Modern design
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If we’re gonna do something new, it’ll be a new forum software (probably Vanilla or Flarum) without any home screen/news stuff that nobody uses and a separate, better curated/cleaned up downloads section (and maybe the wiki, it’s also pretty dead). I’d also completely redo the branding and color scheme.
Thing is, that transition is a pain in the ass, so it’s highly unlikely to happen.
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I prefer mybb for classics… Simple and bit modern than phpbb
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Imo forum engine is not enough for that system and features, as TSP is not only a forum but also a wiki, gallery and few other custom mechanics. Perefectly it should be a custom engine or something more expandable without cruthces, relying on js rather than php.
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I don’t disagree, but rather than trying to make a singular unified CMS as was the trend when The Starport started, I’d favor separate sites with a simple global navigation bar somewhere to go between them. Makes the creation and update process dramatically easier. The wiki can probably be updated directly from what we have now since it’s just MediaWiki with some crap added to fit in Xoops, but the forums are going to be a nightmare to port to anything and the downloads are half broken as is.
It’s just a big time investment for what I mostly see as an archive for a game of days past, which I don’t think w0dk4 or I have time for.
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The main question is what the intention for this website is in future.
If its just to have a fancy look for the 10 people which visit it regulary these days (sorry, I dont know the numbers) then probably the effort is not worth it.
However, if you have bigger plans (like support for new games) then a fresh paint wont hurt. -
FriendlyFire wrote:
[…](and maybe the wiki, it’s also pretty dead)[…]While there is not much activity these days, I still think it would be bad to lose it. I like the thorough explanations in the modding database, as opposed to sifting through outdated forum posts.
Which is also why I added way more wiki articles than forum threads.
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I don’t think there’s any new game in this site’s future. Between developers now hosting their own forums and websites, reddit, and people being on the lookout for new games well before us, I don’t think we have a niche aside from Freelancer.
The only real reason to upgrade the site is to prevent it from eventually falling apart and allow it to remain a resource for future players and modders, however few they are. It’s a miracle this site even exists, considering the troubled times that spawned its foundation, it’d be a bit of a shame to see it just crash or get hacked one day.
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Yeah, I see what you mean.
At least the technological development would sooner or later force you to upgrade. e.g. the recently pretty fast development of new php standards and fact that older standard no longer are supported and therefore require new frontend solutions or at least version adjustments. -
I’ve stopped believing this community could collaborate to such an extent years ago. We don’t really have the skilled manpower for such an undertaking anymore anyway.
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Well there certainly won’t be any new actual Freelancer games coming however even now there still seem to be new Freelancer mods coming out and of course there’s all the “spiritual sequels” (eg Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Starpoint Gemini 3, Underspace, Everspace 2 etc etc) that keep arriving almost every year which if the site offered some mod support/hosting/forum sections for might bring in new crowds.
But yeah I’ve seen a number of great sites fall to bits during a upgrade/transition over the years (eg Apolyton Civ mods) so it would be awful if something like that happenedh ere.
