Any Lurkers interested in a "conventional" Libre Game ?

[Forboding Angel]

[edit] God forb, you don't even know how good gundam is. It's so fucking good. The only thing is the fact that simply because of animu IP it will polarize any playerbase it ever gets.

Meh so much for no replies...

Yeah I do. It's made of win. It has been for a long ass time, jsut no one would ever play it.

As far as evo, the differences between 75 - 90 are astounding. If you want a quick and dirty example, look in the luarules folder.

[KDR_11k]

Argh's numbers made me think I should count my models.

Micro Modules: 15 units (most being fairly general military designs though the blob merging colors might be too colorful for most mods, could maybe use a desaturation pass for other uses), 3 projectiles, all textured though pretty cartoony.
Color War: Just the UFO (textured, maybe a bit high on polies)
CvC: 12 units, 2 projectiles, not really textured.
Fibre: 31 units and 4 projectiles, most of them fairly universal, none textured (well, there is a textured version of the armor factory made by K_haos_Girl)
Kernel Panic: 35 units, 4 projectiles, all textured. Not very universal though, mostly abstract shapes. Also includes the Touhou faction which isn't completely IP free though it seems like anyone can make a TH derivative and even sell it for money.
Lolimod: 4 units (one having multiple equipment variants), mostly textured but only the flag is universal in any way. 2 Projectiles I think
LSOS: 4 units, effectively untextured, not versatile.
THIS: 24 units, two projectiles, only one unit textured, all space stuff.
GINTA: 6 units, 1 projectile, all textured though not very well, generic military stuff though the infantry probably doesn't fit as well.

Total count: 132 units, 18 projectiles (mostly missiles)

Should also include a decent number of CEGs for many purposes.

[smoth]

The only problem with all the free stuff is that it doesn't fit together, making evo and nanoblobs into a big mod would look very strange, I think it's time for someone to step up, someone who can do stuff himself, and won't quit, that person should just start a thread with a whole game planned, and start working on it, in a way that everyone can help.

grr. this is why it will never get done. I could make nanoblob and gundam models fit together. You have to actually put is some work!

[smoth]

Yeah I do. It's made of win. It has been for a long ass time

you must not remember how much a week can change something. let alone "a long ass time"

jsut no one would ever play it.

Thanks

[Peet]

Peet- about 20 or so. Uvmapped and skinned. The looks are 'orrible, but it's nothing that couldn't be sorted, with decent skins, on most of 'em. Dunno how bad the uvmaps are, but whatever, they're available and animated.

Well you're assuming here that sb's content is free for others to take...it isn't, primarily because I simply didn't want another game to start using my 'art' before I'd finished working on it and made a somewhat decent release. I'd probably have rereleased as PD by now but I can't even find my latest SDD on my crashed harddrive...whatever

As for how it looks, heh, don't be leaving out letters on me here. I was lazy and cranking out crap to support the gameplay I was looking for...which I still haven't quite reached. It is definitely pretty awful looking. The only units I am particularly proud of from that mod are the t3 fusion with its ridiculous animation, and the t3 laser defense with its lovely texture by rattle. Tis nice that you think it's nothing that couldn't be fixed with some texturing....but most of the models and uvmaps are pretty bad.

As for your numbers...a game put together with all of the models you have mentioned would look like balls. It would end up very much resembling one of emmanuel's mods; nothing would fit together artistically and it would be a ridiculous mashup of different looks and concepts. Oh, and don't say you "counted" the number of models when you "made a halfassed estimation", ok?

[KDR_11k]

Meh, if you pick the more realistically styled units (vehicles and stuff) it wouldn't get much uglier than OTA mods.

[Argh]

And with better skins that made things coherent, it'd be fine, imo. Meh, whatever, my point is that it's still entirely possible to do a free game with stuff released PD, if anything KDR's enumeration of the stuff he's done makes it entirely clear there just aren't any excuses for whining about this, people just need to sit down and do the work.

[SeanHeron]

Further interesting discussion, but I just want to answer Swiftspear:
I agree we need to go in chat. I would be fine with meeting this evening, and will be in #libre in the Spring lobby today (Saturday) from 8 pm West european time.

So to all interested: try to drop by tonight at 19:00 UTC (Greenwich time) or later if you can't make that. If anybody would like to be there, but can't work with that, please drop a note here asap, and we will reshedule to tomorrow. (I realizise its somewhat shortterm, and you'll more likely just read to late...).

I'm PMing Das Bruce, as I had understood he asked where (and when) this will be.

P.S. SwiftSpear: Sorry not to have replied sooner, I was taking my laptop to bits and putting it together because a problem with the graphics card was really getting out of hand (still not fixed though...).

edit: Sorry SwiftSpear, I realize this is short notice for you as well. If you don't make it for today, I'm fine with Sunday morning or Evening, though I would prefer evening (easier on Europeans and Americans both I should think).

[swiftedit] The channel is #libre on spring lobby at 19:00 UTC

[SwiftSpear]

Sean: you mean about 23 hours from now, right? Hasn't 19:00 UTC just passed like 40 mins ago?

[SeanHeron]

Shit, was looking at my - obviously wrong - windows clock :/ . I'll be in the lobby in a sec. (Need to reboot to Linux that I usually use).
Edit: we are meeting now though, nevertheless! We've only started now at 20:00 UTC, so just head over and join us in #libre. Late comers welcome :).

[BaNa]

I know this is far from the original topic, but

Swift, IMO the game you are looking for is SWIW. It has stunning visuals, good gameplay and is OTA-free as far as i know. It even has the pull of a big franchise that is (again, afaik) benevolent towards modders. Really, going back to any *TA mod after playing a bit of it is like poking forks into your eyes.

[Hoi]

@BaNa
No. it's not free, IW uses lucasarts ip.

http://pastebin.com/d72804b3c

A long chatlog, if anyone wants to read it.

[BaNa]

@BaNa
No. it's not free, IW uses lucasarts ip.

is OTA-free

It even has the pull of a big franchise that is (again, afaik) benevolent towards modders.

[Hoi]

The idea is that if this will be good it might become springs "flagship mod" to show what the engine can do, ect, to advertise spring with, and I don't think it's a good idea to do that with lucasarts ip, also, you don't even know if the IW devs want that.

[Forboding Angel]

THis wouldn't become a flagship mod. Half the engine devs have a vested interest in CA, the fact that you suggested that will piss em off to no end.

[zwzsg]

EVO (which is rife with fundamental problems that make it a not entirely too attractive prospect in the first place).

What are Evo fundamental problem btw? Personnaly I would say it would be pretty good if it had decent textures, and I'm sure Forbodding Angel would be happy if you volunteered to help with that.

You need to do something spectacular to compete in this genre. There's a very small handful of projects that we could even include in an Linux release, let alone ones that will amaze new players and new content devs.

Oh, yes, we have yet to met the standard set by those games (first resuslt when googling "linux game"). Yes, games like Kernel Panic or Pure pales in compairon to yet another puzzle game, yet another Bomberman clone, yet another Mario kart clone (only this time the characters are all pinguin! Because, you know, replacing characters by Tux is sooo innovative). Or maybe you're just delirious.

This engine project as a whole already has enough weaknesses in that it doesn't really have any great single player content free of TA IP

I made sure to include some easy to run single player to KP. Ok, it's just skirmishes, and limited to Windows, so maybe not relevant.

It's a heavily strategically based RTS with very fixed components. It's similar to supcom in that regard... it just doesn't really play like popular RTS, micro is discouraged

Ok, so, if someone just re-made a game exactly like SupCom, then gave it away for free and open sourced, you would still not be satisfied? I know now it's worthless to even try to help you. Your expectation are just too wild and ever-changing.

The only problem with all the free stuff is that it doesn't fit together, making evo and nanoblobs into a big mod would look very strange

Just remaking textures so they are in the same tones should be enough, and if you cannot use an image editor to tweak some textures, there's a good chance you won't be able to make a game as good as a commercial title, yes.

I think it's time for someone to step up, someone who can do stuff himself, and won't quit, that person should just start a thread with a whole game planned, and start working on it, in a way that everyone can help.

Those persons exist, and their projects are playable. Oh right, these projects are not TA because persons who can do stuff themselves don't reuse Cavedog units. Oh well, sorry to have bothered you then.

Anyway, have fun trying to start your new project. Maybe it'll lead somewhere, who knows? But don't go pretend all current mods are crap and yours will be the best ever.

[SwiftSpear]

THis wouldn't become a flagship mod. Half the engine devs have a vested interest in CA, the fact that you suggested that will piss em off to no end.

Frankly, that's something yet to be seen.

[zwzsg]

God forb, you don't even know how good gundam is. It's so fucking good.

Agreed!

The only thing is the fact that simply because of animu IP it will polarize any playerbase it ever gets.

People who use Linux are geek. Geek love animu. People who are into animu are rabid fans. Smoth keeps saying he doesn't want to attract the animu fan crowd, but I still do not manage to see how getting a huge dedicated fanbase would be something bad.

Spring will never compete with a commercial market.

True. Not because it won't ever be as good looking or professionnaly made, only because Spring will never:
- Have 8mx4m poster in every subway station
- Have A4 sized adds in every magasine, including generalist newspapers.
- Pay "journalist" to scores better in review.
- Run adds on TV
- Use scantily clad second rate actress as its main promotion asset.


However, I have a plan:
Step 1) Stop being relunctant about letting Gundam attact an animu fanbase
Step 2) Animu fans are all cosplayers, right? Get some Gundam cosplayers too.
Step 3) Cosplayer are all either teenage girls, or crossdressing boys, right? Pick up one.
Step 4) Get her to cosplay as Tux, make sure tits show.
Step 5) Make her do something stupid.
Step 6) Write an small article about it.
Step 7) Send it, already typed and ready to run, to every newspaper.
Step 8) Watch as they issue it in their "people are weird" column.
Step 9) Tap into the combined power of Linux defensors, Animu fans, and general populace.
Step 10) ...
Step 11) PROFIT!!
Step 12) Realise the open source spirit makes it ankward to profit, so ditch their mentality, after all they're just a bunch of losers, raving commies and smoking hippies.
Step 13) Go all-out commercial!
Step 14) Die. We all die in the end.

[SeanHeron]

Erm, the tone has taken a step to the negative :/. Anyway, as I hoped I had stated clearly (but obviosly have not), I for one will be all to happy to be reusing content that is available already (and which I acknowledge there is a lot of good stuff of already!). My moto in this can be summed up: go the easiest route possible (With the thought that that should make my "money" -->time go further).

With that in mind I wish to thank Argh very much for starting the free content thread in Art and Modelling. And while your previous thread Smoth is great as well, I do find the new one fills a spot as people that want to release content under a free licence might not want to do so under CC-by-sa. Though I agree having just one thread would probably be beneficial.

But why I'm posting: there were a number of people in chat today (sorry for the late notice by me again), and we (well actually SwiftSpear and me, we were the only ones round real late, and we'd been talking about other things previously), have set up a wiki on which we (again, just the two of us as of now), decided we'd draft two things: the design doc, ie what we want the game to look like, and a "charter", ie how we want to be working together, what principles we want to adhere to.

The full (long and at times incoherent) chatlog is available on entrance of #libre. The discussions there will be the starting point of the design doc.

Many regards and thanks to all contributors
Sean Heron

tl, dr: Thanks Argh, one single thread for libre stuff would be the ideal though.
Go to http://thelibregame.bluwiki.com/go/Thelibregame if you are interested in working on the game idea

[smoth]

I appreciate the attention guys but right now, I am trying really hard with gundam's balance, the new economy is fly but it meant I had to strip out that which was 2 years of spring specific balance. So right now gundam is not balanced and I am experimenting.

Otherwise, I don't know about the other mod's balance I am waiting to try them out after they get the balanced and release ready version out. Until then I just try to give feedback on visuals.

I think the point is of course that the content is out there. some minor work and then bam you can make them work together.