Beat me to it.
I'm not going to pretend to understand all the technical angles involved. I think I "get" them. But I could never explain them to anyone else reliably.
The one thing I had not considered was the release of Windows 9 making backwards compatibility even harder for the old game. It sounds like it's possible to make it work even if you have to go "emulator" mode or something. But that kinda threw me because I'd not even thought of it.
But issues with the game engine and source code and the like pale into insignificance compared to the following:
Old clunky game engine? DOESN'T MATTER. It's the IDEAS and the Intellectual Property that is the real heart and soul of City of Heroes - and if THAT part of the deal goes through as described, then that part of the game - the concepts - the background stories - the characters - the NPCS - the visual design...
THAT PART will have been wrested away from NCSoft and put in the hands of people who actually CARE about it!
Eventually the game engine will HAVE to change, one way or another. But moving it to Unreal Engine - and allowing other games to be part of the City of Heroes story and reference it..
GOOD GOD... That's HUGE.
People on that thread seem to be focussed on the technical aspects and "when can I log in again"? NONE OF THAT is anywhere NEAR as important as freeing the IP from NCSoft.
Do you know what this means? SERIOUSLY? Have you thought it out to the extreme?
I just have. And it boggles my mind.
Imagine not one or two - but perhaps a DOZEN games - all in the same overall universe story-wise.
IF... IF this is not just NCSoft yanking people around again. If they really allow the IP to go. Then game engines don't matter. CODE doesn't matter.
The Story and the World of City of Heroes can live on even if the original game engine is (or has to be) discarded.
I'm not going to pretend to understand all the technical angles involved. I think I "get" them. But I could never explain them to anyone else reliably.
The one thing I had not considered was the release of Windows 9 making backwards compatibility even harder for the old game. It sounds like it's possible to make it work even if you have to go "emulator" mode or something. But that kinda threw me because I'd not even thought of it.
But issues with the game engine and source code and the like pale into insignificance compared to the following:
Quote:The CoH IP would be spun to its own company, to handle licensing. This company would itself license the existing engine from NCSoft for the creation of a maintenance mode, using a binary copy of the i23 server.
Quote:An arrangement is to be made to license the trademarks to the various Plan Z projects, CoT, Valiance and H&V, to create a family connection, and to allow each to drop the “Spiritual” portion of successor. This means they can make references to the original game if desired, and to enable the expansion of partnerships. This could be expanded for any of them, should the desire be there.
An arrangement is also to be made for the Atlas Park Revival project. As part of the informal agreement we have with them, they would be given an official stamp of approval, and the CoT game build would be licensed to them, to create a kind of “CoH 1.5” and migrate people off of the classic game engine before it finally becomes unsuitable (we expect this to happen around when Windows 9 is released, due to binary compatibility). This can be done because both APR and CoT run on Unreal Engine 4.
Old clunky game engine? DOESN'T MATTER. It's the IDEAS and the Intellectual Property that is the real heart and soul of City of Heroes - and if THAT part of the deal goes through as described, then that part of the game - the concepts - the background stories - the characters - the NPCS - the visual design...
THAT PART will have been wrested away from NCSoft and put in the hands of people who actually CARE about it!
Eventually the game engine will HAVE to change, one way or another. But moving it to Unreal Engine - and allowing other games to be part of the City of Heroes story and reference it..
GOOD GOD... That's HUGE.
People on that thread seem to be focussed on the technical aspects and "when can I log in again"? NONE OF THAT is anywhere NEAR as important as freeing the IP from NCSoft.
Do you know what this means? SERIOUSLY? Have you thought it out to the extreme?
I just have. And it boggles my mind.
Imagine not one or two - but perhaps a DOZEN games - all in the same overall universe story-wise.
IF... IF this is not just NCSoft yanking people around again. If they really allow the IP to go. Then game engines don't matter. CODE doesn't matter.
The Story and the World of City of Heroes can live on even if the original game engine is (or has to be) discarded.