My opinion on why the game has constantly been losing players

[Swallow]

What if you advertise Disco as a dramalancer? I mean, like, this is definitely a strong point out here.
Or memelancer, you tell me.
Other than that the game is just unattractive in any other way. Not unless devs are ready to jump over their heads and pull off stunts with FL engine otherwise deemed impossible. Then yes, you can go an say "look what we've done to this old and unsuitable game engine, you won't believe it".

It is not like ordinary players can do anything about it anyways. Nor anyone from the devs will go for anything even remotely radical.

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FL MOD(EL)MAKING: TOOLS, RESOURCES, TUTORIALS AND MY SHIPS (OLD)

I am on discord: Roal-Yr#5994, I don't log on forum more than a few times a year.

I am not making ships for FL anymore, I am making my own space game instead:
https://github.com/roalyr/GDTLancer
https://roal-yr.itch.io/gdtlancer
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5HQB...cdH45LZgjj

[eigos]

Believe it or not, there is good progress being made from the dev side of things to make the game better. Given how small the dev team is, I'd say we are doing great right now!

Here is the thing - we do not need threads like these, they never change things for the better. We need people like @Laz, @Alex., @Xalrok, @Felsvar, @Durandal, @Titan*, @Remnant, @"Ghostazarashi" and others like them to pop up and do work along with us. There is a difference between writing walls of text in threads and actual work. BE PROACTIVE if you want things to improve, don't wait on us to do it for you!

@Swallow is right on the dramalancer status, some people like to vent and rant instead of being productive.
For all others, who want to contribute, here is a list of things you can do personally (it starts with learning how to do things, then moving on to doing them):

- Learn modelling (great hobby for people with a designer's mindset, who like drawing or creating things, which you can later on use to design 3D printed stuff and also find work as a 3D artist, if you become good at it). I do not care which program you choose, I only care about seeing results. I can (and have offered many times) teach you how to export and understand Freelancer's model & texture structure, but I cannot teach you HOW TO MODEL. This must be your own investment, as I have done myself. Noone taught me anything about design, I had to learn it all myself. This is the hardest department of the dev structure.

- Learn C# or C++, we could use some more coders (C# is heavily used in Librelancer, which is a totally new game engine, able to run all of Freelancer's assets, plus more. Its being developed by @Ichiru and my involvement there is with bug detection, constant feedback, strategising in feature implementations and extensive testing of any new feature.) Also, FLHook coders are always needed, @Remnant created an entirely new Docking Module System that eliminated the previous bugs that made the previous one unusable, he also made those Drone Bays that we have. @Laz is investing heavily too, with writing guides, that new Bounty System and much more that I haven't had time to see yet.

- Learn how to make Effects (.ALE files, .TXM files that contain the textures used by .ALEs) and help make some epic effects, just like @Durandal, @"Auzari" and @Titan* have done! There are a myriad of effects that can be improved and others that need making from scratch. It is not a difficult thing to learn, but it can be time consuming. We now have a great tool for previewing effects, called LancerEdit (contained within the Librelancer package), which is currently THE ONLY tool in the world, able to correctly preview effects and a million other things! Thanks goes to @Ichiru again.

- Learn how to hitbox properly. It is not hard, it's only time consuming. Found a broken hitbox in-game? Well, do a new one and submit it to us, instead of yelling all over the forums that it's broken. I'd much rather see threads where people post what they do and hell - you are allowed to brag about it, I see nothing wrong there! Post a thread, saying "here, guys, ive done a hitbox, ive done this and that" - I'd love to see that. Instead of Q_Q threads about broken things, be active in fixing those!

- Learn solar system design - an easy thing to learn, be creative and make some interesting things! Learn about how to balance a system, what makes a system good and what makes it bad, come up with interesting event systems that admins can use for events!

- Want better game graphics? Then, I suggest going over here -> https://the-starport.net/modules/newbb/v...us=&mode=0
Take a look at @"Schmackbolzen"s project and actively encourage him to finish it, so we may hopefully be blessed with getting his OpenGL renderer, which can make the game feel 10 years younger and actually way more attractive for players who have a modern hardware! This renderer is optional and potato-PC owners are not required to use it in order to play with the rest. A win-win situation!

- Want Librelancer to come out faster? Then support @Ichiru in any way you find. Talk to the guy, he is genuinely one of the coolest, chillest guys I have ever met (albeit in the internet, not personally).
If you can code, or have other skills that can contribute to his work (like making icons, graphics, what-have-you), then write him a message and tell him you are interested to help!

- Want more players? Then actively promote the mod! We have a WIKI page, all hosted and set up, but noone is serious enough to maintain it! We have MODDB pages and we need people maintaining them and promoting the mod in other sites as well! Organize some of your friends here to help you with that, don't burn yourself out and steadily come up with ideas how to bring new players over here and get some Tutorials up to get them started! Hell, grab @Laz and revamp the help system, Laz has done a lot here and he will appreciate people helping him make it better!


Think about all that and make a choice. If you choose to be passively waiting on others, then at least don't make comments about others who do actual work for this mod.

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