Hard Light Productions Forums

Hosted Projects - Standalone => The Babylon Project => Public Development => Topic started by: karajorma on September 26, 2012, 07:44:08 pm

Title: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on September 26, 2012, 07:44:08 pm
So, I've just moved the Diaspora board cause the number of child boards was getting ridiculous. TBP doesn't have this issue but I don't want anyone thinking I'm slighting you by not moving you (Tolwyn can move Wing Commander Saga if he so desires).

Poll is for public opinion but I'll value the opinions of the devs more highly.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: General Battuta on September 26, 2012, 07:53:07 pm
I'm envious! If we open up a bunch of child boards can we get our own section? We've certainly got the total post count for it.  :nervous:
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on September 26, 2012, 09:21:09 pm
I think it was the combination of having lots of child boards + being lost in a sea of Freespace mods we have nothing to do with. Blue Planet is and always will be Freespace related.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: General Battuta on September 26, 2012, 09:22:14 pm
I think Diaspora is a more important thing for the community anyway, and deserves a bit more infrastructure.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: General Battuta on September 26, 2012, 09:27:04 pm
Also I voted for TBP getting its own little cluster, given how awesome TBP is and how much work has gone into it.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 26, 2012, 09:36:22 pm
I'm OK with it staying where it is.  If we managed to get ourselves more attention however, then I feel that something more elaborate might be in order, but for the time being, I feel that no change is necessary.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on September 26, 2012, 10:04:48 pm
Personally I'm in favour of a "Full Games" section instead of just staying here. Something that makes it clear that TBP and WCS are games you can just download without needing FS2.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Fury on September 27, 2012, 12:13:06 am
I think it would be fair to separate mods from total conversions. TBP like WoD and others would go under TC category for not requiring original FS2 to play.

However, that still wouldn't solve the Diaspora issue because you just replace one category with another. But you can't give each TC its own category either. If you want to keep things fair, then Diaspora would also go under TC category. Or if you want to give Diaspora special treatment, leave it to its own category.

Or, you can talk to Sandwich and design new forum index that utilizes screen estate better to display large number of categories and boards under them. The default index displays a lot of unnecessary information such as number of posts, topics and last posted. So get rid of those and make use of that space.

Traditional index page really isn't good for showing large number of categories and boards, amount of scrolling require is ridiculous. I only use "show unread posts since last visit" and it serves me well and I don't waste time going through each board one by one.

One possible design for index page could be that it only displays categories at first, then user selects category and it displays all boards under that category below the categories. That way you never get obstinate amount of boards thrown at you at once. To take it further, the index could allow to store last selected category to a cookie. So if someone only ever reads Diaspora boards, the category is saved for him/her and displayed when he/she visits the next time.

Be creative in how you do things and put that Sandwich to work. :p But considering what pain the mainpage has been and still is. I probably shouldn't have mentioned this, as it'll never get done.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: MatthTheGeek on September 27, 2012, 12:58:32 am
I'm in a favour of a "Standalone game/mod" section as well. FotG will join it later as well, possibly others. WoD2 could use the breathing room when it'll happen as well.

"Standalone" is better than "Total Conversion" imho because not needing FS2 is usually one of the major selling points.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on September 27, 2012, 01:12:59 am
I was under the impression WoD still required FS2 if not, the same applies to them.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: General Battuta on September 27, 2012, 01:14:21 am
Inferno will, I believe, be launching standalone.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: headdie on September 27, 2012, 01:26:18 am
I was under the impression WoD still required FS2 if not, the same applies to them.

put it like this, WoD uses several civilian ships as civilian ships
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: MatthTheGeek on September 27, 2012, 02:28:33 am
WoD2 will be made standalone, AFAIK. I think Spoon just cba to standalone WoD1, maybe he'll do it around WoD2 release. He'll be able to confirm this.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on September 27, 2012, 03:42:43 am
I think it would be fair to separate mods from total conversions. TBP like WoD and others would go under TC category for not requiring original FS2 to play.

Second

Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Angelus on September 27, 2012, 04:48:26 am
I'd say, have each TC have their own bopard, like Diaspora - if they wish so.
Not sure if a certain rule set is necessary - e.g. number of sub-boards, FS2 independent, whatever.

Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Vidmaster on September 27, 2012, 06:42:01 am
I say "like Diaspora".
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: wesp5 on September 27, 2012, 02:13:41 pm
After having played a little bit of Diaspora I think The Babylon Project has the right to get the same treatment. Also now again I value the fantastic ships and energy beams of Babylon 5 even more, compared to the boring black and white battles in the new Battlestar Galactica universe :)!
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: General Battuta on September 27, 2012, 02:35:43 pm
After having played a little bit of Diaspora I think The Babylon Project has the right to get the same treatment. Also now again I value the fantastic ships and energy beams of Babylon 5 even more, compared to the boring black and white battles in the new Battlestar Galactica universe :)!

c'mon son, let's be nerd friends here
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: wesp5 on September 27, 2012, 03:51:27 pm
c'mon son, let's be nerd friends here

That wasn't meant to insult the Diaspora creators, their mod is great! But all the ships are basically grey, I know what I liked so much about Babylon 5 ;)...
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on September 27, 2012, 08:34:37 pm
After having played a little bit of Diaspora I think The Babylon Project has the right to get the same treatment. Also now again I value the fantastic ships and energy beams of Babylon 5 even more, compared to the boring black and white battles in the new Battlestar Galactica universe :)!

The question is not about the right. Pretty much all the released standalone games have the right.

It's about what the game needs. I gave Diaspora its own section because it was getting very crowded having everything on one board. TBP never struck me as being as crowded, even in its prime. Maybe a section in the Standalone Games is all it needs. I don't think TBP should be in its own section just because Diaspora is. That's like a 5 year old's version of fair. :p It should be in its own section if that is what it needs to develop further.

Bear in mind that it's quite possible that TBP might actually get noticed by more people in a Standalone Games section than it might be in its own section.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: General Battuta on September 27, 2012, 09:05:08 pm
I don't think TBP should be in its own section just because Diaspora is. That's like a 5 year old's version of fair. :p It should be in its own section if that is what it needs to develop further.

Getting your own section feels like a pretty clear status symbol. Even the SCP doesn't get its own section!
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Spoon on September 27, 2012, 09:45:34 pm
In regards to WoD:
WoD1 in its current state is indeed not a stand alone and still requires the Mediavp's and such. But WoD2 is already a stand alone (thanks to the awesome Axem) and on release of WoD2, WoD1 too will become stand alone (that is the roadmap at least). I don't think WoD will ever draw enough posts&topics to need its own section with a load of child boards. But it be nice if there would be a new Hosted Projects - Released Standalone/Total Conversion section for all other projects (the ones smaller than Diaspora) such as TBP etc.
To set them apart from the 'normal FS2 mods' so to say.

I don't think TBP should be in its own section just because Diaspora is. That's like a 5 year old's version of fair. :p It should be in its own section if that is what it needs to develop further.

Getting your own section feels like a pretty clear status symbol. Even the SCP doesn't get its own section!
What Battuta said.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on September 27, 2012, 11:43:47 pm
To be honest, one of the reasons to go to our own section was to get our fans to explore the rest of the board. It was too easy for them to just bookmark the Diaspora forum.

It's better for everyone if they're getting out and seeing what else there is. And that's another reason for a Standalone Games section.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Mongoose on October 02, 2012, 06:45:11 pm
Whether everything gets its own section like Diaspora, or just put under a general "Stand-alone Projects" section, I think getting them that increased visibility would be a good idea.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: jr2 on October 03, 2012, 03:52:27 pm
TBP => gets its own section like Diaspora

The rest of the TCs => get put in Stand-Alone Games section
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: General Battuta on October 03, 2012, 04:06:19 pm
TBP => gets its own section like Diaspora

The rest of the TCs => get put in Stand-Alone Games section

Please stop trying to manage projects you are not involved in and have no creative or emotional stake in. Thanks.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on October 03, 2012, 07:43:03 pm
So far, 3 people from the team have replies and they all gave a different opinion. :p

I guess I'm the deciding voice unless anyone else wants to pipe up. :)
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: jr2 on October 03, 2012, 10:18:24 pm
Battuta, did I recently post something to irritate you?  If so, please enlighten.  If not, please discontinue your diatribe.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on October 03, 2012, 10:26:31 pm
Since virtually no one wants TBP to stay where it is (Snuffleupagus got more votes) I'm going to move things to a Standalone section while we decide if TBP goes into it's own section.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: jg18 on October 03, 2012, 10:37:12 pm
Battuta, did I recently post something to irritate you?  If so, please enlighten.  If not, please discontinue your diatribe.

As he hinted at here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=82421.msg1644560#msg1644560), Battuta put you on his ignore list, so he can't see your posts. You'll have to PM him about it.


To go back on topic, I would think the high visibility of having its own section would be helpful to TBP, unless, for example, they want to wait until they have a release with a new installer (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=81930.0) ready? Just a thought.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on October 03, 2012, 10:51:13 pm
Well to be honest, in a section with only two entries, they're pretty visible.

On the other hand, I keep scrolling past Diaspora General Discussion cause I think it's Freespace Gen or Gen Disc. :p
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: wesp5 on October 04, 2012, 02:09:41 am
Well to be honest, in a section with only two entries, they're pretty visible.

I agree. Also with Wing Commander TBP is in good company there! But I would rephrase the description: "...brings the Babylon 5 universe to FreeSpace 2." This still sounds very much like a mod to me. Please use "engine" somewhere!
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: jr2 on October 04, 2012, 03:12:18 am
Err, well, this isn't the first time that Batt has put me on ignore (last time was him being ridiculous over my critique of someone else's work, which was good, however, I was pointing out where improvements could be made), but now suddenly out of the blue he responds to every one of my posts, so I guess he took me off for whatever reason.  :rolleyes:
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: karajorma on October 04, 2012, 05:41:03 am
I agree. Also with Wing Commander TBP is in good company there! But I would rephrase the description: "...brings the Babylon 5 universe to FreeSpace 2." This still sounds very much like a mod to me. Please use "engine" somewhere!

Good point. I'll let Vidmaster decide as nominally he's in charge with FUBAR AWOL.
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Vidmaster on October 04, 2012, 06:30:21 am
"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. It became a computer game."
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: wesp5 on October 04, 2012, 06:38:48 am
"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. It became a computer game."

I like that :)! LOL
Title: Re: What to do with the TBP board?
Post by: Slasher on October 21, 2012, 11:56:55 pm
I logged on today for the first time in a couple months and looked for TBP in its usual spot on the HLP forums index.  The first thing I thought upon noticing its peculiar absence was that Warner Brothers, after over a decade since TBP 1.0 was released, had finally gotten around to issuing a Cease and Desist letter.  :ick: