I highly doubt that it will be titled "Freespace 3", because it's been roughly ten years since the release of the last game in the franchise and also because people unfamiliar to the series who see the "3" would probably go "WTF? 3? You mean there's two other games in the series?...Oh, **** this, it's too much effort to find them and I'll be lost when I play this one."

It's been 10 years since Fallout 2 as well, and yet Bethesda is calling their game Fallout 3, not Fallout: Something. The Vault - Fallout Wiki * Fallout Online * Fallout IRC Channel * Fallout: New Vegas

Isn't there a thread just like this already? And didn't I already explain why FS3 can't happen without killing the original community or without pissing off everyone else?

If FS3 is as good as FS2 or better, including modding potential, the original community could simply switch over to the new game without being destoyed. The Vault - Fallout Wiki * Fallout Online * Fallout IRC Channel * Fallout: New Vegas

And what about FSO? Would all of the coders simply abandon their years and years of work just to play a new game? Think about it: Only a handful of people aside from the FSO devs would play FSO anymore, period. That means at least 9 years of toil and work will be pretty much ignored by the better part of everyone. The FSO devs and most members of HLP are the only original FS fanbase left (okay, aside from game warden and SG). Everyone else either left Freespace or just picked it up later, played it, and didn't think too much of it. HLPers are some of the most dedicated and hard working people I know; they spent the better part of 10 years extrapolating on what was left of the Freespace Universe, and then out of the blue, all of that work is nullified and abandoned.

That's why if there had to be an FS3, it should be an expansion on the FSO engien. You wouldn't be able to distribute the code with the game because it's free by law, but at least you wouldn't be totally abandoning the most dedicated portion of the community.

If an FS3 is made and released on a new engine, I would port it back to FS2 without hesitation. I would then promptly throw my copy of the game away.

You're joking, right?

So you expect them to sell a boxed copy of nothing but the "art", and rely on a community-supported version of the previous game that was originally published almost a decade ago? If I read it correctly, I believe the open source license prevents anyone who uses the engine from making profit from it, stating it's only for "hobbyists" and the like, anyway. So they couldn't legally use it unless they made some special licensing deal with Volition, and on top of that, I don't think they could use the SCP enhancements because they were built on the source release, preventing monetary gain from their work.

@Polpolion

There is no possibility that FSO can be forgotten or even left behind, because it is the best way to experience Freespace and Freespace 2. This is reward for years of developing. This is the Exegi Monumentum. But here it ends, because no one will, would or even should interrupt the development of a new title because some fans long ago decided that they will do something together.

IMHO that would be a bit egoistic. Fans knew what they were doing, why, and what will they get in return for their work. Their work is limited to FS1 andd FS2.

Not that there's much of a point if they don't bring at least some of the original developers back, like they did with Fallout Online and Earthworm Jim 4. The Vault - Fallout Wiki * Fallout Online * Fallout IRC Channel * Fallout: New Vegas

What a load of bull. FS3 wouldn't kill the FS Modding community any more than FS2 killed the FS1 community. They migrated over! Most of us don't have a special attachment to the exact FS2 game itself, but its story, gameplay, and environment. And after all, there's nothing being taken away from what we have now! If anything it would mean an explosive growth in the community if there was something new on the shelves.

And your argument on how 'all of our work would be wasted'? I've been a prolific member of the community and I wouldn't consider any of my work over the past six years to be wasted, even if it was all wiped out tomorrow, because I had fun doing it and others had fun playing it. Ten years of enjoyment isn't enough for you?

If you bought 1994 Ford Mustang, drove the hell out of it for ten years, then found out about the redesigned 2005 Mustang, would you be complaining at Ford for nullifying the enjoyment you got out of your '94 model?

Of course not. Neither would you be compelled to purchase a new redesigned Mustang (albeit it would probably run better than your old model.) If you like the classics then stay with them; nobody's betraying you by negating what you've already had. Be supportive and reserve judgment.

Hm... I think that 1967 Ford Mustang would fit better in this example but.... ;P
[/ot]

Let me reiterate my position; I seem to be over-emphasizing a lesser aspect of it: One of my favorite things about FS2 was the fact that it was easy to convert things to and from FS1 based things, that among the modularity of the FS2 file system. I haven't played any other :V: games recently, so I don't know if they're keeping that up, but that's beside the point. More than likely :V: wouldn't be developing FS3. Given my experience with modding other games, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if they weren't compatible with each other at all. I'd be willing to bet that you could tediously, completely re-do everything for FS3, but that would be impractical. As for attachment to the FS2 game itself, yes, I personally do appreciate it for more than its sole worth as a game, although that isn't quite the thing to be going over here.

And let's look at other recent space-sim games. I've played at least the demos for a good portion of them, and unless the developer takes extreme efforts to maintain the Freespace atmosphere, I have a hunch that it would be a completely different game than most of us would be expecting. It seems like on HLP there's a good sized split between people who want FS to be more like Freelancer and people who want FS to stay like it is. Games like Freelancer probably draw more of a crowd and revenue, but you still have large population who don't like such games.

In short, at the root of what I'm saying is that a lot of long-time Freespace fans will inevitably be dissappointed in FS3 if such a game were made. My other posts -tried- to specify my desire for what FS3 would be like, and as portrayed by the immediately preceding sentence, it would leave a sizable chunk of the FS3 community dissappointed. But don't get me wrong, played right, I think the game could very possibly be a huge commercial success, it's just that schism in the surviving FS1&FS2 I've seen over the years...

EDIT: Although, reviewing what I stated earlier, it does indeed look like I spoke for a bit too many people than myself. Don't trust what I said, I'm stupid. d: But I do stand by what I said in the last paragraph of this post.

My issue with FS3 is that, if it's bad it would probably kill the series, and if it's good it'll svck all of the modders away from FS2 and make all the work that went into FSO pointless.

I've simplified the issue a lot, it was longer but I accidentally hit the Save button instead of Submit, hit the Back button in I.E. (couldn't get past the login screen using Firefox for some stupid reason), and all I had typed was gone. Might be something to fix.

How on earth FS3 can make FSO pointless?

Did FS2 make FS1 pointless?
Does Windows make Linux pointless?
Do modern games make abandonware pointless?

I can't understand the logic. It's not that FSO will disappear after FS3 release.
Even if some of the greatest FSO solutions would enrich FS3 woruld, you guys should be proud and happy because of that.
Please, explein your point of view.

Seriously, an FS3 wouldn't kill off FSOpen. Even if FS3, if ever made, ends up being as modable as FS2 Retail was, FSOpen will still be even more modable than the hypothetical sequal, unless its source code gets released, which I somehow doubt.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if someone ends up making an FS3 to FSOpen conversion if an FS3 ever comes out.

I'm a long time fan of the FreeSpace series, and guess what? I hate HLP. Oops, I said it, and I'm likely to make all the people who are a part of HLP pissed. But let me also say this: Hard Light is the most unfriendly, isolated bunch of people who ever were a part of any one individual game's community. Going to the FreeSpace community and asking for help in a modding project is usually followed by getting flamed and being talked down to by a bunch of "veterans" who are really just egotistical pseudo-elitists wanting to feel special about themselves.

FreeSpace 3 is something that could be really special, and incredibly epic in scope. Saying "if it ain't by V it ain't FreeSpace 3" is BS. Sorry, but Volition Inc. is not the only developer that could make this game. Do not forget - THQ owns Volition now. So gamesas would have to go to THQ. And who knows what THQ wants. Volition is a great developer, don't get me wrong. Red Faction and Saint's Row have been incredibly powerful follow ups to FreeSpace, but Volition is not the only developer capable of doing it. There are others.

FSO is a wonderful project. I happen to be old friends with one of the programmers on it, too, though I will not say who. Their work was never in vain, and never will be. The FreeSpace Source Code was never meant to be something that anyone could gain anything off of - that's the whole point. It's free. FSO will live on in the series and its history.

Any game that became a smashing success with the critics still has a chance to come back. The big thing that has to happen is that gamesas and whoever else is involved cannot half ass ANY part of the process. A big game with incredible scope and features has to be backed up by incredible marketing, and it should NOT be rushed.

I think it is reasonable to possibly expect that sequels to both Descent and FreeSpace will not have the proper numbers after their names - there is an entirely new generation to market FreeSpace to. The space sim has been dead for some time, but bringing it back means being smart in terms of figuring out what the modern gamer wants from a space sim should it come back. Chances are: you'll see elements from other genres being mixed in.

All I ask should a FreeSpace 3 happen is this: pick the right developer and let that developer take their sweet time. If it has been 10 years, there is obviously no rush and making the game as incredible as it can possibly be is absolutely essential to its success and the rebirth of the space combat sim.

The main reason I wouldn't like another developer making FS3 is because it would be an official addition that would likely depart stylistically from FS2 and FS1 (FPS sections, IMO, would be a change in style for the worse). A sequel in the vein of FS2 probably isn't something that would sell for the current audience. The current trend definitely leans to console games, not games for PCs, which means to make money any developer would need to make it on a console. A console FS3 personally would be very different to FS2, likely simplified to make it more of an action game and less of a simulator (I seem to think that nowaday's gamers like to get right into the action rather than learning a myriads of controls).

A 'simplified' FS3 on a console, really, isn't my cup of tea, but I'm sure a lotta people would enjoy something like that.

@Snail
Would e.g. capital ship control in few (not all, not half, I'd say - 1/4t) missions be a good thing for the FS brand or not, in your opinion?

IMO, no, they wouldn't work. FreeSpace is about fast-paced fighter action, not capital ship battles. Though players are ordered to interact with capital ships sometimes (ie. bombing missions) IMO exclusively capital-ship action isn't a good idea. Among the problems I see is that the player would have little power to destroy fighters and fighters could do nothing to hurt the player, in effect making fighter battles nothing to do with the player. Bombers would be the biggest threat to the player also, but the player would be relying 100% on his escorts to take them down, again causing completely isolated battles. Barring some major re-balancing, capital ship action wouldn't work in FS IMO.