Has anyone kindly asked Remus & Heaven's Eagle to consider releasing their work on the SFC OP version of FMSE? I don't know how far they ever got on it, but I think working from their efforts would be the logical way to go. Are they still actively involved in the community? Do they have any of their earlier work on the subject that they'd be willing to release? Can they legally release anything?
For me, I always wanted a few things that an SFC OP version of FMSE might have been capable of producing: 1) hostile skirmish multiplayer missions permitting each player to start with up to 6 ships rather than just 3 ships (6 ships can be done with FMSE for EAW) and 2) hostile skirmish missions for multiplayer that allowed varied terrains and that allow capture in multiplayer.
I'd take this over release of the source code!!
Kid Carrson