I've been reading, reading, reading...Witnessing the dispute between the various factions which seem to be emerging with what I'm calling the "Vega Stream" (Privateer-Remake and WCU, the Wing Commander mods/remakes/we-gotta-find-a-better-word-than-those using the VegaStrike engine).
OK, thusfar we've two sides, one of which I'll call the Retros, (with apologies to those in this camp, as I can't think of a better term at the moment), and the other I'll call the Expansionists.
The Retros want a remake with high fidelity, almost complete fidelity, to the 1993 DOS version of Privateer. No expansions, no new features, at the least. I'm unsure what the general position is amongst this camp on "technical updates", such as fixing the bugs in Privateer, or with regards to graphics and sound and the like, so I'll just note that and go on.
The Expansionists are the types who want to add new features. Often, lots of new features. Whether it be ejection seats, turret AI, wingmen, new fixers, new commodities, or what.
There's divergence. That's good and healthy, not to mention inevitable.
Unfortunately, it's seemed to have gone beyond simply having differences into throwing rocks at each other. The fact that such rocks have apparently (whether it's true or not, it's what is percieved in some quarters; I can't speak to it either way) included bans on persons admin disagree with solely for disagreeing with them makes matters worse.
Which is a shame.
Why?
Because you have two mods, in more or less the same universe, working from the same technical base (VegaStrike). There is a lot of room for collaboration, for sharing skills, ideas, bugfixes, and product (such as art among other things). And that collaboration can only make things better. Better for developers, and (most importantly) better for players.
So I'm going to ask everybody to call a truce. My thoughts on what such a truce would entail:
Within the Privateer Remake outside of the WCU mod, there could be a case made for an "Expanded Edition", incorporating some of the new features but staying within Gemini. A third prong to the WC...sharp object, if you will.
That's not my decision though; I can't code, do art, or do much useful in terms of development.Both sides should cease the sniping. There's no reason that you can't be civil when you disagree. Sometimes, just agree to disagree and move on. The 'fanboy' snipes (which I mention just because they stick in my mind, not because they're at all egregious) are a useful example of what we should avoid.
Both sides should find things they can work together on. Whether this be modifications to the VegaStrike engine to better fit the WC Universe, developing art (something I would feel ashamed of everyone if there wasn't collaboration on), or developing new music and sounds (an appreciative nod of the head to Pas-2 for his work is certainly in order), even if the last just means taking what was composed in MIDI and such and doing it in the higher-quality formats we have today (which would certainly seem to be a good idea).
Then, do that. Ensure that where commonality is a good idea, there is commonality. In Art and Graphics stuff, for example, set up a common depository/workshop. Modeling would be especially improved with a determined collaborative effort, if just to make moving between the forks easier on the player (no wondering what we're looking at!:-)). The same in sound stuff. In coding, try to ensure that everybody works off of a common WC VegaStrike code. This especially applies to things like the properties of space, in my opinion. (Asteroids are an example.)
Now, will this require compromise? Yes. Retros may have to accept that, even if it's not exactly faithful to the original, changes may need to be made (such as to allow non-English keyboards to not have issues), or may simply be desirable (the current UI with the ability to directly choose comm choices without hitting C may not be as in the original, but seems a cleaner interface choice, for example).
Similarly, expansionists may need to restrain themselves. Yes, you COULD have something that mixes Wing Commander and Star Trek, or WC and Star Wars, or whatever. But, I would avoid that. You COULD, potentially, add new races beyond what we know of from canon. I would, similarly, avoid that. (Focus is your friend...)
Also, as a gesture of goodwill, could I ask the admin to reconsider some of the bans applied, and to not (seemingly) be so hasty in the future? That seems to poison things immensely, which is never a good thing.
And, finally. I'd like to remind everybody that: A. These are games we speak of. There's no reason to get oneself worked up about them, particularly to get angry about them. B. At the end of the day, we're all the same stripe of geek, and geeks need to stick together.
(Now, if nobody minds, I'm going to post this to both sections of the Crius forums, and to the vegastrike WCU forum, in the hopes of wide distribution.)
Could we...try to get along?
