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CS2D is back boys
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let's f*cking go
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CS2D General CS2D is back boys
CS2D is back boys
33 replieslet's f*cking go
cs2d got a second chance
There's only so much advertising can do to a 2D indie game on a 2 decade old engine.
I don't mean to sound pessimistic but it is what it is.
Mami Tomoe has written2D indie game on a 2 decade old engine.
The fact that it is 2D or indie isn't too much of a problem. The 2 decade old engine might be, but it isn't a given. Just making a wild guess here, but I think I main big problem is probably not the game itself, but rather the servers, from what I can grasp from other conversations on this site. I would suggest changing the server menu to give more details on servers, like having user ratings and other details that give insight into the quality of any given server. Also, just changing the server menu in general to make it more user-friendly would be preferable. It looks technical, in a way that may be intimidating for potential users. The theme also comes across as lacking, or too minimalistic, in the same way that new corporate logos seem too oversimplified. It more-or less lacks a central theme other than a overall blandness. A bit better font, some more unique logos, and a new layout could likely resolve some of the problems. The colors in the user interface seem to be mainly bright elementary colors or gray, with a lack of deeper, more refined colors. Of course, not all of a game is art but the first (and second, third, fouth..) impression counts.
OnlineMostly potential new players felt interested when downloaded the game, but sv list make them bored. Need to firstly make good servers with gud content so these new players wont leave it that fast.
/sounds okay but nobody wanna do that. I already did IRANTOWN: Reborn with fan team but huh, 4-10 players online in total, idk.
ModJuicer has written Mami Tomoe has written2D indie game on a 2 decade old engine.
The fact that it is 2D or indie isn't too much of a problem.
Well yes, I meant it's a problem as a whole.
Compare it to a game like CS1.6 which is not an indie game but is also on an older engine.
Get my vibe?
ModJuicer has writtenJust making a wild guess here, but I think I main big problem is probably not the game itself, but rather the servers, from what I can grasp from other conversations on this site.
Actually no. Servers are just the ones taking the blame for the bigger problem; we can't make decent servers on a game that rarely ever gets updates and has a fairly limited (and slow) Lua interface. Time and time again I tried to exceed what CS2D is capable of (like my GTA mod or my Terraria mod), and CS2D just said no.
Not to mention the fact we have little to no protection VS. denial of service attacks (whether on the servers or on the game server itself).
So when a server does get players, it won't last for long.
That is, if it does ever get players.
Even if you created the most amazing server, it will just get flooded to the ground.
Did I mention hackers? I think you can guess what I have to say about those.
ModJuicer has writtenI would suggest changing the server menu to give more details on servers, like having user ratings and other details that give insight into the quality of any given server. Also, just changing the server menu in general to make it more user-friendly would be preferable. It looks technical, in a way that may be intimidating for potential users. The theme also comes across as lacking, or too minimalistic, in the same way that new corporate logos seem too oversimplified. It more-or less lacks a central theme other than a overall blandness. A bit better font, some more unique logos, and a new layout could likely resolve some of the problems. The colors in the user interface seem to be mainly bright elementary colors or gray, with a lack of deeper, more refined colors. Of course, not all of a game is art but the first (and second, third, fouth..) impression counts.
While it's true that the game UI looks awful even by GoldSrc standards, I doubt @
DC has any plans to change it (as I've already asked before, and since @ DC is finished with the game). Mora has writtenNeed to make good servers with interesting mods
As we've been doing for the past decade, and yet the game is dead.
Mora has writtengood organised standard servers
We have too many of those.
Mora has writtenWhen somebody opens sv list and see random servers such as minecraft and other ones where is 1 or 3 players online - is not that much interesting
And yet, only those servers get regular players.
Maybe they're just milking whatever bit of fun is left in the game.
Mora has writtenmoreover the content there is bad, old, has bugs and many random scripts
That's only partly true.
There are many big servers that have great content to offer and yet are left abandoned due to lack of players.
Remember all those battleground servers? Those would be amazing if we had enough players to fill them.
Mora has writtenwithout any explanation or hints
Us developers need a motive to create a feature.
With a lack of players we have a lack of motivation to create proper tutorials (and also CS2D doesn't really have a way to create tutorials easily or efficiently (no information windows, and GUI is just images)).
DC understands the amount of effort people put into making cool mods for the game, just for them to be underappreciated because of design flaws in the game software itself. If it can be fixed, it should be top priority. Fixing the biggest and most neglected problems should be the first step, improving the server list and UI should be close second. CS2D doesn't need to get greenlight on steam just for people to abandon it after playing it for a while. It should be a game that is worthwhile, not a disappointment to people who downloaded it because they thought it looked good in the pictures or videos. Mami Tomoe has writtenThere are many big servers that have great content to offer and yet are left abandoned due to lack of players.
Remember all those battleground servers? Those would be amazing if we had enough players to fill them.
Remember all those battleground servers? Those would be amazing if we had enough players to fill them.
Why did the players leave to begin with though? Were the servers not fun enough? Was it some other factor?
Honestly I think
DC should make a commitment to restart critical development on things in CS2D that have been neglected for far too long. If the system it is designed on is incompatible with improvements, I suggest migrating to a new game engine that works better. It could be an extensive project, but once complete it has the potential to remove many problems, and new features could be added and bugs fixed during such a project. It is better to do that now rather than putting it off until CS2D can no longer be salvaged. 
DC has said it several times already, the game will not get any updates anymore. The last few updates were brought up by SQ himself anyway. In my opinion, it's been a long time since DC abandoned this project because he just has no time. Now, get over it, will ya?By the by, your reasonings are a little ridiculous, no offense. The player base who might potentially start playing this game has no idea if CS2D is modded or not in the first place. And nobody cares whether this game can handle mods like Terraria or GTA replicas without any engine limitations. On the contrary, nobody asks for it. Look at other games that are heavily modded (except Roblox), and look at what people have achieved and made something playable on them. They are not significantly different than the original game itself. So maybe the trick's not about making the best enormous mod out there, right? If you insist on this, the best you can do is recreate the old famous mods such as roleplaying, super hero, gun game, and maybe tibia.
Remaking this game on a newer engine like Unity may help & actually would force you to make a more modern game. Even the fact that this game opens up in a windowed mode the first time you start it, gives the vibe that it may just not be the game to spend your hours on. However, even then, who plays games without auto-matchmaking nowadays? Overwatch has it, Call of Duty has it, hack, even CS:GO has it.
There is a lot to talk about but no time for that hehehe
In my humble opinion I think all of this reaction is like being in denial, rewriting CS2D in a modern game engine or advertising it across platforms won't solve a thing, because the problem isn't due to this. It may help but this is a very short term effect.
I think the fact that many people have to accept is that CS2D is simply not that attractive to the current gaming demographics anymore as the gaming trend has changed quite a lot in the last decade. The "supply" here simply doesn't fit the "demand" of the people (with "supply" being CS2D in this context). The idea of a Counter-Strike game but in 2D was appealing in the 2010 and early era, but because the gaming trend and the people back then have made it possible that such idea was appealing.
In this era a lot of CS2D based communities were made, lots of players played lots of different servers and many people had a lot of fun being together. It was a moment where lots of young people, kids who lived with parents in basement and played CS2D after school ended. But this was temporary and it was clear the decline was bound to happen sooner or later, the effects have started to be felt by 2017 I presume. The community game-base was made up of mostly youngsters back in 2010 who at this present day are now grown up adults with a career, life goals and other things to focus on. Only a very few nostalgic players have still chosen to get into CS2D, if anything. But others have moved places.
So instead of mourning the old glory of CS2D is gone, be happy because it happened. We all should be thankful of
DC and his efforts brought up to the game, the long support and whatnot. Without him there would not have been communities or people forming bonds and connections around CS2D. Nothing is going to last forever. At this point I would rather keep track on the Stranded III project and on-going development blogs DC posts.Just my two cents.
GeoB99.It's a very good point you have there. To my knowledge CS2D still does run just fine for the majority of people (from a technical point of view). Also there are still more than enough servers available for playing. So what does people stop from playing it?
I don't know but my best guess is that it's either the game(play) which isn't super attractive anymore (because times changed and so on) or that there are now better alternatives. A rewrite most likely wouldn't change either of that. CS2D would still be the same game in the end. Either you want to play it or you don't. Both is okay and we have to accept this.
Genius idea, and could be more bright if we could add the rank on profile under names. But I guess that DC or moderators should host these servers that should be HQ.
@
DC: DC is simply not interested. Mami Tomoe is right. I'm not interested.Longer version:
Adding a ranked mode to a game with very few players, horrible net code, tons of cheats and without proper cheat detection and without replays? Smart stuff!
This would require a massive time investment for maintenance because you would have to sort out cheaters in some way and handle all the complaints of people who got banned or people who lost against cheaters (all not really possible without replays). Really something I don't want to do. I also really don't want to run and maintain the game servers which would be required for this. You would need a network of trusted servers so you can't (or shouldn't) outsource that to random server owners.
If you still think a ranked mode would be the magic savior for CS2D (I personally don't think so to make that very clear) then you could just go ahead and implement one with Lua. It's definitely possible. Just make a matchmaking server which
reroute's players to match servers based on their ranking. Match servers would have to return the match results to the matchmaking server for rank calculation - which is probably the most complex part but no rocket science either.Setting this up is the easy part. Maintaining it is the ugly one.
edited 3×, last 19.03.23 04:36:31 pm
Xirot: That's amazing! So if that's true you / the "plenty of potentials" could try what I just explained. You don't need me for this.