I got an idea keeping this game alive
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fox speaks the truth. What needs to be done, however, comes from the modders and server admins. Iām all for sharing, and I think we came a long way in the past 6 or so months, but there definitely is a lot more to do.
However, a question needs to be answered: how? Itās a nice ideal, but how should cooperation work? What should be shared? How to do such a thing? What actions should be taken?
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We will need to ensure we agree all on one home. which is neutral and ensures that no group will have power over anyother group of admins/owners from the various servers.
the Starport is truely capable of this role if it wishās to accept.Actionsā¦First we need to see what communites/servers will take part in this, i hope most will see this as the correct way for FL, but there is always possibilities for some to wish to take there own way
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Hmmā¦
Well, every server/community contributing could deliver a spokes/dev person.
We could setup a project on the Freelancer Forge site, give the devās from the mods/servers (login per server should work) developer status and a good enviroment to talk with each other and share code via SVN.
A test server for online testing would be nice to have as well, donāt know if anyone has a spare box hanging around somewhere.One thing should be clear, it should be SP playeble not only online. I donāt know how to acomplish the flhook / flac features into a SP mod (dynamic economy, beam after reaching level 70 or somehting, cloak so the NPCās canāt spot ya), so a close line of communication between modders and software devās should happen.
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Well im all for this idea as long as its not gonna be uberlancer take 2.
Every idea should be posted and discussed openly rather than a closed group of people making all the decisions. If it is to work then i think that is the way to do it.
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yes it will ned to be open as dragnite says, no point only having modders/admins talking,we need viws from all angles and areas of FL.
It should create a haven so to speak for all to contribute and work together,no matter the mod u work/play on etc etc -
Iād be game for something like this.
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maybe so but 1 person = 1 idea and lots of unheard ideas and opinions and lots of unhappy people who didnt get a say.
On MU we are an open group and discuss every step of the modding and not just between the admin group either. At the end of the day we do what we do for the players and we find they are happier if they have a say in what happens to the mod as well. Granted we dont do everything they want but we find we have a happy medium.
So 100 people = 100 opinions but at least nobody goes away thinking āthat was a waste of time nobody listend to meā
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Im all in favour to discuss opinions and options public, no doubt about that.
What I ment was the actual coding, and how to acomplish that. If 100 people start to get involved in that there is no end to it, cos everyone has its own ideaās on how to get to a certain point.
Remember its a vast project, if people realy like to get involved they realy need to put dedicated time in it. Its a vast project and needs some sort of management. Im sure there are people around here who know how to lead a project, if not i will happely give support to someone who is willing to do such a job and help him in setting up things and get communications roling.
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OPR, no offence but u dont seem interested in the idea,so dont bother posting here, other are however interested and are looking to get this to work. that will require a place for all to talk and discuss on equal ground,no advantages,no disadvantages
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Indeed. I think a video showcasing a rough sum on a mod-by-mod basis would be a great way to show that the Freelancer community is indeed still ticking. I was discussing this with Why485, and one issue he brought up (and a valid one) is how much airtime each submitted mod gets in a community video. YouTube has a max length of 10 minutes, and the human attention span the max length of rougly 1-5 minutes. =P
Also, an issue of which order the mods are displayed comes up as well. I think it could possibly be done on a first-come, first-serve basis, or an alphabetical basis. As for the airtime per modā¦ Why485 and I came up with perhaps 45 seconds per mod? Sure, itād be tough to sum up most mods in 45 seconds, but itād force you to be concise and would be best at keeping the causal passer-by interested in the video. Thoughts?
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Or we can do themed videos. Say, one vid is āCombat in FLā and showcases all sorts of combat sequences in all kinds of mods.
Also, I think itād be a lot more interesting to make short 10 seconds sequence and swap back and forth mods if necessary. Itād make the video far more dynamic and would make mods only show short bursts of their best stuff, instead of long winded sequences of okay stuff.
However, Iād like to see a community mod. I just have no idea how to tackle such a thing.
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Well for example, for a āpatchwork modā which is a very successful project if accomplished works like this:
You need a head coder, who, however, is bound to certain ārulesā that are aggreement-based, for example:
- Original FL universe must stay, slight altering of systems (defined number of extra bases per system, extra commodities/equipment/ships allowed) allowed
- A mod corresponding to a different-to-FL universe has its systems in one certain group on the navmap (mod-world), may link to the FL systems as it should (to avoid -direct- mixing of for example X-Wings and Starfliers)
- Head coder must not give extra weight to his own contributions
- Must showcase his work every week (or so)
Of course the head coder is free to build up a team around himself, preferably from various mods (this should be made compulsory in my opinion)
Mod development communication on public forum boards as well, that everyone may visit and showcase their ideas (āI want my mod-world linked to northern Omicron Alpha, if possibleā)Naturally certain restrictions should be applied to the mod itself as well to make it look spaceworthy, see the first paragraph for some, but others as well, that are more for the form of the mod, for example:
- Linking to FL Universe: JH in FL Universe, any object in mod-world
- Hiding of mod-world systems from the navmap(?) ==> allows for more systems and a more complex universe, whilst not overwhelming the universe map.
Long story short, putting all my management studies to work, Iād say the safest way of building a patchwork-mod is to keep original FL, and give each mod-developer a mod-world area in space, that is linked to the FL world via 1 connection each. (For example FreeworldsSystem1 to Edinburgh; WTSWorldSystem1 to Dresden; PlasmafireSystem1 to Hokkaido; etc. I just used the names as examples of course) ==> This provides grounds for everyone to work with, and an easy system of travel to navigate for the player. Everyoneās world is as big as the amount he wants to contribute. With the navmap hidden this allows for a fairly discriminationless mod.
Weapons/equipment balancing should be the primary job of the modding team, and NOT changing the work of the contributors. Of course they will need to be consulting with the contributors on a regular basis.
Choosing the head coder should be via a forum poll if possible; and people need to put aside their āif this guy is the coder Iām no way helping you lotā and be proud of being part of this project. This is a serious question as you need someone with good balancing skills to do this job. I, for example, have learnt mostly how FL works, but have made no releases, therefore there is no real trust in me I think. Also, I canāt do anything about FLHook, that is applying functions to it, which is vital in the case of this project.
Whatever the case, the person of the head coder must remain neutral no matter his forum nickname. It is utmost ethic that he does not proclaim himself as the author of the mod and does not modify other peopleās contributions, only after consulting with them about balancing requirements. He is only the ānuts and boltsā holding the machinery of all the modders together.
The possibility of mixing equipments from various worlds only makes the mod more fun to play, in my opinion, and is therefore out of the question; balancing, however, requires a mastermind.Well, FF, I do have a serious idea how can a community mod be tackled, as you can see. My greatest problem is that I personally feel I havenāt the reputation that will encourage others to join in, or the time to sort out the balancing issues. Not to mention FLHook. And the other most critical part: the contributors. Who will add?
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angel of death - im very well interested in community projectsā¦ if they are not a waste of time
you have to understand that the fl community had several projects like this alreadyā¦. I was one of those which initiated the openlancer project and pretty soon i realized that it will fail and the same I did say about Uberlancer
in both cases i was rightideas are no concept yet and a bunch of ideas dont make a good mod yet
every successful modder knows that you cant use every ideaā¦ and you cant make everybody happy coz you have to stick with a concept in order to create a successful modive seen too many ppl which wanted to build āTHE FL MODā and ive seen them all failing because the players dont want one modā¦ they want a good variation of many mods with many themes
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(joke ofc)