[General Battuta]

No, I really don't think I did.  'My favorite vacation was the time I pushed us all off the Burj Khalifa! Except the part when we fell~'

[Goober5000]

That's a bad analogy.  A better one would be "I took us out walking on the Grand Canyon Skywalk, except maintenance had taken out the glass floor and didn't tell anyone".

But even that doesn't quite work, because Gamespy eventually fixed their backup and everything was restored.  So there was no permanent damage, just a month of inconvenience.

[Unknown Target]

SCENE. INT. Conference Room, third level, fourth wing of General Discussion. Night.

A lone figure casually leans against a long table. A mixture of digital displays and glass windows caress his occipital lobe with information as a starscape careens in the space beyond his windows, and the displays hum a muted tally of symbols; words to a speech, perhaps? A flick of sound and a small flame bursts into being. The individual's face is indistinct, but his voice is soothing, low, and knowledgeable as it pipes through our heads in voice-over.

Stranger: Thirteen years...

We follow the stranger's gaze outside, 'till the stars fill our world. Passing through a windoow, we step into the icy cold of the night beyond, drifting lazily down towards the base of a small pyramid, built into the station's hull.

Stranger: Wasn't too long ago half this place was ash...now you can see it burn from a thousand light years away.

Drifting past the glittering landscape of stars, we settle into one of the valleys below. We are moving forward now, a lone yellow light at the end of the trench, blotted out against the blackness around it. Sheet-white bulkheads, decorated with bolded numbers and kanji lay flat against the sunlight, and windows filled with people drift past us. The yellow light grows closer and turns to a window, then, a room - and then beyond that, Setekh, addressing a crowd of people. He begins.

Setekh: Thirteen years ago today, two guys - one from the UK and one from Australia - decided to launch a new community site for the game they loved...

Setekh pauses to smile and look across the room. We cut to a view just behind his head. Arrayed in front of him are a mixture of faces - old and new. Family, friends, lovers, adventurers and explorers. In the back are the mercs, pausing in their strides to pay their respects, and then beyond that, the hustle and bustle of Hard Light Station. As we pass above the crowd, we drift to a black. Across the screen, words in a faint and subtle steel-grey font wish us a Happy Birthday, before fading to darkness.

[headdie]

wow

[Lorric]

*awesomeness*

Where did you pull that out from?

Also, why Hard Light for the name of this place? Does anyone know? Are you still around, Setekh?

[Shivan Hunter]

Has something to do with the "hard light" effect (as opposed to "soft light") in renders. I admit I don't really know the technical difference between them, but back when HLP was first starting, tons of the people here did renders.

It's funny to think... they looked much better than game screenshots at the time, but I'd probably be blown away by how much better the current engine and assets look. Digging some of them up and recreating them in-engine would probably be a great tribute to FSU.

[Lorric]

Thanks for that Shivan Hunter.

[Setekh]

SCENE. INT. Conference Room, third level, fourth wing of General Discussion. Night.

Wowsers, UT. Way to tug on the heartstrings. Now all it needs is a rousing orchestral soundtrack and I'll be in tears!

Has something to do with the "hard light" effect (as opposed to "soft light") in renders.

That meaning may have been retconned in the past couple of years, but as I recall it was actually a reference to the British TV series Red Dwarf (remember, Thunder/Kal/Fineus is from the UK). Hard light projectors were holograms that could be physically touched (hence they were literally "hard" light). They symbolised the idea of taking something imaginary and making it real. And that's what modding is all about: starting from a concept and then working until you create something that you could experience in the game. Every mod and campaign made by a fan is, in a sense, a "hard light production".

Well, that's what I remember anyhow. It's been a while.

[Wobble73]

That meaning may have been retconned in the past couple of years, but as I recall it was actually a reference to the British TV series Red Dwarf (remember, Thunder/Kal/Fineus is from the UK). Hard light projectors were holograms that could be physically touched (hence they were literally "hard" light). They symbolised the idea of taking something imaginary and making it real. And that's what modding is all about: starting from a concept and then working until you create something that you could experience in the game. Every mod and campaign made by a fan is, in a sense, a "hard light production".

Well, that's what I remember anyhow. It's been a while.

That's the explanation I remember, Red Dwarf's Rimmer, but Red Dwarf took the idea form Star Trek Next Gen's Hologram's and Holodecks I believe!

[headdie]

ahhhh so it was the red dwarf explanation then

[Goober5000]

*awesomeness*

Where did you pull that out from?

Unknown Target wrote the HLP Movie as well as its sequel.

[Mobius]

in be4 thread goes to Classics

[QuantumDelta]

Firstly... happy birthday HLP, we've had some great times, I might be a little late but eh ;D
Secondly!

I've no pedigree to throw my hat into the ring, but I do want to offer a great big THANK YOU to all of the old timers that helped make this community possible for me to leech off of.   

I wish I could offer something in recompense, but you all do have my gratitude.  This has been a great haven in the midst of otherwise chaotic lives.  Happy Birthday HLP!

You've posted quite a lot here, you have therefore contributed, even if it doesn't feel like a 'lot' - you're here, being part of the community. That's a part of what Setekh is talkin' about

[An4ximandros]

in be4 thread goes to Classics

Implying this thread has class.

[Ghostavo]

Your favorite act of trolling was the time you ****ed up and deleted the boards?

Well, I

You know that Goober hates us all, right? 

[Lt.Cannonfodder]

Oh wow. This place is that old? I'M THAT OLD?!

Awesome.

[Colonol Dekker]

I've been here for 12/13 years on and off, as JK47, LOA--JK47, Colonol Dekker, and now Dekker.

Hard-Light has been going since I was in secondary school'ish...

[perihelion]

Firstly... happy birthday HLP, we've had some great times, I might be a little late but eh ;D
Secondly!

I've no pedigree to throw my hat into the ring, but I do want to offer a great big THANK YOU to all of the old timers that helped make this community possible for me to leech off of.   

I wish I could offer something in recompense, but you all do have my gratitude.  This has been a great haven in the midst of otherwise chaotic lives.  Happy Birthday HLP!

You've posted quite a lot here, you have therefore contributed, even if it doesn't feel like a 'lot' - you're here, being part of the community. That's a part of what Setekh is talkin' about

[blushes]  I appreciate the kind words.  Yet another example of what makes this place unique.

[bigchunk1]

HLP is awesome. That's all I really got to say.

[Dilmah G]

Toasting some epic bread.

Been here for about 6 years officially, active for almost 5 of them. Serious hit of the feels right now. Pity I missed the time of the old greats. One day I'll reinstall Freespace and play through the whole campaign...