[DefCynodont119]

Too bad.

I mean, like- I wouldn't say that a sale for the game that this forum is dedicated to is like, a bad thing. . . .

I got FS2 from GoG after my dad saw me play SSZ and he suddenly remembered that Freespace was a thing and he looked it up and found FS2 on GoG.

[Nightmare]

Sure, but saying "OK, get this 20 y/o game you probably never heard of, then come back to use the cool stuff we made here" isn't as exciting as providing the entire overhauled game files for free, so instead of FS2 base + MVP + FSPort you'd some FSComplete that you can get with 1 click.

[DefCynodont119]

Isn't that exactly what Knossos is?  (Aside from the main game of course)

[Nightmare]

Well it is the 2nd best solution.

[jr2]

Sure, but saying "OK, get this 20 y/o game you probably never heard of, then come back to use the cool stuff we made here" isn't as exciting as providing the entire overhauled game files for free, so instead of FS2 base + MVP + FSPort you'd some FSComplete that you can get with 1 click.

Back when we used to *ahem* acquire FS2, hip63 made the FreeSpace SCP DVD, as well as The Babylon Project DVD (as TBP was pretty large in its own right).  It was a one-click installer with a legit spalsh screen and the works, just like any AAA game from back then.  'twas schweet!

[Nightmare]

Unfortunately that's only possible with TBP these days.

[jr2]

Unfortunately that's only possible with TBP these days.

Nah, you could do it with FreeSpace as well, you'd just have Knossos do its thing from the DVD and ask for the retail data.  It's completely possible should the coders decide to do so, though I'm not sure why they would (perhaps for those with no Interwebs access or dial-up?).

[Nightmare]

Oh, was the SCP DVD w/o the original game files then?

[Mongoose]

I can't imagine a world where the game only being available from a relatively-obscure fan site or barely-alive torrents is preferable to it being available from multiple mainstream digital game retailers, one of which is literally giving it away right now.  I remember those dark days.  None of us want to go anywhere near them again.

Also I'm not sure when the thread of this conversation switched from "regretting spending money on Silent Threat" to "regretting spending money on FS2."

[Nightmare]

Heh I just said that it's more difficult to promote mods for a 20 y/o game when you have to go somewhere else to buy it first.

[Mongoose]

I'd say the exact opposite is true: how can we promote mods if people don't know that the game exists in the first place?

[Nightmare]

Making them standalone?

[General Battuta]

GOG has far larger reach than anything our community does, so this is probably on net better than being able to give the game away for free. They, after all, have a marketing budget.

[Nightmare]

Yeah that's probably another factor. At least it seems that this distribution for free brought some people to discord.

[Colt]

...in regards to a popular site (GOG in this case) having this giveaway. Freespace family growing is always good.

On that matter, I got a few friends to get it too.

[jr2]

Oh, was the SCP DVD w/o the original game files then?

No, it had the files as we were ok with distributing it back then.  I was saying we could make a DVD now with no problem; just ue the same verification process Knossos currently uses.

[Nightmare]

Ah, OK I thought it had. Making a DVD would make everything more complicated without any gain.

[jr2]

Ah, OK I thought it had. Making a DVD would make everything more complicated without any gain.

The singular case where it might make sense (no Internet / dial-up) would be better served by incorporating something like a "Download for later" function into Knossos' setup routing to put it into a portable mode where it downloaded all necessary files into its setup directory for later offline use. 

[Nightmare]

Sounds reasonable to me, but isn't it already possible to DL as much as you want and play later?

[jr2]

For example, your desktop is at home with no or dial-up connection.  You are at the library or an Internet cafe with a USB stick.  How would you get Knossos to install FreeSpace SCP + mods onto your home desktop currently?  Let's also say that installing new programs on the computer is administratively disabled.

So, you'd need a portable download-only mode.