[Mongoose]

According to GameTap's "Coming Soon" list, FS2 will be joining the original game on the service some time in March. Kind of a shame that we can't get FS2_Open on there, but giving a large audience of people the opportunity to play it can't be anything but good.

[Bob-san]

That's cool, now they just have to add a link here!

[Mongoose]

Not that anyone really seemed to bite on this thread the first time around, but as of today, FS2 is officially on the GameTap roster.  Good stuff.

[JGZinv]

We had this happen over the last 4-5 months for Tachyon.
Basically what we ended up with was a slow trickle of newbs
that arrived, visited, and went away.

Sad thing is, I'm pretty sure you can't apply a mod in any fashion
to GameTap.

Since they neither stay around to learn the program or train per say,
and can't mod anything, it ends up being lackluster and more of an exercise
in talking to them to get the most simple basics.

Something I have to wonder about though... is GameTap also running separate
servers in addition to letting players hop on the old original game servers?
Because we get them in the Tach server, so in FreeSpace's case... where else would they
have to go? Might be something to check into...

[Bob-san]

Has anyone tried this game? What's the idea behind GameTap? Is the game run from their servers, or do you install it yourself and use a client EXE run it through? I would like to see if we can find their multiplayer servers (if we can) and play for a while on those... perhaps we can get ranking systems back? Even if we only can play on Retail...

[Darklord42]

Could that mean that they have the rights to FS2? Otherwise how could they make a profit off of it through their game system?  And if they did does that mean adios SCP?

[aldo_14]

Could that mean that they have the rights to FS2? Otherwise how could they make a profit off of it through their game system?  And if they did does that mean adios SCP?

Doubt it.  It likely just means strapped-for-cash-Interplay licensed them rights to sell the game.

[Mongoose]

Yeah, the fact that you can't apply any mods (much less the SCP) to games on GameTap is an unfortunate limiting factor, but at the very least, a few people who play it there might be motivated to look around and learn more about it.  The fact that we do have installers (albeit ones of questionable legality) here would help our case a little bit over that of Tachyon, I'd imagine.  (By the bye, I'm just starting to work through Tachyon myself. )

As for multiplayer, to the best of my knowledge, most GameTap games don't have it implemented as of right now, although I do understand that they'd like to change that in the future.  At any rate, with the revival of PXO in the (hopefully) near future, we're more than set over here.

As for the idea of GameTap, basically, it's an online game distribution system run by Turner Entertainment.  For a $10 monthly fee (which is discounted if you pay for larger chunks of time in advance), you get unlimited access to a wide variety of games (the current game library is somewhere around 850), everything from Atari classics to Splinter Cell to Sonic the Hedgehog to Zork to Deus Ex.  You don't actually get permanent ownership of the games; instead, you download each game's data and run it through the GameTap client.  It's a pretty nice setup; I'd been thinking of signing up for months, but what finally prompted me to do so was the launch of Myst Online: Uru Live, which is only offered through GameTap.  Another original property of theirs is the new episodic Sam & Max series, which is a great deal of fun.  Unfortunately, the service is only available in the US and Canada right now (though Myst Online itself is available in several more countries via a stand-alone client), but I know they're working on expanding it.

As for GameTap having the rights to FS2, there are several other Interplay games on there (including Descent 2 and 3, FS1, Die by the Sword, and Planescape: Torment), so I'm guessing it's the same licensing agreement that allowed those games to be included.  It won't affect the SCP in any way.

[Bob-san]

Besides, owns the Freespace engine... not Interplay... we have nothing to worry about for modding; as long as we make no profit they can't pull it out from under our feet... plus they're too poor to do anything (for now).

[Agentbolt]

Since they neither stay around to learn the program or train per say,
and can't mod anything, it ends up being lackluster and more of an exercise
in talking to them to get the most simple basics.

Are the newbs who can't mod really that awful for you guys?  Although I'll freely admit to being a complete leech (Was never any good at modding much of anything) I'd like to think I followed the pre-written instructions on how to install and use FSO fairly well without hassling ya'll with a bunch of retarded questions. 

I was under the impression the whole point of the SCP was to promote awareness of this awesome game by getting the most feature-rich version out to as many people as possible. 

[Turey]

Since they neither stay around to learn the program or train per say,
and can't mod anything, it ends up being lackluster and more of an exercise
in talking to them to get the most simple basics.

Are the newbs who can't mod really that awful for you guys?  Although I'll freely admit to being a complete leech (Was never any good at modding much of anything) I'd like to think I followed the pre-written instructions on how to install and use FSO fairly well without hassling ya'll with a bunch of retarded questions. 

I was under the impression the whole point of the SCP was to promote awareness of this awesome game by getting the most feature-rich version out to as many people as possible. 

I believe that you misunderstood him. He wasn't saying that the people lacked the talent to mod, it was that GameTap wouldn't allow them to use any mods.

[JGZinv]

Ah yes and no.

What I meant was that newbs would drop into Tachyon and they were inexperienced -
so we'd have to go into long explanations & teaching to get them to be able to do basic flying.

Better known as we end up spending many minutes/hours teaching newbs just to try
and get a decent fight going - but they don't bother to come back or train more.

In addition, they can't mod - so we get a bunch of complaints about that when it's not our fault.

Tach is by no means hard to learn, but it requires you spend some time fighting vet's online.
The campaign missions are pretty easy compared to any multiplayer dogfight or base wars.

I've got a mod guide and a multiplayer guide up on the FringeSpace site and forum now, if needed.

[karajorma]

You don't actually get permanent ownership of the games; instead, you download each game's data and run it through the GameTap client.

Question : In what format do you get the data? Can you just get hold of the SCP or retail exes and run it?

[JGZinv]

FS2 mentioned on the Dev' blog for GameTap.
http://www.angledwhiteboards.com/

From what I can read - it's like a mix of downloaded material in GT's format
played via the interface window + streaming content that requires broadband.

[Bob-san]

So you basically get the game as you play it? It is a rather long game... they probably load the basic stuff - the EXEs and interface first, then stream to you textures, models, weapons, sound effects, etc as it is necessary. Cool!

[Mongoose]

You don't actually get permanent ownership of the games; instead, you download each game's data and run it through the GameTap client.

Question : In what format do you get the data? Can you just get hold of the SCP or retail exes and run it?

The data for all of the games on GameTap seems to be in some sort of proprietary container format; each game's directory has a number of different files in it (files with a .dat extension seem to contain the majority of game data).  Since you have to run the game through the GameTap client, there's no way that I could see of accessing the data via a retail/SCP .exe.  I'm actually downloading it as we speak, so I'll be able to fool around with it and see what (if anything) is possible.

So you basically get the game as you play it? It is a rather long game... they probably load the basic stuff - the EXEs and interface first, then stream to you textures, models, weapons, sound effects, etc as it is necessary. Cool!

Actually, you download the complete game data before you're able to play the game.  The actual game experience is pretty much identical to that of a store-bought copy once you're playing it.

(As a side note, there are a few storyline errors in the promotional video/extra content for the game, including referring to the Terrans and Vasudans as "ancient enemies" who have to "join forces once again."  Funny stuff. )

[Bob-san]

Any chance you can see if we can unzip the .dat file? I would like to see that extra content on the normal game engine...

Is it the 640x480 or the 1024x768 version? I would like to see the hi-res version...

[takashi]

if they are space minded, then its the ugly lo-res version.

[Mongoose]

Well, preliminary reports suggest that I'm not able to play so much as a custom mission (or, at any rate, that I'm not able to do so by creating a "data/missions" folder in the game's directory, which is buried in the Documents and Settings/Application Data folder).  I'd assume that it's something along the lines of not being able to provide content that isn't verified by them and/or isn't actually covered under the publisher's license.  Kind of a bummer, but at least they have the game to begin with.

Any chance you can see if we can unzip the .dat file? I would like to see that extra content on the normal game engine...

Is it the 640x480 or the 1024x768 version? I would like to see the hi-res version...

The game's exactly the same as the retail release, so the higher-res mode is included.  Though, I have to say, I did receive a bit of a shock when I saw that Ulysses spinning in the Tech Room.  It's been a very, very long time since I've played retail.

[JGZinv]

Depending on if you're able to get into their file system/break the format...

But they probably have a check system in place, and would know if it was modified anyway.
If you look in your contract - there's probably something in there about reverse engineering the code
or trying to implement hacks/mods/all manner of strangeness.

Being that we can get folks on the Tach sever, it probably means the code either was there and
taken out... or is there... and just not implemented to function or point elsewhere yet.