Criticism And Ideas

[dm-horus]

Since I dont know where else to put this thread, I will toss it here.




What exactly is the goal of OP3? Is it to create a 3D version of outpost 2? If so, why would anyone want to play it? If its nearly the exact same as OP2 why bother downloading it? Is the novelty of it being in 3D supposed to make it worth the HD space? I am not being critical and Im not trying to be a jerk, Im just trying to get a feel for this project as it seems to be totally clandestine (which in my mind was a mistake). Why not spice up the units/structures? Dont you think the game would turn out crappy if you have a nifty-modern 3D interface using circa 1995/96 (i know the game was released in 97 but it development took place before that) graphics?

Ive got some ideas and I would apply them to my OWN project if I had the knowledge and resources. Let me break down my thinking for you...

Although polar caps are visible on certain maps, the amount of liquid water required to keep the colony functioning could not be harvested from these sources. The novella makes no obvious claims of underground aquifers or large amounts of water vapor in the atmosphere so where does the colony get its water? No matter how advanced technology becomes, a source of liquid water will always be the most vital. Saying that harvesting hydrogen from the atmosphere and using technology to generate h2o doesnt work since the novella makes no mention of such technology, therefore we assume there is none and the game simply didnt address the issue and the novella couldnt work it into the story. so why not make water a part of the game? i would be interested in making a 3D outpost but with different resource priorities/structures/units and give the campaign a purpose aside from escape. the need for water. survival. to make the catchline from op2 an ACTUAL focus of the game: extinction is not an option. i think the blight is an old subject and a future "episode" beyond op2 may focus on whatever planet the exiles land upon. this could help explain the new/advanced looking structures/units. perhaps some dissidents made their way onto the starship and a splinter colony is again a threat? perhaps this planet is somewhat similar to new terra in several ways: geologically dead, cold, dry surface, lack of oxygen and h2o, rich in metals. perhaps the planet lies on the edge of a star system which may hold a haven for the exiles. any number of things can be considered.

i suppose what im saying is, would anyone be interested in ADVANCING the story instead of just rehashing the same story/plot/game and slipping it into a new game engine? i appreciate the work the op3 team is doing and i look forward to betas, but i just dont think this is where the future of this game lies. especially since its obvious that the franchise is dead, doesnt it fall to us to advance it? since we're doing all this work on a 3d engine would it be so hard to inject NEW ideas? all the breakthru's the community has made have been technical and are focused on making the original op2 playable on modern systems. there has been a small community of us who have been coming up with new ideas but most of the new ideas are either to add new units to the original game or add the original game to a new game engine. is this the most we can come up with? once again, keep in mind that i dont think op3 is bad or a waste of time or should be abandoned, im just asking if anyone other than me has thought up anything new for this game and if anyone would be willing to invest development in them. as i said, if i had the know-how id do this myself.

[Hooman]

Well, you could try the OP3:Genesis forum. That seems to be the only active OP3 project currently being worked on, and it fits the description you've given (3D).

I guess I've had that sort of an unspoken worry about future OP projects, but if you read through the OP3:Genesis forum, it seems quite clear they are discussing new ideas and new storyline elements. There will of course be some similarities. After all, it is still Outpost. But there were a number of ideas for new units and new styles of gameplay. If you want to contribute, there are a number of threads open for discussion of new storyline ideas, or new units, or whatever suggestions you might want to make.
 

[Stormy]

That's what we are doing DM-Horus. We ARE expanding the story. We are leaving off where OP2 left off, and tying together both OP1 and 2 (the storylines as they differ)

Yes we ARE going to make it different than OP2, it isn't op2 in 3D, it's a WHOLE NEW GAME!

I guess you guys don't know where we are going with this

Also, this game if the gfx are good enough and gameplay as good as or better than OP2, the community will grow TREMENDOUSLY! I've talked to people about OP2, and they don't want to play it because they think the gfx suck. This would change their mind and also  give us all some eye-candy. Now, I feel like we are being attacked, but that's probably just me.

Either way...

stormy :op2:

[Mcshay]

I've talked to people about OP2, and they don't want to play it because they think the gfx suck. This would change their mind and also give us all some eye-candy.

I've always played games like OP2 because it's a good game, not because I think the graphics are cool. I don't like how people judge a game just by it's looks, and not how it plays. Any game that brags only about it's cool graphics probably won't be any good anyway.

[Hooman]

Yeah, there are way too many games flooding the market with every kind of fancy graphic they can think of. They just don't make for fun and enjoyable games. You need to have the gameplay. That's something I've always loved about OP2. The gameplay was great. It was something I could enjoy playing years after it came out.

Besides, why would so many people download emulators and play old NES or SNES games if the graphics really mattered that much. Granted, nice graphics can help get people to look at a game, but unless the gameplay is there, they won't stay.

Anyways, best of luck on OP3. It looks like it's gonna be good.
 

[leeor_net]

And I'm going to reiterate once again because I'm truelly pissed off at you Horus for beinbg LAZY and not LOOKING AT ANYTHING THAT WAS POSTED

OP3 is NOT OP2 in 3D. That would be pointless. I know Levi had that thought which is great. Levi can do that but that's not what OP3 is.

I won't explain any of it here because you need to go and read the threads in the OP3 forums (Genesis, to be precise).

Before you go around posting any more crap that means nothing, I recommend you educate yourself on what's already out there and understand that your blathering is not going to get anything done any faster or get you anywhere fast either. You're in the same boat as everyone else. You need to just wait until we finish finilizing our version of what we want the story to be.

So go read the posts and stop posting asanine things all over the place.

[dm-horus]

Read the other copy of this post. In addition to that:

I looked thru all the forum links you sent me and from what i could see, all information is dead-ended. links in forum posts to screenshots were dead and the subdomain for op3 is down. theres not much in those forums other than "go here: <dead link>"

when the community starts to grow, we are really going to have to do something about domain uptime. ppl are gonna run from this place like rats on a sinking ship if its down all the time.

[Stormy]

We are thinking about moving the genesis stuff and maybe some other things to a seperate server or something-- just in case. Or maybe even permanently. It's nothing personal about Punboy or anything. We will see soon enough
Oh, and DM-Horus, you probably should have said something about the subdomains being down in your origonal post, but that's just me. DM-Horus, next time, why don't you ask us about info like this if the subdomain is down or something?

 

[leeor_net]

The links are definatly all good because I browsed to them to get there. Check your HOSTS file.