That old Hyperion TC...

John Galt

Ages ago on this board, there were a few people that banded together and decided to make a TC based off the SciFi series by Dan Simmons, entitled Hyperion. MANY posts and updates were made in the topic they started, but they disappeared, and as far as I can tell, haven't been around since. If you guys are still out there, I'd love to hear how the project is going, if it still exists. I'm pretty sure that the discussion took place last summer, so I'm doubtful that progress is still ongoing with such a lack of news of the plugin. But, if any of you are out there, Shade18, Curwen, Cerd, and the others (I can't remember other names now), if you guys are still around, how, if it is still, is it going?

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I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

pistgavin

If it was that long ago I very much doubt it'll still be around mate. After nearly a year with no news the project is either very nearly dead, or very actually dead.

--gav

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Visit the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum10/HTML/005883.html#")Anglo-American Dictionary(/url), a well of priceless information!

mrxak

Or just very dead.

boot

Whoa... this must be a sign... I didn't think anyone would remember, much less care.

Well, the bad news is that this project (like most TC's, I guess) died a quiet and lonely death. The slightly better news is that it may be resurrected.

I used to post here as Curwen for some time, but left the boards and most related activities somewhere around September or October 2002, to choke down a particularly big and juicy sh*t sandwich life had decided to serve me. I slowly drifted back to the Ambrosia boards in the past couple of months (oh, the joys of addiction!).

I believe CeRD (and maybe Shade18) still visit the boards, but not often. Virgil has disappeared. There was a separate discussion forum for the Hyperion TC for a while, but it simply vanished one day. I haven't been in contact with anyone of the team since then, which probably proves we were enthusiastic enough, but not really up to all the hard work it would involve (not that I blame anyone, it's as much my fault as anyone else's after all).

While the project itself was basically braindead at this point, I kept toying with the idea and fleshing out the concept (making lists of planets/systems, drafting galaxy maps, sketching ships, thinking of various minor and major storylines etc.), and checking for the release of new tools like EVONE, MissionComputer and (hopefully soon) Cartographer.

One of the more positive things that came out of my recent troubles is that I decided to quit my job last month; I've got enough savings and private projects to keep me going for at least a year - and probably two - and have the free time I needed/wanted now.
In the past few weeks, I've been seriously considering reviving the Hyperion TC, even if it's just as a one-man pet project ( = would never get finished, but would be fun to work on and I might learn some new things, like decent 3D modeling and patience ). I've even drafted up a long explanation I intend to put on Dan Simmons' official web board, asking for permission (not fearing a lawsuit, just being polite), comments and useful information.

So, at this point I'm basically asking myself whether I will contact the old team to see if they're still interested, do a Frankenstein on the old project myself, or put it on my Eternal Wish List and pretty much forget about it.
I'm inclined toward the second. In other words, I'll may just go at it on my own and see how far I get; suggestions and contributions will be accepted but I will keep full control over the project this time (and accept full responsibility if it turns out to suck, of course).

Suggestions, offers of support etc. are welcome, but keep in mind that right now I'm not making any promises. I'll post my final decision here as soon as I've made up my mind (which should be before the end of this week...).

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Do not adjust your mind - there is a fault in reality.

John Galt

Ah Curwen you're back! Don't give up on the Hyperion TC! I picked up the Hyperion series because I heard about it when you guys were discussing creating a plug-in based on it, seriously. A few things:

CerD is in fact still around. He recently posted a picture in the Image Gallery. As for the others, I have no idea.
I would gladly lend a hand and help you with the project, but, a few things:
a) I have NO time. School takes up pretty much my whole day, plus I have AP exams and finals coming up in a few weeks. Any help I would be able to give would be intermittent.
Any help I would be able to give would be worthless. I'm too much of a beginner in Bryce to offer help in that department, and I have no clue when it comes to programming the plug-in (let alone a TC for that matter). I would be able to help with writing the storylines, descriptions, etc.
Umm...I forget what 3 was. :redface:

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I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

boot

Well, OK, I'm going to give it another try. I'll contact whoever needs to be contacted, and put up a small temporary webpage (no point wasting time on eye candy at this stage) with a progress log and my contact info by the end of the week. I'll post the link here as soon as it's up and running.

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Do not adjust your mind - there is a fault in reality.

boot

So much for staying on schedule, I guess. (Must learn not to make such bold promises anymore.) Anyway, I've put up a small site. Some pages aren't up yet, there are several quirks in the style sheets that still need to be ironed out, and I haven't done much cross-browser testing so far - in short, it still sucks - but it will do for now.

(url="http://"http://home.pi.be/~psdn0983/hyperionproject/")http://home.pi.be/~p...yperionproject/(/url)

I would have included a small discussion forum if my provider allowed such things; but at the moment it's not really necessary. If there are questions, please e-mail me ( (url="http://"mailto:total_conversion@pi.be")mailto:total_conversion@pi.be(/url)total_conversion@pi.be

Psygnosis Adherent

Hey Boot, I am working on a TC right now, and I have mastered the art of spob graphics! Honestly, I could probably churn out 6 new and amazing planets in an hour, guaranteed! Stations take longer, as do landing pics. And I don't have the time to learn Bryce, Strata or any other 3D app at this point. I'll e-mail you with examples of what I've done, than we can see what happens. That is, if you're willing to let someone work with you on this project. The site looks good so far. Later. -Psyg.

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Masamune

Pysg, I caught you red-handed, you traitor! Working for someone else! The nerve! :eek:

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~Charlie

boot

Quote

Originally posted by Psygnosis Adherent:
**I could probably churn out 6 new and amazing planets in an hour, guaranteed! Stations take longer, as do landing pics. I'll e-mail you with examples of what I've done, than we can see what happens. That is, if you're willing to let someone work with you on this project.
**

Well, I had already made tons of custom planet images with LunarCell before the whole thing went in the freezer for eight months, and I'll probably keep using the ones from Nova as well. So I have plenty of those.

But if you'd be willing to do some landing pics etc. later on, I'd appreciate that. I'll contact you when I get to that; I want to have a working plug-in (and that will take some time to relearn, since the last big plug-in I made was for "classic" EV almost six years ago) before I start adding the eye candy. -- So in the meantime, you can fulfill your previous obligation .

Thanks.

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Do not adjust your mind - there is a fault in reality.