Regarding Eclipse Current State

[cronius]

Hi there,
Cronius here, long-time relic of playerworlds based engines. I was mainly active on Konfuze back in the day (04ish?) but I was active on Eclipse for a short period.

Anyway to the point, I just have a few questions regarding the current eclipse community. Yes I realize I could most likely scour the forums picking up tidbits until I have a fairly accurate picture of the community, but I'd rather be direct and just ask some questions.

1\. Whats the most up to date eclipse backed engine/ has it splintered into several?
2\. Wheres Marsh/ Who are the main mods now?
3\. What are the most significant improvements to the engine in the past year or two?  also what are the major current limitations?
4\. What is the most-developed game at the moment/most impressive as far as the community is concerned? (more so bugless/custom coding then graphics)
5\. How active is the core-user group?
6\. Is a new release on the horizon?
7\. Has there been any upheaval/massive changes to the eclipse comm lately?
and finally, does anybody remember me?

Thanks again,
Cronius ;)

[SHADERS]

1\. eclipse stable. some one is making tamika engine (runn off of eclispe stable) but i dont know after that
2.marsh is on from time to time. he came on like a hour ago
3.i dont know. only been here half a month
4.to me it is smbo (super mario bros online) but others have their opinion
5.i dont know what that means but on games, its like from 1-10 people playing at same time
6\. probably, robin is working on eclipse origions which has a turn based system
7\. dont know

[kira423]

They are also working on Solar Eclipse which is flash based instead of VB coding…..

[magezhilo]

If you don't mind cronius can I ask why you are so curious? Did you just move from a different Playerworlds engine?

[Godlord]

@cronius:

> 1\. Whats the most up to date eclipse backed engine/ has it splintered into several?

The mainstream Eclipse is currently [Eclipse Evolution](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,28047.0.html), whereof the latest official release is 2.8\. The latest unofficial version is available in the [SVN](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/board,406.0.html).

There are several branches, both official and unofficial such as: [Eclipse Stable](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,49913.0.html) (Developed by [Damian](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=7858) and [GreenDude](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=6839)), [Project Vertigo](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,46896.0.html) (Developed by [MrMiguu](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=4365)), etc. A new branch, although not yet released and being written in Java, is [Solar Eclipse](http://code.google.com/p/eclipse-mmorpgmaker/) (Developed by [Homicidal Monkey (a.k.a. Fabio; Fap I/O)](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=1667)), which is one of the upcoming official releases and which will probably be mainstream. There's also [Eclipse++](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/board,353.0.html) (Developed by [Marsh](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=13358)), which is a C++ project, although its direction is yet undecided.

@cronius:

> 2\. Wheres Marsh/ Who are the main mods now?

Marsh is still the owner of Eclipse and its community. Although he might not be so active as many years ago, he's still pretty much active here.

However, most old administrators and moderator have left Eclipse or are currently inactive. Although here's a list of [the current administrators](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=groups;sa=members;group=1) and here's a list of [the current moderators](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=groups;sa=members;group=2). However, there's yet another group which is the [developers group](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=groups;sa=members;group=21). However, some developers aren't in that group and are currently administrators instead. Also, be aware that that list is actually the list of official developers.

@cronius:

> 3\. What are the most significant improvements to the engine in the past year or two?  also what are the major current limitations?

Eclipse should currently be more feature rich than before. That is, as so far features work. Eclipse actually went downhill as for stability when some of the developers decided to add a lot of features to the early Eclipse Evolution versions. However, since Eclipse Evolution 2.5, most developers decided not to add any features anymore but to improve Eclipse as for stability, as this was needed. Resulting in the fact that Eclipse Evolution is now stable than ever before, although some things might still have to be redone or fixed. Currently most of the debugging should be done by [Mellowz](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=1183) with the help of [Robin](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=5176).

@cronius:

> 4\. What is the most-developed game at the moment/most impressive as far as the community is concerned? (more so bugless/custom coding then graphics)

That answer is however undecided and yet an opinion. Currently, I haven't seen any well managed Eclipse games. Perhaps World of Hyrule, Ambardia, Lostica and some other games made by Spainion in the past, although there are probably some others. I recommend you to check [the Active Games board](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/board,6.0.html).

@cronius:

> 5\. How active is the core-user group?

Cannot answer, unless you state what you exactly meant with core-user group.

@cronius:

> 6\. Is a new release on the horizon?

The only two official releases that will be available somewhere soon (probably) will be a new official build of Eclipse Evolution or the first release of Solar Eclipse. Keep in mind though that you shouldn't expect them in the near future as the development of those versions consumes a lot of time. As for the branches, usually Eclipse Stable has a release every now and then.

@cronius:

> 7\. Has there been any upheaval/massive changes to the eclipse comm lately?
> and finally, does anybody remember me?

I remember you, although as for your question: the Eclipse community is not what it was years ago. It has been changed ever since and might not feel the same at all. However, it's still nice to be here, although the community is quite silent lately.

@kira423:

> They are also working on Solar Eclipse which is flash based instead of VB coding…..

It's written using Sun Microsystem's Java, not Adobe Flash.

Regards,
  Godlord.

[Marsh]

Bit slow in the winter, will be more active when summer hits again. Though we are as active as any other vb6 community.

[cronius]

Thanks for the quick response. Answers most my questions pretty well. Oh by core-users I mean't dev/admin etc, the main contributors to the community. Although judging from the multiple/quick responses to this thread it seems quite active. I see eclipse is still using RTP.

[Marsh]

So plan on sticking around or just seeing whats new

[cronius]

I'll stick around, probs not as active as some other members. But I'll throw in my two cents from time to time. At the moment I'm just doing some pre-lim spriting for my own ideas. ^_^

[Dark Crusade]

I'M THE ONE ASKING THE QUESTIONS HERE CRONIUS.

…

...

.....

Proceed.

( I remember you, you made big sexy spells)

[Godlord]

@Kreator:

> I'M THE ONE ASKING THE QUESTIONS HERE CRONIUS.
>
> …
>
> ...
>
> .....
>
> Proceed.
>
> ( I remember you, you made big sexy spells)

Turn off that damn spot light, you're making us blind.

Regards,
  Godlord.

[cronius]

-strokes beard- Okay then?

Ah yes my big sexy spells, are they still used by anyone/in the bundled pack?

[Admiral Refuge]

@cronius:

> -strokes beard- Okay then?
>
> Ah yes my big sexy spells, are they still used by anyone/in the bundled pack?

I got 'em lying around somewhere in my archive.
And yeah, I remember you; tho you may not remember me :icon_beer:

[Akselj]

@Admiral:

> tho you may not remember me :icon_beer:

How could anyone forget you?!?

[Greendude120]

..i dont remember him. nice post godlord lol. very well answered

[Alster]

@[SMB:

> AkselJ link=topic=55731.msg589924#msg589924 date=1261704319]
> @Admiral:
>
> > tho you may not remember me :icon_beer:
>
> How could anyone forget you?!?

Who?