FS3 in any incarnation would have to seriously eclipse FS2, IMHO. FS2 outshone FS1 in so many respects but critically retained the fundamental features that made the game work so well. Those features and the details have been discussed umpteen times before, so there's no reason to do so again.
As I said in the fundraising thread, I've tried to play both BC3K and BCMil, and found them seriously lacking in so many departments. 10 out of 10 for ambition, but minus several thousand for very poor implementation. I couldn't work out how to do anything in those games!
FreeSpace 2 is the game that catapulted me onto the internet community scene. It was the inspiration for my own sci-fi ideas, the sole occupant of hours upon hours of my time when I could have been doing other things far more important. That I would be so fond and protective of such a masterpiece of the space combat genre is perfectly understandable, and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who thinks along those lines.
HLP is the last major bastion of a unified FS community. Yes, there are smaller outposts and rogue fans here and there, but only at HLP do we have a collection of thousands of people all dedicated to FS and its many facets.
I intend to do what I can to keep FreeSpace in the way that it found me: exciting, exhilirating, beautiful, fun, easy to play and easy to mod.
FS2 is the ONLY game I can mod. The structure of the game files, once known is so amazingly logical. My thanks go out to all those who made FS2 modding one of the easiest tasks in the world. You know who you are. This moddability of FS and FS2 is, I believe, the single thing that has kept the game and franchise alive. If not for the incredible time and effort spent on things like TBP, Inferno, FSPort, WCS and the like, would DS have seriously considered obtaining the license to, let's be honest, a defunct franchise that's been dead commercially for five years.
With DS in mind, I think that whilst he might have some good ideas, his approach to the problem is lacking. He strikes me as unprofessional in his conduct, sloppy in his implementation and in some cases, overreactional. With these in mind, along with the track record of the Battlecruiser series, I personally do not believe he has what it takes to make a worthy FreeSpace 3. Such a game would need to be as playable as the first two, as easy to mod, and with graphics at least on par with X2's (as an example).
I know I'm nowhere near 'large' or 'loud' on HLP or within the community in general. I do what I can, but my own abilities are seriously lacking in several areas. To me, the inspiration from chaps like Kazan, Bobbaou, TBP's wonderful team, the SCP gang and the like are what have kept me coming back here time after time. You guys are the pillar that keeps me modding FS2 to create The Swarm War. One day it might just get finished! To you I say 'thank you.' You've kept the community going. I know I've only singled out a very select few as examples, but if I were to mention everyone here who has contributed to FS2 in some superb way, I would be here until doomsday and still would not be finished!
We're mostly agreed that DS is the wrong person for FS3. Who is besides :V:? That is the question we should be asking ourselves. If :V: is unable, for whatever reason, to produce FS3, who can we turn to? Who, in the eyes of the FS community, is 'worthy' of producing a legitimate sequel? Are
WE[/b] capable? If we all banded together into a giant project team then maybe. But I have my doubts.
I myself am studying a degree in computing with a view to joining the games industry within the next five years. I know that much will have changed between now and then. I am attending ECTS this year to start on the laborious bridge-building process between myself and developers with a view to obtaining a placement for my third year of Uni (which is a work placement). Until I'm doing things for myself, I shall still support the FS community. I shall still mod. I shall help Kazan with Ferrium in any way I can, even if my contribution is somewhat small. I shall still uphold the virtues of what made FreeSpace 2 the most wonderful game playing experience of my life, and above all, I shall be one of the last people to leave the FS community, and only then it'll be when HLP dies for whatever reason. That doesn't mean I'll stop modding the game - it'll only mean I'll be unable to show off to you lot!
This has been possibly the longest single post I've ever made here, but I think to summarise my message is this:
* DS is wrong for the FS franchise, for several repeated reasons
* The community is, and will always be, strongly united even in the face of diversity of opinions
* We can't let our petty squabbles get in the way of what we're here for: The love of FreeSpace 2 and the modding of said game
One last thing: As I mentioned, I'm off to ECTS at the start of September. If this business hasn't blown over by then, are there any British-based developers you'd like to see make a bid for the FS license?
