Today is the day, officially, that we opened our doors and Taldren passed the torch.
==========================================================================It's Dynaverse.Net's One Year Anniversary!!==========================================================================In honor of that, I had to do this announcement in a "
Ode to Bethke" manner, ya know, go past the deadline, then make the announcement and all that.
I know, I know,
(If you have no idea of this, please visit
HERE and check out some of the comedy that was written by various XenoCorp and SFC Community members on the original Taldren Forums under the catagory "The Best of XC Radio")
It's been an interesting year. We've accomplished a lot here @ D.Net, but that's not really the point, is it?
It's playing the game, it's having fun. Those are the basic tenants that XenoCorp the Fleet has been based on since SFC1, and to see it continuing to proper in the community is, well...
FRIGGIN AWESOME.
So, instead of sitting here and appearing a little self-absorbed and regaling you of D.Net's last year of accomplishments, I wanna skip that bit and get to the good stuff - the future.
(What, 762 quite you!!)Instead of sitting her going on and on about D.Net's upkeep of the SFC directory services, I want to move on.
(Ward, would you please SHSSS!) I don't want to sit here and talk about D.Net working with other sites to try and generate money for the victims of the Tsunami, no no we need to move on and get focused!
(Dangit Stoneyface - Fleet Admiral is doing a D.Net announcement!!!) I am NOT going to take up your time regaling of tales of D.Net obtaining the sourcecode for the campaign serverkit and securing the services of the legendary MagnumMan_iCoP, legendary SuperBonk (okay okay, that's just what I call him), and legendary FPF_Tracey-G (hey she's got some good mission packs out from what I hear, look for them in DieHards upcoming campaign) to develop the online campaign experience to the next level.
What, Blade? Oh, right - sorry ! I'm rambling again.....no no no I don't want to face the Wrath of Blade...<snicker>Consistently, D.Net has led the SFC Community's quest for a better game, a more enjoyable experience. We're always thinking of ways to try and make the game even more fun - WITHOUT detracting from the original game's "style", just enhancing the flavor. Now, of course since everything here is done on a volunteer basis, we may move a little slower than some other sites. Sure, and from what I've seen the wait will be worth it. We don't release something until it's ready. Once it's ready tho.....
==========================================================================Announcement Two : The Dynaverse.Net Revised Strategy Guide has been released!Yep, the community driven project is now the first strategy guide to be published by Dynaverse.Net!! Authored by our very own Reptor (YOU ROCK!!!!), you can view the storefront for the Guide here as well as all the details.
Right now in honor of the year anniversary of D.Net you can purchase your copy of this at a discounted price of $14.95. Those of you that remember the original SFC1 manual will LOVE this, and each purchase goes to the Dynaverse Gaming Association, so you're helping to support Dynaverse.Net in the process! It's list price is $16.99 so order now and you won't be disappointed.
How cool is that !!!!
==========================================================================Third announcement:Dynavese.net's Omniverse(C)As many of you in our community have seen, DIFJosh and his crew over @
CUGS have taken some steps in reviving the time honored format of the StarLance campaign system. For those of you that were not around for the Beta StarLance campaigns, it was a turn based interactive campaign independant of the Dynaverse online campaign server. SFC1 was used only to resolve space combat in contested hexes that your fleet and an opposing fleet had moved units into. You had a number of days to meet your opposing force online and "resolve" the conflict. Once this was done, you'd "report" the battle. At the end of the turn (24 hour period for StarLance), the map, resources, and the like would be adjusted to reflect the reported battles.
XenoCorp was a major player in that campaign and let me tell you it was a blast. We had some great battles, and while the strategy aspect which I happen to enjoy was present the casual player could also sign with a fleet and just play matches online. GLICKO - while always being a problem with this type of online campaign - was present. It was a fun time for all that participated, and for those of us that took it to the next level - I'll never forget the 2 hour online "diplomatic meeting" we had with MoK regarding negotiating a treaty to secure the space from the incoming Hydran armada.
It was FUN.
I've always wanted to find out what would happen if this concept was applied to a
realtime dynaverse campaign engine...instead of taking an existing concept and just re-using it, I've wanted to take it to the next level. This is the reason I worked for the last 8 months of Taldren's existence to secure the sourcecode for the serverkit for OP - with the implementation of MySQL support, well, let me put it to you this way:
What if:
1. You had an interface - a complete GUI - that would allow players of ALL calibre, all tastes to interact with the game in REAL TIME.
2. Race Moderators / Fleet Commanders / all the way down to the individual Captain will have complete control over their fleets, ships and resources. You'll be able to divert resources to increase a specific hex's defense, spend points developing your resources for the next "turn", build additional ships and then assign them to specific players. Issue orders that are relayed in realtime, with integrated voice chat. Log in as a Frontline captain and receive your orders with realtime tactical maps of the server displaying your orders.
3. Technology Trees that are Era compliant !
4. Battle tracking - consistant tracking of a Captain's wins and losses automatically - with Battle reporting and campaign tracking options to allow you to create an online Persona and then display the promotions, ships commanded, ships lost, and the ability to "flesh out" the character with History.
5. Medals that are awarded via the specfic campaign system's designers guidelines.
6. EASILY customized Order of Battle interfaces for the campaign developers.
7. Ability to customize the interface to reflect the chosed race of the player.
8. All changes are done REAL TIME - meaning if your assigned a new ship by your CO, you log out, then back in. THAT'S IT.
(We're working on seeing if there is a method to do this realtime
)
Look for the beta of this incredible project in the next few months. We're planning to have it in place for a major campaign by December of THIS year. That doesn't mean our development team won't stay up all night and decide to code half the project...but that's what we're planning.
Again, let me reiterate that all this is done on a voluntary basis - which is just incredible if ya ask me !! So make sure to thank your Admin / Moderator for their donation of time and energy.
==========================================================================Last announcement: SFC2.Net transitions to XenoCorp Hosting Services! and
Recently XenoCorp Hosting services has been working with BBJones to complete the re-opening of the venerable SFC2.Net. Last year XenoCorp was able to secure the domain sfc2.net, and we've been dedicated to supporting that site in any way possible since then. We're happy to announce that we're currently working on transitioning the existing SFC2.Net forums over to a XenoCorp hosted server, as well as re-opening the SFC2.NET front end! We're not going to change anything regarding the forums, we wouldn't mess with anything that works. We are going to ensure that this valuable member of the SFC community continues to run as long as it can.
==========================================================================On a personal note, I'd like to thank each and every one of the Administrative staff, the Serverkit Development Team, our Moderator Staff and you the community. Without your support over the last year we couldn't have made it to where we are today - 2 million hits a month, average of 1 new user a week, this site is ALIVE and it's because of that very thing Gene Roddenberry first portrayed in TOS - the human spirit and it's greatness.
The desire to be a part of something bigger - something better - and working together to achieve it. One day, we WILL make it happen, and the world will be a better place because of it.
THANK YOU to everyone out there for your support. Now, let's get back to fun, and playing the game....
Because it's all about the game, right ?
Regards,