[bahijal74]

TO ANYONE..PLEASE READ AND TAKE SERIOUS PLEASE JUST HUMOR ME AND KNOW I MEAN NO INSULT OR ATTACK JUST GIVE THIS A CHANCE. JUST ONE AT LEAST.

So...I have been spending the last few hours trying to figure out WHERE I want this topic.
Now I am putting this here to ask and find out something. What I am bringing up may make no sense to some and may even be in the wrong place.
here I go though: (grammar nazi's eat your heart out)

My name is Matt, known as obviously Bahijal74, I came to Hard Light Productions a year maybe two ago when i Got the game of my childhood, the one I remember never being able to find for years, on GOG.com. I still have yet to figure out how many days i was still smiling. You know what came next. Finding This community only took an extra 2 days. I played DFS: TGW over and over again..sometimes cheating for the hell of it sometimes being an actual gamer.

I never loved any other game more. I remember begging my dad to get FS2 in best buy back in 2000. it was the last copy i still remember how sad i was. I knew that game was good i felt it in my BONES. I always looked for it looked at every back end game shop hoping to find a cd.for almost 8 years I searched often as I could. That was my search. Now i Have this game.almost 2-3 years now. Ive been a small time part of this community (i read more than I post..causes me less harm lol) but Love it all the same. If the world of gaming turned their eyes to some of us, they would find IMMENSE talent. but if they took that from us, would we still be able to thrive?
Until recently I thought you had to have good hardware the right software to be one of the respected. I am not a great flyer..hell I have trouble on normal in most games. I am an animator without his computer. I can't draw unless its with a lot of work. I can program but only if I know where to start. I only know that I am here and welcomed because I love a game that is absolutely brilliant.
No.
 I love 3 games (if you count ST) that are BRILLIANT. and what I see now is talent..those who have it....and those who either do and can't use it...or who have no way they know o fto contribute to this place....I want to mod...but I can't fred i worked on it hard as i could..but I just can't get it down. I can animate  but not draw..i cant make new models even if i could my computer can't handle high res....and so on.

Until today..until i saw the new project Journey to Hiigara..I was about to become the many who just wait for the new things....I want to be a part. I may have nothing i can do but damnit.this community is about an OPEN SOURCE a PUBLIC game code. maybe its not enough to just put guides...
I see often now..and sadly see....how we take criticism soemtimes..myself included usually bout my grammar and spelling. Maybe we need that maybe we should...I don't know..but the community for this great  game has lessened somehow....Your welcome to yell at me..I want you to.
I want to be shown this community AS A WHOLE not just one or two or 50 veterans.
I want to be proven wrong by the COMMUNITY.
What wasyour search..waht made you love this game...before..during and after...and why are you a part of this community still...tell the world why your here what brought you here..
We are all a part of HLP.... Maybe it's time we introduced why and if we can't if YOU can't figure it out...maybe that should tell you something. We need to be more...no more waiting on dead projects or for someoen else to do it..but instead set something up just...more this place is dying.and i know many may disagree after all im a lowly guy..i have no obvious post count no special name..nothing fantastic..but I love thisplace..I love this game...And sometimes its the outsiders who have the best view of the inside.
NOW ON ANOTHER NOTE!
please for the community..no matter who you are let it be known...please:
I am a lowly gamer no post count barely enough skill to mod yet.

I went through all that for this game...My friend RIP MIKE brought up th eidea we could do something with it using the SCP. Until now I have been complacent about the promise to mod. We wanted to mod this game together and I intend to make something now.
This i smyy motivation for staying for doing this. I am an idiot about this stuff but yeah.
So 1.
What did you go through to get these games? Did it influence your life?
If it did how?
2.
What brought you too HLP. What was This place to you then?
and 3.
What do you see HLP as now? does it have  apart in your life or Do you just stay for the mods? or ANYTHING?

Please.....I make this to hope I can help some see what i see..

[General Battuta]

Go to the Forum Stats page.

Look at the member join rate and topic post rate. We had more new members join last month than we have had since 2006. This is probably in no small part because of the release of three excellent campaigns.

Explain why you think it's dying again?

[NGTM-1R]

Man, we're gonna ration your ellipses starting right now.

[bahijal74]

Because How many people of all that are contributing to the experience o these games yes they are joining yes they are communicating but how many of them are like i seem. just around waiting and hey may as well join while I'm at. The feel of dying is from how until recently its been so...its hard to explain I'm sorry my vocabulary doesn't do it just..its...like..hmm maybe decaying would be better. I ran across a post by fury at one point..he brought up the fact that yes talent i s here....that you kusanagi an dother you are doing a lot to introduce people..it just seems like..there isn't enough of that. besides I'm curious to see why people are still here..why they feel like staying with HLP..is it the mods..the people or maybe they have forgotten. Tell me Battuta..before I am ABSOLUTELY murdered for this post and the entire HLP community.
Why do you stay. Spare no detail.. please let us all know whatever you can.
As you said partially, it isn't the only reason but its a major one if i am understanding "because of Three Excellent Campaigns."

Man, we're gonna ration your ellipses starting right now.

call me an idiot but that went STRAIGHT over my head.....

[Scourge of Ages]

I agree, this place is all sorts of awesome. I'm amazed by the sheer volume of creativeness in every corner.
Even the dead, dying, or comatose projects had a great deal in concepts at least.

The community in general is friendly and has a great sense of humor.

I keep hanging around to see what comes up next, or laugh at the next hilarious thread, and as inspiration to do some things of my own.

PS. I'm a self-proclaimed grammar nazi, but I've learned to forgive almost everything I see on the internet.
I do think your posts could benefit a great deal if you just slowed down when you type, or take a minute to read and redistribute spaces before hitting "post."

[bahijal74]

I agree, this place is all sorts of awesome. I'm amazed by the sheer volume of creativeness in every corner.
Even the dead, dying, or comatose projects had a great deal in concepts at least.

The community in general is friendly and has a great sense of humor.

I keep hanging around to see what comes up next, or laugh at the next hilarious thread, and as inspiration to do some things of my own.

PS. I'm a self-proclaimed grammar nazi, but I've learned to forgive almost everything I see on the internet.
I do think your posts could benefit a great deal if you just slowed down when you type, or take a minute to read and redistribute spaces before hitting "post."

True...but think about this.....if people do come to defend this place..if all came that could...what will that do for the community..would it make it stronger or weaker? I know this post will get me slaughtered...also..you missed the end questions i think...it also would be nice to know why do people join..why do they stay with this community over all this time. and what brought them here...i explained what happened with me didn't i?
also I did say I love HLP i really do I loev almost every person involved with this community that i have met. I dislike not one person. I just..thought this might be important..and i care enough to see if this is an actual problem. so far i see 3 people who care about the community to great degree

[General Battuta]

I explained above that I believe the spike in joins in August was due to War in Heaven, Wings of Dawn and Vassago's Dirge.

[Scotty]

Dude, use commas.  Or some other form of punctuation than ellipses (...).

Also, what Batts said.

[Scourge of Ages]

Naturally, I think that would make it stronger, I'm sure. Things this big only die when nobody is interested any more. More people=more interest by definition.

As to the other question... I was drawn here initally by the Fate of the Galaxy project, and then coaxed out into the open by Blue Planet. I can't speak for anyone else.

[bahijal74]

I explained above that I believe the spike in joins in August was due to War in Heaven, Wings of Dawn and Vassago's Dirge.

Exactly. I had a friend who sadly has passed who mentioned dthis place for its community though..for the chance to work with a great game that i love and learn to mod to do somehing cool. i have many reasons i'm still here.it isn't just the mods. so far though im glad to see your defending the place.It's a goo dthing to have.
lol i use ellipses whenever i stop thinking.

Naturally, I think that would make it stronger, I'm sure. Things this big only die when nobody is interested any more. More people=more interest by definition.

As to the other question... I was drawn here initally by the Fate of the Galaxy project, and then coaxed out into the open by Blue Planet. I can't speak for anyone else.

make any sense now? i won't point anything out until more people react to all of this.
lol thank you...so what made you decide to find freespace2 and did you just buy it form the shelf or did you have to wiat like me?
ok 5 people..

[karajorma]

I don't think the community is dying. If anything it's growing. We added 3 hosted projects this month alone and they aren't going to be the only additions this year I suspect.

From looking in the internals I can see that there are several of the big projects which are getting close to release. That's especially good when they are TCs as that draws people into the community who aren't FS fans yet (people like Scourge of Ages).

[bahijal74]

I don't think the community is dying. If anything it's growing. We added 3 hosted projects this month alone and they aren't going to be the only additions this year I suspect.

From looking in the internals I can see that there are several of the big projects which are getting close to release. That's especially good when they are TCs as that draws people into the community who aren't FS fans yet (people like Scourge of Ages).

good.
Now..i kidna also wnated to have it so people can explain a lot of things too.im gonan edit this up make it readable and also explain the other purpose of this post in about half an hour ok?)

[Scourge of Ages]

lol thank you...so what made you decide to find freespace2 and did you just buy it form the shelf or did you have to wiat like me?
ok 5 people..

Oh, I think I see what you're getting at... I don't know where I got FS1+ST originally, I think my dad got it for me. I played it and enjoyed it, because I was already an X-Wing fan, then I forgot about it. Much later I heard there was an FS2, and I got that on eBay, played it a few times and forgot about it. THEN I found FotG (and SoL), and by extension FSO. Played FS a few more times with MVPs and forgot about it again.
THEN I decided that I needed to try some of those mods that Turey's downloaded for me, and at the top of the list was BP. The version I was using was old and didn't work, so I was forced to come to the forum proper to hunt down updated everything, and I decided to stay.

[bahijal74]

lol thank you...so what made you decide to find freespace2 and did you just buy it form the shelf or did you have to wiat like me?
ok 5 people..

Oh, I think I see what you're getting at... I don't know where I got FS1+ST originally, I think my dad got it for me. I played it and enjoyed it, because I was already an X-Wing fan, then I forgot about it. Much later I heard there was an FS2, and I got that on eBay, played it a few times and forgot about it. THEN I found FotG (and SoL), and by extension FSO. Played FS a few more times with MVPs and forgot about it again.
THEN I decided that I needed to try some of those mods that Turey's downloaded for me, and at the top of the list was BP. The version I was using was old and didn't work, so I was forced to come to the forum proper to hunt down updated everything, and I decided to stay.

much better... And did it effect your life at all has it influenced you as a person.?

[Scourge of Ages]

much better... And did it effect your life at all has it influenced you as a person.?

In general, seeing what's been done and what's possible, it's boosted my creativity to a new high.

[bahijal74]

much better... And did it effect your life at all has it influenced you as a person.?

In general, seeing what's been done and what's possible, it's boosted my creativity to a new high.

I edite dmy post hope it helps people get a better sense of both purposes here.
ok and what was differant from how you thought about HLP then to how you think of it now?

[Shivan Hunter]

In response to the original topic (the topic seems to have rambled a bit).

Back in 2003 or 2004, or sometime around that, I got FS2 (having been a long-time player and horrible n00b FREDder of FS1). I started lurking at HLP, which added to the moderately long list of communities I lurked at. On the whole, HLP was one of the few that I continually came back to, because it was a modding community rather than just a gaming community. I've always admired how the community operates, as it generally seems to be more mature than the other communities I've visited (yes, even in the flamewars. Well, parts of them anyway).

I started making missions (and when I say missions, I mean half-formed, badly FREDded nonsense filled with ignorant technobabble and drivel). I suffered from classic noob syndrome, and I didn't actually start posting for a long time because I was convinced I was going to make an epic campaign and show up just like Blaise Russel did. I had this epic plan for a 60-mission campaign with new ships and an answer to all of FS2's unanswered questions. I never got past the third mission, but it did serve to show me some great ship mods to use.

I downloaded Truespace 3.2 near the beginning and stumbled through some of the older tutorials from Volition Watch and Karajorma's FAQ. I never really made it past the GTC Great Big Cube until recently, when I made a crappy turreted cargo container thing that's on FSMods, and a few other models I haven't finished. I'm planning on getting more into texturing than modeling, however.

As I was FREDding one of my failed projects, I logged on to HLP IRC to ask a question, and after getting to know a few people there, I posted in a SCP thread about the new sound code, and I've been posting ever since. I still need to make a campaign that I feel is good enough to release to the community, which, given my perfectionist/pseudo-OCD tendencies, might not be for a while.

Overall, HLP and its earlier contributions (I'll never forget the first time I played Derelict) is what inspired me to be interested in game modding in the first place.

Also, FS1 > FS2 trolololololololol

[EDIT] On the "community is dying" discussion in IRC that seems to be linked to this topic, I have only one thing to say: New releases.

3.6.12 (FSO and MVPs), Wings of Dawn (the first original universe TC created entirely by one MODder- a true milestone), War in Heaven (an extremely immersive storytelling experience unparalleled by any other fan-made campaign, and in some respects the originals themselves), and Vassago's Dirge (a unique minicampaign with a compelling story and interesting gameplay aspects by a FREDding veteran).

If that's not progress, I don't know what is.

[bahijal74]

EXACTLY!

[Firartix]

I searched "Free Space Game" on Google and found a "FreeSpace 2" page on the ubuntu french doc wiki
So i downloaded it (thinking it was complete free, as i was only looking at this wiki :s) along with FSPort and STR. Then played em in the right order. Of course it was great.
At the end of the page, it kindda said "Moar on hard-light.net !" so obviously i clicked.... and there i am.

I don't quite recall what it looked when i joined, even though that's just 10 months ago. Something like a bunch of veteran talking on modding forums with crazy coders at the next door.

As for why i'm still here...... well there's coolz stuff, and i just can't get to stop playing FS, and i found out that replaying missions in a loop on Insane is a good way to improve your piloting skills >_>
Plus, that's several months i'm waiting for Wings & Diaspora 
And now for a sequel to Blueplanet and WoD too >_< damn you HLP!

Now about the 3rd question... i don't think i'm personally tied much to the HLP Board itself, i don't quite like forums actually. But no matter what happen to HLP, i'll stay onto the IRC channels - as i always was and will be some kind of IRC maniac >_>

Finally about influencing life i guess uh.....
i spent hours of retrying stuff, hours of reading posts, hours of trying to understand partial stuff in the source code (made me understand better how much complicated games and all the events and 'realtimes' check they involve too), hours of spitting nonsense on the forum and IRC, and finally, days of reading tvtropes because of The E.
Not to mention how i rose from a total-uber-noob (Dying on Very Easy FTW) to what i guess is medium-good player (Succeeding on some missions on Insane)

On a side note, you might have seen that i now make ultra extensive use of the D: smiley - which i discovered on HLP's IRC Channel too XD

So i guess FS kindda influenced me a lot >_>

[bahijal74]

I searched "Free Space Game" on Google and found a "FreeSpace 2" page on the ubuntu french doc wiki
So i downloaded it (thinking it was complete free, as i was only looking at this wiki :s) along with FSPort and STR. Then played em in the right order. Of course it was great.
At the end of the page, it kindda said "Moar on hard-light.net !" so obviously i clicked.... and there i am.

I don't quite recall what it looked when i joined, even though that's just 10 months ago. Something like a bunch of veteran talking on modding forums with crazy coders at the next door.

As for why i'm still here...... well there's coolz stuff, and i just can't get to stop playing FS, and i found out that replaying missions in a loop on Insane is a good way to improve your piloting skills >_>
Plus, that's several months i'm waiting for Wings & Diaspora 
And now for a sequel to Blueplanet and WoD too >_< damn you HLP!

Now about the 3rd question... i don't think i'm personally tied much to the HLP Board itself, i don't quite like forums actually. But no matter what happen to HLP, i'll stay onto the IRC channels - as i always was and will be some kind of IRC maniac >_>

Finally about influencing life i guess uh.....
i spent hours of retrying stuff, hours of reading posts, hours of trying to understand partial stuff in the source code (made me understand better how much complicated games and all the events and 'realtimes' check they involve too), hours of spitting nonsense on the forum and IRC, and finally, days of reading tvtropes because of The E.
Not to mention how i rose from a total-uber-noob (Dying on Very Easy FTW) to what i guess is medium-good player (Succeeding on some missions on Insane)

On a side note, you might have seen that i now make ultra extensive use of the D: smiley - which i discovered on HLP's IRC Channel too XD

So i guess FS kindda influenced me a lot >_>

i still die on very easy....and ive been playing 2-3 years