[General Battuta]

Who cares? The point is that he's happy with people taking multiple approaches - that way everyone can find a campaign they like. We wouldn't all want to play the same style over and over again.

[headdie]

Firstly i seriously hope the answers have been put on the wiki.

secondly there is a lot of attention on the star's collapse creating the node, how about the saths drain the star of its energy to create the node/supernode and in draining the energy from the star causes the collapse/supernova

[Admiral Nelson]

The true face of Terran Command:

[Raiden]

This is mental, thanks Battuta. I always did like the notion of the Shivans motives involving their trying to return home. I preferred to think that the Sathanas fleet was the only Shivan presence in our galaxy/observable universe/dimension who were somehow trapped here. Although this never really explained their genocidal tendencies but I just put that down to incomphrensible behaviour from imcomphrensible beings.

[Macielos]

A very interesting interview. That's good that someone in Volition still remembers about Freespace and its community . We didn't find out anything special, all this facts about Bosch and the Shivans were in some way discussed on HLP or other forums about Freespace. But I must say that (paradoxically) that I'm glad there'll be no Freespace 3 in foreseeable future. Firstly because Freespace 3 would probably be a copy of what we've already seen in Inferno, Blue Planet and other mods - reestablishing contact with Earth and another return of the Shivans - and then a counter offensive of the GTVA and attack on the Shivan home systems. And secondly - because Freespace 3 would stroke out a lot of campaigns, a lot of alternative stories of Post-Capella. It's a big advantage of Freespace 2 that there will always be a space for fan-made sequels of the FS2 storyline. And I can't see the point of changing that.

[Infamus]

So basically the Shivans are tasked with building the Galactic Autobahn and the GTVA is getting the short stick of eminent domain so they can put in a subspace bypass? 

Everyone grab your towel.

I present you with One Free Internet.

[BengalTiger]

So basically the Shivans are tasked with building the Galactic Autobahn and the GTVA is getting the short stick of eminent domain so they can put in a subspace bypass? 

Everyone grab your towel.

I present you with One Free Internet.

Why only 1, and not 42?

[0rph3u5]

Horray! My campaigns might violate the official plot-dimension!

The Old World is not dead however....

----

Anyhow, great job Battuta...

[ssmit132]

The true face of Terran Command:

He doesn't actually look that different. Sure he has hair, but still.

[Admiral Nelson]

Here is a current sample of his voice.

[Mongoose]

Man, he sounds so smooth and soothing there.  It's kind of hilarious to picture Command's lines in that tone.

[Hades]

We can't stop here, this is Shivantown!

[Jadehawk]

OK,  said The Lucifer Fleet was "A" scouting Party. Which to me means one of "THEM" So there could be more than one Scouting party of other Lucifer Fleets out there? Space is a BIG back Yard....So I'm guessing there should be more of these Scouting parties out there.   

I would vision FS3 to be the GTVA building up and amassing a huge fleet after they reestablished contact with Earth and Earth it's self held a partial secret as Key in defeating the Shivans. A Mini SOC campaign (with old Snipes of course in charge) making the first intrusion into the inner Shivan Space and eventually discovering the Shivan Homeworld.  You know what happens after that 
 

[General Battuta]

OK,  said The Lucifer Fleet was "A" scouting Party. Which to me means one of "THEM" So there could be more than one Scouting party of other Lucifer Fleets out there? Space is a BIG back Yard....So I'm guessing there should be more of these Scouting parties out there.   

I would vision FS3 to be the GTVA building up and amassing a huge fleet after they reestablished contact with Earth and Earth it's self held a partial secret as Key in defeating the Shivans. A Mini SOC campaign (with old Snipes of course in charge) making the first intrusion into the inner Shivan Space and eventually discovering the Shivan Homeworld.  You know what happens after that 

we all die?

[Thaeris]

The true face of Terran Command:

I think someone needs to make a head .ani out of that image...

[NGTM-1R]

OK,  said The Lucifer Fleet was "A" scouting Party.

I still don't really buy that. The way he words it is permissive, and of the two missions he assigns one of them is by no stretch of the imagination scout work but implies a fair amount of combat power simply to accomplish it in a timely manner.

I do note that this does seem to kill the idea these were not different groups of Shivans.

[BlueFlames]

we all die?

That's where I always saw FreeSpace going.  Beating the Lucifer was a hollow victory, given the loss of Vasuda Prime and the only subspace link to Sol.  The Sathanas fleet pretty well had its way with Capella, despite the best efforts of both the Terrans and Vasudans.  Opening a subspace expressway to the Shivan homeworld seems like recipe for disaster.  Presuming the capability to attack the Shivans in their home seems like the kind of hubris that got the GTVA into a pinch time and again.

Even if the GTVA were to forego an attack, though, it seems as though the Shivans have enough assets around Allied space to stamp out the last vestiges of Terran and Vasudan resistance, even without the aforementioned expressway to Shivantown.  That's the premise I was operating on, as I outlined the story arc for Bounded:  The GTVA is boxed in, but they just don't realize it.

To me, the happiest of all possible endings for the FreeSpace franchise would be to have the Shivans go stompy-stompy-smash-smash before the Sol node can be restabilized.  If the Delta Serpentis -> Sol node remains sealed, then humanity continues to exist, in a safe haven, beyond the reach of the Shivans.  If that node is reopened, before the Shivans make their final assault on the GTVA, then there is nowhere for anyone to hide.

Leaving the node sealed rather demands a distant-future becoming-the-enemy story, though....  A few billion years down the road, Terrans undergo a last-ditch effort to utilize the death of Sol to escape their star system's natural end.  Beautiful and terrifying symmetry.

More to the point of the thread, though, excellent job securing the interview Battuta.  A community this size, centered about a game this old, getting the time of day from a developer would be impressive.  That you sat someone down, and he was willing to invest the time to give proper, thought-out answers is quite heartening indeed.  The other side of the coin is that the openness regarding details of the planned FreeSpace 3 arc is rather telling of what they think the chances of FS3 ever being made are.  You don't spoil the major events of a game you are making or expect to make.

Still, my thanks to Battuta for performing the interview, and to Volition both for indulging the community's questions and making the best damn space sims ever.

[NGTM-1R]

Unfortunately, Shivans Fall Everyone Dies makes for poor game at best. FS3 would never have gone there.

[SypheDMar]

But I must say that (paradoxically) that I'm glad there'll be no Freespace 3 in foreseeable future. Firstly because Freespace 3 would probably be a copy of what we've already seen in Inferno, Blue Planet and other mods - reestablishing contact with Earth and another return of the Shivans - and then a counter offensive of the GTVA and attack on the Shivan home systems. And secondly - because Freespace 3 would stroke out a lot of campaigns, a lot of alternative stories of Post-Capella. It's a big advantage of Freespace 2 that there will always be a space for fan-made sequels of the FS2 storyline. And I can't see the point of changing that.

... Lame.

[Goober5000]

POSTING IN EPIC THREAD (and moving it to Interviews)

This is pretty awesome.   Thanks Battuta for conducting the interview!

(And I think it's hilarious that Command's actual name is Roger. )