Howdy! ...what'd I miss?

[Adm_Z]

Hey there friends! Been a while...

What'd I miss? Its really good to see so many familiar fac...names, still active!

 

[CABAL]

Welcome back!

 

[Hellkite]

Not a lot ... I Just all most died
http://www.msfc.com.au/community/index.php?threads/have-a-seat-we-need-to-talk.6485/

So how have you been Adm Z ?

 

[Adm_Z]

Welcome back!

Thank you! I happen to see you online on Steam recently and noted your avatar hadn't changed. It reminded me of MSFC and is one of many reasons I'm back!

Not a lot ... I Just all most died
http://www.msfc.com.au/community/index.php?threads/have-a-seat-we-need-to-talk.6485/

So how have you been Adm Z ?

OH man... I just read all that. I am very glad you are doing better. How has the recovery been? I can't imagine going through all of that. Are you out of the woods by now or are there lingering concerns?

On a somewhat related note, I saw the news about Aad Moerman passing away a few years ago, and it hit me that, as some said in your post, I too have taken for granted that everyone will just be around for as long as I am away. As I said in my initial post, I am very glad to see so many people I know still around.


As for me, I have been doing very well, though very busy for the past few years. I fully intended to keep in touch through and post college, but life has a way of getting ahead of our intentions... Despite the current global turmoil, the last few years have actually been the best of my life. I managed to swing a very well paying job post college, though nothing related to game design or any of my passions. I also managed to swing house, and then shortly after, a wife! The wife being the most recent of my unlocked achievements, happening right before (and ultimately accelerated by) the pandemic.

Otherwise I have kept sharp on modeling, 3D printing, laser engraving and woodworking. Not so much on coding... but I have been itching to get back at it. I have also played a LOT more games than I used to. My current favorite is AoE 4, which has also had me very nostalgic for the old A2 days.

Speaking of which, I ALSO saw A2 is now on GOG... is it still modable? Has the community been revived to any degree? If not, how do we make it happen!

 

[CABAL]

Thank you! I happen to see you online on Steam recently and noted your avatar hadn't changed. It reminded me of MSFC and is one of many reasons I'm back!

Yeah, my avatar doesn't change much. When it does it's just an updated version of the tiger emblem thing. I actually did make a new emblem, but it's without the tiger so it didn't come with an avatar update.

As for me, I have been doing very well, though very busy for the past few years. I fully intended to keep in touch through and post college, but life has a way of getting ahead of our intentions... Despite the current global turmoil, the last few years have actually been the best of my life. I managed to swing a very well paying job post college, though nothing related to game design or any of my passions. I also managed to swing house, and then shortly after, a wife! The wife being the most recent of my unlocked achievements, happening right before (and ultimately accelerated by) the pandemic.

Great to hear you're doing well for yourself! I'm still working on the 'house' and 'wife' parts. Currently at 'renting' and 'single.'

Speaking of which, I ALSO saw A2 is now on GOG... is it still modable? Has the community been revived to any degree? If not, how do we make it happen!

We haven't gotten any more people, unfortunately. I would assume the GOG version is moddable, though. Typically, GOG will modify the EXE and leave everything else alone as much as possible. Sometimes there will be a new DLL and/or config file, but every other game I've gotten off of GOG worked just fine with old mods, even when it required extensive modification to get running on modern systems.

 

[Hellkite]

...


OH man... I just read all that. I am very glad you are doing better. How has the recovery been? I can't imagine going through all of that. Are you out of the woods by now or are there lingering concerns?

...

Day by day

I still have to go to the hospital three time a week rehab and testing. But I cherish each and every day.


Z I'm happy to hear that your life is shaping out for the best.

 

[Majestic]

Glad to see you're back and doing so well. Bit of a blast from the past haha.

Great to hear you're doing well for yourself! I'm still working on the 'house' and 'wife' parts. Currently at 'renting' and 'single.'

Haha you and me both though tbh after being married before I'm not so much after a wife more just a partner to have kids with and grow old with, without the paper attached and government involved.

I've been starting to think my person was hit by a bus lol or hiding really well.

 

[Adm_Z]

Day by day

I still have to go to the hospital three time a week rehab and testing. But I cherish each and every day.


Z I'm happy to hear that your life is shaping out for the best.

Great to hear you're doing well for yourself! I'm still working on the 'house' and 'wife' parts. Currently at 'renting' and 'single.'

Thanks guys. I can take no credit for how things have gone. I'm just along for the ride haha.

We haven't gotten any more people, unfortunately. I would assume the GOG version is moddable, though. Typically, GOG will modify the EXE and leave everything else alone as much as possible. Sometimes there will be a new DLL and/or config file, but every other game I've gotten off of GOG worked just fine with old mods, even when it required extensive modification to get running on modern systems.

I just bought/downloaded it and BOY what a nostalgia trip. I'm happy to see it running on a modern PC with no issues too!

Glad to see you're back and doing so well. Bit of a blast from the past haha.



Haha you and me both though tbh after being married before I'm not so much after a wife more just a partner to have kids with and grow old with, without the paper attached and government involved.

I've been starting to think my person was hit by a bus lol or hiding really well.

Thanks Maj! That all sounds like a bit of news to me too, but I have been away so long its hard to remember. Either way, I hope you find your partner as mine found me. In my case, she practically pried me out from under a rock.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Maj! That all sounds like a bit of news to me too, but I have been away so long its hard to remember. Either way, I hope you find your partner as mine found me. In my case, she practically pried me out from under a rock.

Haha thanks mate, perhaps one day. I'm 38 this coming year. So starting to get to the top of that hill.

 

[Hellkite]

Haha thanks mate, perhaps one day. I'm 38 this coming year. So starting to get to the top of that hill.

Not even close your still one Australian shepherd puppy Maj.

See

 

[Majestic]

Hellkite, just because you're climbing the next hill

 

[Hellkite]

That is a my friend is a mountain not a hill and your on the beach at sea-level my friend

 

[Terra_Inc]

Hey Z, long time no see! Good to see you stop by.

 

[Adm_Z]

Hey Z, long time no see! Good to see you stop by.

Thanks, and you too! I was just looking through the old uploads and some old threads. Did I ever send in my Star Wars Fleet Ops beta after the servers were refreshed? I couldn't find the file but I definitely still have the installer in my dropbox, where it has been for nearly 10 years haha. Would anyone even care if I uploaded it? I'm not sure what the modding community is like these days.

 

[CABAL]

Thanks, and you too! I was just looking through the old uploads and some old threads. Did I ever send in my Star Wars Fleet Ops beta after the servers were refreshed? I couldn't find the file but I definitely still have the installer in my dropbox, where it has been for nearly 10 years haha. Would anyone even care if I uploaded it? I'm not sure what the modding community is like these days.

I'd care. I've been thinking of starting up the Halo mod again, but I'd want to do it in the v4 beta launcher thing and I think I lost my copy.

 

[Adm_Z]

I'd care. I've been thinking of starting up the Halo mod again, but I'd want to do it in the v4 beta launcher thing and I think I lost my copy.

What is the v4 beta launcher thing? I see people having made all sorts of rehashes of improvement mods to FO and rebuilding classic A2 in FO... is it one of those?

 

[CABAL]

What is the v4 beta launcher thing? I see people having made all sorts of rehashes of improvement mods to FO and rebuilding classic A2 in FO... is it one of those?

Before the FO team decided to create an entirely new engine for the game, they made some improvements to their code injection based launcher. It features some more hard coded things swapped to soft code, more complex XML tech trees, new weapon classes, and a few other things. I missed the Star Wars bit and thought that was what you meant.

 

[CptBenSisko]

Welcome back Z!!! Soo good to see another legend return to the fold!

 

[Adm_Z]

Before the FO team decided to create an entirely new engine for the game, they made some improvements to their code injection based launcher. It features some more hard coded things swapped to soft code, more complex XML tech trees, new weapon classes, and a few other things. I missed the Star Wars bit and thought that was what you meant.

I remember them talking about that... is it part of the current release? I just downloaded FO yesterday, but I'm definitely interested that. I remember them saying they would boolean functions to the techtrees and I was very excited about that.

Welcome back Z!!! Soo good to see another legend return to the fold!

Haha thanks buddy! I don't know about "legend" though hahaha.

 

[CABAL]

I remember them talking about that... is it part of the current release? I just downloaded FO yesterday, but I'm definitely interested that. I remember them saying they would boolean functions to the techtrees and I was very excited about that

No, it was never added to FO proper. The variant launcher was released on its own without any of the ODF modifications needed to get the game playable. The XML tech trees are fully featured and awesome, though.

 

[Adm_Z]

No, it was never added to FO proper. The variant launcher was released on its own without any of the ODF modifications needed to get the game playable. The XML tech trees are fully featured and awesome, though.

Interesting. Where would I find this... variant? * insert either Loki or COVID meme *

 

[CABAL]

Interesting. Where would I find this... variant? * insert either Loki or COVID meme *

Actually looks like the FO site has an active thread about it with download links. It is currently the second thread on the home page.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
You said you see familiar names, your name is familir to me and the rest of us too. Welcome back Adm_Z!

 

[Terra_Inc]

Thanks, and you too! I was just looking through the old uploads and some old threads. Did I ever send in my Star Wars Fleet Ops beta after the servers were refreshed? I couldn't find the file but I definitely still have the installer in my dropbox, where it has been for nearly 10 years haha. Would anyone even care if I uploaded it? I'm not sure what the modding community is like these days.

I, for one, would care. I checked our Resources section and I don't think it's there.

 

[Adm_Z]

I, for one, would care. I checked our Resources section and I don't think it's there.

How do we feel about music being in mods? I think my auto installed has music in it. Since MSFC is a private community, I never really cared, but I can see about removing it if it matters.

Hello:
You said you see familiar names, your name is familir to me and the rest of us too. Welcome back Adm_Z!

Good to see you my friend! I found your old BSG models on an old harddrive a while back. I never got around to using them in my BSG mod that died, but I always have this urge to make a BSG mod.

The biggest problem I have always had with total conversions mods is making an actual game more than just a simulation. Like, I managed to get the battlestar and fighter combat to make sense, but I had a heck of a time making it into an actual game. Everything feels too derivative of A2, where you try to replace dylithium with tylium in a way that just feels inauthentic, or completely pointless, where ships and resources are just based on time or something. idk. I'd be interested to see if any mods really became their own games (maybe Sigma?) or if they all just kept to the basic A2 mechanics. Its a little easier to translate those ideas to Star Wars, but BSG is especially difficult.

 

[Majestic]

How do we feel about music being in mods? I think my auto installed has music in it. Since MSFC is a private community, I never really cared, but I can see about removing it if it matters.

Music is fine in mods.

Good to see you my friend! I found your old BSG models on an old harddrive a while back. I never got around to using them in my BSG mod that died, but I always have this urge to make a BSG mod.

I know Chile had a HD loss a few years back and lost nearly all his models. I wonder if those models are some he lost.

The biggest problem I have always had with total conversions mods is making an actual game more than just a simulation. Like, I managed to get the battlestar and fighter combat to make sense, but I had a heck of a time making it into an actual game. Everything feels too derivative of A2, where you try to replace dylithium with tylium in a way that just feels inauthentic, or completely pointless, where ships and resources are just based on time or something. idk. I'd be interested to see if any mods really became their own games (maybe Sigma?) or if they all just kept to the basic A2 mechanics. Its a little easier to translate those ideas to Star Wars, but BSG is especially difficult.

Reason I play Sins of a Solar Empire now a much better game and the mods feel a lot more authentic

 

[Adm_Z]

Music is fine in mods.



I know Chile had a HD loss a few years back and lost nearly all his models. I wonder if those models are some he lost.



Reason I play Sins of a Solar Empire now a much better game and the mods feel a lot more authentic

Oh in that case I'll definitely go dig! I do have @Chiletrek 's Resurrection ship handy if he wants that.

I also found the installer for FO Beta 2 haha. My controversial glow mod for the Excalibur that I had to take down... Which was unfortunate because it looked so good... A gigantic scorpion fleet shipyards model by Kreeargh, Thunderfoot's Addon...addon... I think all of Coxxon's old models... basically everything BSG/FO related from the 2009-11 hah.



Otherwise I never got into Sins... but it was becoming popular even back then. Do people still play it? Are there any other games that are new-ish and have active modding communities?

 

[Majestic]

Otherwise I never got into Sins... but it was becoming popular even back then. Do people still play it? Are there any other games that are new-ish and have active modding communities?

Oh yes and mods are still being made for them. It's more active than A2 to be sure. Some cool Trek and Star Wars mods for them. I am considering modding it myself. Though right now I am just making models and releasing them when I have enough for a pack.

 

[Adm_Z]

Oh yes and mods are still being made for them. It's more active than A2 to be sure. Some cool Trek and Star Wars mods for them. I am considering modding it myself. Though right now I am just making models and releasing them when I have enough for a pack.

Thats really neat! I might have to check it out. I was interested in Homeworld there for a minute too.

I have in retrospect found that I am really more of a special effects and gameplay mechanics guy than a full mod maker or even modeler/texturer. Like the LOD rings around fighters to make them more visible. Not super useful in itself, but makes a lot of sense for a lot of mods.


I went back and played my BSG mod at its last releasable state and found myself having to stop myself from going and fixing and tweaking things here and there haha. Its all so highly addictive. Took some screenshots of what felt like a game against my younger self haha.

 

[Majestic]

Looking good, been so long since I loaded Armada 2. Most of my YY stuff I sent to @CptBenSisko for him to use in his mod. Such as the menus etc. I think last time I loaded it I found it hard to play as I got so used to playing SOASE that it was just hard getting back to it. lol