Alien Front Online Server Update: Now Online

[Xiden]

I vote kickstarter

Kickstarter can't be used for fundraisers. You need a product to sell. Indiegogo would probably be the best site to use. They have a nonprofit option with no fees.

Ah ok that works I also forgot about gofundme I think is the same possibiliy

[petter3k]

I'm pretty sure HDD repair typically takes about 6 weeks, maybe more.

@Petter3k, assuming you get the sources, you only need it to create a server then give them back right? We would still be able to use the legit GD? Should this be another thread?

Being a game where we can choose what IP to connect to iirc, the legit GD would actually be the preferred client as the game already supports BBA, has a console for commands and a master list server ready.

About the legal issues, Im pretty sure thats not really an issue as the whole support and IT departement at Epic Games which owns the UT franchise as a whole searched the archives for it - and given (I just asked btw) we do get them, they are as far as I can tell from our dialog complete and I said we needed them so we can use them on modern computers. I just asked though so we can in the best scenario distribute the atleast server sources and binaries, and in the worst case - as you said, compile them for a newer target host and then deliver them back or port them over. Being the most helpful game developer I have spolen to I believe the out come will be very good either way.

But yes, there IS a risk that it will not be recoverable so I will probably pay alot for it myself while I encourage those in doubt to keep the donations moderate given we have enough people. I work full time as a lead C++ developer so there is really not a big deal for me to pay quite alot for this as I want this back very very much. He just has to find it first which I doubt will be an issue . I will gladly start the fundraiser and the rest will do itself pretty much since this was one of the first game I started to research and not to mention one of THE most anticipated games the community has asked for to come back.

Obviously I personally will GLADLY start it, but was told to hang on until he actually finds it (over the weekend or so) and I hope the community will atleast spread the word if not donate a small sum. But I have already offered my help in finishing up if the sources are illegal to distribute but given how helpful aswell as incredibally talented he is, I have no doubt that he would atleast make them work if they arent already complete something which has only happened once - with Toy Racer. (Being the official ones).

[DR TEAMCAST]

I'd expect they'd just lend us the source, it'd be extremely surprising if permission to distribute was given

A compiled binary for PC isn't something I thought about, that would be really interesting. Especially if it allowed cross platform. Hell, it'd be quite the stretch, but if Epic is on board with us, perhaps they'd put the 'Dreamcast compiled for PC' version for sale on their website. Which would be one hell of an advertisement for us (dc online community). Like how Bethesda has Elder Scrolls 1 & 2 up for download. It'd let us play with moderate, concurrent activity. Something like that would get a crapload of gaming press for sure. And to boot they wouldn't have to pay anyone for it to be done, if anything we're paying them

Nonetheless, at least having the possibility of it working again is good enough for me. Certainly exciting

Time to stalk eBay for a sealed copy

Re-railing the thread though, do you have an estimate of when open testing for AFO will begin or will you make an announcement when the time comes? Looking forward to AFO a crapload

[Thmanx]

All this talk of reviving old DC network architecture is amazing. Feels like we're practically reviving XboxLive for Dreamcast

AF:O will be a great addition to the online DC community and help a lot more get on board. But I almost feel if the pipe dream of Unreal is possible, it could almost act like a KillerApp/Halo for the console. Sure we can all play a better looking version of UT on our computers, but with all the mods out there now; it's nice to enjoy some OGUT. To me, playing it on the console is actually more fun then on my computer now, because the gameplay and experience I get from the DC version feels right. Feels the way I remember it.

It's so funny though, I'm sure the actual team at Epic would love to do this. Just look at there amazing community development for the NextGen version of UT. They are super passionate enthusiasts just like us.

But it all comes down on on the files. Can we get the files some how, or were they're acidently deleted forever never to be backed up decades later... Unless of course it's possible to effectively rebuild a server from scratch. But with out the raw code as a map, it's damn hard.



Regardless, once there is a PayPal button for donations. I'm in; even just for the hope of this doing something, I'm all in.

[petter3k]

Re-railing the thread though, do you have an estimate of when open testing for AFO will begin or will you make an announcement when the time comes? Looking forward to AFO a crapload

We are debugging right now as there are problems with some aspects of one part of the system. Shuouma is helping me ALOT with this debugging since its alot of work and we're both dedicating as much time as possible for this. He is a key person in making this work especially since he has a DevKit but mostly because we are both doing this for the community with him being a C developer while I work mostly in C++, which together makes a great army of two.

This is one game though, but others will come hopefully soon following this one. Its new servers which I origonally started writing in C because the original target OS for me was Solaris. The system is in some aspects both very undocumented but also trial and error. It runs on a special system so while the new Kage replacement runs pretty much as it should there are cases in AFO where it doesn't. Hard to make an estimate out of it since a pre/later version (unknown) works while the released version does not. So adding in support for practically 2 games which share the same name because of obviously differences it is not as easy as I first imagined which is why I have split up the system just for this purpose for now for the debugging which Shuouma is doing as we speak while we try to make the released version work. Then we can start testing while implementing the system as a whole which will work for more titles. This is ofcourse while someone is working on a leaked pre or later version with modifications added. Releasing something unfinished and messy as it is right now will not happen and since 99% have the released version, open testing is not worth doing until it works properly. As of right now there is just one part (judging by logs) which is incomplete but works for the people with the unreleased version. The difference is "supposedly" rather big and we are adding in as much debugging features as possible. With that said, once it works, testing will start for everyone and will most likely be hosted asap even if not entirely finished. Testing means *playing*. So while the game connects and online features are initiatiated the servers close and finish up too soon, with no errors really. This is why adding in more debugging is critical so the logs will tell us which part is missing or wrong. Original developers have been contacted for this purpose alone.
So a new target OS is added, system is Split up and more error output is added - because of lack of information where it all seemingly works fine, until servers think they are done and closes. The two versions also differ by endianness (byte order),which was fixed rather Quick but more differences are there aswell. This is how deep Im going to go into this but testing is absolutely not far away at all seeing, which as of right now a developer gave me a respons on which might be rather important.

[petter3k]

Double post.

[TacT]

Go Team!

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[colgate]

Quite a read here! Awesome! I didn't know there is a unreleased version of AFO. Is it from a white label disc or from a gd-r?

Sent from my ASUS_T00J using Tapatalk

[HuntrRose]

got my AFO a couple days ago..



I suck at this game..

[scaryred24]

I suck at this game..

The game ain't easy. Its brutal and I have ragequit in the campaign. Typical Sega fashion here.


Speaking of which I need to play some more and train myself against the AI so I can be ready when the time finally comes.