Comments - Chandler

Just about every update to the next version will have a positive effect on performance. So far, the lack of proximity jumps and the 21-planet campaign. Stay tuned for the rest.

I'm not sure there's a general appreciation for the relative difficulty of modding a given genre. In my experience, having worked on both FPS and RTS, they're at opposite ends of the spectrum.

English. Rename the MasterTextFile. Also, we could use translators!

That's correct: LA's RAM fix is bugged.

The RAM fix is causing the exception. Not sure why it wouldn't load without it.

Space Skirmish.

Land Skirmish has been disabled for now.

We're quite certain, yes. This one's a bit different though because of the AI.

Read the full description on the download link.

Installer.

Because of the long development cycle, I stuck to the most recent screenshots, which were of land. The earlier ones of space were noticeably different (worse) than the final product.

Four decades from 18 BBY, so essentially covering the entire GCW. Tech advancement, which is sometimes theoretical, goes beyond that. For example, XJ7 is the final X-wing upgrade.

This version was finalized about 9.5 hours before we chose to offer it to the public. We really could not have expedited it any more than we did. If we were Diablo III, you'd still have two months to wait. A little authorization is nothing.

It's packaged in the download.

I stumbled upon Mod DB rather serendipitously in 2002 - we were both hosted by Oktagone. Registered before v1 launched.

That's partially correct: it's a stock Action VI model standing in for the Action IV that currently lands Imperial troops. It might not be a typical Imperial color, but the Empire does make use of the Action series.

It's a discarded Garm Bel Iblis reskin of Han Solo that was in the FoC files. Probably only used to create the droid holoprojector movie of him. Not the best Bel Iblis, but it works for now.

Negative; GC is our singleplayer.

Galactic-level economics have also been adjusted, although there's likely more to be done still.

Blatant attempt to get people to vote again since we made the Top 100.

News and discussion are run through Revora, not ModDB.

1.2 will have more substance. This is still just 1.1.

Mod DB offers no category for FoC for whatever reason.

Because of legal entanglements with IP use. But the fact of the matter is that Petroglyph actually does support modding - up until you get to the source code. The engine just wasn't designed around being extensible that way. My point, however, is that such things should be taken into consideration in the contest instead of just assuming that every game is as versatile as Half-Life and that mod developers who don't take full advantage of said versatility, whether real or not, are therefore "unoriginal".

Play something different*.

*But only if it's a shooter for a mod-friendly engine.

Honestly, MOTY was a major disappointment and daresay failure this year. Certainly Player's Choice lacked diversity, but at least that was to be expected. But not Editor's Choice. This is nothing more than a reaction to the players' picks - and a poor one at that. It still fails to be representative of the different engines and genres of the Top 100.

Why is representation important? I've been modding for a long time and I can say from experience that it's a lot easier to produce a FPS than, say, a RPG or an RTS. Not only that, but you'll get better results in terms of graphics (the most important selling factor) because of the camera position. You cannot, after all, screenshot the AI. It's no surprise that the vast majority of winners on both sides are shooters, because there were no categories to ensure anything else.

Furthermore, it's much harder to mod a game with no SDK opposed to one that gives you free reign. Again, this is from having done both. The engine I'm currently working on has no source code access, you cannot alter the main style of gameplay, and there's no control over the interface. As a result, I've had to scrap about half of the ideas I come up with because they're just plain impossible to implement. That's not lack of originality - that's lack of SDK. But I guess starting with a GOTY pretty much makes you a shoe-in for MOTY.

In a community of gamers, it's a travesty that you've been unable to ensure balance in a simple awards competition. I hope that drastic changes are made to the event next year - and prior to the results - on threat of becoming trivialized.

Yeah, that information is in the works. I had to drop it to get the release out for MOTY, but I haven't forgotten.

Yeah, his ability didn't seem to translate into space :/.

So... how many made Top 100?

You don't think it's a bit late? I guess I could come up with something.

Yeah, that's definitely not all the ships...

Yes.