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Re: Open Source - The future of Flashback - or the future of a new game[message #339835 is a reply to message #339833] Wed, 04 March 2015 11:15 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Mauser is currently offline Mauser

 
Messages:752
Registered:August 2006
Location: Bavaria - Germany
 Well SceenOfDeath, i very much like your idea and your passion for JA.

As one of the initiators of the JA SMP project, which i had hoped largely fulfilled by JA:F, i naturally support every attempt in that direction.
Sadly, JA:F was a dissapointment as a game in itself as well as a modern modding platform to continue the work of the 1.13 project on a new and better engine.
So i really see little reason to wait for another miracle and commercial dev to pick up this seemingly cursed franchise and finally deliver.

I also think the time has come for the fans and community to take matters into their own hands, which have so far shown to be much more passionate, capable and tenacious than any developer studio out there.

The very idea of an "open alliance" game or and "open JA SMP" is the best thing that could happen to the community.
I also concur with your notion to base it on Unity engine, but rather version 5 since it promises to have much enhanced modding support.
With a free engine like this and other free modding tools, we should have all the basics we need to create a JA game of our own.
The only problem would be, that it would mostly be just another turn based squad tactics game without the beloved and unique JA IP. It would have all the flesh and bones of a good game, but none of the skin, hairdo, clothes and personality that makes a JA game what it is.
Not that i wouldn't trust this community to come up with something equally brilliant, very JA-like, given the time and tools.
But it is simply the uniqueness and nostalgia of the JA franchise which simply cannot be copied or recreated, even if all the basic components are in place.
So in order to really get what we all want, we would still need the licenced JA IP for us to work with.

And here is where it gets tricky. Developing an open source game platform on a free engine like Unity is a quite doable task, provided the aptly talented people with enough time come together.
But to make it a true JA game, we somehow need to get access to the JA IP from now insolvent BitComposer, be it as a regular purchase or as a special community permit, which i am not sure we can get from BC.
If we had to purchase a licence or, let's dream a moment here, the complete IP to the JA series, we would have to organize in a different, much more serious way and make a fundraiser to get the money needed for it.
We all discussed this through many times already. The question still being: are we, are there people among us passionate and able enough to step forward and take the chance and responsibility on their own shoulders?

NOW would probably be the best chance to try to get control over the franchise and IP for this grand old community and save a great unique game series from fading into obscurity, because nobody who ever touched it since JA2 could just recreate the magic on a more modern technical base.

That said, i am quite impressed by the work done by that Daniel Ray Vega in Grim's post. And if one single guy can already create something like that, a determined team of potentially unlimited size should have little problems creating an open source JA game base on a powerful engine like Unity. There are also thousands of new potential game developers out there, students of the arts who want to work in game industry one day. I personally know more than a few. If we somehow manage to draw those into the project and commit their time and manpower under a competent and devoted project lead with at least semi-professional skillset, little should be impossible.
Asssets, especially in the graphical department, are available for free or very little money, animations can be done with basic tools or borrowed from other projects. Only the sounds and voice acting assets are problematic, since the original JA ones are just too iconic and hard or impossible to recreate. And they are really what makes and breaks the atmosphere of a JA game, together with the trademark writing and humor.

Another aspect would be, that there are quite a lot of smaller projects out there trying to (re)create some sort of tactical turn based combat and RPG engines very similar to JA or Fallout. Some in 2D, some in 3D.
maybe it would be a worthwhile endeavour to contact all that talent and try to recruit it to a much larger, more sophisticated common project? A common open game base which unites all the basic and advanced features of turn based and real time tactical squad gameplay and RPG/strategy layers in a modular and highly moddable way? You could say the solid modding platform to end all solid modding platforms. This way, a lot of people and projects could probably get working together what they could never achieve on their own.

And i am sure, such an ambitioned project could even find support on Kickstarter, Idiegogo and the likes if presented well.

Another option would be, to just join the development of another similar project and modify it for JA needs.

So maybe it would pay off to check out the potential for something lik this. A man can dream, right?

In the end, all we really want here is a JA 1.13 on a new, modern 3D (or even just a less limited, higher quality 2D engine).
The needed assets we can manage to create or acquire over time, that i am sure of. And seeing how we managed to hack that old turd of a JA2 engine into what 1.13 is today, i am also sure we can manage the same or even more with a proper modern engine with powerful modding tools at our disposal. JA:F could have provided us with exactly the base to work with, but it fell short of exactly that in the end.

The only problem and danger i see in this is, if this project starts off promisingly, but also crashes or stalls in the future, people may alltogether give up hope on JA and ever getting a proper modern reincarnation.
This community effort would truly be the final assault, the last straw for the franchise and the dreams and hopes of this community. So it better be done very right and taken very seriously!

If this project should ever go green, the ones responsible better make sure to do it right and see it through. it is gonna be a BIG challenge for sure, even more so if based on the acquired original JA IP or license.
Probably too much for a single person to pull off, but maybe doable by a small but determined core team and enough serious community support. At least as long as real life doesn't get in the way too much.

So the questions remaining are: if this project is to lift off, on what (legal) base will it stand and what scale is it aiming for? And who is masochistic enough to actually take the full responsibility for it?

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