Cool, now we'll know how many people really play FL without all the spammed names in the last one.

QuEsTiOn AsKeR
Last Hope MOD
NEXT MOD!

This has been done before, BUT if I owned the code, you would have to pay me to release it. Simply petitioning will be unlikely to persuade them to release it.

Give it another few years and they might release the source code. Earliest possible date is some time after they stop supporting FL. Thats still 2008 at the moment, hope you're not in a hurry to get it. Thats assuming they release anything at all...

I'm thinking about starting a petition for them to give a single umbrella license to TLR for use of the Lancers canon copyright. Something like that would cover any and all copyright issues with TLR community members using copyrighted material from SL/FL. Problem is none of the other petitions have had any effect at all.

You said you haven't gotten the response you want, what response have you gotten exactly? Nothing at all or a refusal?


-Burn

well, i think they stopped supporting FL a long time ago... and also, that has, what. 22 names on it? theres another petition for an FL2 that has around about 8,800 ppl signed it, umm... whether they realize that some of them are repeated names, i dont know, but they haven't listened yet, so, i dont think theres much chance

of course, on the other hand, if you add a check for $100,000 (or maybe a million, that'd be a lot more persuavive), they might consider

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke

Edited by - Shotgun Willy on 6/29/2006 9:02:51 AM

I know no one is about to put up a sizable amount of money for something like this but if money ever becomes a factor it had better be for more than just the source code with a strict license. Any amount of money that could actually get Microsoft's attention could be better spent elsewhere. TLR needs a new server, Openlancer will need a server for its 1.0 release, and odds are MS will pull the plug the global MP server listing server in 2008 when it officially discontinues support for FL so a means of getting a replacement online is important. I'm not sure what discontinuing FL means for TLR but, trust me, that kind of money could be better spent elsewhere.

You might have more luck trying to contact one of the former DA devs. If anyone is in a position to pull some strings it would be one them.

Anyone have any idea how many of the signatures on the last petition are invalid?


-Burn

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm,

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Anyone have any idea how many of the signatures on the last petition are invalid?

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Well the only answer to that is....a lot of them are.







QuEsTiOn AsKeR2044
1st Brithday on LR.
YAY!!!

As far as I understand it, Microsoft isn't supporting *ish for the game .... when was the last update you saw for it or last time you saw Microsoft do ANYTHING for the game?

Although it may seem fruitless to some, or a lot of people, but to me, I love this game and would love to see how much more developed it could become.


Thanks to those that signed it.

No, I mean officially. Read the MS support life cycle for FL if you don't believe me. In a little over a year and nine months they'll start pulling everything related to FL. The product page, official website, knowledge base entries, downloads, and probably the global MP server listing services. I'm not sure what MS will do with TLR but if it were me I'd be making alternative hosting arrangements just in case.

Thing is, its at that point when MS will actually consider releasing the source code and non-commercial IP rights. They've ignored everything else and petitions are just a waste of time. Mobilizing the community to deal with these issues is what really needs to happen for both FL and TLR to survive for even another two years. It won't be easy and it seems like no one else is thinking about this stuff at this point but if anything is going to happen planning for it needs to start now.

TLR management needs to rally the community to lobby MS, develop a new global server, raise funds for a new server, find alternate hosting, finish the website overhaul, find new games to focus on, and generally clean up some of the old bulk content that clearly isn't needed anymore. Community outreach is also critical. TLR can certainly get a lot more support from and at the same time offer a lot more services to MP server communities, mod development communities, and other FL related sites. Reaching out to other independent gaming communities could have some major benefits too. Do I even need to mention the possible benefits Openlancer could have?

I don't mean to rant but that about covers the situation from my perspective. Making a major effort to rally and organize the community will help a lot more than a petition. If TLR is going to survive long term then at minimum the planning to do all of this stuff and more needs to start now.


-Burn

haha, I have to laugh at that, how many people are planing on messing with a 5 year old game? I bet also when they unplug the gobal server that the game will have less then 200 people playing it. I counted and there is right now about 600 people who play on Freelancer. (It was 556 but I rounded it up)
So Mega is right, trying to get them to release the code before they give up support is like asking the goverment if they would make solid gold coins for us to use.

Edited by - Question Asker2044 on 6/29/2006 3:49:20 PM

Nothing wrong with old games. The graphics might be a little lacking but anyone who is fixated on graphics over game play is probably playing something else now anyway. Getting the source code literally does make just about anything possible. Its just a matter of how much time people want to spend on modernizing the engine. Doesn't really matter what happens with Openlancer, overhauling Freelancer will be worthwhile.

My point is more about maintaining the community so theres enough people around to actually work on something like that.


-Burn

QuestionAsker, I recommend you look up 'Freespace 2' and note the date it was released, then look up "Freespace Open".

Freespace 2 is the best. Google 'hard light productions' to learn more about it.

(yes, I regestered just to say that. :/ )

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You might have more luck trying to contact one of the former DA devs. If anyone is in a position to pull some strings it would be one them.

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That is damned near impossable, I know, Iv'e tried....

Never got into Freespace.

@Mega - Never really meant that since it is an old game that there is no point, it would be nice to over haul Freelancer. Yet, I think there are only about 5 or 9 people(maybe more) who know how to overhaul it and your really just asking them to spend their freetime to do this for so few people, if you want to keep the community going, I would try to give a push towards games like, EVEonline, BF2, and WOW. Work with games with tons of people to get them interested in Freelancer.
I am not trying to say that you can't ask those few people to do it, but I think it would be more worth while if they were doing this with tons of more fans. Hey! You might be one of those people to.