-= Gametoast.com =-

Alright, here's where we stand:

I'd say 9 of the 12 maps are ready to rock. One of Artemis' needs just a little cleaning up, and Darth-Derkie's maps still need some big updates. But here's where you come in. Should we release all the maps in a beta version Saturday, should we release only the finished maps as Part 1 of the Pack Saturday, or should we wait and complete everything (up to another month).

Things that would need to be done to be called 'complete'
-_bf1 game mode (dedicated server only) for clan matches. This is standard BF1 conquest with standard BF2 troops.
-Add recon/commander units to the remaining maps (6 left)
-Death regions for wall hackers (would be the biggest slowdown)
-If we don't hear from Darth-Derkie, re-converting Geonosis and Rhen Var Harbor so they are 100% complete.

Its nice to see you reconsidering. However, I say you realease the maps. Even if they have bugs, it will give us somethin to monkey around with till you work on the bugs.

Good job with the maps
-RDST

i say release them as betas on saturday because it will give us something to do for a while like RDST said but no death regions it will take to long

Yeah the death regions I'll do last.

I went with option #3.

Look at it this way--we alreayd have pretty much all of the betas....why should we rush them? We'll get them eventually and right now we have something to play with. Of course, impatience is an issue, especially mine, so I don't want to wait too long!

Then there's the patch and there we go....everyone's happy. Except for those extremely impatient children who can't wait for things.

We all know what happens when devs rush things. *coughmodtoolsbftwoaaaaandthelistgoesoncough*

I say release em when they are DONE.

That would work, too.

Just don't give us something that's not close to done. If you need more time then take that time. We'll all thank you later.

Release only the completed maps on Saturday

I`m patient. Very patient.

Well, in my opinion, I think that awaiting for the full completion of the concerned Star Wars Battlefront II levels - Instead of releasing all of them, no matter if they're entirely functional - is the best decision you can actually make, Teancum...
Indeed, I guess that many Feedbacks will be submitted to the respective Authors of the levels contained inside this "Star Wars Battlefront Conversion Pack" through GameToast Forums, which might lead to annoying consequences...
Thus, you will probably understand why I prefer avoiding a similar situation by limiting the amount of factors which might favour it...

However, all four of the map converters (TAW_Artemis, TAW_Pinx, Darth-Derkie and myself) are very busy. This means that some maps will be released in an 'as-is' state. Some gametypes may not be playable (only on a few maps), and there may still be small errors on each map. It is unknown at this time if we will be updating the pack ever again to fix any bugs due to time constraints and other projects we would like to do.

I would rather see them released in the 95% stage with a potential small later patch or update rather than waiting for a complete set of 100%'ers which may never arrive. After all it's not like the originals didn't have bugs etc... Whilst I appreciate the need to strive for perfection in a mappack or even an individual map (how many version 1.X's do we see! )I can also see that converting and perfecting these maps is a slow and labourious process and I think it's totally understandable if the guys would like to take time off to work on their own projects, after all that's bound to be more rewarding to them as modders rather than just converting someone elses (pandemic's) maps, not that they haven't all done great jobs. Hopefully this understandable. From what I can see (and read from Tean's post above) most of the bugs are minor and wall hacks although a complete pain for online play are not really a massive issue and certainly not one I feel should hold up the release of these maps. Any set backs may potentially mean that the interest in SWBF2 mods suffers slightly from the lack of renewed interest that would be brought about by the mappack. Who knows what new modders and talent it would attract to GT and the modding community.

I would say people are starting to lose intrest in the game. When I go online, I always see at most 100 people playing. I think a release of all the SWBF1 maps should happen. When all the maps get finished (through a modder's work or if they stop working, then the source should be released publicly so someone else could finish) another full release should be made.

Well, it seems that the votes tell all. So we'll push the release date back some more. I'm afraid to push it back any more than mid-May, since like Zerted said the amount of players online is dropping quickly. (I'd say due to poor bug control on Pandemic/LA's part).

Yessir.

I now only play online with friends on thier servers, or invite them into one of mine.

I never play public anymore. The lag is unacceptable and outrageous and so are the glitchers.

IA rocks but can only be fun for so long. ;.;

Yesterday actually reinstalled KOTOR 2 and have been hooked on that. So sad to think a community that was once literally jumping up and down like their pants were on fire for this game is now dying out. And I truly feel that's what's happening.

Yup, and it's all due to poor online 'performance' shall we say. Sure glitches can be done in SP, but it hurts MP. -- As does lag.

And it's downright -sad-.

Yeah I wanted it to get out in time to save BF2's online play, but I must face the fact that it's already dead.

Heck, ever heard of Battlezone 2? Also made by Pandemic, positively ancient game.

The community is all but dead, but you'll still find over 100 servers throughout the patch versions and if you include FE (forgotten enemies, gotta be THE BEST community-made mod for any game. They did so much to that, and it still holds as the -hardest- game I've ever played through)

Anyways, it's not gone; yet. And guess what? It's got to be my favorite online setup I've ver seen. Including Halo. Much better than Halo.

Anyways, my point is, yeah. You can do things to blow on the dying fire, figuratively speaking, and bring it back up for a while. If there's any sign of a spark, you can keep it going. Course, it all depends on how well the fire was set up to begin with...

At this point speed is no longer in essence.

Off-topic : I've noticed that Pandemic Studios provided Source Files affiliated to Battlezone II - And freely available at this Download URL -, which means chances to equally obtain those used in either Star Wars Battlefront or Star Wars Battlefront II might not be null...

Will someone be hosting a server with gametoast maps after the mappack is released ?

i host mod map servers all the time,
although its rare if i ever see any more than three people join at a time because of map discepancies and the like
hopefully this mappack will make it so that the mod map online playing community will grow
also i totally agree with what was stated earlier
if LA wants to save this game from certain death the best thing they can do is release the source
Off Topic: the only two things wrong with this game are 1) balancing issues and 2) the haphazard poorly planned user interface on mulitplayer