9,021 Members. Latest Member: roncola
Anyone else got his attention caught by this part ? :wtf:
Well actually, yes. :pimp:
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Having just returned to FS after a break of... bloody ages, and being suitably impressed with the work you guys are still producing, I would say it's far from dying.
Thoroughly enjoying the Blue Planet campaigns at the moment. Might have to give Derelict another run through, too, and may even see about getting back into FREDing.
And to think all this just because I bought a joystick again and had to justify it to myself. (only to find it easier to fly with the mouse)
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Having just returned to FS after a break of... bloody ages, and being suitably impressed with the work you guys are still producing, I would say it's far from dying.
Thoroughly enjoying the Blue Planet campaigns at the moment. Might have to give Derelict another run through, too, and may even see about getting back into FREDing.
And to think all this just because I bought a joystick again and had to justify it to myself. (only to find it easier to fly with the mouse)
Fellow VBB survivor! Group hug!
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But what's VBB D: ?
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But what's VBB D: ?
a place where FS fans group hugged. :P
Volitions Bulletin Board, back in the glory olden days.
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But what's VBB D: ?
The world I knew is truly dead
*lights a candle*
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I was such a noob. *nostalgic sigh*
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Okay, since i am currently a noob - and that now on HLP you aren't noob anymore,
Does this mean if HLP die and another coolz forum takes its place - i won't be noob anymore ?
Hurry to crash it down then !
Note that i'm (almost barely doing something close to) staying on topic, since HLP is FreeSpace. :nervous:
*Runs away for saying such idiot stuff*
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Don't worry, we'll carry over your Noob Status...
;7
I forgot, who did we make head Noob?
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We can make you head noob if you like... :P
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We can make you head noob if you like... :P
Getter is a VBB survivor too I think.
I'll take the title I guess? :P
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still love the games as play them as forever.
Hey, admins and mods... Please change my username to Glowhyena. Thank you, because my outbox is empty after I sent two different admins.
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I know, I wasn't being serious, hense the smilie xP
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It's a small thing, and I'm in no position to change the situation, but HLP as a board just looks so dated. Especially compaired to v2 and the old campaign specific themes. (Yeah, I know they can't be swapped over but I still miss 'em). :sigh:
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honestly this is the best board layout i've ever used.
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What do you mean? It looks waaay better than those invision boards that almost all other forums use.
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The HLP's forum theme is keeping me here, don't change it!
I will only tolerate some minor logo change... like that one time (BTW that was a fast switch).
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The admins might swear otherwise but I think SMF is very usable.
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I believe even an0n agreed that SMF is good. It's easier to get used to as compared to vbulletin.
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The admins might swear otherwise but I think SMF is very usable.
SMF has a load of very useful features for the end users. It's a PITA to use as an admin.
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I believe even an0n agreed that SMF is good. It's easier to get used to as compared to vbulletin.
Well, pffft, if an0n (http://web.archive.org/web/20010407221330/vbb.volition-inc.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/013245.html) said it, we better get this **** into high gear.
Kara, I'm expecting results.
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I see the future of the Freespace Community being less about Freespace the game and more about the FSO Engine. Look at all the total conversion mods in the works.
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I see the future of the Freespace Community being less about Freespace the game and more about the FSO Engine. Look at all the total conversion mods in the works.
I'm not really convinced of that. Bablyon Project is the only TC that has produced noteworthy campaigns from its own fans and even then not so notworthy as to match up to things like Shrouding the Light or Transcend.
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I see the future of the Freespace Community being less about Freespace the game and more about the FSO Engine. Look at all the total conversion mods in the works.
I'm not really convinced of that. Bablyon Project is the only TC that has produced noteworthy campaigns from its own fans and even then not so notworthy as to match up to things like Shrouding the Light or Transcend.
and yet we have Stellar Assault well on the way, FotG is preparing some kick ass models, WoD is imminent and WCS is preparing their first full campaign, they have already released a mini campaign and there are already fan campaigns made for it.
edit:
not to mention all the FS mods that use FSO features
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and yet we have Stellar Assault well on the way, FotG is preparing some kick ass models, WoD is imminent and WCS is preparing their first full campaign, they have already released a mini campaign and there are already fan campaigns made for it.
There was a BtRL minicampaign too, and like the WCS ones it more or less surfaced and submerged directly.
I remain unconvinced that any of the TCs will produce a work of comparable complexity and quality to the better FS campaigns outside their own Main Campaign. We've had years of TBP campaigns to prove the point.
edit:
not to mention all the FS mods that use FSO features
Uh, that's not terribly relevant to the discussion since I already named several of those, so apparently I'm including them with regular FS...
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This is the craziest time anyone could choose to say Freespace was dying. I've only been following HLP sporadically through the years until recently, and from an outsider's perspective, the last 10 years seem to have been practice for you guys and now you're the masters. Vassago's Dirge, WiH, FSPort 3.2, the new mediavps, it's like generation two of the FS modding community. I don't wish to disrespect the work you guys did over the years in calling it 'practice' because some incredible stuff has been created. I hope you get what I mean. But to say Freespace is dying at this moment is nuts.
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Back on the subject brought up by the OP:
I fully disagree, because of all the things others have already said -- it's very active here, development continues to improve, and really, can you mention a space game better than FS2, let alone to mod? Nope.
Also, forum activity doesn't equal the full 100%. For instance, I don't visit here often, but i'm still at work on my FS2 projects here actively.
Thing is, as long as there wont be a FS3 with full FRED3 functionality, I doubt FS2 will die at all for at least another decade. Ask again in 2020. ^^
- JC
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One other thing to note is that HLP is not the only FreeSpace community in existence. There are other FreeSpace communities as well, such as parts of SectorGame and a certain Polish(?) forum. And then there's the Facebook group, which I spam links to here on a regular basis.
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FREESPACE(tm) is ETERNAL.
Saying otherwise is HERESY! And you all know what we do with heretics!
Beware citizens, and keep your eyes open for heresy!
(http://slother.poligon.net.pl/HeresyStamp.png)
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Apparently not. After playing Blue Planet on the new graphics and shiny stuff, it seems modding is only getting better, hats off to the people in the upgrade project, you really impressed me on my return :lol:.
The community is as always eager to brand heratics, like the way kara did to me lol but I got over it... hope he doesn't read this and get offended. However I'm confident it will survive especially with all these (ok there arn't that many but still) great projects in the works.
It up to debate if the FRANCHISE itself is still alive comercially, but last I emailed Interplay, they are still 'discussing and planning' a fs3. And GoG picking it up seems to be either a last desperate money making attempt or generating hype for a new game. One can only speculate.
Now I have a question of my own. How is multiplayer? Is it still alive? I'd really like to play some bombing runs with someone...
WAIT why am I here? OP is apparently LONG gone.
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....bombing runs :<
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Multiplayer is still relatively active.
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I have to disagree with the person who posted first "how long will freespace last?". Who knows maybe for another decade. Open your mind and think out of the box. We have some really smart people that are constantly upgrading the game and keeps it fresh. Also there are so many campaigns created, being created, and in the future even more will be created. Freespace's genius modders will adapt to the new technologies and with these new technologies it will make freespace all that more wonderful. A big thank you to all of the creators of all the mods.....etc.
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And I think this can be closed now.
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*notes that FS has lived longer than the thread*