Free Allegiance Forums

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:47 am**

We're in the initial phases of brainstorming how we can do some real good for this game, something ambitious, like get legal help in an effort to get Microsoft to give us the rights to the game and eventually get it on steam. Or at the very least find out what it would take to get Microsoft to give up the rights... or inspire them to take action in some way.

Threads about this in the past:
http://www.freeallegiance.org/forums/index...amp;mode=linear
http://www.freeallegiance.org/forums/index...amp;mode=linear
among others...

We've done some positive things for this game, but only going after the low hanging fruit. It's time for a project, something that gets at the root of the problems. (We don't have to go after one at a time either... the homepage(Dome Edit: Thanks AEM!!) and keymap changes are vital.)

Now aside from that, I specifically need all of your help getting the word out about the game. Yes you. It's that time again.

Here is your new mission:

Get people you know with well viewed websites to mention our game. Think about all the relationships you have and if there is anyone you can convince to put an Allegiance banner or link on their site. Do you know any game reviewers? Have you made any new friends that you haven't exposed to Allegiance yet? It's going to take work on your part. If they've never played or heard of the game then you're going to have to get them to buy in. Tell them a story about how awesome the game is. Find an angle to get them excited in helping. Do whatever it takes. Figure out a way to do it and get it done.

You have banners available to you. Post them. Print them. Link them.

Additionally, post them at your places of work. Link them on your blogs. If you're ashamed to admit you play a computer game, use a hider account.

But seriously we need to either @#(! or get off the pot. We have to improve what are we doing. And it takes a team effort. If you have other ideas to save the game or comments on the plan to get Microsoft rights then REPLY to this thread!

Allegiance isn't done yet. I'm convinced with continued effort and some big projects we can do something to be proud of for this game.

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:35 am**

Don't you need to port FA to a modern game engine so it can be compatible with Steam?

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:07 am**

peet wrote:QUOTE (peet @ Mar 9 2015, 09:35 AM) Don't you need to port FA to a modern game engine so it can be compatible with Steam?

No.
System shock is on steam, as it was relesaed in 1999.
We need the copyright.

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 3:31 pm**

IMO it would be good to port it to a newer engine anyways. Updated graphics make for better appeal with newer players. Allegiance isn't really stylized like mine-craft, TF2 or Castle Crashers. Updated graphics for sure need to be a thing. (not just higher res textures, we need a full overhaul) Updating to an engine with some kind of SDK/workshop tool for users would be amazing too. Some way for users to easily make their own factions or ship skins or what have you would be amazing. We need the rights to this game so we can do an overhaul. Some things do have a lifespan. 10+ years is incredible. But IMO the thing that will get us the most new users is a port/remake/transfer to a newer engine.

Giving players the ability to make their own ship skins and show them off in game would be incredible. Keeping to the totally free game with no chintzy micro-transactions, no pay to win bull@#(! and no member privileges is the BEST way to go for any game IMO. Tip jar/ donation page is the way to go. (or possibly buy membership, unlock custom skins)
Anyways giving players the ability to easily make their own content for the game will cause customers to 'buy into' the game without actually spending money on the game. The more you spend time/put work into a thing the more your brain convinces you it's worth it to keep putting time/work into a thing. Plus you directly become a part of the development process of the game. Massive buy in created.

Keeping the chintzy-ness out of the game is for sure a must, and will keep players comming back for more.

But IMO the biggest thing that needs to happen is a port to a new engine. Something shiny. It will just attract more customers, it just will. If we stylize the game we would add massive longevity onto the game. TF2, minecraft and mario will be around for a long long time regardless of graphics. Stylized = immune to future graphical upgrades.

What would be the ultimate ever and would possibly change the way the game is played forever, but would be ultra ultra cool. Would be to make your own factions in game via a model editor with set sizes for the ships and auto-calculating hitboxes. So you can design a ship but it has to be within certain specs for it to not be OP as $#@!. Gun-mount positioning closer together = uses more points from a max pool, speed accell etc/ uses more points from a max pool. I dunno that'l probably make things a little weird with every player having their own custom faction they play. Just throwing ideas out there.

But porting this game to a newer engine will only bring us good things and IMO is needed if we are to attract and keep an audience of newier players.

When I play this game as it is right now, my friends are like, what game are you playing it looks old as $#@!. And I'm like it is. And immediately I become a little more socially isolated for having played the game. That's just how it is. Kids who are 16-18 want to be playing something shiny as $#@! AND a good game to play or Stylized as $#@! AND a good game to play. Allegiance as it is basically looks like the devs at the time wanted to make it as shiny as possible for their time, and for that time this was probably crysis as $#@!. But now its not. We need to either: Pick some kind of style (not the 'style' its already in) or major graphics overhaul. But either way a new engine is needed too.

A new engine will probably make it nicer for current devs to play with @#(! too.

If we get the rights to the game, put it with a new engine and put it on steam we will get a $#@! LOAD of new users. Updated tutorial missions with one of our pros speaking would be amazing as well for newbie retention. Mandatory introduction tutorial before you play the game should be a thing as well. Just someones voice going "Hello and welcome to Allegiance, the best game you've never played" (might have to change the slogan, as when we put it on steam people will play it) "This is ______@___, Allegiance is a blah blah blah with blah blah blah, lets go over the flight controls real quick... etc" Basic game run down, quick ship overview and then newbies know whats up and are good to go.

New engine, new graphics, new tutorial + steam & steam workshop (players could sell and buy skins just like in CS:GO and that's how we could make money for servers/devs in a completely non-chintz way as skin prices are entirely community based) New engine, new graphics, new tutorial and steam (ooh think of the achievements) and steam workshop would bring us massive newbie retention, a massive advertisement via steam just by having it on there for people to search, potential user buy in (more retention) and overall make this game rise like a penix from the ashes.

tl;dr? $#@! you.

EDIT: @DOME. Twitch would be an amazing platform to advertise this game on. Not necessarily streaming our own games, although that does help, but if we found users on twitch with followers already, and the streamer is willing to play this game (or for cash) and some of our pro's walked them through how to play or included the user in a squad game (this would be the most bomb), we could advertise with a huge conversion rate, especially if we were to turn whatever user into a regular Allegiance player it would just spark from there. I have already sent a message to this guy I know who streams CSGO his name is COLTHAN on twitch. One time I entered a raffle for a Karambit (300$ knife or something like that) and I won, and he swore he would get it to me but never did. I messaged him and asked him instead just to play our game just to give it a shot. He hasn't got back to me yet but if I can get on chat with him I'm 200% positive I can convince him to do it. Even if we get 1 new user it would be worth it.

IMO this is probably our best shot. Having the game actually streamed to an audience with whatever twitch famous person would boost members for sure. WinterSC (the biggest starcraft streamer out there) charges 25$ an hour for training. I'm positive that if we asked him to play Allegiance instead he would do it, cash is cash, plus he doesn't have to teach us anything, we get to teach him something. I doubt he'll stream Alleg permanently as he's making a living off of SC2 streams right now, but IMO as far as advertising effectiveness vs cost this is one of the best if not THE BEST option as far as getting our game out there. I would urge you all to get on this, find streamers, get talkin. I'm tight on cash at the moment, but I'm working on that one guy. Just though i'd let you guys know. Pce.

EDIT EDIT: some users stream one game mainly and other games on the side every once and while, It would be so easy for us to just suggest a game to some of these users and its free allegiance, and badaboom bada bing. Actually I'm going to try this right now.

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:59 pm**

-Updating the installer to automatically use high-res mods for asteroids, bases, and backgrounds is one thing I think would be helpful in retaining players. Not only would new players be put into a game they can't understand, they don't like the looks of it, either.

The installer should also get rid of that default chatpack. Put in TE's chatpack, its maps for certain vc's are much better than the default. And the "Watch the Birdie" vc gives new players something to laugh at. I have the sound files to work with the chatpack if you need them.

I can give you a copy of my keybinds if you want. I know a lot of LoL players who may find interest in Allegiance. I've been playing a lot of Elite: Dangerous and I think some of them can be convinced to try things out.

-You should embolden the promotion of "Seamless integration of Real-Time Strategy and First Person Space Combat"
That's something that stands out. It's not a generic "SOMETHING SOMETHING COMBAT, SOMETHING SOMETHING SPACE". Make each word stand out and mean something. It's just filler that the eyes will glaze over in that black and white poster you put up. I hardly noticed it. Keep their attention. After someone clicks in on a description like that, they'll be much more convinced at looking into things further.

-Make a "Media" page that promotes user-created content. No, not that crappy homepage window. Make a full page where people can watch games and clips. P1 and I have a dozen videos together. It's better than the old screenshots lying around and wouldn't take much to change.

-Now, I checked with some of the people who have never heard of the game. I just asked them which site looks better.
freespacecombatgame.com
Freeallegiance.org

The question answers itself.

What can we do to at the very least use Freespacecombatgame.com in our promotions than Freeallegiance.org until the site is updated. I don't know how long it's gonna take to do but it's been in the "talks" and "works" forever. I'm frankly tired of telling people to go to freeallegiance.org and send them to Freespacecombatgame.com.

AEM's site links straight to the forums, links to the host for the installer, is a fully functional website with no issues that I can find, and it looks awesome. The site alone almost convinced a group of Elite players to look into the game.

I like the idea of Microsoft releasing the copyright to Allegiance. As little a chance that has of happening, if Solap is still hanging around working with Microsoft, he would be a good person to start looking into that with. I've got no clue of who to talk to other than that.

Oh, one more thing.

Make a post that will get upvotes on /r/Gaming. Look at this: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/2x...ying_community/

See how much attention this post got?
We can do something like this. Link it in this page and post it on the forums for upvotes. Hope it doesn't get downvoted into oblivion.

Reddit is like riding a wave, though. You need to get lucky and hit that high point of getting attention. It's difficult to do, but if it even gets a moderate amount of attention, that will be worth the effort.
They've also got a Wiki page that shows all the gaming subreddits. Send a message to the guy linked at the top of the page telling him to add /r/FreeAllegiance to the wiki page. People looking for a new game scroll through there. Even just having that will trickle in a few players.

Post more here, too. Seriously, if you make a video, put it on there. Make that subreddit active. It's a great place for media relating to Allegiance.

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:01 pm**

It might also be a good idea to acquire the rights to allegiance before we do any advertising. Can microsoft grab the game again if it does get popular?

and +1 to everything death said.

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:22 pm**

There is at least one Allegiance 2 project in the works. Djole is working on it.

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:29 pm**

Deathrender wrote:QUOTE (Deathrender @ Mar 9 2015, 05:59 PM) -Updating the installer to automatically use high-res mods for asteroids, bases, and backgrounds is one thing I think would be helpful in retaining players. Not only would new players be put into a game they can't understand, they don't like the looks of it, either.

The installer should also get rid of that default chatpack. Put in TE's chatpack, its maps for certain vc's are much better than the default. And the "Watch the Birdie" vc gives new players something to laugh at. I have the sound files to work with the chatpack if you need them.

I can give you a copy of my keybinds if you want. I know a lot of LoL players who may find interest in Allegiance. I've been playing a lot of Elite: Dangerous and I think some of them can be convinced to try things out.

-You should embolden the promotion of "Seamless integration of Real-Time Strategy and First Person Space Combat"
That's something that stands out. It's not a generic "SOMETHING SOMETHING COMBAT, SOMETHING SOMETHING SPACE". Make each word stand out and mean something. It's just filler that the eyes will glaze over in that black and white poster you put up. I hardly noticed it. Keep their attention. After someone clicks in on a description like that, they'll be much more convinced at looking into things further.

-Make a "Media" page that promotes user-created content. No, not that crappy homepage window. Make a full page where people can watch games and clips. P1 and I have a dozen videos together. It's better than the old screenshots lying around and wouldn't take much to change.

-Now, I checked with some of the people who have never heard of the game. I just asked them which site looks better.
freespacecombatgame.com
Freeallegiance.org

The question answers itself.

What can we do to at the very least use Freespacecombatgame.com in our promotions than Freeallegiance.org until the site is updated. I don't know how long it's gonna take to do but it's been in the "talks" and "works" forever. I'm frankly tired of telling people to go to freeallegiance.org and send them to Freespacecombatgame.com.

AEM's site links straight to the forums, links to the host for the installer, is a fully functional website with no issues that I can find, and it looks awesome. The site alone almost convinced a group of Elite players to look into the game.

I like the idea of Microsoft releasing the copyright to Allegiance. As little a chance that has of happening, if Solap is still hanging around working with Microsoft, he would be a good person to start looking into that with. I've got no clue of who to talk to other than that.

Oh, one more thing.

Make a post that will get upvotes on /r/Gaming. Look at this: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/2x...ying_community/

See how much attention this post got?
We can do something like this. Link it in this page and post it on the forums for upvotes. Hope it doesn't get downvoted into oblivion.

Reddit is like riding a wave, though. You need to get lucky and hit that high point of getting attention. It's difficult to do, but if it even gets a moderate amount of attention, that will be worth the effort.
They've also got a Wiki page that shows all the gaming subreddits. Send a message to the guy linked at the top of the page telling him to add /r/FreeAllegiance to the wiki page. People looking for a new game scroll through there. Even just having that will trickle in a few players.

Post more here, too. Seriously, if you make a video, put it on there. Make that subreddit active. It's a great place for media relating to Allegiance.

Already updated the installer.
But I' won't publish it until the crashing issue is sorted.

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:32 pm**

j0akes wrote:QUOTE (j0akes @ Mar 9 2015, 04:31 PM) IMO it would be good to port it to a newer engine anyways. Updated graphics make for better appeal with newer players. Allegiance isn't really stylized like mine-craft, TF2 or Castle Crashers. Updated graphics for sure need to be a thing. (not just higher res textures, we need a full overhaul) Updating to an engine with some kind of SDK/workshop tool for users would be amazing too. Some way for users to easily make their own factions or ship skins or what have you would be amazing. We need the rights to this game so we can do an overhaul. Some things do have a lifespan. 10+ years is incredible. But IMO the thing that will get us the most new users is a port/remake/transfer to a newer engine.

Giving players the ability to make their own ship skins and show them off in game would be incredible. Keeping to the totally free game with no chintzy micro-transactions, no pay to win bull@#(! and no member privileges is the BEST way to go for any game IMO. Tip jar/ donation page is the way to go. (or possibly buy membership, unlock custom skins)
Anyways giving players the ability to easily make their own content for the game will cause customers to 'buy into' the game without actually spending money on the game. The more you spend time/put work into a thing the more your brain convinces you it's worth it to keep putting time/work into a thing. Plus you directly become a part of the development process of the game. Massive buy in created.

Keeping the chintzy-ness out of the game is for sure a must, and will keep players comming back for more.

But IMO the biggest thing that needs to happen is a port to a new engine. Something shiny. It will just attract more customers, it just will. If we stylize the game we would add massive longevity onto the game. TF2, minecraft and mario will be around for a long long time regardless of graphics. Stylized = immune to future graphical upgrades.

What would be the ultimate ever and would possibly change the way the game is played forever, but would be ultra ultra cool. Would be to make your own factions in game via a model editor with set sizes for the ships and auto-calculating hitboxes. So you can design a ship but it has to be within certain specs for it to not be OP as $#@!. Gun-mount positioning closer together = uses more points from a max pool, speed accell etc/ uses more points from a max pool. I dunno that'l probably make things a little weird with every player having their own custom faction they play. Just throwing ideas out there.

But porting this game to a newer engine will only bring us good things and IMO is needed if we are to attract and keep an audience of newier players.

When I play this game as it is right now, my friends are like, what game are you playing it looks old as $#@!. And I'm like it is. And immediately I become a little more socially isolated for having played the game. That's just how it is. Kids who are 16-18 want to be playing something shiny as $#@! AND a good game to play or Stylized as $#@! AND a good game to play. Allegiance as it is basically looks like the devs at the time wanted to make it as shiny as possible for their time, and for that time this was probably crysis as $#@!. But now its not. We need to either: Pick some kind of style (not the 'style' its already in) or major graphics overhaul. But either way a new engine is needed too.

A new engine will probably make it nicer for current devs to play with @#(! too.

If we get the rights to the game, put it with a new engine and put it on steam we will get a $#@! LOAD of new users. Updated tutorial missions with one of our pros speaking would be amazing as well for newbie retention. Mandatory introduction tutorial before you play the game should be a thing as well. Just someones voice going "Hello and welcome to Allegiance, the best game you've never played" (might have to change the slogan, as when we put it on steam people will play it) "This is ______@___, Allegiance is a blah blah blah with blah blah blah, lets go over the flight controls real quick... etc" Basic game run down, quick ship overview and then newbies know whats up and are good to go.

New engine, new graphics, new tutorial + steam & steam workshop (players could sell and buy skins just like in CS:GO and that's how we could make money for servers/devs in a completely non-chintz way as skin prices are entirely community based) New engine, new graphics, new tutorial and steam (ooh think of the achievements) and steam workshop would bring us massive newbie retention, a massive advertisement via steam just by having it on there for people to search, potential user buy in (more retention) and overall make this game rise like a penix from the ashes.

tl;dr? $#@! you.

EDIT: @DOME. Twitch would be an amazing platform to advertise this game on. Not necessarily streaming our own games, although that does help, but if we found users on twitch with followers already, and the streamer is willing to play this game (or for cash) and some of our pro's walked them through how to play or included the user in a squad game (this would be the most bomb), we could advertise with a huge conversion rate, especially if we were to turn whatever user into a regular Allegiance player it would just spark from there. I have already sent a message to this guy I know who streams CSGO his name is COLTHAN on twitch. One time I entered a raffle for a Karambit (300$ knife or something like that) and I won, and he swore he would get it to me but never did. I messaged him and asked him instead just to play our game just to give it a shot. He hasn't got back to me yet but if I can get on chat with him I'm 200% positive I can convince him to do it. Even if we get 1 new user it would be worth it.

IMO this is probably our best shot. Having the game actually streamed to an audience with whatever twitch famous person would boost members for sure. WinterSC (the biggest starcraft streamer out there) charges 25$ an hour for training. I'm positive that if we asked him to play Allegiance instead he would do it, cash is cash, plus he doesn't have to teach us anything, we get to teach him something. I doubt he'll stream Alleg permanently as he's making a living off of SC2 streams right now, but IMO as far as advertising effectiveness vs cost this is one of the best if not THE BEST option as far as getting our game out there. I would urge you all to get on this, find streamers, get talkin. I'm tight on cash at the moment, but I'm working on that one guy. Just though i'd let you guys know. Pce.

EDIT EDIT: some users stream one game mainly and other games on the side every once and while, It would be so easy for us to just suggest a game to some of these users and its free allegiance, and badaboom bada bing. Actually I'm going to try this right now.

We cant port alleg to anew engine due too lack of devs.,.....
+1 on the twich part

Posted: **Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:37 pm**

Realistically do we have enough people with the requisite skills to remake Allegiance in a new engine? I honestly don't think we could source enough art to make it worthwhile.

Trying to get onto Steam or another similar platform (the windows store might be a much easier sell) is a much better idea and with increased visibility the selling point has to be the price and the gameplay. People might expect better graphics but I don't think that they can be offered at any point in the near future.

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