Author Topic: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!  (Read 71057 times)

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Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
Discussion began at: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,63042.msg1245334.html#msg1245334

Firstly, I'd like to thank Starlord for "keeping the faith" and floating me an email about all of this.  :yes:

And now, down to business...

A couple of years ago FS2H pretty much died. While there are a myriad of reasons for this, it is sufficient to say that the creator was hit with a lot of personal tragedy, and the mod was no longer a priority. In recent months I conveyed interest in reviving it, and with (some of) Devrous' passwords and old back-up discs I found the bulk of the mod still intact.

I've always loved Freespace, and I played the hell outta FS2. Likewise, I was one of many many MANY Halo fanatics. It seems only natural to pursue the potential of the Halo universe in regards to space combat. Also, there is a lot of "wiggle room" in the Halo storyline for lots and lots of space adventures, battles, and heroic acts. I hope you all join me in agreeing that this mod deserves another chance.

I believe Devrous had a good idea, but simply not enough time to bring it to completion. What I'd like to do is make this mod as open as possible. This will save time and allow for more diverse expertise. As it stands now, the mod only needs the following to be ready to go:

1. Updated models/textures. As of now, most of the models are still low-medium poly. This won't be a problem if we compensate with good textures. I'd like for anyone good with textures and willing to lend their talent to join us.

2. Missions. There are a smattering of half-done, trail, and/or tester missions done, and a storyline has already been written. If anyone out there is good at mission logic and wants to help just say so. I'd like several, if not many, people to create missions for this mod over it's life.

3. Interface. The main menu is complete, but the rest are the same-old FS2 menus. Anyone who's done interface work...we could use you.

Most of the sounds and music are done, and Devrous did a pretty good job in balancing the weapons and ships from what I can tell.

Also, in the end we'll need a place to park this mod. Anyone who knows how to compress it down so it isn't a gig PLEASE let me know how to do that. And if anyone would be willing to host it or know of a good place to go grab some space for a fair price let me know.

Lastly, I'd need an Admin to revive whatever is left of the original forum (if anything) or at least speak with me about where we should go from here.

Anyone who's interested in helping with this mod write a reply or send me a message. And if anyone has any opinions or questions feel free to post those too. I hope there is still some interest out there for this to come back to life.

Causality

 
 

Offline SPARTAN-367

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
I'm up for it but I don't know how to do anything, haha except maybe testing stuff.
- SPARTAN-367 (PAT)

Without Knowledge, Skill cannot be focused. Without Skill, Strength cannot be brought to bear and without Strength, Knowledge may not be applied.

"TROOPERS we are GREEN, and very very MEAN!"

 

Offline karajorma

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
Lastly, I'd need an Admin to revive whatever is left of the original forum (if anything) or at least speak with me about where we should go from here.

I've notified the other admins about your desire to revive this.
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

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Offline wistler

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
I'd like to help out with missions as a FREDder and such if you'd be interested.

 

Offline SPARTAN-367

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
I can do voice acting for sure, I did others here.

Also we have to model the Spirit of Fire.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/7/79/UNSC_Spirit_of_Fire_(CFV-88).png
- SPARTAN-367 (PAT)

Without Knowledge, Skill cannot be focused. Without Skill, Strength cannot be brought to bear and without Strength, Knowledge may not be applied.

"TROOPERS we are GREEN, and very very MEAN!"

 
Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
Thank you, karajorma  :yes:

And yes, 367, we definitely need to grab all the new content from Halo Wars. And it will serve two purposes, really; Devrous had a mission where the pilot found an old colony ship, and the Spirit of Fire is basically a refit colony ship converted into a carrier.

@Wistler: I'll get you some details ASAP.

 

Offline Getter Robo G

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
If he's the new DEV how about simply taking over the existing forum archive on HLP? Most of the relevant stickies shuuld be there.

Like (What we need now) threads...
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Offline Mobius

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
I really like this potential revival. :) It was sad when Devrous disappeared...

What's left to be done, exactly? As far as I know many models and textures are ready. :)
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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
FS2H Status

Regarding the mod's status, a lot of the "framework" is done. Devrous made a majority of the content originally planned, only missing a few things stopping it from going out to the public.

Models

Completed:
  • 48 Human Vessels/Structures
  • 10 Covenant Vessels
  • 3 Forerunner Vessels
  • 1 Planet Model
  • 1 Halo Model

Still need:

3 Human Ships
  • "Bumblebee" Escape Pod (As seen in Halo 1)
  • Luxury Liner
  • Colony Ship/"Spirit of Fire" Carrier (Same model for both; see Halo Wars)

1 Covenant Vessel
  • Covenant Base Ship/"High Charity"

Textures

Only a handful of the ships are completed to a level satisfactory for final design. Most of the ships have default texturing so that they can be used in missions for testing. Also, none of them are texture-mapped. All of them were paint-brushed in TrueSpace, so they don't look up to par with even the original Freespace game in terms of detail. While what is present will suffice for now, it could look a LOT better. This mod could really use a dedicated texture junkie  ;) Or, barring that, some detailed paint-brushing at the minimum.

The ones that are done are pretty nice, including blinking running lights and all. For example:



Mechanics/Tables

The tables are completed and the game doesn't crash because of any error in them. So far as I can tell, the game mechanics are balanced to what Devrous envisioned the game to work like. Covenant ships are FAR superior, and it shows if you throw them into a mission. The only thing left is something he had a lot of trouble coming to a decision on: ship speeds. As Devrous juiced-up the fighters and capital ships to go the kinds of speeds the games/books portray he ran into a big problem; dog fighting was near impossible, ballistic weapons like ship-mounted machine guns couldn't hit other fighters, and missiles had to be given speeds that made them impossible to shoot down or dodge/defend against. He tried making the afterburners insanely fast but normal operating speeds low, but the AI would just hit the afterburners all the time and zip around like bees. While it is hilarious to watch, it made the fighting impractical and tedious -- the opposite of fun. In the end he settled down with speeds nearer to the original Freespace games. It's still a sort of "todo" item, but in the end we may just stick with what we know works and just have to make it a part of the game that remains not "true to form."

Interface/Effects

The Main Menu is impressive. Sadly, he didn't leave any notes on how he made it, only leaving a single line under his explanation: "Tricky and hard as hell to perfect." In the end he decided that, other than the Main Menu, all menus and interface elements would remain the same as the original Freespace 2 menus, only they should be blue and maybe have an effect applied to them This won't take very long to complete. Once one menu is done satisfactorily I'll just run all the interface files through a batch conversion process to make them the same color/effect.

Several effects were redone by Devrous, and I doubt we'll need any more than what he already changed. The warp-in animation has been altered and it looks pretty bad@#$. I'll post them later after I hunt down the files.

Missions

This is the area that is most hurt. There are virtually no completed missions; just a smattering of test missions and ideas that never panned out. Wistler has already stepped up to the plate and I'll be getting as much info to him as I can ASAP. Hopefully we can put our heads together and come up with something unique for everyone instead of a ton of boilerplate mission types. Also, Devrous had an ambitious plan in regards to how the flow of a campaign will work. For now, I'll keep it a secret between myself and Wistler. It promises to be unique and engaging...  ;7

Music/Sounds/Voice

Devrous and a few others wrote a few tunes for the mod, and even started modifying the original score from the Halo games to make them more "spacey." If anyone wants to add some they are more than welcome. I'll be sure to give credit where it's due in the Credits. The game sounds are pretty much done; he modified a lot fo the defauls game sounds and added a few interesting ones.

Voice acting was apparently made, but the files Devrous had for them have been lost. I've been told that the guy that processed them and recorded them should still have the originals. These voices only cover the generic pilot sounds such as "Attacking your target, sir" and "AAAAHHHH!!!" We will eventually need more voice acting for the tech room and missions, and a few have already volunteered (i.e. Spartan-367). I'll ask for more later after we get more missions done.

Conclusion

Some of these items will not need attention in order to put the game out for testing, but they are the bar I'm setting for whoever ends up on the FS2H Team. Anyone who wishes to contribute may do so, even if it's as simple as brainstorming mission ideas or coming up with character names for the storyline. Anyone who feels that they could help are more than welcomed.

Current FS2H Team (June 7, 2009)
FREDer: Wistler
Voice Acting: Spartan-367
Misc/Fanboy: Starlord  :D
Lead/Everything Else For the Moment: Causality

 

Offline tinfoil

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
Do you guys need testing, grammar or storyline people? If you do I'd be willing to help out.
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Offline SPARTAN-367

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
we definetly need a Fighter, that Longsword is just a bomber.

Aren't Pelicans for air transportation not space?
- SPARTAN-367 (PAT)

Without Knowledge, Skill cannot be focused. Without Skill, Strength cannot be brought to bear and without Strength, Knowledge may not be applied.

"TROOPERS we are GREEN, and very very MEAN!"

 
Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
No, Pelicans are space-capable.  Although they aren't of much use in space combat.
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Offline General Battuta

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
Longswords are fighters. Thus why they're introduced as 'Longsword fighters'.

 

Offline SPARTAN-367

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
ok just making sure because I'm clueless to the fighters or bombers and pelican abilities in Halo since not much is mentioned about them.
- SPARTAN-367 (PAT)

Without Knowledge, Skill cannot be focused. Without Skill, Strength cannot be brought to bear and without Strength, Knowledge may not be applied.

"TROOPERS we are GREEN, and very very MEAN!"

 

Offline Dilmah G

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
I can do voice acting for sure, I did others here.

Also we have to model the Spirit of Fire.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/7/79/UNSC_Spirit_of_Fire_(CFV-88).png

That thing is BEAST.

 

Offline Droid803

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
I can do voice acting for sure, I did others here.

Also we have to model the Spirit of Fire.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/7/79/UNSC_Spirit_of_Fire_(CFV-88).png

That thing is BEAST.
Agreed. Looks awesome.
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Offline starlord

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
Ah, here you are causality.

Thanks for posting and welcome to the HLP. :D

Besides, I know devrous had a definite campaign outline planned regarding FS2H. I think it's still in the FS wiki:

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Halo_for_Freespace
« Last Edit: June 11, 2009, 02:06:53 am by starlord »

 

Offline wistler

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
I think thats as close to fame as I'm ever going to get   :p

@Causality: Feel free to PM me any information about the missions or the story and I'll be more then glad to go over them and see the sort of ideas that have been played around with.

I can also forward you my email if that would be easier.

 

Offline Mobius

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Re: Freespace 2 Halo - Let's revive it and finish it!
Any news from the administrators? :)
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Inferno: Nostos - Alliance
Series Resurrecta: {{FS Wiki Portal}} -  Gehenna's Gate - The Spirit of Ptah - Serendipity (WIP) - <REDACTED> (WIP)
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A tribute to FreeSpace in my book: Riflessioni dall'Infinito