So unless someone wants to sink $ 5 million plus into horizons it is never ever coming back.
Yes $5 million plus
Not a couple hundred K not even $ 2 million
or...
some love and care.
How comes that a MMO is going on since years
http://www.prairiegames.com/
and is made and maintained by two (2) persons?
Keeping Hz going would not really require much more.
To keep up with the "speed" Tulga had you need 3-4 people working on it, I never understood where they found the slow monkeys they had.
Months to fix 20 database rows, months designing 10 new 3D objects and textures. Months to add to a pre-existing database some confectioner new "rows".
Looks like they "hired" some skilled programmer to do some "big stuff" like the whole lair crafting but on part time schedule.
And yes, I have been C++ programmer and DBA for 15 years and I have an idea on how long it takes to do stuff.
No one sane of mind will "revamp" Horizons.So do you know anyone who just won the powerball and wants to burn $10 million totally redoing the current horizons ? Heck you win a lot there spend another $10 million and make a new game totally. Call it Horizons II done right
The only feasible action is to "create" something with players housing, playable dragons etc. etc. and call it "Empire of Beozia" or something and sell it as new product even if it shares 99% of the code with Horizons.
Horizons - the name - is not reusable any more, it lost every credibility and the IGN idiots-a-like would flame away at once since it's "still Horizons".
BTW $10 million nowadays is what you waste in the starting merchandise.
Make it $50-80 and we start talking of a modern MMO with a target of > 100k players being developed.
Imagine Netscape.I'm not thrilled about an emulater of a game not in the public domain and would not take part (and if you're serious about an emulater you're crazy to be discussing it here). However, if EI ever gets ready to pull the plug things would change. If that ever happens I think we should all beg and plead that they put the source and artwork in the public domain.
They discovered MS Explorer given out for free AND installed by default on every computer would kill it.
So they made it open source, removed the licensed and not open source libraires.
After quite some time, it reborn as working and nice browser that you are suggested to use not to compromise your computer so easily.
I wish Hz would be finally considered "dead" and its details made public so who cares for its legacy can put together a team and raise a new Horizons from the ashes of the old.
Whatever you consider Horizons bad, I have yet to see one game that lights me up like it.
I am in a top guild in WoW, I have every best of everything in the game.
I'd quit WoW today to play Unity again, and would not look back.
Why play WoW when a game 10 years ahead and with much better community is available?