Back in the late 90s (I make it sound as if it were so far away) and into 2000, we hosted a series of developer chats. I'm going through my personal archives and will be posting these so you can read them out of curiosity or some sort of odd perversity. Your choice.
I do not have the date for this first chat, but Maniac was still with SFL, which gives some indictation. All I can say with certainty is that it was before July 10, 1999.
The guests from our first chat included a massive Freespace group (fansites and developers), including Dave Baranec, Adam Pletcher, Mitri Van, and Adam Lawrance from Volition. Other guests included Steve Robertson from Particle Systems (Independence War) and Dan Tanguay and Henry Kropf (then of Vicarious Visions, who developed Terminus).
This log is raw (it shows the topic changes, entrances and exits, and is not spiffed up in any way) and contains all sorts of n00bish mistakes on my part (chaos is not always our friend). I did learn a lot from helping to host this chat and had a lot of fun (and a bit of stress, but nostalgia allows us to conveniently forget such things). Enjoy.
*
beth_atfw If all of the developers could introduce themselves really quickly so everyone knows who's here, that would be cool. :)
V-Dave ok. top down ?
[DW]DreAdFaq hey, DW outnumbers DC now :)
V-Adam I'm Adam Pletcher, lead game designer on FreeSpace, and part-time designer on FS2.
V-Dave nudges adam
V-Dave I'm Dave Baranec, programmer on Freespace, and lead programmer on FS2
V-Mitri Hey, I'm Mitri Van. I worked on cutscenes and various other things on FS. Currently I'm doing level stuff for Summoner.
V-Alan I'm Alan Lawrance, FreeSpace programmer now working on Descent 4. I will be doing some sound/music coding on FS2.
PS_Steve Hi, I'm Steve Robertson from Particle Systems, One of the designers of Independence War / I-War
JD_Devane nudges Henry
VV-Dan I'm Dan Tanguay .. work on Terminus as a designer and concept artist
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TwinsenEd woah
DW_Wingnut Have you changed the FRED interface at all? In my resolution (800x600) some of the stuff is off the screen...
Henry Hey I'm Hnery Kropf, you might know me from such games as Terminus...
JD_Devane heh
JD_Devane funny Hnery
VV-Dan quickly puts Henry's straightjacket back on.
JD_Devane :)
Henry an of course, i can't spell my own first name :
VV-Dan or nineteen
JD_Devane ?me feels left out for getting no credit
JD_Devane feels left out for getting no credit
V-Dave Ok then. Questions ?
Maniac_SFL OK, let's go with a bread one, what are your thoughts on the emergence of a space-sim community and what do you think fans and developers could do to promote this? (phew!)
V-Dave raises hand
V-Dave Ok
beth_atfw Ooooh, a nice genre question. :)
V-Dave I think the space-sim genre is interesting for 2 reasons
V-Dave 1.) Its very difficult to be unique, and many things have been done "before"
V-Dave 2.) BUT, networking and hardware acceleration is rapidly changin this
VV-Dan Yeah ... it is an older genre than others ...
V-Dave So - I think interest will pick up and we'll see more interesting things
V-Dave And of course, the whole massive multiplayer thing is a big modifier :)
V-Dave lowers hand
V-Adam I think just having different "styles" of space-sim games does the most for the genre. People immediately saw the differences between FS and I-War, for instance...
Olento Q: What do you think is the right way to develope space-sim genre? How ie. role playing features and realistic behavior of environment are going to affect future titles of this genre?
JD_Devane is now known as JD_VV
V-Adam The debates about what people liked the most is only making the genre more interesting, IMO.
V-Dave I would like to see more RPG elements. If you've ever played Space Rogue (and OLD origin game), you'll know what I mean
JD_VV is now known as VV-JD
V-Dave It was an outstanding game that blended the 2 well
[DW]DreAdFaq hey dave, is V going to set up or sponsor things like PXO-wars?
V-Dave FS2 is going to have builtin PXO-wars support. Already does, in fact :)
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V-Dave Tested and working
V-Adam I'm really lagging :(
Maniac_SFL Q: After the Mankind debacle, do you believe online persisten universes are currently possible (technically speaking)
[DW]DreAdFaq kewl
beth_atfw Does Volition have any "massively multiplayer" aspirations (since Dave mentioned it)?
V-Dave Maniac - absolutely. UO pulls in a million a month
V-Dave That's reason to make it possible
PS_Steve I agree
V-Dave And UO is constantly coming up with new stuff, which keeps V-Adam coming back
DW_Wingnut Are you SURE there is a repeat a sexp event in FS1???
V-Dave He keeps getting killed by llamas, though
PS_Steve Personally I'd love to play a persistent universe space-sim.
DC_Zarathud asks Q: What impact do you think the release of the Wing Commander and Star Wars movies will have on the space sim genre?
VV-Dan Nod ... just putting something out and not expanding it won't get people to come back.
Maniac_SFL so would I, which is why i asked :)
PS_Steve However it's probably a long way off.
VV-JD raises hand
VV-Dan More people will be buying Star Wars games ...
V-Dave Zar - not much.
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VV-JD To answer DC's question...
V-Dave Star Wars will help Lucasarts, though
Lorien-away is now known as Lorien-GA
Olento Because it looks like you're interested in massive multiplaying environments (man I like that word...), what do you think is the best way to earn money out of it? Should customers pay monthly with a credit card or checks, or do you think it's better to sell the game with somewhat higher price without monthly payments and therefore get more users for the game?
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VV-JD The opening of Wing Commander and Star Wars should help the operation of space-sim's,
Maniac_SFL nice question :)
PS_Steve If any of us run game adverts in the Starwars movie intervals it will help us too..
PS_Steve He said slightly seriously...
VV-JD because the fact that since everyone is all hyped-up (for lack of better terms) about these movies, and they will say, "Hey, if the movies are awesopme, the games should be just as cool"
V-Dave sets mode: +o Adam
V-Dave sets mode: +o VV-JD
VV-Dan I think people buy Star Wars games only because they are Star Wars ... not necessarily because
Adam is now known as V-Adam
VV-Dan They are space sim fans ...
VV-JD and itll save them the 20 bucks for seeing the movie again
VV-JD lowers hand
VV-Dan So I don't know if it will have that much impact on space sims in general
VV-JD Well,
V-Dave Hey, where is Origin anyway?
VV-JD It could renew the
Maniac_SFL Q: What do you think is better, inventing a new universe for a space-sim or using an established univers like Star Wars or Star Trek, which can take the foucs off game play...
V-Dave New new new.
VV-JD Hype of space-sims in general
DC_Zarathud In their massively multiplayer online world, I'd expect V-Dave grinning
V-Adam no kidding. Too chicken to show. :)
beth_atfw I doubt they'd say too much about the massively multiplayer situation right now, anyway. :)
Maniac_SFL Someone forgot to tell them :)
VV-Dan Working with licenses will always have restrictions.
PS_Steve Both have advantages and disadvantages - With X-Wing Lucas arts didn't have to create an intro movie to get the player to 'buy in' to their universe, as we did with I-War
V-Adam maniac: Hard to say. As a developer, I prefer working in an original universe. Much more creative freedom, and the long-term franchise potential is larger.
VV-JD is now known as JD_Devane
V-Dave And - if you get lucky like Star Wars, you have almost a license to print money
V-Adam steve: That's true, too. Original universes have to work harder.
PS_Steve yes, much more creative freedom, but with an existing franchise you have an easier job as you have plenty of reference material.
Olento Q: Do you think space sims should have lots of non-electric material included in the box, like most of flight sims, or are popular online manuals the way to go?
Olento I like manuals :)
DW_Wingnut I prefer the manuals...
Henry Personally, I love big spiral bound manuals.
Maniac_SFL non-electric material :) i agree printed manuals are better
PS_Steve i prefer manuals. it doesn't seem like you get your moneys worth if all you get is a CD and CD inlay
Lorien-GA Steve : mind telling us what PS is working on now that I-War has fully shipped?
PS_Steve Even though the game is far more expensive to produce than a manual :-)
DC_Zarathud In a world of electronic gadgets, paper still has its place. :)
V-Adam Olento: in-game tutorials always rock, IMO. If you can train players in your game that way, then do it. It's much easier to learn things in-context rather than a manual.
V-Dave Tell that to marketing ;)
Maniac_SFL good point
V-Dave slaps V-Alan around a bit with a large trout
V-Dave Say something, foo
PS_Steve our next release is going to be Independence War Deluxe. This will include the original game, plus an all-new campaign called 'Defiance' played from the indie side.
V-Alan ouch
Lorien-GA oh :)
VV-Dan Cool
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Redag What's the schedule on that Steve?
Maniac_SFL ladies and gentlemen: i think we have a SCOOP :)
DC_Zarathud hmm...the bad-guy add-on packs?
PS_Steve Quarter 3 1999 (Maybe Quarter 4)
[DC}Overlord is now known as DC_Overlord
dudehere whee
beth_atfw Sweet. :)
dudehere we get to fly patcoms?!?
Lorien-GA very:)
Redag How many missions is 'Defiance' slated for?
PS_Steve No, but you get to fly an Indie Corvette.. and some other things too..
dudehere aww...but still...yay!
PS_Steve 18 missions
beth_atfw Will Deluxe include some new mission editing tools?
Lorien-GA brb ,. need to reboot :(
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V-Dave changes topic to "Space Sim Developers Chat! 4:00pm Eastern (V-Alan has GAME) "
dudehere I've already seen a classic version of Independence war...
PS_Steve We've improved the script language, with new commands, which will make programming easier, but no new development tools.
PS_Steve All you need is a text-editor
VV-Dan Sounds nifty.
dudehere yay!
JD_Devane wait a second....
PS_Steve we're just about to release the texture converter so that users can create their own custom ship textures
JD_Devane youre saying that if we have a text editor... That we can script?
Olento so you believe that in the future space-sim community will play an important role in the development of genre, like it does in the current FPS community?
V-Dave Olen - absolutely.
V-Dave The FS and Descent fan pages mean a LOT.
dudehere If this isn't a trade secret, what 3d software was used for the creation of Iwar's cutscenes and intro?
V-Adam olen- Sure. A big fan base would benefit any genre.
beth_atfw So the texture converter will be out fairly soon? Within the next month or so?
PS_Steve yes... You can get a mission devkit from the independence war website - all you need is a text editor (though a programming one is useful)
DC_Overlord FS means alot! :)
V-Dave And as everyone knows, mods and conversions keep games alive much longer.
JD_Devane is now known as VV-JD
TwinsenEd very much so
[DW]DreAdFaq amen dave, is FS2 gonna have easier MODing?
DW_Wingnut Q: V - Will there be support for custom tbl files on PXO? Even if it does count towards your points?
Methodica Are you going to be releasing any more info on FS for moding.
PS_Steve beth, yes. All we have to do is document how to use it. Of course we're busy with the Indie Campaign so we have to fit it around that
V-Dave We've added the ability to use variables within sexpressions, so heck yes
V-Mitri Yeah, feedback from the people you're developing for is always important. Once you get detached from that, it's like, "Why are you making this game and who are you making it for"
V-Adam wing: Mods will not count towards the PXO stats.
Maniac_SFL what do you think of the fact that the "newborn" space-sim developping companies seem te be much more active in the community then the old ones like Origin and LucasArts?
DW_Wingnut But you can use them?
PS_Steve The fans of I-War mean a lot to us - they've made the IWar message board a real community.
V-Dave Wing - of course you can, but your stats will just not get saved
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IceFire sorry im late
dudehere hey icefire
V-Dave For FS2 we're going to take things a step further and checksum model data, table data and mission data
beth_atfw hi icefire
V-Adam wing: not sure. There's nothing stopping you today from using them, as far as I know.
DC_Zarathud Hiya, IceFire
V-Dave Maybe even checksum the .exe itself
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Redag Steve, is 'Defiance' an outgrowth of the mission disk we've heard about before, or is that still in the air?
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Payne # Appears as XENO
Olento what do you think... should community have lots of small sites dedicated to certain topics, or huge all-in-one sites with commercial goals?
PS_Steve Well they're more established than we are. We're building up a customer base, so customer support is very important, and for us it always will be important.
V-Adam Olento: room for both, I think.
Olento of course the ideal situation is one where both exist...
DC_Overlord I know your going to release mod tools with fS2..will each player be able to be flying his/her own custom ship in the saem game?
DC_Zarathud Even though your customers will hunt you down and ask you questions until you squeak :)
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V-Dave Ah.
DC_Overlord same
V-Dave The plan right now IS to release all developer tools once FS2 comes out
[DW]DreAdFaq V: are you going to patch the FS1 checksums or just leave them and concentrate on FS2??
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V-Dave Including BSPGen
V-Dave And probably the MAX exporter
dudehere developer tools are always good
PS_Steve Redag - defiance is the mission disk. There'l be some sort of rebate for existing owners, but I don't have the details yet.
V-Dave So you'll be able to do everything
V-Adam overlord: Correction, we'll be releasing the model tools sometime after FS2 release. I really doubt they'll be on the CD.
V-Dave Yes - after release
V-Adam dread: Probably leave FS alone.
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IceFire heyas
Lorien-GA Steve : Do you expect the Deluxe pack to be released worldwide at the same time?
[DW]DreAdFaq damn, FS could really use a better checksum
IceFire finnally got on
V-Dave Dread - how?
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IceFire is now known as PFS_IceFire
dudehere whee...it's Colin!
V-Adam overlord: that would require in-game data downloading of models and textures. Not sure that will happen, those can get huge.
[DW]DreAdFaq models, client side TBLs
Olento Q: Will Mika Häkkinen win the WC of coming F1 season? :)
V-Adam dread: client tbls are checked now.
V-Dave n
V-Dave oo
V-Dave er
V-Dave no
Maniac_SFL Q: is the add-on campaign going to be released seperately as well or am I going to have to buy the whole game again?
V-Mitri Maniac: I would agree with PS_Steve. Also, I think the thing you're talking about highlights the difference in the operating structures of places like Origin or LA and us here.
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[DW]DreAdFaq well i saw a herc go 500 and the guy still got stats
DC_Overlord V-Adam: Understood. Mainly asking about it for LAN Party games :)
PS_Steve It's the US first, as we have to translate the European version. I don't have release dates yet. I hope the European version will be soon after the US, but I can't say when yet.
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V-Dave Ah. Yes - client side hacks will be accounted for
DW_Wingnut Q: V - you currently "qualify" missions that give points on PXO is there any chance you would do ones with custom tbls?
V-Dave We may even add the option to not allowed hacked clients to join, altogether
V-Adam dread: Not sure how he managed that. I'd ahve to see it.
PS_Steve At the moment the publisher has decided to not release it separately :-( But there will be a rebate for existing owners.
Lorien-GA steve : both publishers?
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V-Adam wingnut: unlikely. We only have a limited amount of time to spend on validation. Validating a whole mod would be much, much more work.
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[DW]DreAdFaq adam- i dont know either but it cant have been server side TBLs, it was in my game and i always make sure to delete them before going to PXO
PS_Steve Lorien: Only one publisher: Infogrames
DW_Wingnut darn
Maniac_SFL Q: Will the european release of the Deluxe version integrate the changes from the US version directly ?
V-Adam dread: *shrug*
Lorien-GA oh its not an activison one this time round? I see. ok
PS_Steve They'll be the same game, except the European version will support french and german too.
DW_Wingnut Maybe you could set up so that missions don't needed to be validated, BUT there is a points cap that can't be exceded unless the mission is validated?
PS_Steve No decision has been made on the details of the European release yet.
DC_Overlord V - Any thing is great as long as it dosen't turn into something like Battle.Net: Cheating there is ridiculous
[DW]DreAdFaq yeah i know, i HATE it when people cheat on me. thats why im so concerned about the checksums
beth_atfw Can you give up any minor plot info about Defiance? Will it be set to occur simutaneously with the actions of the original I-War?
Lorien-GA Steve: do you plan an on-line demo for the extra campaign?
Olento I hate it that games must be translated into other languages
Olento English is just fine for me...
VV-JD :)
V-Adam wingnut: allowing mods to advance stats is just not high on our list, I'm afraid. It would skew the stats in a way we'd rather not do.
Olento in fact I think it's awful when games are translated in Finnish
Maniac_SFL Do you think there should be more female characters in space-sims and should developers take the female public into account better [Beth :)] ?
DC_Zarathud I'd expect balance would be extremely impossible to validate, right V-Adam?
V-Adam dread: a dedicated hacker can get around any checksums. Completely cheat-free game is not possible, but FS2 will be more resistant.
PS_Steve beth - it occurs simultaneously with the original, and expands on the original plot. Some events in the campaign correspond directly with events in the original game.
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DC_Zarathud I agree with you there Maniac_SFL. We should encourage females in space sims.
V-Adam zara: yep. It would be like a whole different game. ONly reason we can validate FS missions now is because we know the current balance by heart.
DC_Overlord V - Think was asked before in FDl but. Will the by any chance be a stand-alone server (only) port for Linux?
Olento how the development of *computers* will affect space sim genre, will we see better and more complex graphics or larger game world and more features?
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DC_Zarathud Nice Q, Olento.
PS_Steve We like to include strong female characters in our games. We also try to represent different races and cultures too.
V-Adam overlord: That's not very likely, but we're still discussing it.
beth_atfw It would be nice to see more females presented in sims in an intelligent manner, yes.
V-Adam over: It's not easily ported.
DC_Overlord V-Adam: hehe include some 'standard' female pilot pix in FS2 :)
PS_Steve I think code expands to use the resources available :-)
V-Adam We had a female commanding officer in FS, and a female pilot picture to choose. But I hear that not everyone knew it was a female pic. :)
HH-Soft-2 but nice female pilots please g
V-Adam guess she wasn't femenine enough or something.
PS_Steve Adam - difficult to see with a space-helmet on!
[DW]DreAdFaq ive been looking for female pilot pix for AGES. (not dressing up, it was for a site!!)
DC_Zarathud Looked a bit more Asian than female, V-Adam
V-Adam steve: her helmet was off in the barracks picture.
PS_Steve Adam - oops forgot :-)
V-Adam zara: there are Asian females, you know. She was both.
PS_Steve hehehehe
[DW]DreAdFaq except for that half-breed standard pilot there are only images from SF series
VV-JD hehe
VV-JD whoops
VV-JD lagg
beth_atfw I think alot of women are turned off to gaming because it appears to be within the male's realm; inclusion of more female chars would make them feel more at ease, I think. But there are also society also supports the games=teenage male theory, although that seems to be changing a bit. :)
Olento I don't want female pilots that are included just to suck in teen players :)
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Maniac_SFL I'd really like to know about linux ports for any of the games too, show some support for linux pls :)
Maniac_SFL Yep not like putting in Ginger Lynn Allen then
PS_Steve Maniac - We're not planning to support linux, sorry :-(
HH-Soft-2 olento: as long as lara croft does not reach the space-sim genre ;)
V-Adam It's difficult to justify Linux ports from a commercial standpoint.
DOLey T&A in space :)
DC_Zarathud HH, I'm going to make a Laura Croft Pilot Pic just for you then :)
Olento hh: ya ;)
HH-Soft-2 zara: haha
V-Dave We should just stick a helmet on the Forsaken ad chick's ass and make it a pilot pic
DOLey V-Adam: I think linux servers would be great
V-Dave ;)
V-Adam has to leave soon. :(
Lorien-GA V-Adam - check Carmack's laters remarks at sCary's for that point.
HH-Soft-2 i liked that one female in Baldur's Gate...
DOLey most of the Inet Servers out there are linux based
V-Dave That would get the younger players
V-Adam doley: servers are different. It's possible we'll do that, but not certain.
DOLey yeah
Maniac_SFL are MS os's even stable enough for servers?
V-Dave sure
V-Dave NT is fine
[DW]DreAdFaq now now, not all of us teenagers are over-sexed little buggers
Olento Linux community would grow much faster if there were more commercial games available... we need some pioneers there
Redag With all this talk of Defiance, how is I-War2 going?
HH-Soft-2 maniac: our D3 server runs on NT since the early beta test phases... thats multiple months now
Lorien-GA Olento - you could say the same for the MAC community btw
PS_Steve I-War 2 is in development, but It's not due out until next year.
DW_Wingnut V - I have an interesting idea that is still under contruction, it has custom tbls, with 3 possible player ship, one fast, one average, and one heavy, and custom weapons, it's taking a while to sort out because it really needs a repeat sexp, its a _new_ idea for a multiplayer game based on a mixture of real sports, is there any chance to make it a validated mission so that the winner gets something like 1000 points per win in a game?
DC_Overlord Hee Hee us 'old-folks' (42 here) like this stuff to :))
[DW]DreAdFaq WOW!! 42!!
Olento lorien: probably, although I've no experience on mac's
V-Adam wingnut: Like I said, it's very unlikely we'll validate custom-mod missions.
[DW]DreAdFaq youre old enough to be my dad!!
V-Dave Wing - there _IS_ a repeat count for events.
PS_Steve Wow - older than me - 32.
Redag Uh oh, the geriatric squadron is edging in!;)
beth_atfw Will the FS2 beta testing open up in the future? Or will it just include those who signed up and made the cut in February?
V-Dave beth - I would think it will remain closed.
DC_Zarathud A question IceFire wanted to ask, Beth. :)
Maniac_SFL Q: What do you guys think of Origin's Secret Ops distribution system - do you think quality sims could be created this way (i personally was disappointed with SO)
DC_Overlord And most of us can afford the the new toys from you delvelopers :)
V-Dave is 23
VV-JD is 14
HH-Soft-2 is 23, too
DC_Zarathud is 26
beth_atfw He seems to be having problems. :( So he can thank me later. :)
Redag is 22.
V-Adam maniac: Not sure what they're dist. system really was. It was just free, right?
PS_Steve Maniac - it was a very interesting method.
HH-Soft-2 geez, you looked older when i met you, dave ;)
V-Dave :|
V-Dave :D
Maniac_SFL releasing new episodes every couple of weeks...
V-Adam is 27
Lorien-GA 27
V-Dave slaps V-Adam around a bit with a large trout
[DW]DreAdFaq is 14
V-Mitri is almost 27.
dudehere is 56
[DW]DreAdFaq 56?!??!?!?!?!
V-Adam maniac: There's definitely room for that (episodes-per-week kinda thing), but money has to be made on it somewhere.
Lorien-GA dudehere really??
dudehere lol
DC_Overlord Ahh..finally outdome :)
dudehere not really
Lorien-GA heheh
[DW]DreAdFaq thats almost old enough to be my grand pa
beth_atfw hehe
dudehere just wanted to see the reactions
Lorien-GA i would interview u if u were:)
Lorien-GA ehhehe
DC_Zarathud I think the idea was to eventually charge for downloading, V-Adam. Cut out the publisher and go directly on the Internet
dudehere lol
PS_Steve Unfortunately we wouldn't be able to afford giving a game away for free..
beth_atfw hehe, you blew your chance for an interview, Dude :)
V-Adam zara: Oh. But Origin self-publishes.
Lorien-GA hehehe
PS_Steve Zara - that's probably what origin was testing
dudehere aww...wait...beth...waaaiit
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DC_Overlord I fell lonesome..Q: is the a small over 30 group that plays sims?
beth_atfw It was more of a test than a product for Origin. That's my opinion, at least. :)
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dudehere Origin was just seeing if it was feasable to distribute a game over the net
Olento doh
PS_Steve Adam - yes, but you don't have packaging costs, and reduced distribution costs.
DC_Zarathud Which is silly, since lots of people will sit around downloading something for FREE (see the piracy thing), but pay for it? Never...
dudehere And Origin doesn't self publsh do they, the go through EA, their parent company...right?
V-Adam steve: surely.
Lorien-GA I was told they did it to keep the fans happy .. after the UP lawsuit.. though that sounds a little lame
DC_Zarathud $50 is worth having the CD in my hands
Lorien-GA UO i mean
V-Adam dude: EA does distribution only. Origin is the publisher.
beth_atfw Well, SO was pretty lame. :)
dudehere Oh...i did not know that
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dudehere beth: lame?!?
DW_Wingnut someone logging this?
Lorien-GA beth : i guess it fits then:)
DOLey I have been
PS_Steve The internet is still a bit slow to distribute something like I-War or Freespace...
beth_atfw I didn't enjoy it, Dude.
beth_atfw I am.
DC_Zarathud Think Origin saw FS and I-War and said...oops, can't sell it. Gotta give it away
V-Adam steve: yeah, I'll say. :)
V-Dave Whee
dudehere opinions opinions :)
V-Adam laughs
Maniac_SFL yeah that 115 meg d/l was a pain
V-Dave Yeah - but you got a free virus with no purchase necessary!
Lorien-GA a huge pain .
beth_atfw Missions were awful; no variety, tedious, and repetitive.
dudehere That 115 download was well worth the trouble :)
V-Adam haha, dave.
beth_atfw Although, in all fairness, I couldn't even finish it because I was far too bored.
Olento which one is more important: realism or gameplay?
V-Dave Gameplay
V-Adam gameplay
beth_atfw gameplay
V-Mitri Definitely.
Lorien-GA same here beth
dudehere gameplay
V-Dave Its the reason FS doesn't have asteroid physics ;)
Maniac_SFL same here, SO had no story whatsoever and was way too repetetive
V-Dave =o
PS_Steve In the UK we don't have free local calls. By the time you've downloaded the game you could have bought it cheaper from a store :)
VV-JD gameplay
river How far away, time-wise, are players from having moons--any kind of airless bodies with gravity-to interact with?
dudehere Steve heh
DC_Overlord V: Dont know if I should bring this up, but have you heard of the recent outcry of latcency on the PXO FS Server?
DW_Wingnut sadly, I have to leave :( I'll have to get the log... good.. bye.. all...
Olento I guessed that one
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V-Adam reality is quite boring sometimes. Playing a game suggests you're bored with reality in the first place.
PS_Steve Gameplay. Even in I-War we put gameplay over realism.
Redag The most important thing is understanding that the two aren't polar opposites, so long as you pay attention IMHO
DC_Zarathud Reality is the only word in the English language that should always be used in quotes. :)
PS_Steve bye wingnut
V-Dave Overlord - we've moved PXO inhouse. I suspect 99.99% of that were simply because of setup problems.
DC_Zarathud cya, Wingnut
V-Adam overlord: We had some complaints, but they've died off. I think a lot of it was DNS problems of some sort from the move.
dudehere yeah...B5 sim looks to have both...
V-Dave THey should be flushed out by now.
beth_atfw Bye Wingnut. Have a good one. :)
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Yakbutter question..any v guys know about the bad s-exp in the multi mission Last Hope?
V-Dave explain
PS_Steve Our fans keep asking us to make the next I-War game more realistic, but we'll only add realism where it enhances gameplay.
V-Adam I have to split. Thanks, everyone! Was fun.
V-Dave Bye, Adam
V-Mitri See ya, Adam.
PS_Steve bye adam
Yakbutter i the grant-medal s-exp it says alpha 1 must hv departed to get the medal
beth_atfw Bye Adam...thanks for dropping by. :)
DC_Zarathud Bye, Adam
Maniac_SFL bye adam
VV-JD bye adam
V-Dave Is this in Fred?
Lorien-GA hmm here is a thought: why are harcore space sim fans nicer to hang out with that quakers?:)
V-Adam waves bye-bye
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V-Dave or in the game itself?
Redag Just please grant us combat parity as an option Steve..:)
beth_atfw Depends on who is in the crowd, Lorien. :)
Lorien-GA good one beth :)
Yakbutter well, it wont let u get the medal unless alpha 1 departs..
DC_Zarathud Question: any developers here discussing a plan to branch out and cross-fertilize the space sim genre with strategy? Like Homeworld or old WC Armada?
V-Dave Yak - is this in Fred or in Freespace itself?
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Yakbutter which doesnt make sense
Yakbutter fs itself
PS_Steve Redag -- sometimes you have to make compromises :)
V-Dave Zar - that's an idea I've been dying to explore
Lorien-GA DC - homeworld is a space sim??
dudehere Nope
V-Dave You get a crash?
dudehere homeworld is a 3d enviroment strategy game type thing
PS_Steve Didn't battlezone try to do something like that?
DC_Zarathud Those are examples, I'd think.
Lorien-GA i know .. but DC said its a sim:)
Yakbutter V-Dave: not a crash, but it wont grant the medal even if u complete all objectives
dudehere ohhhhh
DC_Zarathud Something where you'd have the cap ship of I-War or the fighter of FS mixed with a strategy
V-Dave How do you know you're supposed to get the medal, then?
DC_Overlord Yak - I think mission has to be Campaign to grant-medal..but not sure
Yakbutter i looked at it in fred
Redag Nothing frightens me so much about Homeworld as the fact that the developers seem to /like/ Battlestar Galactica..:)
PS_Steve hehehehe
V-Dave BG ownz
dudehere There's a scary thought
beth_atfw It's a space-sim/strategy hybrid. You're allowed control over combat situations. ATFW considers it to be a mix and we report on it.
Yakbutter DC_Overlord: it can be single
DC_Zarathud BG is awesome
V-Dave is now known as Starbuck
beth_atfw hehehe, BSG
DC_Zarathud if you grew up on Starbuck flying around
DC_Overlord ?? K
dudehere hmmm
dudehere huddles up in a corner...mommy I'M SCARED!!!
DC_Zarathud pays homage to Starbuck. Cried when my Viper fighter got tossed in the trash by mom
VV-JD heheh
V-Mitri Heh. I have a gold cylon sitting on my desk. :)
DC_Zarathud since it had "shooing parts"
dudehere i'm TERRIFIED!
VV-JD :)
Henry i had the shooting parts Cylon fighter :
VV-JD chuckles
Starbuck is now known as Boomer
Yakbutter so..about the bug?
dudehere Boomer?
Olento when it'll be possible to command REALLY big ships? I've always been looking forward to this.. using navigation computers and giving commands to crew
Olento it'
Olento it'd be cool
dudehere is now known as Fubar
Olento anyone planning something like this?
Boomer Yak - its not a bug. It probably was just determined that it wasn't worth fixing at that point.
DC_Overlord Im surprised "Darth_Maul" :) hasnt done a BS:Galactica mod yet :)
Boomer Darth who?
Boomer ;)
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Yakbutter Boomer: i think its a bug cuz a lot o people arent getting the medal just because alpha 1 dies
DC_Overlord The one who made the Starwars mod..
Fubar hmmm...planet of war looks fuunnkkyyy
HH-Soft they killed alan!
DC_Zarathud doh!
DC_Overlord Nobody knows who he is :)
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Fubar is now known as TheDude
HH-Soft darth_maul?
DC_Zarathud If you need a good attorney to use the "Chewbacca defense" you know who to call...
V-Dave Yak - its not a bug. If there was a problem with the mission, we just left it there. Probably because it didn't matter to the campaign itself.
Maniac_SFL Q: What were the major inspirations for your games?
PS_Steve any more space-sim questions?
V-Dave sets mode: +o Alan_L2
VV-JD yes
Olento gotta go..
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VV-JD I have a space sim ques
VV-JD Just a quick one
Redag For all you development houses, what's the one paragraph description of the money-doesn't-matter space sim you'd like to do?
TheDude Steve are we gonna learn more bout aliens in the next one?
DC_Zarathud ooh...nice Q, Redag
PS_Steve TheDude - I can't say :-(
Yakbutter V-Dave: its a multi mission, not part of a campaign...and id say its worth fixing since it took me a while to figure out about that s-exp in the mission
VV-JD Now, With a "persistent universe" Is it possible for the universe to run out after a certain amount of time?
TheDude Steve oh ok, I take that as a yes, I'm reporting a yes :)
PS_Steve I think a persistent universe game...
VV-JD or is it just "there"
Lorien-GA heheh thedude:)
TheDude :)
V-Dave Yak - I disagree. Everything Fred related is "unsupported". If we'd never release fred, it would never had made a difference.
Lorien-GA :)
TheDude -GA = GA Games?
Lorien-GA yup . you?
Yakbutter V-Dave: but no one can get the medal unless they know how to use fred!
V-Dave That's exactly my point. Its not part of the game itself
PS_Steve TheDude - it's just as likely to be a 'no' - I can't give any plot details.
Yakbutter V-Dave: i view the s-exp as a mistake...a super-easy-to-fix mistake...
DC_Overlord V: I hear Fred2 is gonna 'make mission designers cry' in joy of all the new features , any truth?
V-Dave Yak - it is _NOT_ an easy fix. We would have to patch the game.
V-Dave Overlord - Fred2 will have several new features, but its not going to be massively different.
V-Dave Basically - just all the new stuff that FS2 supports will be in there.
DC_Zarathud So we don't have to rewrite the FRED FAQ from scratch V-Dave?
V-Dave And a few tweaks here and there.
V-Dave Heck no.
Redag Can you give us any technology details then for IW2?
Yakbutter V-Dave: and u said its not part of the game itself? i think when someone cant get a medal because of a mission designer's botch up...
DC_Overlord V: Will FS2 have an internal Pilot Points Display or do I have to write PointView2 :))
PS_Steve redag, sorry - it's too early to say anything about I-War2
V-Dave Yak - this is a moot point. For all I know, the designers left it out on purpose to disable it.
V-Dave The point is, it doesn't break anything, and it doesn't change the mission. Its just an artefact in there.
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V-Dave Lint, if you will
Yakbutter V-Dave: if they wanted to disable it, they should have left out the entire s-exp all together...
V-Dave is done arguing over this
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DC_Overlord HAA HAA
Maniac_SFL re - my comp crashed ! :(
DC_Zarathud don't hound V-Dave
V-Dave 0wnz j00
Yakbutter who's hounding him?
Maniac_SFL did i miss anything?
Yakbutter i was just asking a question...
DC_Zarathud grins
Lorien-GA Steve - mind telling us what you think on the B5 space sim? (please don't say "hmmm, looks cool!":))
DC_Overlord V: Will Fred 2 be noticablly sp different with more features
DC_Overlord V: Will FS2 have an internal Pilot Points Display or do I have to write PointView2 :))
beth_atfw How about a general ? for all the developers...which space-sims are you looking forward to...besides your own games, of course? :)
V-Dave V-Dave Overlord - Fred2 will have several new features, but its not going to be massively different.
V-Dave Overlord - total points is something we wanted to hide from the players. However, we may decide to change this
VV-JD If i may ask a question.........
PS_Steve I can't really comment on B5 - I've only seen a couple of early screenshots
V-Dave We haven't talked about it yet.
VV-JD All your games have radr... right?
V-Mitri I'm actually kinda curious how Origin is going to pull off Privateer Online, if they actually get around to it.
VV-JD RADAR*
VV-JD How is it implemented...
VV-JD ???
V-Dave Radar?
VV-JD yah...
VV-JD like a way of navagation
V-Dave What part of it?
VV-JD How is it implemented?
PS_Steve I look forward to all of them. I love space-sims, and I'll play them all.
VV-JD Meaning... how is it used??
DC_Overlord Well..the outcry was that players above 50,000 at the time could see there points..why not all :)
DOLey PS_Steve: will you be at E3 this year
DOLey ?
V-Dave Used by who - players?
VV-JD is it like... "bleep, Bleep, Bleep"
VV-JD yes
VV-JD used by players
DC_Overlord PXO now shows top 500..no hiding points now :)
V-Dave Um. It represents where in space the targets are.
VV-JD I mean......
PS_Steve Someone will be. I may be there (if I'm lucky - someone will have to demonstrate IWar deluxe :-) )
VV-JD What is it looking like???
V-Dave Have you played Freespace?
V-Dave That's what it looks like.
VV-JD Ohh.. ok
Yakbutter ok here's a question...whats the special-check s-exp do?
PS_Steve I've completed freespace - I really enjoyed it.
VV-JD thanx :)
DC_Zarathud is now known as DC_ZarAWAY
V-Dave Steve - thanks :)
VV-JD dave - thanx :)
beth_atfw All of them Steve? :)
Lorien-GA I feel a group hug coming up :)
PS_Steve I thought it's by far the best of that style of Space Sim.
DC_Overlord I still enjoy it (FS)..just hit 100,000 last night :)
beth_atfw hehe
PS_Steve beth, yes, all of them. :-) (Being non-partisan here)
V-Dave yak - the special check is basically a magic # that code uses to do special scripted stuff
TDawg I think it's the greatest also
V-Dave Basically - Freespace 1 campaign specific stuff
beth_atfw Hehe, ok, Steve. :)
DC_Overlord Even with the massively terriblr lag to New Zealand, but thats NOT PXO/V fault :)
TDawg can fighters go into fighterbays?
V-Dave They can come _out_ of fighter bays.
PS_Steve I think it was great that Volition released Fred with Freespace.
TDawg will fs2 allow this
V-Dave Hey, I just realized something. Derek Smart PhD isn't here :)
V-Dave What up with that?
Maniac_SFL LOL
beth_atfw hehe...
Henry Oh man, opening the floodgates now!
DC_Overlord I flew into the fighter bay of the Hellfire in a single player mission and didnt see any :)
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Lorien-GA he is in NY .. that is why. would be fun if he was though:)
Maniac_SFL But let's not get into the flame war now ...
V-Dave :p
DOLey Derek is in my appartment right now
HH-Soft cant you also get inside of fighter bays of friendly capitol ships?
DOLey we are chucking beers
V-Dave heh
PS_Steve I think its a shame the space-sim newsgroup is so taken up with flame-wars...
V-Dave :)
Lorien-GA heheehhehe
DOLey j/k
VV-JD hehe
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V-Dave Nah - we have invisible poly barriers on the most of the ships.
HH-Soft not the big one.. how is it called again?
V-Dave V-Frank Capezzuto exploited it way too much
beth_atfw Yeah, I agree, Steve. Not a happy group of people who like to frequent that group. :)
V-Dave The Orion?
Maniac_SFL Q: What do you guys think of the quality of user-made missions in general?
HH-Soft the one with the big landing place
V-Dave Maniac - in general I unfortunately don't have the time to play many
PS_Steve Dave, no - a shame, as it could be a great group.
HH-Soft the biggest terran ship
DC_Overlord The Hellfire seems to have the barrier in Multi but not in Single
V-Dave From what I see on the FDL though, there's a heckuva lot of effort going into them.
V-Dave Heiko - The Arcadia?
V-Dave (space station) ?
HH-Soft dave: exactly!!
V-Dave :D
Yakbutter oooh ok 1 more question...how the heck did V use that targeting thing for the asteroids? like in
Yakbutter sm-106a?
V-Dave Heeehee. You should subscribe to the FDL
V-Dave Basically - its cruisers and cap ships on the players escort list
DC_Overlord :) V-Dave: If you think there is alot now..wait till the V mod tools are out after FS2
V-Dave They'll get the special targeting
V-Dave Overlord - I cannot wait :D
HH-Soft shameless plug FDL rulez btw /shameless plug
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PS_Steve Any more questions before I leave?
TheDude None from me...thanks for coming Steve...
V-Dave Steve, I have one.
Redag Not that I can think of. Thanks for that surprise announcement, very exciting stuff.
PS_Steve OK dave
V-Dave Is I-War a full-scale sequel, or a 1-year one like FS2 ?
V-Dave er
V-Dave I-War2
beth_atfw Thanks for dropping by, Steve. :)
DC_Overlord Err..Sorry us 'Hard Core' FS'ers seem to be monpolyising V's time :)
beth_atfw And, yes, thanks for the I-War Deluxe info...can't wait to play it. :)
Lorien-GA thanks Steve!:)
PS_Steve I-War2 is a full-scale sequel, it's an entirely new game. Defiance is an improved version of the original I-War
Maniac_SFL yes thx for answering all our crazy questions :)
DC_ZarAWAY is now known as DC_Zarathud
V-Dave Cool. You guys get to have some new fun ;)
V-Dave (in the way only developers can!!)
PS_Steve it's ok! Glad to be able to announce Defiance at last!
DC_Zarathud cool
PS_Steve Well we've expanded since the original game - we now have 15 people working here, as opposed to the 6 who worked on I-War.
HH-Soft only 6? wow
V-Dave Wow
V-Dave Freespace 1 had almost 20
DC_Zarathud i give u credit then
DC_Overlord I have general Q: Do you guys have office Lan Partys with your games , or is it all work and no play ?? :)
PS_Steve Working for Particle is a lot of fun - the best job I've ever had.
V-Dave Overlord - we play a _whole_ lotta games at Volition
Lorien-GA bye all. thanks for your time.
HH-Soft ...only seldom their own ;)
V-Dave We've even got a full-time Tribes clan
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V-Mitri Yeah, but not usually our own. 8) Though, we just recently had a big D2 inhouse
V-Dave (#2 on the OGL ladder :) )
V-Mitri That too.
DC_Zarathud Tribes is cool
HH-Soft the only guy who played d2 with us was mike kulas himself ;)
PS_Steve We're always playing games at lunchtime or after work. Mostly FPS.
DC_Overlord cringe Whos the best pilot ? :)
V-Mitri Yeah. Half-life is a close second to Tribes.
beth_atfw hehe...
V-Dave Hmm
Maniac_SFL =)
V-Dave Well
beth_atfw This should be interesting. :)
DC_Overlord Yes
V-Mitri For FS or Descent, Overlord?
DC_Zarathud FS
DC_Overlord Fs
V-Dave I'd have to say Brad Johnson (lead mission designer), although Jim Boone (our producer) is also damn good
Redag Will PS or Infogrames release a full Defiance press release? Any chance the fan sites could get it if so?:)
V-Dave I'm pretty good, as is Sandeep Shekar
V-Mitri Pete's up there too.
DC_Zarathud Hmmm... DC v. Volition match next FS Frenzy?
V-Dave Yeah. But all us old guys are out of practice
PS_Steve redag - soon. I'm really releasing a little teaser here. The promotional machine will get into gear soon.
V-Dave DC - perhaps
Redag *grin* Cool Steve.
beth_atfw Who needs a press release when you already have the info? :)
DC_Overlord The reason I love FS is it dosent cater to the "Death Match" gene.. I love co-op
V-Dave Stockholders
V-Dave Overlord - I hear ya.
PS_Steve well, maybe a press release will be able to give out more info than I can :-)
DC_Zarathud You know the webmasters are going to splash it all over the web for you
V-Dave Its what makes FS unique
PS_Steve Zara, yes!
V-Dave Although, I just put in old-school dogfight mode, by popular demand
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DC_Zarathud That's a good question -- do you feel that webmasters can give you as effective press as traditional marketing?
beth_atfw Yeah, but you have to wait longer for the press release. Much better to know about a project than to have to wait for the full details. :)
HH-Soft dave: geez, but you didn't implement sliding by "popular demand", did you hoping not?
V-Dave HECK NO
V-Dave :)
HH-Soft phew
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HH-Soft (c:
DC_Overlord Luckily you dont seem to have the 'Player-Killer' syndrome that hit and destoyed Blizzards Diablo
VV-JD :-Þ
VV-JD heheh
Maniac_SFL the space-sim public is more mature :) *coughs*
DC_Zarathud traitor sexps help
VV-JD The "PK" syndrome did kinda destroy that...
DC_Overlord I have never been 'intentionally' killed by someone in a co-op game
VV-JD I have....
VV-JD It doesnt feel good
VV-JD :(
V-Dave Amazingly, one of our biggest culprits was MikeK
V-Dave :)
DC_Overlord I absolutley loved Diablo until that crap started
VV-JD agrees
DC_Zarathud i had fun even with PKing on Diablo until EVERYONE had the mega-cheats
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DC_Zarathud after 10 minutes of fireballing each other, we found out we were both big cheating losers :)
TheDude JD when can we expect Terminus?
VV-JD ????
Maniac_SFL when it's done ? :)
PS_Steve anyway, must go. Good luck with Terminus and Freespace2!
V-Mitri Bye, Steve
DC_Zarathud cya, st4eve
TheDude bye
VV-JD TheDude- Direct that to DOLey.. sorry
beth_atfw Thanks, Steve...ttyl. :)
Redag Later Steve
V-Dave BYe Steve. Thanks for coming
VV-JD Later Steve
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Maniac_SFL *spent WAY too much time reading the terminus FAQ at ST*
Henry Thanks, and bye!
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DOLey Terminus should be coming out later this year
DC_Overlord cya
TheDude k...well I have to go now, c ya guys later
V-Dave Ok. I'm gonna run too
V-Dave Thanks for coming, all
Maniac_SFL bye
beth_atfw Thanks all for coming. :)
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