[eagles629]

I never usually post but i do read most of the forums regularly, and something has happened that could spell hope for another freespace era, in the fall of 06 when Interplay was going to make an MMO out of Fallout, but couldn't because they didn't have the cash, the other licensees (Bethesda Softworks) sued them and took over the franchise and are now making Fallout 3. If we could get another developer a.k.a THQ of V, to agree to make the game, they have a good chance at succeeding in a court battle to win the rights, but to do this we would need almost everyone in every Freespace comm to show support.

[Shade]

Now, I can understand the desire to keep hope alive, but the truth is Freespace is not dead because the rights are out of reach. With Interplay down and out, it would be trivial for any serious developer/publisher to acquire them. So that's not the reason. Freespace is dead as a commercial game because the second game sold very poorly, and when publishers think about putting their money behind a sequel, they look at sales numbers.

And when big titles these days sell in the millions, a number below 100.000 doesn't look very appealing at all. And that is the reason no publisher is going to bother securing the rights.

Don't be depressed by that though - Freespace as a non-commercial game is still kicking ass and taking names, and looks set to keep doing so for a while And by the way, welcome to HLP! If you stick around, I think you'll find that Freespace is not really in need of outside help to stay alive

[AlphaOne]

Oh man....you asked for it!

I'm getting the freak out of here.

[Shade]

Nah. No reason for anyone to take it further than it already has gone. Had sales numbers been better, he might've had a point.

[IPAndrews]

Could it be time to revive the "There will never be a Freespace 3" thread?

[eagles629]

I understand that the unofficial game is thriving but imagine this on the 360. It is also possible that with a developers help a new age of the game might come out, say Battlesation Midway control and fight playing style for example. It is also apparent that there is a great need for a quality flying Sim, because even though many Sims today are rushedinto circulation when they had a lot more potential then what was realized in game, Sims like (Battlestaions, Ace Combat, Blazing Angels)and not only are they bought but they are bought in the millions,  and if there was a good one to come out it would really sell, and if this was realized by a developer those rights would get picked up.

[Agent_Koopa]

The industry is not moved by the opinions of a couple of hundred people on a board dedicated to the game. If they make FS3, then who will buy it? Us. And almost only us. The game sells a couple thousand copies, after the abysmal sales and lack of awareness of FS2. Tens of thousands of dollars are lost. Also, if a company takes over the license, who's to say we won't be shut down?

[IPAndrews]

If I suggested a moderator point the original poster at the search function and lock this thread, would that be out of order?

[eagles629]

not really i knew i would recieve flak for posting this

[Black Wolf]

do lock there is no possibility for any more freespace games

[eagles629]

if there is no possibility then why do we even play, because playing is a way of retaining hope that the rest of the world will eventually come around to our point of veiw.

[Ace Pace]

if there is no possibility then why do we even play, because playing is a way of retaining hope that the rest of the world will eventually come around to our point of veiw.

Bull, we play because it's fun.

[eagles629]

i didn't say that i said that playing also keeps hope alive

[Grizzly]

Arent we forgetting something?

GVD Psamtik: Gunnery control, power up photon beam cannons, commence plasma core insertion.
GVD Psamtik: NTCv Belisarius, this is the GVD Psamtik, you are ordered to power down and surrender
NTCv Belisarius: Negative, Vesudan! the NTF is the only legitimate authority in this system!
GVD Psamtik: Surrender of be destroyed, Bellisarius, this is your final warning.
NTCv belisarius: Your postering insults us both, vesudan, I am not giong to give up my ship!
GVD Psamtik: As you wish... GUNERRY CONTROL! OPEN FIRE!!


Freespace 3 is not going to happen, unless Space Game genres are going to get back with a bang, (Elite 4). And then, if someone is smart enough to look at the FS1 sales... then... mabye...

however, the chance of this going to happen is the same as the chance you have to survive a supernova when you are near the star...

[Shade]

We play because it is one heck of an awesome game. With a heck of a lot of just as awesome upgrades, mods, campaigns and total conversions. Freespace these days is just the engine all that stuff runs on. What we're playing, we've mostly made ourselves, and quite frankly it is a lot better than anything any established game developers have managed in the spacesim genre for years.

Look at The Babylon Project. Now compare that with those few official B5 games that have been released. By real game studios. Which is better? TBP, by far. Now do the same comparison for Beyond the Red Line and the last official BSG-themed game. Guess what, the BtRL demo walks all over the official game in both graphics and sheer fun. So why should we not play, and why should we not care much about the fact the FS3 is unlikely to happen? Because we've got what we want, a damn good game with enough content to last for years - Especially as the amount of content is continually increasing.

After all, our game is better than anything else out there. And even FS3, should it by some miracle arrive, might even risk being outshined by its predecessor that has been in continual development for both engine and content for half a decade, something no commercial developer could possibly afford to match.

Don't get me wrong, we want FS3. But some of us want it because we want to know what happened after Capella. We want the story. But I see no need for an upgraded engine because we already have one.

[Grizzly]

Mabye we can let the designers write a book?

Strike that, make that the one who made the story up... wait, those are the designers.

[CP5670]

Don't get me wrong, we want FS3. But we want it because we want to know what happened after Capella. We want the story. But we have no need for an upgraded engine because we already have one.

I would actually like a modern engine, but don't really care for a canonical continuation of the story at this point. Remember that any FS3 story would essentially invalidate every campaign out there. On the other hand, there haven't been any major changes to the FSO engine since 2005 or so and some things are starting to look dated. This should change once 3.7 rolls out though.

[Shade]

Fair enough. Some of us, then, instead of "we" Fixed for great justice. I doubt a more modern engine would do much good though - People aren't even fully using the features this one has yet. Though I grant that it may well be because they don't know they exist. Documentation isn't exactly FSOs strongest side.

[CP5670]

Good enough. I'm mainly referring to graphics and sound enhancements though. 3.7 with its shader support and updated sound code will be a huge step forward in that respect. It would be a great to see static bloom, detail textures, displacement mapping, HDR, etc. and proper positional sound that we get in modern games.

[Flipside]

If Freespace 3 was a financial 'go-er' it probably would have been hauled out of storage a long time ago, and I don't mean by the one person who did express an interest, and I might add, that interest was only because they thought they would get it 'cheap'.

There is a firm fanbase for FS2, and not just those who come here and still play it, however, whilst I'd love to see make another game, it would be more about the story than the content for me. No offence to Volition, they've done some awesome games in the past, but I've found their more recent stuff to be less inspirational to me personally, but in all fairness to them, I think they have less freedom to write the games they want to.

As for 3.7...... well, from rumours, I think if :V: ever DID decide to go for FS3, by the time they released it, they'd have an uphill battle to match the quality of the fan-made engine

I won't lock this.... yet. However, yes, this topic has been discussed several times over.