Freelancer - Discovery USA server and forum closes...

unlikely

Just a another thought on doing a community project.

I agree with most of the points mentioned that the Freelancer community was never the same after Lancer Reactor folded. I won't go into details as i was actually an admin on there at the time but it closed and looking back, with how things were at the time, i'm glad it did.

Since that time, the rest of the community, myself included, headed off to our own forums and communities and sat there. Most of us are still sitting there. You look at the larger communities, not a lot has changed. Crossfire deals with it's mod and community, Discovery does the same, and so on. The player numbers swell like the tide on various releases and updates but basically they are unchanged. Younger players are getting older, older players... getting even older. Very little new blood is coming through and the reason for that is a simple one, who the hell wants to play an almost 10 year old game?

Well we do actually otherwise we wouldn't be here. The concept of a community mod is not new, it's been tried and tested many times and failed dismally. Whenever a new game engine is mentioned for a new version of Freelancer, everyone gets excited, the project starts, people realise how much work needs to go into it, project falls apart. This i've seen regularly. With a fractured community with bad feelings still bubbling underneath, that isn't going to change anytime soon.

So what is the alternative? What is happening now is the alternative. Everyone carrying on what they are doing as strangely, there is actual progress. I'm still unsure how the Tides of War mod will implement their DX9 plugin, but i'm willing to hold back on any comments until i see the finished article. Wouldn't be fair of me to say anything before a final release. So there is some hope from that quarter. Op has Crossfire 2.0 in the pipeline which from my humble perspective looks awesome with some excellent features. Much as i'm not the greatest fan of the Discovery mod as i've had many issues with members of its community, only logical to assume they will be upgrading their project with plenty of bells and whistles for their next release. Not to mention a number of smaller developers like the RIP team with their Underverse mod, Nightstalker with his mod, myself and a few others who will still be providing variety and choice for those players still left in the community and who want to play the game using different mods etc.

As for a Freelancer 2 or an updated new game engine? Well that's best left to a very small team of people to make. There won't be much assistance from different communities as their is too much that has been said, so cooperation is unlikely. I've seen more progress in FL in the last few years than i have in a long time. The saddest thing is the lack of knowledge sharing which LR used to be good for. As i've mentioned already, without that, new people wishing to mod the game have no idea where to start and their numbers will fade as they lose interest. It's the old guard keeping the game alive, and even their time is coming to an end...slowly

If the collapse of TLR in 2007 was good, bad or just not important is hard to say.
However... i see a few things which would be different today.

At the same time TLR was shut down also the GLS was shut down.
Result was a major loss of players (at least 50%).
There was a chance to keep the GLS running for another year but the separated FL community was not able to get along and wasted such a chance. I know of at least 2 other games which were not shut down like FL. The communities failed.
If the same would have happened with TLR is something i can not truely say... lets face it... even before 2007 there was a lot of trouble between the small communities... even at TLR (which also was a reason why i resigned as admin after a relative short time).

Next to that TLR was very good for one thing: Advertisement of mods.
Every week 2-3 news about mods.
No other FL site was able to do that ever since.
I consider that the most important loss on the FL communities.

Yes we make progress in many areas these days... but at the costs that this progress happens only on the established projects.
New projects barely get a chance.
FW might be the exception... but after meanwhle 4 years of development I would have expected more. Maybe the 5th or 6th year of development will change my opinion.
Probably i am biased but in my eyes FW has nothing to do with Freelancer anymore.

I am not a modder by any sense of the word, but I do know networking well. In my business the faster the service, the ease of dataflow and the ability to move large files in a timely manner is all a User looks for. When dealing with webpages, GUI & specific platforms, the User looks for smooth and effective functionality.... yes there is a point.

Not one mod I have seen has a complete "makeover" of the bases, planets & graphics. Now of course there is a limit to anything that can be done due to the technology / platform that is being used, but gamers are attracted to the features. Freelancer, regardless of the mods , is very limited & bigger is not better. So let's attack this aspect of it. We have some very bright & talented people available who can do all of this.

If I had any of the necessary skills, I would certainly assist.

@ Gunny

There are a few who have tried, Plasmafire springs to mind. Most of us have attempted some form of graphical upgrade, be it interface colours, new buttons and so on. With regard to planets i think Op has changed most of them. From my side i've had a go at least. I concentrated on the ships, and systems in general, asteroids etc, changed the textures on all of those or somehow updated them. If you mean a totally new interface design, then no, not many have tried that for sure.

With the newer graphics cards out there, you can force a lot of FX through that onto FL, something i do all the time which is why i run 16x anti alias and god knows what else to make the game look better. Aa side of things many gamers don't bother with but hope the in game options will do it for them, which on a 9yr old game isn't going to happen.

@OP

With regards to FW, we both know that's a Star Wars game using the FL engine. No, it's not Freelancer as we know it, but we'll just have to see how it turns out.

as of the dx9... ive tested it and it works great... on a starwars mod

on vanilla FL and other mods with detailed textures it will look worse than before

New Planets:

New Interface:

Its not that it wouldnt be possible

Try to look on the positive side. At least Jumpgate Evolution never got released, that would potentially have taken quite a bit of the FL playerbase away, being a similar style game but newer However, Black Prophecy WAS released, and having played it myself, I can confirm quite a few of the playerbase were previously multiplayer FL gamers. It's very, very similar, good graphics and it's free. I also find it very weird and annoying.

I used to be extremely active under the name Ryzune, I remember being temporarily banned at least once and being chased through several systems by CFPD, amongst other groups.

I do agree with the aging and priorities changing theory however. I was 16 years old when I used to play, I'm now 22, I have my own house, I'm married and I have a son. Battlefield 3 also has something to do with it.

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Freelancer - Discovery USA server and forum closes...

Sad

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the 5th server in about 9 months

And this is very worrying news.

That game is still "Homegame" for us, becouse of the most stability, we ever seen. So, I knew, that not all the new clan community would go here just after my announcement. But I will not surrender.
We've lost one of the servers. It's not what I would like to experience again...

I hope these people will find a new home on one of the other FL servers.

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Try to look on the positive side.

Already looking.

1. As far as I understand, the central base of the community was failed.
We need to construct it again, and then - attract as many people as we can. The other communities also must be attracted. At least tried to.

2. FL 2.0. - actually, a better solution.
If the engine getting old - then construct new one.
I know, it's not easy way. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And while we hope and wait...
3. Concentrrate on life in the server and lure new players to play the game, participate and may be, to create own events.

4. Remember, the game should not completely turn into a work. The work is tiring. The game gives fun.

Just my opinion.