First things First...

[Dx]

Really BZ2's asset system would be great for BZ1 in how it does asset checking and manages additional items, instead of using predefined in the engine object lists.

I hope you're not refering to the lock step resyncing stuff, i'll run away.

[Nielk1]

I hope you're not refering to the lock step resyncing stuff, i'll run away.

No, just the asset checking and the file loading.
Lockstep is a different animal without relation to the asset system.

[Ultraken]

If I were to start over again, I'd go with a data-driven component database system similar to what I used at Pandemic and for my VideoVenture project.  Neither BZ1 nor BZ2 will be going that direction in the foreseeable future, though.

[Avatar]

You big tease...  typical Code Elf™...

"If I could, I'd add the gold plated muffler bearings we used in 'Revenge of the Lemmings IV'..."



Get ready to flame me...



Spinning Golems, while spectacularly bizarre, are to me a part of the quirky, screwy game I love.  So are Scavenger Trap inclines, and Pilots that bounce forward faster than a Scout can fly. 

I'd LOVE to have a BZ1, exactly as it is, that simply ran perfectly under Windows 7 in both SP and MP mode.  I could finally scrap this Win98SE P3-500/Riva I've kept around just to keep BZ1 running.

Not because I'm crippled playing it if I don't have the exploits, (because after decades of online play in dozens of games I'm tired of attitude to the point where I only play MP with a very small circle of close friends who 'get' me), but because I love it just the way it is, spinning buildings, lag armor and all... it's part of the magic that makes me still mess with the game and spend years recreating every part of it even after a decade of playing it.

Believe me, I've agonized over every little bug in BZ1 and whether I should fix them for my own BZC mod for BZ2.  In the end I'd love to replicate every screwy part of it because all of those flaws have been part of the game for as long as I've played it.  You know, it turns out it's amazingly hard if not impossible to recreate some of those bugs... and I have a rabid quality control guy to deal with to boot... 

OTOH...   

I fully understand the desire to perfect the game, squash the bugs, and put a beautiful shine on the old girl.  It's maddening...  impossible, even...  NOT to expand and fix and enhance things when you're messing with their very essence.  For BZC I've added units, updated weapons, put the proper texture in place, and even added sections of things that didn't exist because they were under the ground in the original, or were never gotten back to in the rush out the door.  It's thrilling to make things work that never did before. 

These new and fixed things I'm including in an expansion to the original, or as part of a Recycler Variant, or the almost Total Conversion that the Ancients campaign is turning into.  And don't get me started on TRO, the Chinese units have tons of issues...   

So I not only can see both sides, I've lived through the flames when it came up for BZ2 1.3 AND I've experienced it myself while working on my own BZ2 mod.

You see...

I'm greedy when it comes to things I love. 

I've said it time and time again during the 1.3 patch, to the point where I was seriously getting a little ashamed. I want it all.  I want my cake and to eat it too...  I want my original, beloved game exactly as it is, just because I love it.  I want it fixed up, too, all shiny and perfect and ready to take my breath away again...

So I can understand both sides of the issue, and in the end I'd love to see it both ways... but I realize this might not be possible, or the best thing for an already tiny and divided community.  One version that heals all wounds would be the best thing for everyone.



So, if it can only be one way then it simply must be fixed as much as possible.  The past is done and can't ever be taken away from me (not while my P3-500 hangs in there), and the future deserves a running BZ1.  Maybe if it's fixed up nice and shiny AND runs great on modern hardware someone will pick it up again and publish it for the next generation.

-Av-

[Red Devil]

Me, I say get rid of/fix anything that takes away from the immersion.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

That's certainly a different perspective Avatar.

I suppose stuff like poly clipping, frame rate drops into the teens from bad coding of explosions and some weapons, Lockstep freezing, fast unsynced PCs playing >30% faster, easily hacked, easy avoidance of host wishes, etc., etc., could be seen as affectionately quaint or quirky.

And if you love that, I'll have to respect your view.

But the other 95% of the 20 hardcore and 20 casual who play the various versions of this game, just want it fixed.

[TheJamsh]

You all are aware of that little thing called www.udk.com?

[bb1]

I love my extreme pilot speed! It is pretty much the only way to survive on foot.

Golems, guntowers, and turrets (although less frequently) spinning underground just kills immersion. Why would a building flip around? The golem is a heavy bipedal beast; while knocking it over should be possible, spinning uncontrollably into the air seems unlikely. Thumper would most likely throw it into the air and destabalize it, but not turn it into a gyroscope.

[ssuser]

But it's so much fun to watch... Also funny is when a Golem runs out of ammo in the middle of terrorizing your scavengers and just stands there stupidly wondering what to do next - "What's the matter, big boy, outta ammo?" WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! 

Games always have unrealistic aspects to them. Why, for example, should you hear any sounds on the Moon or the Galilean moons since all the action takes place in a high vacuum?

[Dx]

Why would a building flip around?

They don't but another bug occures with structures and omega shake that leaves a lasting effect on buildings and is really bad if a vehicle comes in contact with the building.

[General BlackDragon]

Games always have unrealistic aspects to them. Why, for example, should you hear any sounds on the Moon or the Galilean moons since all the action takes place in a high vacuum?

Actually, in theory, the vibrations of the sounds would pass into the ship, and thus resinate off the hull and through to the air inside the cockpit, thus becoming sound.

[ssuser]

In a vacuum, there are no molecules to pass along those vibrations. Since you are in a hover tank, the ground will not pass any vibrations to you either. At most, I think you might hear some muted thumps if you are close enough to an exploding vehicle as the outrush of gases might impinge on your vehicle. Maybe Blunt Force Trauma can give us some more technical details as to what you might actually hear in a vacuum in a battle situation - he's good at that stuff. You would hear your own weapons firing of course.

[sabrebattletank]

But you would hear when stuff hits your ship.


Edit: Whaaaa?

[AHadley]

your ship.

Fixed that for you

[Nielk1]

That is one of the reasons I liked the new BSG. The space battles sounded like they had mics in all the ships, but no air.