[MP-Ryan]

Y'know, I'd love to find out if  flew by the seat of their pants when writing the story for FS2, or if they actually had a plot progression... and if so, I'd love to get my hands on it.  In the hands of a decent writer or two from the community, this place could probably do an even better job of putting the Freespace story beyond FS2 into a playable form.

[TrashMan]

Bribe, blackmail or force the writers for FS1 & 2 to cough up the story..
They're still alive and have a e-mail adress or phone....what we need is a posse to round 'em up

[eagles629]

Thank You, but I believe that this is a different topic i was not talking about whether or not it should be made for story lines or better engines, i was thinking about where a great series like this could go if it was picked up by a developer, Lock at where Warcraft went, and it is possible to make a MMO in this setting, just look at EVE, so it could be more than just FS3 it could be a revival of the thing that makes us come here and talk, and i also think that no matter how much it pours salt into wounds this topic should never stop if we ever want to see this game get back into mainstream online play or have it go further. Also logic tends to reason that with Shadowrun having the inter-platform playing success that it has, we could see this game head onto consoles as well as the PC.

[colecampbell666]

We, the community have done sooooo much work to the FS2 engine (not me personally) that FS3 would mean starting from scratch on a new engine, and losing ll of the cool features we have. FS3 would not have all of the options on the launcher etc., as it would be made for ease of use. To boot, they probably wouldn't even consult the community (Derek Smart Incident). To tell the truth I'd rather play FSSCP for free than spend $100+ on FS3. And there is always a chance that FS3 would be done roughshod and horribly. FSSCP is made by people for people, so it has more care taken. FS3 would most likely be about the money.

[eagles629]

If it is about money than V would just use the engine that was already made by us, like you said it is what was made is what we wanted, but they could amp it up more than we could, and they could also offer servers for online play. Getting a developer IS NOT ABOUT FS3 IT IS ABOUT WHAT IS BEYOND THAT.

[colecampbell666]

I know you are like WTF! FS1&2 were AWESOME!!! Where is FS3?!?!?! And you want to make it. But a simple forum search would get you all of the reasons why it won't happen. Some developer might try to ressurect FS2 and get higher sales, but there is not much of a likelihood of this.

This has been dragged through the dirt so much, mods - please lock the thread.

Although this thread has much more detail and reasoning than the other "Why there will never be an FS3" Thread, so maybe use it as a replacement.

We have servers.

[colecampbell666]

If it is about money than V would just use the engine that was already made by us, like you said it is what was made is what we wanted, but they could amp it up more than we could, and they could also offer servers for online play. Getting a developer IS NOT ABOUT FS3 IT IS ABOUT WHAT IS BEYOND THAT.

but they could amp it up more than we could

Go look at some of the work that Bobbau or Lightspeed or any other graphics artist has done. The SCP graphics are top of the line, better than those of most games.

Getting a developer IS NOT ABOUT FS3 IT IS ABOUT WHAT IS BEYOND THAT

 

If it is about money than V would just use the engine that was already made by us

  made the engine.

I know that you are trying to fight for a good cause, but I think that you are ignoring reasoning. You haven't made a good argument, you are being a little rude, and you are starting to piss me off.

Don't take me as mean, but all of these things have been brought up before, and I am trying to save you from a massive flaming.

[colecampbell666]

Many mods, such as INF, would get much less attention and effort, as FS3 would contradict them. FS3 would nullify years of hard work, and wouldn't fit many peoples ideas and fantasies of FS3. Be content with what you have, play some great mods (and there are many) and maybe even help out a bit. Have fun and live with what you have.

[Snail]

Many mods, such as INF, would get much less attention and effort, as FS3 would contradict them. FS3 would nullify years of hard work, and wouldn't fit many peoples ideas and fantasies of FS3.

For me, that's one of the main reasons. The other is the fact that we have waited so long for FS3 and think so much of it that nothing anyone could develop would live up to some of our expectations. I think nearly all trilogies are like that.

[eagles629]

 Guys i understand and repsect what your saying about how much work has been put into this    and how FS3 would contradict it but your forgetting what the whole definition of what a mod is, it is an unofficial version of a story, it is out of the imagination of FS2 fans, and any developer would be wise to add parts of them into any game made, but just because we want one of our favourite mods to be the real story does not mean that a FS3 would be a bad thing. And as i have said, please, PLEASE look beyond FS3 to FS4-6, FS LIVE (MMO FS) and so much more that FS has the potential to become.

On the graphics front, i understand how the new engines will run and how beautiful the game will look, but who has updated the AI, or physics engines, i don't know if it has been done so correct me if it has , but personally i would love a Unreal Physics engine in FS.

On the Trilogy comment, WarCraft 3, Halo3, LOTOR 3, SW 3, and hundereds more, dont judge all trilogies by the bad few.

[G0atmaster]

a single person should get the story, a SINGLE person, and make a user-made campaign of it for the rest of us.  That would solve the "who would play it?" issue.

[eagles629]

A truly good idea :

[Shade]

What would be the point of a complex physics engine in space? There's nothing there except huge spaceships that aren't going to be moved by you no matter what you do. This isn't an FPS, even the smallest things you see are metres across and weigh several tons. Not to mention that in fact, a realistic physics engine would completely change the flight experience that helps make Freespace such a great game. Ever play Elite 2? That's what it would be like with real physics.

Regardless of that, the thing is, what you're suggesting is unrealistic at best. Game development is driven by money, and the last game did not make any. Notice that none of the games you mention as examples have ever had an outright sales failure. Warcraft? It sold in the millions. Halo? It sold in the millions. Freespace 2? It sold below 30.000 copies. Those are the numbers. The math for figuring out which spawned a franchise is pretty simple: High = Franchise, middle = Maybe a sequel to see if it was a fluke, and low = never to be seen again. Freespace 2 was way below low, it was so low it could almost have gotten better sales numbers if Volition's employees had spent 10 days going door-to-door selling them in person.

You have to realise that you simply can't compare a niche game like FS2 to the likes of Halo.

[Snail]

a single person should get the story, a SINGLE person, and make a user-made campaign of it for the rest of us.  That would solve the "who would play it?" issue.

Yes, but that would make the

What would the plotline be? - The various members of the community have their own viewpoints of where the FS3 plotline would go. Furthermore we've had several years to become convinced that our particular plotline is the best one. It would be very hard to persuade the community to rally around a single official storyline for FS3. In fact the only thing that the community would rally round would be an official plotline from [V] but they continue to play their cards very close to their chests. Without this the community tend to go by the motto that "If it isn't [V], it ain't FS3".

Issue FAR WORSE.

[eagles629]

I beg to differ, when the original HALO came out it the first six months it sold less than 20,000 copies because of what the censors allowed to be shown in commercials( trees and sunlight), but once it got out that it was the best thing since swiss cheese it sold millions. Also who remembers The Hobbit game? Not many because it sold less than 100,000 copies in the U.S even though it was LOTOR, and also the old cartoon LOTOR movies those did so horribly you got made fun of IF you watched them. So just because something did poorly in the past does not mean it will continue if it done again properly..

[Flipside]

There is another consideration as well, if FS3 came out in any form these days, what form would it take?

Personally, I think hopes that the new Wing Commander game, which is a top-down shooter, will somehow 'enliven' the Space-shooter genre is Pie-in-the-sky thinking, and I suspect that is FS3 came out nowadays, it would NOT be designed around the Space Shooter 'Elitists', the controls and interface would be weakened for the sake of 'accessability', and probably also for portability to console. Basically, and kind of FS3 would be an attempt to bring the Space-Shooter to the masses.

Do you mean the Text/Image Adventure 'Hobbit' on 8-Bit computers? Or has there been another one since?

[TrashMan]

Regardless of that, the thing is, what you're suggesting is unrealistic at best. Game development is driven by money, and the last game did not make any.

True...to a point.. Take Bioware for example - they made a few good games to gather money for a game they actually would want to make (Dragon Age) - Their world, their rules, their ideas, their story. Tehy said goodbay to restrictive rules imposed by specific settings (D&D) and greedy publishers (push the game sooner!)
So they're taking their sweet time and making a game they themselves would enjoy to play.. and I think it will be their best game ever.

Will there be FS3? There's allways hope - especially with the publicity some SCP mods are getting (and will get).

What can we do to help? Dunno...The best bet would be to go trough your friends and other forum contacts and spred the good word..let the news be heard ...links to SCP and screenies...stuff like that...who know, maby even get a few more popular sites to mention it...

[Shade]

it sold millions

So, it didn't do badly, did it? It just started slow.

Also who remembers The Hobbit game? Not many because it sold less than 100,000 copies in the U.S even though it was LoTR, and also the old cartoon LoTR movies those did so horribly you got made fun of IF you watched them

Yet, LoTR itself cannot be said to have done poorly. Even as these things happened, the book continued to sell... in the millions. It's one of the most sold books ever after the bible, and it continues to be to this day. Hardly a sales fiasco. Also, it is worth pointing out that the reason for the lack of popularity for the cartoons was that they sucked. Something doing poorly due to being poorly made isn't quite as disheartening to a prospective developer as something that does poorly for apparently no reason other than lack of interest. Another thing worth noting is that in 1982, 100.000 copies was a lot, so the Hobbit game actually did rather well.

Now, contrast the LoTR cartoons (hated by everyone and considered some of the worst crap ever produced) with Freespace 2. Freespace 2 was universally praised with top marks from every reviewer on the planet, and to this day has a place every time some magazine makes a "Top 100 greatest games" list. Yet, worldwide, it sold less than 30% of the copies that the Hobbit game managed in the US alone, in 1982. See what I mean about lack of quality versus lack of interest, here? When a publisher looks at the history of the Freespace games, and in fact the history of Spacesims in general, they see that they were great moneymakers once, but people don't want to play them anymore since no matter how good the games are, they Just. Don't. Sell.

And games that won't sell, won't get made. Maybe once, back when independant developers were the rule rather than the exception, someone might take such a chance, but not today. If one of the niche Spacesims that are still being made suddenly makes it big and sells millions, then Freespace might stand a chance as a commercial game as it would show publishers that there's interest in the genre. But not until then.

[Edit] Bloody hell, I can't spell.
[Edit again] But apparently, I can rhyme

[eagles629]

Little Late door bell

My point exactly, no one remembers the TWO hobbit games that came out on the XBOX, and it shows that with enough pressure more FS games can be made with good profits and it can still be a great game. Also people i again ask for you to look beyond FS3 to FS4-7 and FS Live (MMO FS).  

[eagles629]

i also believe that the in-depth of FS2 has to be given up for console accesibility,heres how it could work, triggers, prim and sec fire, bumpers, com and en managment, A,B,X,and Y buttons targeting controls, d-pad weapons mangement and afterburners.