1st post and first time here and although new to this forum, I is OLD for a gamer, which also means in my humble opinion, I think what is being attempted here is amazing. I played elite (yes the original) back in the day, I played Freelancer to death and lots of Freelancer mods (I still do). So for what it's worth in my opinion... getting the back end right, right from the start IS KEY to this project's future. Freelancer had so much more potential in it, but it was hurried which also meant the back end was not really done right. it has been modded but not easily and it took a lot of effort by a lot of people and a relatively long time for that to happen. if this project can get to release and modding does start to happen relatively quickly and easily, then this could be massive, for both the developers or is that developer!
My point being, is that having coded and knowing just what a monumental task something like this can become, then having a tool suite, that is as good as this LOOKS like it is shaping up to be, then going forward, the space gaming world will have a tool set, that will really bring masses of modder's and fans alike, I see bees, flies and honeypots galore. I hope I'm not dead before this all becomes a reality for Josh. As for the game, well from Freelancer to Crossfire 2 to discovery etc, you get the point, perfection is not needed, but having something that ten's of thousands of people or more. can tinker and play with for the next 10 years or more, well that's something that has to be gotten relatively right from start, otherwise nobody will bother or care, I get it Josh, games come and go, but some are built to last
4th March 2003 is when Freelancer was released - that game is over 15 years old and people still think of it as better than almost all space games that came before it and after and is still being actively modded and multiplayer servers are still active for some mods. This could very well become the next big space sim, that draws a lot of people back into the fold, always keep in mind, playability, enjoyability, ease of introduction, the thrill of the kill and that feeling that you can become the best of the best, is still what drives a lot of players.
If you get this right, then it will last, if you get this wrong, then see what can happen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LymCezUg7HI
It's OK he's an old mate of mine, he doesn't care and he burned out badly, MANY TIMES, so get it right, don't let pressure get to you, use it to see more clearly into what is needed to be accomplished and what is just bogging you down in code that may never be of any real use to you or anyone else. Matt was a gaming developer god at one time and I used to watch him burn himself out, it's not worth it, but UNLIKE Matt's games, you don't need to sell millions of copies of this, you just need to develop and license the toolset, so as to launch a million space ships on their journeys
Best of luck