The Lost Generation - Ashcroft mod for Freespace 2

Alright… I am actually not a good public speaker but anyone who still follows this mod and frankly the people who run ModDB deserve this statement.

What is going on with The Lost Generation – Ashcroft?

I’ve been modding for a long enough time that I know that a mod not regularly updating while the creatives are busy with the facts of life, is not an unusually occurrence. However I have been deliberately silent for far too long.

It is actually nothing grave at work here – just that with all things concerning the campaign, I might just have had bad timing.

The Lost Generation – Ashcroft was conceived years ago* as companion piece/prequel to another story of mine (which has disappeared into the dustbin for good). As such it had certain elements to it, especially to modify the perception of the titular character as the she appeared in that project - adding a layer to her actions and motives.

* (The first mission has a metadata-entry of “$Created: 11/13/08 at 20:28:16”)

When I picked it back up, it was partly out of convenience (more than half was already done) but also because it offered an opportunity to test an idea about video game narratives - and I am still eager to know what will happen once the campaign releases in that regard.

I always knew that due to the different development phases, I would have to do quite a bit of editing to make the story a cohesive whole – especially as I kept adding little things because of my growing ability and understanding.

Part of it would be to refine the portrait of the NTF, most all to have all divergent story threads contribute to a whole – if I were to release the campaign now, you would with good reason doubt that I have a consistent thought process.

However at no point, I was going to endorse the things the NTF stood for in-universe – that’s why I took steps to make the protagonist stand apart.

In the last three years then, the real world happened. And not in a “the sun rises every day in the east”-way.

Certain events gave cause to take more and more looks at my writing and I had to recognize that some of it just was wholly inadequate for the goals I set myself.

I always knew that I would have to take certain steps to “secure” any interpretation of my writing from going in unpredicted directions. And some of that I think already works out beautifully, if I am allowed to say so.

But I also reached the limit of what I can do on my own in that regard. As such I have put the campaign on hiatus and will be devoting some time to discuss the campaign, its writing and the techniques involved with an array of people, who could give some expert advice.

(I have briefly considered to just cancel The Lost Generation – Ashcroft but all considerations in that direction only reaffirmed my commitment to make a better version of it.)

The duration of the hiatus is “to be determined”.

However that doesn’t mean I will refrain from working or releasing anything else:

1. I have a project called Vega Must Burn in the works which will do a bit foundational work to improve the mission design of The Lost Generation – Ashcroft. VMB turns to the events of the first Freespace-game for its setting. It will feature 5 mission across a single play through, with 3 different endings that flow your actions and performance.

1. I will un-couple the release of The Lost Generation – Jaarin from The Lost Generation – Ashcroft. Expect to see a number of work-in-progress shots to arrive before the end of year. I am currently integrating tech for the excellent The Scroll of Atankharzim-mod (Scroll.hard-light.net) into Jaarin’s mission designs, along with a few tweaks to the narrative as such please don’t eagerly expect a release.

The release dates on both of these are “to be determined” but depending how the dice roll, there is distinct possibly of one or both arriving Q1 or Q2 2020.