The Polled Up Patch

[lordpalandus]

I did a number of polls related to a patch for Outpost 2 several months ago. I was wondering what has come from those polls... is a patch underway or not even started?

[Spikerocks101]

No patch has been made. I believe only a select few people on this site would know how to mod such features into the game, and they usually appear busy. If you make a list of more potential patch ideas (like changing already existing stats), we could work towards that, but I don't see the other stuff getting done. Again, make a list of things.

[lordpalandus]

People don't like simple changes patches either Spikerock.

It is pointless. Thats all I got to say.

I can tell this place isn't going anywhere. I've tried to be optimistic, but my optimism has run out after 2 years.

Have a good one Spikerock

[Spikerocks101]

I wasn't implying people don't like complex changes, it is just I don't know how to change some of things you mentioned before. If I could, I'd love to make a "Lordpalandus" mod which might even become the standard. But saddly, Hooman and TH300 (maybe Hidiot too, but I forget) seem to be the only ones I know on this site with enough knowledge to implement such things. Lastly, you mentioned the game doesn't work on your computer. I can try to help you get it to work if you want, but also, if you want to make an edited sheets.vol, I can help you set that up.

[lordpalandus]

Getting it to work on my computer would be swell. The Sheets.Vol changes are fairly straight forward = Change numbers, with respect to number limits (weapons can't have ridiculous ranges) and make sure to keep TAB-Delimited else it will fail to read the files.

Though... I'd love to know how to create new research topics and get them into the research tree.  

[TH300]

So, your conclusion is: we don't want to change the game, hence "this place isn't going anywhere"? I don't share that opinion. I agree, opu has become inactive, but that is because op2 has become old and players are also older.. Changing many things in the game won't bring activity. It could even keep people away who still like the game for nostalgic reasons. If you want to generate activity, the best thing you can do would be to create new content.

[lordpalandus]

Give me a different conclusion then TH300. Its been half a year since I started those polls, and nothing has been accomplished. I tried Spikerocks suggestion and that was shot down as well. So tell me TH300, does the community ACTUALLY want a patch or not? If it does, then... when. If not, then my conclusion is correct. Nuff said?

[Arklon]

Go teach yourself C++ and x86 ASM, do it yourself, and stop b****ing at the community for not meeting your arbitrary demands. The people who had been doing the game update project had been doing so of their own accord on their own free time, are under no obligation to continue it, and you are certainly not entitled to their help. You should not be shocked about the inactivity at OPU either; the game is now more than 15 years old and it only ever had a cult following to begin with, hence why it hasn't aged as well as StarCraft 1 and Total Annihilation, which have always had a much stronger following.

[Hidiot]

Change a game too much and it becomes something else. You're not a game designer, and judging by changes you want to make, you don't exactly grasp the concept of "the spirit of a game". Trust me, we would like to better the game, but not change it. The game itself is reasonably balanced, and as to those of us really used to this balance (of which I doubt any is an actual game designer, experienced in altering how balance works in a game), we're being prudent about game play changes.


And an important rule about asking someone else to do something is: Unless you make it worth their time, you can not ask it as more than a favor. Life >> a game with a following of less than 3 digits.


So long as the community exists, we're achieving one important goal: Keeping the game from completely dying out. But simply remembering is not the case here. We have people working on projects, like Flashy.


T o close off, consider reviewing the situation when you are a bit more mature.

[CK9]

And I'm glad I wasn't in this discussion or I would have arbitrarily ripped you a new one...

Outpost 2 is a great game as it is.  All patches that have been made to the game have been to fix bugs, enable us to keep playing, and add in a new map here and there.

Fifteen years ago, I would have jumped at a chance to add new things in.  Hell, I was 10 and had little to no responsibilities taking up my time.  Now I'm 25, looking for work, finishing up a masters degree, and s***ting myself over the prospect of paying back my student loans.  What little free time I have I spend trying to escape from the stress of all that and the knowledge that it will just get worse over time.

Most of the other people who have been following this game for as long as I have (and longer) have even more responsibilities than I do.  That's especially true of our main coders, who are the ones who put together all the patches that we have enjoyed.

Now, if you think that these ideas would be a good addition, here's what you *should* do to set it up:

Write up a short proposal of what you want to do to use to recruit people to help you.  Split up the project into multiple parts so that it doesn't stagnate if one person suddenly gets busy.  Since most of the coding done (from what I understand) is fairly standardized, there isn't as much risk of cross-styling causing conflicts.  Once you have a group of people willing to work on it, go over some basic timeline stuff (not a strict timeline, justa loose guideline to help keep it going).  Most importantly, pitch in where ever you can on the project.  Noone wants to volunteer their time for a project where the person who came up with it isn't doing any of the work.

[lordpalandus]

My apologies for my rudeness. Its just that 6 months ago, everyone here was gunhoe with a new patch idea, and I come back 6 months later and nothing has happened. I thought 6 months was a decent amount of time to get started on even the rudimentary basics of a patch; I was wrong, and I'm sorry for getting in your faces, guys.

Maybe, when I have money, and a team, I'd be more than happy to create a patch; as it is I have neither, nor any programming background.

That is all.

EDIT: How does one get the game to work on Win7 64bit?

[Spikerocks101]

*about the 64bit, it works fine on Windows 7 64 for me (on several computers I tried. Please message me with exact details, and I can help.

[Savant_Ace]

Alternatively, let me know if you want to set up a VM to run it. This can alleviate a lot of the problems caused by present-day hardware and software incompatibility.

[Lugia3]

I have a 64x compatible system, but a 32x copy of Windows 7. I do encounter a lot of visual bugs with OP2, including construction layouts getting stuck on the screen partially. Probably some incompatibility's between my modern OS/hardware and the ancient code.

In my opinion, we should bring the game up to date with modern computers before changing core gameplay elements.

With other games this age (Warwind, Warwind 2) I have also noticed the AI becomes piss stupid. 2 units would get stuck on each-other in the middle of an empty field.

[CK9]

Which would require a complete game re-code, which has been shot down so many times.  I would give it a go if I knew enough about how to code...I wonder if it would be done in LUA...I'm picking up on that language fairly quickly, heh

[Lukc]

Which would require a complete game re-code, which has been shot down so many times.  I would give it a go if I knew enough about how to code...I wonder if it would be done in LUA...I'm picking up on that language fairly quickly, heh

It’s “Lua” and not the recursive acronym LUA Uppercase Accident.

And I’m working on partly that, to be honest. But don’t say it too loudly, the Curse might still get me. :|

[helpmenow]

how do you get to polls?

[TH300]

Scroll down in this forum and look for topic titles that start with "Poll: Patch:".