Alliance: The Silent War

Hey everyone! Thought I'd chime in and say howdy. I've been reading some of the threads and I know there have been a lot of comments on WTF we've been doing, so figured hey, you guys deserve at least a *little* news.

Things at Linden (makers of Second Life) are actually quite remarkable. Though I've said it before, once you get past what the gaming industry thinks of it, you find it's an unbelievable platform. The ability to collaboratively build in realtime is something I've never seen before, and with voice chat now in public release, you can work in a distributed fashion with anyone across the globe. It's sick. Here are a few screenshots of what one of our co-workers has been doing with the technology we've worked in:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/

But, you're gamers. And I'm not here to pitch Second Life. The truth of the matter is, I really believe in this platform, and knowing where WMI's heart lies, you guys should know where we're eventually headed. I'm not saying Alliance, I'm not making any promises, but as I posted before, you've seen what we do and you can only imagine where we must be headed given our interests and talents. We get you. You get us. We're making magic. Wait and see....

Anyway, enough hocus pocus talk. We're keeping these forums open, I love reading the latest from everyone, and I'll try to post semi-frequently on our goings on.

And, in the meantime, if you got a free minute, give it a shot (www.secondlife.com) Could be the start of something beautiful..

Ta-ta for now, fellow gunsters,
ZA

Thanks for the update!!!

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I'm not impressed one bit but if this the path you guys wanted then so be it. Thanks for the news though.

Atleast you guys are dead *edit* I ment to say aren't dead

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-Leader of the DAP
-Head of Transportation
-Guinea Pig for the Entire NZG

Thank you for filling us lone gunmen in on what you guys are up to. (Dermann: the lone Zulu?)

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!!

Thanks for filing us in.


Just one thing that im wondering about.. Being able to build in real time sounds neat but how does it contribute to our experiences as gamers? I mean, gamers probably don't expect to have to build games for themselves.

That aid, here are some reasons why I think the press''s negativer eactio to alliance is justified :
1) Second life is completely structure less. No goals whatsoever. No storyline. No narrative. No character development.

2) Seocnd life portarys real life, which defeats the purpose of a gme IMHO. Most gamers either play games to get away from real life or be put in situations that are beyond every day experiences.. The later is the very essence of entertainment.. You know, doing stuff that you normally wouldn't do.. Stuff that stretches your imagination.

Second life just puts you in real life..

I just don't see the point of it.. I mean, games like Alliance, Battlefield 2142 are great fun because they all put you in very exciting situations..








I hope that you guys switch back to Alliance very soon.

Thanks for the update. So in short Alliance is toast?

Comparison...

Alliance


Second Life


.....Wheres neostyles when you need him.

And yes whitenoise you are correct, Second Life is about as interesting as watching paint dry.

@ white noise:

Let me explain a bit. I think most people misunderstand the basic point of it all (and why I + others are so excited about it) -

Second Life is a platform, plain and simple. There are many, many different islands/regions where owners build whatever the heck they feel like. Some islands (very few, I believe) actually look to mimic real life. Some are slight modifications (like nightclubs, etc.) I, frankly, don't visit those too much because I prefer the real thing

But then others are gaming islands. There are racing sims, flight sims, RPGs, and so on and so forth. Saying Second Life is for mimicking real life is basically like saying, in the early days of the internet, that the web is just for mimicking newspapers - so why would you need it? No, no! The web became a platform for anything 2D you wanted to share (witness flickr, youtube, wikipedia, and so on and so forth). SL is doing that for 3D.

Just think, when was the last time you could easily send someone a 3D model (without them needing a very expensive, esoteric modeling package in kind to open it)? Or mockup a project or terrain or whatever the heck you wished in realtime? It really hasn't been done.

A well known secret about Linden is that we're building a platform, Second Life is just one permutation of it. Sure there are flying penises and furries- look at what boosted the early days of the 'net The only issue up until now is that the experience (graphically and performance-wise) has definitely lagged behind what this type of community has come to expect. Once you have a team committed to sticking in the right production value, tools, and tech, just watch what's possible. Here's a little example (no it ain't games-related, but shows what you can do with so little with such a platform: http://youtube.com/watch?v=LxVDVggLqsA)

And now to bring it around full circle - look at what we've done up until now- you *really* think we'd trade it all in for cheap low-polycount porn? Come on There's gold in them thar hills, and I don't mean from an economic standpoint.

Remain faithful, all. Good stuff's a' comin!

Good to hear that Linden isnt keeping yall locked in closets and forcing you to make things pretty


Well, I would much rather yall be working on Alliance, but the whole platform aspect of Second Life is pretty neat if you ask me. I mean, heck, if you wanted you could make and island with non stop gun fights with 200+ weapons

I'll just have to wait and see I suppose...


*edit* That video was incredible btw. Pshh, "I dont see how being able to edit things in real time is a good thing"-white noise. Fool

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"Dream a little bit
This is the kush to your lighter"
The NZG Specialist, Stick Wielder, Shotgun Extraordinaire

Holy crap, looking at those shots, I can't help but feel like a part of me has died...

Alliance looks very epic, in a cinemtatic way.. I checked out the interivews on GT, and I thought that it'de be really intersting, the way that they explained the whole conflict, you know?

And who's neostyles?

Seond Life is.. well kind of unapprciated, but it's not close to alliance.. From what I've read, most of the games are on the same level as thsoe found on newgrounds..



Zain, yeah, it does sound kind of unique. Since Seconfd Life has replaced Alliance, could you guys add support for .wings files?


EDIT : Im thinking about making a website for this...

the URL will be www.alliancecancelled.com


Do what you can! Spead the word!

oh give it a rest white noise. No matter how loud you scream Alliance is not coming back.

Have you ever traded in your ferrari for a gas powered sofa?

It's too hard to accept. That one of the greatest FPS games ever got cancelled for second life.

Think about it.


Although, i have admit that I really like the idea of importing models into second life and letting others check them out.

Zain, will you guys be adding wupport for .wings? (wings 3D models)

Do you get to shoot people in Second Life, especially the furries (or at least rob a hand, shoot paper targets, run over people)?

If not... then 'fraid I'm still not interested in it. Glad you guys are doing improvements to it and I wish you well, but I still want Alliance and am willing to wait for it.

No, as far as I can tell, Alliance has been replaced by somethng entirly different. Alliance was the FPS game PC gamers have been needing since the beginning..

Second life.. is.. the land og flying phaluses. And that dosen't appeal to me.

Ok, now we know your point. Shut up.

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"Dream a little bit
This is the kush to your lighter"
The NZG Specialist, Stick Wielder, Shotgun Extraordinaire

Just seems likes no one here appeciates how horrible exchanging the worst for the best is..

i never really did like this project, but i guess it started as a necessary evil. now its more of an opportunity to perhaps make a first person shooter in this type of environment. all i know is that this opportunity will only make alliance better when it is realleased...

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No sigs makes threads load faster!

Don't you get it? Ther might not be an Alliance? Instead they are working on Secon Life.

Keep it civil, or I'll smash your dick.

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Head of Zombie Suit Manufacturing, Supplying Guns to the Mentally Stable, Lead Researcher for Weapons, Grand Requisitioner, and Master Keeper of the NZG Armoury.
Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.