Bridge Commander - Looking Back

[DJ Curtis]

Bren, that was a great synopsis.

[JimmyB76]

A large proportion of the original BCN clientel in late 2001 were immigrants from KlingonAcademy.com, myself included. I'd been hanging out at KA.com since 1999, but hadn't actually found the game for sale (on a day trip to Gibraltar, of all places) until a few months before John Addison (KA.com admin) set up BCN.

I remember the excitement over the release of the game, a measure of disillusionment among die-hard KA fans over the comparitive shallowness of BC, and the anticipation that formed with each new modding breakthrough... great days. We had only bare hints of what was possible with the engine. Many of the supposed "Impossibilities", MVAM, animated textures, new bridges, in-depth navigation, ordering your allies, etc... were conquered and are now taken as fact.

John Addison, finding the two sites too much of a strain, and finding his personal tastes still resided with KA, handed BCN over to Raven Night, who renamed it to BCU, in line with the Star Trek Gaming Universe sites he was involved in.

There was a time, right after Dasher42 released the first foundation, when Pneumonic81 was releasing 3 ships a day. The scripting scene took about a year to mature enough to start changing the behaviour of the game. Foundation was an early victory, but the scripting forum started to pick up gradually. After a while, it was the place I visited most eagerly - we had NanoFX incoming, Apollo working on the ill-fated ATP:Dimensions, a work mirrored in Rob Archer's current "New Fronteir" (Where have those boards gone, actually? They're gone from BCS...), and various nips and tucks to the game that made it more fun than ever to play.

About 2 years ago, after something of a golden age, things started to lull. ATP:Dimensions' cancellation hit the community hard, and we lost a lot of good people to apathy. At the same time, Raven was having trouble managing BCU - with the login system a particular annoyance to the patrons.

So, in a case of bittersweet timing, BCU went down for a few weeks shortly after this board came online. The community didn't have much choice, and flocked here in their thousands... I still shed a tear when I look at BCU's empty boards... (as of right now, I can't access the forums, and the front page is more or less dead)

Defiant had, in relative silence, been beavering away at a modpack called Kobayashi Maru. Hubbub began building about the 1.0 release, so I checked out the 0.9 version, and was stunned. With the release of 1.0, nearly all issues I'd had with 0.9 were fixed or improved upon, and it proved to be the most popular mod since foundation itself (if I'm not mistaken!!). It meant for Bridge Commander, a second wind, and fueled the active and healthy community you see around you today.

I know I'm leaving stuff out, but the article could be three times as long and still leave stuff out!

I love this community. Applaud yourselves, you're kind, helpful, smart, considerate and talented people. I am glad to have lurked among you for so many years.

Kudos to Trekky for posting this topic, it's very noble. Thanks, man (or woman!).

indeed - i remember Bren was i was a noob and just starting out at BCU in early spring of 2003 lol

[Bren]

A green little upstart, you were, hehehe. Just kidding.

I wish I had the talent, determination, or time to make the kinds of contribution that luminaries such as yourselves have made... Thanks for the comments, guys.