There only seems to be a few things that we're not "allowed" to reuse;
some actors voices and characterizations.
Sure, MS shot themselves in the foot. BUT...fortunately for us, alot of stuff that was intended to be put into the game (but was not implemented) was left there. (wether by accident or deliberately..I don't know but it looks like a massive treasure chest of goodies to me that are available for use) .
Since I started learning modding, I began discovering alot of interesting stuff.
Why bother changing the game engine? It seems nicely adaptable to the resources currently available. (I know..other things that the engine just plain doesn't support that alot of us wanted to change) .
There is alot of "treasure" within all those files. There are hints and "maps" that give tantalizing clues where to find them.

Even if MS disbanded DA..or what ever the reason is, but usually with a complete game you have a pretty "tidy" package.
Okay, So somebody didn't clean up their playroom when they left (released it to public) and left a whole lot of toys there.
Freelancer lends itself to its own sequel because I think everything it basically needs is right there under our noses. We can, as a collective come up with the answer. No one person can do it alone without succuming to the pressure, but everyone pooling their resources together can.
I'm not suggesting to reuse the non-reusable things, but rather suggesting that we can expand on what we already have and havent discovered yet.
We already know that we can change the face of it.
We know we can add things to it.
We know we can add depth to it.
We know we can change alot of things in it.
We know that we're not allowed to "reverse engineer" it and that we are also not allowed to re-use certain characters. (legal liability stuff)
However, that leaves alot of open playground to work with and alot of room to be creative.
If you can't beat it...then find a way to use and take advantage of it.


Edited by - Rankor on 12/8/2006 8:00:41 PM

Freelancer has proven to have many, many limitations (some graphical, some more gameplay oriented, such as system size, and dynamic universes), and there are thousands of features that simply are flat out impossible with freelancer. For that reason, there is openlancer. I don't think i need to mention how much easier modding will be with openlancer, which is another reason why it was started.

This game is 6 years old.

Edited by - blackhole on 12/8/2006 9:10:26 PM

out of my sheer curiousity may i ask what the topic post has in comparison to the threads title?

Commander megaburn I think a lot of ppl don't know about Openlancer or don't know enough about it.



"When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties."

LOL....Ohhh the pain....the pain.....

Actually, Freelancer was left wide open for a sequal. You notice that at the end of the story line.

Creative minds will prevail!

uh oh, another FL2 thread (chuckle) - blackhole is still stuck on the same groove at 60 rpm i see

it's all been discussed before, there's really no reason to turn the manure pile again

About all that FL is sucking from a coding base..

To be honest if the source code of FL would be available, I think there would be so much possible!
Even without the source this game is so moddable, think of what would could be done with the source. Cloaking devices finally lol.

And even without the source someone managed to write a "hack" that would enable dynamic economy.. so I would stop saying the FL engine sucks!

@ W0dk4......

shhhhhhhhhhhh.....not so loud about the "C" word.

flybyu,
Unfortunately that continues to be a problem for the Openlancer community. A couple months ago I posted what was to be the last last-ditch attempt at setting up a community wide development initiative to both push OL ahead and revitalize TLR. While the response was somewhere between passing curiosity and indifference (a marked improvement from skepticism bordering on hostility), the attempt fell flat on its face. The overall response outside of TLR has generally been positive but most people are more interested in playing OL than helping with its development.

Last weekend it seems something changed... For now suffice it to say the situation may be turning around and the TLR community will be hearing more about OL in the near future.

Excellent quote btw...


-MegaBurn

.... Maybe there is a way by which we can develop the storyline separately... start a new studio. The story just ends so abruptly....

sigh wish microsoft would resurect FL.....

For FL, thats certainly possible in SP with full scripting support but the general focus is on MP. Crossfire comes to mind with MP storyline extensions, it includes (iirc) a dozen chapters of background story for the new systems, ships, and equipment. A lot of other mods have extensive background stories. Beyond that the options are very limited.

For OL, canon development is still underway. I long hoped this would take place on TLR with general community involvement but it didn't work out that way. Right now we have a general setting, rough campaign script, general timeline, background story, about a dozen factions, and a few characters defined. Anyone can help. Campaigns and quests are handled in a similar fashion to interactive fiction systems. If anyone is familiar with C++, LUA (or python), and what I'm calling "object oriented narratology", OL really needs help.

Another option is just making an effort to revitalize the fan fiction forum. Maybe organize a novel or interactive fiction project. If TLR added a wiki that would help a lot. There are several FOSS platforms for interactive fiction, they range from semi-linear e-books to old school text adventures (MUD's are an option too).


-Burn

Lead Designer and Webmaster,
Openlancer Project

not to mention that Crossfire is going to have a singleplayer story line extension in the next version

Flight Commander SWAT_OP-R8R

That sounds great, I would love to see Crossfire for SP with all the story you have for MP.

Keep up the good work.

Heheh.

Yeh, I want to see Trent and Junko married, older, greying, about 50-ish, with kids with teenage brat syndrome please!

And all in the middle of a new Threat From Outer Space!!