[jg18]

I happen to be an intern this summer at Cisco, the largest networking company on the planet. It occurred to me that this is probably a good place to go looking for someone to work on the netcode, which I know is high on Diaspora's wish list and other TCs' as well. I can even try to encourage people using an offer for a GOG gift certificate for FS2, if that'd help.

The problem is that I can't go asking until R1 is released, both because of the first and second rules about Diaspora but also because -- let's face it -- asking someone to work on a heavily patched codebase from 1999 is, on its own, a bit of a hard sell. Having a game that I can point them to would help a lot.

So in case you needed more motivation to release, here's one more thing!

[MatthTheGeek]

What prevents you to show the ****ton of other non-Diaspora-related videos/screenshots/whatever that have been present around for that past dozen years ? If you want him to work on FSO, get him interested in FSO, not in some random mod.

[jg18]

...let's face it -- asking someone to work on a heavily patched codebase from 1999 is, on its own, a bit of a hard sell.

And with "a bit of", I might have been generous.

People are unlikely to jump at the chance of working on the FSO netcode, ignoring TCs, unless they're already fans of FS2 or maybe space combat games in general. Now, perhaps such people exist where I work, but given that looking for netcoders takes place in my limited free time, looking for such people doesn't seem like a promising return on my time investment. Keep in mind that the requested upgrades haven't happened in 10 years.

On the other hand, there's a decent chance there are BSG fans there, and those might be easier to persuade to do it.

[newman]

Well, it shouldn't be long at all before you have something to lure them in with.. 

[Madcat]

Well, it shouldn't be long at all before you have something to lure them in with.. 

This is relevant to my interests.

[Rodo]

say what?

[headdie]

so why would Diaspora's release make any difference?

[newman]

Reading both jg18's posts may provide a clue about his reasoning.

[karajorma]

As far as outsiders are concerned, trying to attract people to unreleased games/mods, ones dependant on a 12 year old game that they can't download for free, or TC's which haven't been updated in years is not going to be easy. Diaspora having released (or WCS having had multiplayer for that matter) would make the idea of coding for the project hugely more attractive.

[jg18]

To be more concrete about what I mean by "a bit of a hard sell", here's what happened when I brought up the subject with another intern:

Code: [Select]

  <jg18> heh, just occurred to me that the programming project I work on (for the FreeSpace 2 Open game engine) is badly in need of people to upgrade the engine's client/server code used in multiplayer
  <jg18> if I'm an intern at a major networking company (to put it mildly)... maybe I should go into recruitment mode
<intern> haha, true, the world's largest
  <jg18> I suspect the coding task involved is not mind numbingly difficult (except for having to deal with an engine from 1999 that's been heavily patched for the last 10 years), just that no one around really knows how to do it
<intern> "engine from 1999 that's been heavily patched for the last 10 years" - that sounds messy :P
  <jg18> I wasn't going to outright say spaghetti code :P
<intern> haha
  <jg18> not upfront, anyway
  <jg18> that aspect might be more of a challenge than the actual netcode
<intern> Yeah, I bet. Patched codebases are pretty difficult to maneuver through usually.


And even after R1 is released, finding someone willing to work on it is still a long shot. But it's worth a try.

[karajorma]

That sort of exchange highlights exactly why I want to point any new coders we get as a result of the Diaspora launch at wxLauncher first. Once they're interested and submitting code we can worry about getting them used to the FS2_Open codebase.

Maybe you could try the same? wxLauncher is supposed to be capable of downloading mods etc and it might be a nicer introduction than something as messy as the FS2_Open code.

[jg18]

Yeah, it's also worth asking about wxL. Thanks for bringing it up.

[Eli2]

I think switching to enet could resolve some of the issues with the current netcode.
http://enet.bespin.org/Features.html