A New Decade

[chris the cynic]

But, by your own account the calendar started at year one.
Which means the next millennium starts 1001, and the next 2001.

Exactly. Which means that it starts at the beginning of 2001. January 1st 2001 is the first day, so celebrating at in December 2001 is a bit late.

[andyuti]

2007

Its almost done

2008

Its almost done

2009

Its almost done

2010

Its almost done

Heres to 2011 and another year of 0 updates

[Jaedar]

[Jonas]

Now there's something to clap at

[Hashi]

A new decade that is full of promise, like the release of HDTP

[kdawg88]

'Tis the season to get trolleyed...hopefully this colloqiualism isn't too niche.

[amigo]

Wow this is awesome. I did not know this thread existed...

So it seems posts are only made around the end of the year and early in the following. I'll be keeping an eye on it come this December 2011...

[Hashi]

this epic thread must be bumped, it is simply too epic to ignore

[FrobozzDaMad]

At this point, I agree with the OP. I check on here maybe once a year because I end up talking to somebody about great games and Deus Ex comes up. I groan because once again, the status is still "almost done". Heck, two years ago, I believe I read the only thing left was to write and test the installer. The frustration stems from lack of any news on progress on the mod, or any partial release of the mod which is why people question "is there a mod at all?" I've abandoned my share of mod work, level design and programming as well because I completely lost interest, and that's fine because we're only human and motivation for most only goes so far.

It's fine that the HDTP team is committed to it's completion, but it's also fine if they turn over the work they've done to the general community so that other talented people with more time on their hands can finish it off in a reasonable timeframe. I'm no professional game designer, but I have designed and modded games before, and at this point, if I had a decent, dedicated model maker, texture artist and animator, I'm pretty sure I could have re-made Deus Ex from scratch using something like the Source engine by now if I dedicated 2 hours a night, 5 nights a week for the last 4 years.

Maybe sometime this year, HDTP will come out in all it's fanfare and all the naysayers (including me at this point, two years ago, I wasn't) will be proven wrong.
Maybe Deus Ex will be remade by Eidos as a special treat for the upcoming Deus Ex: Human Revolution launch.
Maybe the HDTP team will throw in the towel and release their hard, though incomplete work to the community where it has a fair chance of being completed within the year.
Maybe nothing will happen and in December 2011, the status will still be "almost done", and this Duke Nukem Forever of mods will continue to dupe those who anxiously await like clueless sheep...

...and if the HDTP team; the only ones who know the true status of this mod; see that of those four possibilities, only the last one is most likely, then this mod truly is dead.

Frobozz signing off.

[Gahhhrrrlic]

Unfortunately, the team does not feel they "owe" us an explanation and therein lies the problem. There has been no shortage of discussion regarding what "volunteers" "owe" to the recipients of their work.....the ever-popular arguement being that because of their boundless generosity and humble disinterest in financial compensation, they can proceed at whatever pace they like, even if this pace is more akin to stagnation.

While technically bulletproof, it is immoral to maintain this position because once you expose yourself, you inherently take on liabilities whether you like it or not. To waffle on a piece of work you make others believe will be completed (in a human amount of time), you are causing others undue anxiety that they would have otherwise gone without, had they been unaware that any project was in the works. Now, that's their own fault for feeling that way right? Nahhh, I don't buy it. Human nature is so easily scripted in these scenarios that any person with an ounce of foresight would see it coming from a mile away and use some discretion when starting something massive like hdtp. Discretion doesn't mean being able to predict the future. Even if things take an unexpected turn for the worse, discretion might be to admit to yourselves that things aren't carrying steam anymore and to compensate your fanbase in some tangible way.

....dunno why i'm still typing. Words like these have taken on a startling transparency.

[EL_OT]

Maybe Deus Ex will be remade by Eidos as a special treat for the upcoming Deus Ex: Human Revolution launch.

That would rule so much. Fail 2 tha elitist modders! Win 2 tha corporate philanthropists!

[Jonas]

The heart of the matter is this: what are you gonna do about it? You can whine and cry all you want but it's not gonna make anybody work any harder or even convince anyone to release all their work. If at some point anybody with access to all of HDTP's assets decide to just post it all on the Internet, that'll be their call.

You've got nothing on these people, so it really doesn't matter what moral obligation they have towards you, if any. You can go on and on about what they should do or what you deserve from them somehow, but unless you can offer them a raise or threaten to fire them, you're completely impotent.

I'm actually starting to feel oddly amused by your behaviour, the way one might laugh at a 5-year-old making a scene because his parents couldn't afford to buy him something extremely expensive that he wanted for Christmas. Usually in that situation it's not too damn fun for the parents, but in this case I doubt they really give a shit by now. If only the Internet had social services that I could call.

[Gahhhrrrlic]

So we're spoiled brats eh? Well, you do have a point regarding how powerless we are and I think I alluded to that anyway...so you're model is perfectly fine. However I'm not pouting so much as trying to make the team feel irresponsible but I should know better than to think that such a thing is even possible over the internet, much less that it would compell them to redeem themselves. Wishful thinking I guess...but since we're using examples, I have one.

You ever have to work with some putz who thinks he's better than everyone else? You try to tolerate it but after a while the urge to shut the mofo up is just too irresistable so you start with subtle hints, then not so subtle hints, then you flatly tell the guy he's being an asshole and he still won't listen because he's already decided you're opinion is not valid....after all, he's better than you....so the gossip begins amongst the office employees and everybody's fed up but nobody really does anything major because it's too embarassing and awkward, etc. Then one day this guy shoots his mouth off a bit too much and somebody in the office snaps and lets him have it. Then every other employee within earshot starts to chime in, strengthened by the synergy of the onslaught until the guy is so overwhelmed with negative sentiment that he has no choice but to sheepishly retreat into a corner, defeated in the realization that maybe he isn't as awesome as he thought.

.....well, I guess I was kinda hoping that if the choir sang loud enough in unison, certain people would have an epiphany or something and change their ways. But as you pointed out....this sort of thing is ultimately ineffectual.

[Jonas]

Unfortunately that example misses the mark. First of all you're not working with these people - when you're working with somebody, you're both putting in time and effort and if they don't perform as well as you, they're damaging your work hurting your mutual chances at success. You'll note you've put no time or effort in on HDTP at all - your stake in it is entirely imaginary.

Second, nobody at HDTP appears to be claiming that they're better than you or indeed anybody else. They were just the people who volunteered when the project was getting going, and they were the people who put in that time and effort over the years to get all the assets done. Now they seem to be too busy earning a living to worry about HDTP. From where I'm standing (which is the same side of the line as you are, incidentally, only I used to talk to the people on the other side, and I used to run my own mod so I know what it's like), you're not part of a choir of people fed up with the arrogance of a single person who's ruining it for everybody else, you're just angry at a couple of people who don't have the time to do free shit for you anymore.

Do you have an Internet forum? Maybe if you make one, a bunch of us can come over there and start loudly complaining that you're not making free games for us. Sure you didn't promise us you would, but we don't have to let that get in our way, as long as we're being unreasonable, we may as well commit

[Hashi]

I feel as if we are treading old ground here, we need a new topic. The new topics under discussion are: How I will get a job, how I will get laid, how I will get a new hobby to replace games. Lets get the ball rolling with the post beneath me.