[Turnsky]

yeah..

either way, regardless of whoever gets the rights to FS, be it V or Smart, i'll be waiting for the results with baited breath.

[WMCoolmon]

If Volition were to take the SCP, optimize and bugfix it and make a new campaign for it, I think they could make a profit. Volition making another Freespace is akin to Blizzard making another Starcraft, on a smaller scale. I suppose the question is, "Is this the right time?". Things have been going on a trend towards being more personal and in-your-face than space action sims.
However, Freespace 2 (from what I've read anyway) is pretty widely respected as being one of the best space sims of its time.

So I think THQ could make a profit from it, especially if they marketed it right. (Let's put a double emphasis on it, shall we?) Considering most people haven't even heard of Freespace 2, my own impression, a good release could net the would-be buyers of Freespace 2 that never were, just because they didn't hear about it. For those desperately seeking Freespace 2 on eBay, it could be a godsend.

[aldo_14]

Well, space sims won't just coe back into popularity - someone will have to make the next great leap.  Same as, I dunno, Half Life did for sngle-player FPS'.

Basically, there's a need for a genre-defining game.  It is possible that some impetus may come as a side-effect when the next Star Wars movie is released (given that's probably the only big movie/series I can think of with space-combat in it).

[Turnsky]

Originally posted by aldo_14
Well, space sims won't just coe back into popularity - someone will have to make the next great leap.  Same as, I dunno, Half Life did for sngle-player FPS'.

Basically, there's a need for a genre-defining game.  It is possible that some impetus may come as a side-effect when the next Star Wars movie is released (given that's probably the only big movie/series I can think of with space-combat in it).

yeah, but that'd be an evolution of the X-wing series, not freespace
either that, or a rogue-squadron tie-in

but yeah, whatever the next installment of freespace might be, in the right hands (meaning anybody competant in all aspects of game design), it would inject new life in a dying genre..

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Turnsky


yeah, but that'd be an evolution of the X-wing series, not freespace
either that, or a rogue-squadron tie-in

but yeah, whatever the next installment of freespace might be, in the right hands (meaning anybody competant in all aspects of game design), it would inject new life in a dying genre..

Yeah, I'm speaking of the genre.... X-wing game released, (if good) space-sim market perks up, market conditions better for FS3.

[Turnsky]

Originally posted by aldo_14


Yeah, I'm speaking of the genre.... X-wing game released, (if good) space-sim market perks up, market conditions better for FS3.

sounds good, but will lucasarts capitalise on what might be a good field of engagement in space-battle terms?..

or will we see another cheesy rogue-squadron like installment.?

[Gloriano]

Let's see

A) IF volition gets licence I think they should port FS1&2
to consoles and avertise them ( get money from sell

B) make Freespace3 multi-platform Game first PC version
with Modding tools (Fred3) and then port it to consoles
so they get lots money, and it sells enough and they don't lose money and they keep THQ happy

that's my 0.002 $

[Anubis2k4]

Considering most people haven't even heard of Freespace 2, my own impression, a good release could net the would-be buyers of Freespace 2 that never were, just because they didn't hear about it. For those desperately seeking Freespace 2 on eBay, it could be a godsend.

Well i'd never heard about Freespace 2 until halfway through last year when i stumbled across a Freespace 2 site whilst searching for space games.  I went to Fileplanet, got the demo and loved it.  Fro then on i hunted in second hand shops for months and found no trace of the full game, so i headed to Amazon.co.uk.  I found a copy of FS1 relatively cheap and bought that, but the 5 or 6 copies of FS2 that were there were £70.  So i waited and struck lucky when a £50 one came up.
I'm sure there are other people in the same position as i was, liked the look of the game, looked for it but couldnt find it, go to an online shop and find it highly overpriced.  Most people would give up there, especially when the only games were priced so high.  It seems at the moment from Amazon.co.uk you could get a copy for £25 but on Amazon.com you'd have to pay $79.95 for a copy.
A re-release would give people the chance to pick up reasonably priced copies and also attract new people to the Freespace community.  It can only produce a positive outcome.

[Turnsky]

Originally posted by Holy Imperial Gloriano
Let's see

A) IF volition gets licence I think they should port FS1&2
to consoles and avertise them ( get money from sell

B) make Freespace3 multi-platform Game first PC version
with Modding tools (Fred3) and then port it to consoles
so they get lots money, and it sells enough and they don't lose money and they keep THQ happy

that's my 0.002 $

well, that has merit, but at a business standpoint, it'd be too much trouble to port fs1/2 over to consoles..

multiplatform fs3?... depends on how its set out, neh?

[Cyker]

Originally posted by Anubis2k4

Well i'd never heard about Freespace 2 until halfway through last year when i stumbled across a Freespace 2 site whilst searching for space games.  I went to Fileplanet, got the demo and loved it.  Fro then on i hunted in second hand shops for months and found no trace of the full game, so i headed to Amazon.co.uk.  I found a copy of FS1 relatively cheap and bought that, but the 5 or 6 copies of FS2 that were there were £70.  So i waited and struck lucky when a £50 one came up.
I'm sure there are other people in the same position as i was, liked the look of the game, looked for it but couldnt find it, go to an online shop and find it highly overpriced.  Most people would give up there, especially when the only games were priced so high.  It seems at the moment from Amazon.co.uk you could get a copy for £25 but on Amazon.com you'd have to pay $79.95 for a copy.
A re-release would give people the chance to pick up reasonably priced copies and also attract new people to the Freespace community.  It can only produce a positive outcome.

Wait... did you mean you paid 50 POUNDs or 50 DOLLARS for for FS2??!

[Gloriano]

Originally posted by Turnsky
multiplatform fs3?... depends on how its set out, neh?

Multi-platform because they want keep THQ happy, customers
and Console games just sell more nowdays

It's like HALO1 they did release it for XBOX first then Microsoft watched how many unit it sells before porting it to PC

[Anubis2k4]

Wait... did you mean you paid 50 POUNDs or 50 DOLLARS for for FS2??!

I paid 50 pounds, and i wouldnt have paid that if, at the time, the only other copies weren't at least 70 pounds each.  A couple of weeks back there was a copy of the Sci Fi Sim of the Year edition going for 260 pounds, copies are becoming rarer and more expensive.

[Flipside]

You see, this is what confuses me, people say that Space Sims are dead, and yet it isn't uncommon to see people asking these kinds of prices for this game because there is large demand and small supply.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Flipside
You see, this is what confuses me, people say that Space Sims are dead, and yet it isn't uncommon to see people asking these kinds of prices for this game because there is large demand and small supply.

Tiny supply and average demand, maybe........ ?

I actually bought FS2 twice, though.  Once in the original release (pre SSOFTY), and then the FS1 double-pack.  Gave my original copy to a mate, though I've no idea if he ever played it.......

[Flaser]

I recently aquired Tachion and I-War 2, and glad I did.

Tachion had a storytelling that allowed familiarisation with the whole game environment, so you ended up feeling you're a dveller of the place and could love it - the only time I felt something like this was during Hardwar, but that game was too rough eyecandy wise to attract enough attention.

I-War 2 brought part of the revolution the genre would need - ture 3D movement. I'm still playing the game to find its merits, but the sloppy interface is somewhat restricting along with their semi-Tachion-ish mission system.

What did both titles lack?

Advertisement.

The god damn PR people forgot to do their homework - I-War2 is breathtaking (thought the SCP has a very good chance to surpass it soon) graphic wise, and the newtonioan 3D combat was revolutionary. - not to mention the cutscenes, it felt like playing a top-budget movie.
If given a proper advertisement it would have been a major hit...

A space-sim game doesn't have to have the same physics, but the sense of space, wastness and a conveying of movement were all key elements that inpired me about that game.

SCP managed to bring the FS2 engine up to date graphic wise, and the Sexp wizardy they implement allows almost boundless mission creation.
With some ship-dynamism implemented (that sense of movement and space) the game would be a potential seller - no not just a game - a space sim game development suit.


It's not the genre that's dying, it's the stupid manager philosophy choking the life out of a potential endevaur.

[Gloriano]

Originally posted by Flipside
You see, this is what confuses me, people say that Space Sims are dead, and yet it isn't uncommon to see people asking these kinds of prices for this game because there is large demand and small supply.

Publishers think that there is no potential market for space sims
but there is..

[Anubis2k4]

Publishers think that there is no potential market for space sims

Im assuming that's because publishers don't keep constant watch of Amazon, ebay, and other online services where their games are sold.  If they had kept a constant watch on Amazon alone they would have realised that copies of Freespace 2 are constantly being sold on there, even though the game is no longer in the shops.  The fact that so many copies are sold on there shows that the game was a hit, and that in turn shows that there is a market for space sims.

[aldo_14]

I think there's a move in general towards having games which fit less within a single genre....  the obvious example - and reason - is the success of GTA3 & Vice City.   So we're seeing more and more genre crossing bits in games - story sections in TOCA 2, story-cum-rpg sections in FPSs (i.e. Deus Ex, maybe Half Life 2), vehicle driving & flying in shooters, FPS shooting in RPGs (maybe....Vampire I'm thinking of here), etc.

At the same time, I think maybe it's not as common is it would or could be - largely due to the costs & development time.

[Lonestar]

Any game can make profit. It all depends on advertising of the game. Even though the Space Sims are dying off, doesnt mean people dont want them.

The reason why people dont buy space sims anymore is because there is no good space sim that exists for online play, like FS2. Freelancer was alright but got boring after SP, and starlancer online was too buggy and laggy and also lost interest.

FS3 is the only space sim that can bring back the genre from the dead. And with somenew innovations in Space Sims created in FS3, i would bet my home it would break even and maybe make a profit. Just need to advertise it and hype it right.

V made Red Faction, it sucked. However it sold enough for a part 2. Reason: Advertising sucks the gamers in prior to a game being sold. What sold RedFaction was new gaming technology, regardless of the factit was an fps, it had a new system in the game. AThat by itselfs sells titles. So in FS3 you need a new gaming technology implemented to woo the crowds. Then Space Sims will be cool again. Use old technologies or reuse the new ones and i doubt FS3 will ever sell.

People dont want a re-hashing, they want new stuff! If FS3 has enough new technology for gaming in it im sure most would leap on it.

[aldo_14]

What about the Star Wars Galaxies one?  That may well be good...