Why can't we get more people working on Soldat?

[Clawbug]

The analogy of OS being hacked is somewhat skewed though, it's easy to trick Windows users due to their average ignorace hence even simplest of malicious software can be "profitable", meaning that it's very easy to "start out" with writing malicious software. Also Windows supplies tools with WinAPI. Practically impossible to base an opinion on such a comparison.

...are you saying there isn't an API for the Linux kernal? Because you would be incredibly wrong.

Well, with Linux/BSD there isn't really a centralized API that does everything (eg: widgets, graphics, sound, everything-in-one), like the WinAPI. Instead there are several smaller ones to pick from, and when you stick them together you get a working app.

(the actual specific Linux Kernel API is pretty much just for including hardware drivers)

This. Let's just say that the WinAPI provides some very decent tools to write malware, for example giving access to process'es memory space, something unix-based systems do not provide due to their nature.

However let's move forward.

[PANZERCATWAGON]

soldat died a long time ago. why is it so many people still go on about it

[jrgp]

soldat died a long time ago. why is it so many people still go on about it

Why? When?

It may be true that the community started to decay a while back, but the actual game itself?

[homerofgods]

if so many people goes on about it it's not dead...

[Clawbug]

Number of new people on the forums and posts per month have been going downhill for last 18 months.

[Noobinabox]

Daily visitor's history for forums.soldat.pl

[Clawbug]

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/soldat.pl

During the past 2 years there has been only downhill. Soldat indeed is dying.

[Snow]

Sez you. I promised I would play it till I was 90 (if I live that long). Perhaps, we do need to get rid of the extra crap in Soldat and play a version reminiscent of how it originally was. Mebbe we should resurrect 1.2.1 - and just fix the bugs in that version.

[jrgp]

Sez you. I promised I would play it till I was 90 (if I live that long). Perhaps, we do need to get rid of the extra crap in Soldat and play a version reminiscent of how it originally was. Mebbe we should resurrect 1.2.1 - and just fix the bugs in that version.

Or just download Soldat v1.2.1 and its dedicated server and set them up and play them instead.

[SpiltCoffee]

Which brings me back to my first point.

Things get old and die. If less people continue playing Soldat, that's because there's newer, fresher games for them to play. Without making an entire new game (which is what MM is doing), there's not much you can really do.

Of course, Soldat won't die overnight, but it is growing old, and there's not much we can do to stop the slow decay of it's fanbase. You'll get less people joining in on the fun because there are newer, fancier games to play, and more people leaving for the same reason.

[jrgp]

Another thing is that a lot of soldat's old members and fans joined the community at a fairly young age and are now growing up, which is a huge distraction.

[Snow]

Yeah, sucks when times change, but the thing is, Soldat is over 7 years old... for a non-mainstream game to last that long with a strong fan-base is pretty impressive. Also, I too play all the new fancy games that come out, but there is still very little that compares to the action and community of Soldat. I mean I love Quake games, so I've been on Quakelive from time to time. Legions is pretty good too, since it's tribes-like. I always keep coming back to Soldat.. and I'm just a pubby. Soldat just has a certain appeal and I love the challenge of trying to beat seasoned players. It's also a game where skill is more than just how well you aim or camp such as in a lot of FPS shooters. If you can maneuver well, not only can you dodge moderate to heavy fire sometimes, but it also looks fucking cool. Just tonight I did this neat little flip over someone as they were firing wildly at me. It was kind of like what you see (though rarely) in a soccer game where a player flips over another player in a single backwards flip and lands on their feet again. It wasn't anything special, but just the way it looked was cool and once in a blue moon... too bad I keep forgetting to record demos.

I've written about the gaming scene many times. One thing that is apparent these days is that developers are releasing a lot of eye-candy, to the point the market is again saturated to the max, but most of the games either lack what gamers want or become a novelty for a few months and then forgotten. A lot of games are also packaged and sold as-is with little to no future updates. The gems do shine, but sometimes it takes a while for them to be found in the loads of crap published for nothing but money. Speaking of saturation, it seems like most developers these days see themselves releasing the next Half-Life or Halo. I don't know how many times I've seen an interview with some developer from some big company... "Oh yeah, we expect to see millions in our servers by next fall. Our game just totally rocks." Next fall comes around and there are a few hundred in their servers - mostly noobs who unwittingly bought their crappy piece of shit and poking around on the servers to see how many people are playing. The more and more multiplayer games there are, the less players will be playing those games as there are only so many to play all these games. .. Before I go on a rant here, I see Soldat as being one of those gems. Old players and veterans are growing up, moving on, dealing with responsibilities and so play less and less Soldat. Nothing wrong with that, you can't stop time... well until CERN starts up in December 2012. Soldat does need new players. I think it's time to get back to getting a good trailer put together. As much as Soldat is popular, the majority still do not know about the game or haven't seen enough to really know how fun and awesome this game can be. The only time Soldat is in magazines is when there are articles about freebie games. You see this little obscure fraction of a screenshot - which says NOTHING of what the game is like. Description always reads: A fun little sidescrolling multiplayer action game. That description is then tacked on to 400 other "fun little sidescrolling.." games. I've shown the game to friends, but they've never watched me or say someone whos good or pro play. I always get, "oh neat site. The game looks kind of crappy though, the graphics are so grainy and pixelated... I might try it later." I say, "No. Just trust me. Download it and try it out." They do, but no one on servers and they get bored of getting killed quick and often. Unlike an FPS, Soldat of course is not a game you can just jump into and play - and be good.

If we can all commit a little bit - even if just demos for the time being and plan and make a trailer, this game will go back to glorious. We have to show potential Soldateers out there WHY they should play this game above the latest multimillion dollar eye-candy crap, why it's fun, awesome and has been awesome for 7 years. Screw the stupid contest or any new contests for making a trailer. There are enough here with enough video editing skills, not to mention artistic as well. Collaboration is also good for the community.

This post should actually go into the "Soldat is dying, how to revive it" thread but it's applicable here as well.

And,

Or just download Soldat v1.2.1 and its dedicated server and set them up and play them instead.

thought someone would say something like that. hehe. To tell you the truth, I like the current version of Soldat, but I will agree that anything that is of no use in the game doesn't need to be there. All I just want is to see full servers again, more trick/stunt/pwning videos and more players excited to play the game.

[scarface09]

Soldat is indeed going very much downhill according to that graph if you set it onto Max. Oh my, what will happen in the near future, maybe it will go up when the new version comes out with all the fixed bugs and stuff. But I hope it won't be too late when all the people just start to gradually disappear. 

[Crimson Engage]

There is only one way to revive Soldat. And your not going to like it, but facts are facts.

Release it as an Indie game or Arcade game for Xbox 360.
I hear MM saying he doesn't want to charge people for his game yea? Well he doesn't seem to mind taking donations when you boot the game up now does he?

Xbox LIVE has more than 12,000,000 Gold members and counting. I'm sure there is money to be made from a great game such as soldat.

Not just Xbox LIVE but also on PSN.

I like soldat, i'v been a member for a long time (Under a few other forums names) but let's get real here people.

[Dusty]

blah blah

You made my day!

[Mitak]

As if that'll help...

Capt'n Obvious hints that the graphs follow a similar pattern.

[homerofgods]

There is only one way to revive Soldat. And your not going to like it, but facts are facts.

Release it as an Indie game or Arcade game for Xbox 360.
I hear MM saying he doesn't want to charge people for his game yea? Well he doesn't seem to mind taking donations when you boot the game up now does he?

Xbox LIVE has more than 12,000,000 Gold members and counting. I'm sure there is money to be made from a great game such as soldat.

Not just Xbox LIVE but also on PSN.

I like soldat, i'v been a member for a long time (Under a few other forums names) but let's get real here people.

That will never happen and it's on the DO NOT SUGGEST list for a reason

[pavliko]

Don't worry guys!
Soldat wont die because i will play it until I die ^__^
PS: HOORAY!! I'm back from my long 60 day ban! w00t!

[Snow]

If the Xbox had native mouse support, then it might be something to think about. What gets me, is that there are ways to make a Soldat-like game with physics, but either with limited aiming or hell even auto aiming - where you'd have to rely on maneuverability - which would be perfect for a console and yet I see so few and none are successful. Xbox live arcade and indie sections are almost a joke. There are some good games there but the numbers are dismal. The odd game like BF1943, Braid, etc have done quite decently.

The only way you could port soldat to a console type platform has or is capable of native mouse and keyboard support. I'm looking forward to the open-Pandora project. It's screen is too small I think for Soldat, but it does have vga/video out and usb ports for mouse and keyboard. So in such a case you could have Soldat on the go (besides on a laptop) and even be able to play it on the small screen, but you still would need full size keys - one of those palm sized gaming keypads and a decent mouse. All in all, it would be best to use a laptop anyway.

If there was truly a way to play Soldat with a handheld controller, then I would be all for porting to consoles. However, twiddling your thumbs to aim is so pointless, you may as well just walk around and stare at the map and scenery.

[Clawbug]

Soldat on ANYTHING than x86-based machines(i.e. PCs only) will be impossible without complete rewrite due to technical restrictions.

No go. No MM or EnEsCe can do anything about it. Impossible. Period.

And Pandora is ARM-based.