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Donations for Project Hosting.

As part of the biennial routine, donations are now being accepted specifically to cover
ZEQ2-lite’s file/svn hosting, website/blog, and forums. More information can be found here.

Update : 04/10/12 : Donation goal reached! Thanks to everyone who contributed.

33 Comments

  1. Ian Lacerda says:

    I wish to know if that expenses include the SVN tree ? 190 bucks for a simple site, why don’t migrate to a cheaper host or a VPS ?

    I would donate if the updates on game were more often and the project more open to community. The forums are very ugly and the fonts too small, I really don’t see engagement from community on main ZEQ2, only on separate mods. I don’t think it’s worth to finance such a poor feedback that you are giving to community.

  2. Ian Lacerda says:

    If this project is really open, why don’t you open the source code for community ? Why we can’t contribute with ZEQ2 programming it ? I’m still not seeing worth contributing to it.

    Xonotic and others games like Warsow could be an example to yourselves.

  3. Ian Lacerda says:

    Sorry for my ignorance. Disregard my last post. Nevertheless, the source could be more visible.

  4. Zeth says:

    $8 a month is a fairly cheap host for the features we receive. We run an average of 3TB bandwidth a month and have 15-25GB of hosted content/files with Subversion, FTP, shell access, and a multitude of other services. A non-shared VPS would actually cost much more.

    I’m not sure how the project can get more open than it already is. Since download page already lists the URL for the SVN (which includes the build, source code, and all original format media), how would you recommend it be more visible?

  5. Ian Lacerda says:

    I would recommend more wide forums with more visible fonts, more acessible informations for the players like any other community driven game project like Xonotic, Warsow and Urban Terror. Possibly a wiki and automated bug report system.

    A bit of championships and game leagues. I know that this game is still on alpha stage, but you have a very large community that needs to be feed with information and interaction.

  6. Zeth says:

    Except that ZEQ2-lite is not like those projects.

    There’s not a central group of people managing this boat to a large extent and the project is not about leagues/clans or generic community interaction and play. The entire mindset of ZEQ2-lite is to encourage DEVELOPMENT (in any form) and not encourage playing of an unfinished mound with a vague DBZ facsimile. The donations being given are for nothing except payment of the existing web services — which are loosely maintained.

    All of the things you suggested would be fine if the project had traditional goals or wanted to follow the cookie-cut mindset of every other open-source gig out there, but that’s simply not the case here. ZEQ2-lite is almost as much a sociological experiment as it is a roughly formed DBZ sandbox.

  7. Bhaskara says:

    I also think this forum needs more interaction. You also need a webdesigner, because this forum is really ugly. Zeq2 project is 3 or 4 years old (I think) and we don’t see progress on it. And not all people are interested about programming, most of them just want to play and to have fun. This game shouldn’t have been published, if its goal isn’t interaction.

  8. Zeth says:

    I’m not sure what hole you particular individuals are coming from, but you do not sound educated at all about the history, goals, nor current affairs of the ZEQ2-lite project. I’d highly encourage you to become more involved in IRC or forum discussion before making additional ill-informed observations and suggestions that have no relativity. Had you been involved in the community and project you scrutinize, you’d know that these issues have been discussed multiple times.

    The ZEQ2 project has been around since 2002. The ZEQ2-lite project was branched out in 2009. The ZEQ2-lite forum is a simple port of the ZEQ2 phpbb2 forum that has been built upon a standard wordpress theme/installation. Saying it’s ugly is hardly an objective observation. It’s simple/basic, yes, but that’s the intention (in both appearance and developmental time spent).

    Individuals that ARE involved in the community realize that developmental strides on their part are a strong focus — and it’s not just about programming either. The community is quite active more-so in regard to media, characters, maps, effects, etc.

    Additionally, since you seem unaware, no “game” was ever published. ZEQ2-lite at most is an interactive sandbox and in reality a loose collection of media/code from an unfinished project from half a decade ago. It was simply ‘tossed out’ and was never intended to be built upon or continued in any way by a development team. It was never intended to be played (by anyone). All blog posts relating to build releases have very strictly stated this.

    The bottom line is that the ZEQ2-lite project was at it’s apex in terms of ambitions when it released. The community is content and progress from addon creators is actually more plentiful than ever. Your complaints lack comprehension and factual basis.

  9. Le_steck says:

    I understand and for you progress and go on the web site, i donate. Thx you

  10. Lowcust says:

    Why we need to finance a dead project? No real development is being made since rev 1536. Do not waste your time here. If you want a serious project with good people engaged, donate your money to ESF.

  11. anon says:

    @Lowcust
    first of all this is not a dead project
    2nd if u notice 1536 is a stable revision while 1732 is the development ( or intended for developers) revision
    so u cant say project is dead

  12. Sony says:

    A game that has no update for over two months regarding the status of the game is a dead project.

  13. Zeth says:

    [a] This is not a ‘game’.
    [b] This is not a developer-maintained project.
    [c] Two months is not long. The project didn’t have progress for a 2 year chunk before being born.
    [d] An open-sourced project cannot be ‘dead’. That said, while coding has been sparse, media activity on the part of community contributors has been very active. You can see these updates as they happen. This blog is not a reliable source of project activity. The IRC, SVN, and forums; however, are.

  14. Sony says:

    I see no sense about asking for donations for something that is not a game.

    The site has no information, its design is pretty bad and no one really knows who are the developers of the project.

    Everything would be well if details of the project was publicized and understood, not everyone has time to be entering into technical subjects about this project.

    You better show your goals, improvements, publish who is inside this project, what is being made about it and even make a schedule if possible. Those are what a good project is.

  15. Lowcust says:

    @Anon

    The fact that the actual revisions are intended to development doesn’t show us better performance like ANY OTHER open source project do.

    The only thing done in these new revisions were screw with the rev. 1536.

    Now someone will say: “But the developers removed some things in these news revisions, because it’s only for testing,o r they had to do it to test new things”. – That’s old talk and no excuse.

    If you have a stable build, try to get it better with the next ones. ALL OTHER OPEN-SOURCE PROJECTS DO IT.

    But instead of that, what has been made?
    NO real coding – and I mean, nothing related to the actual stable revision has been fixed or improved.

    And if the actual purpose of the developers in this project is only test new things while you doesn’t have a good build. Keep these new revisions away from the massive public. Make it only for the developers. Do not show us any kind of developping that can’t implement the stable revision or your open-source project will lost credibility.

    People need to see what is being done.

    I’m not a blind man to spend my money in a open-source project that doesn’t have any real goals or show to the public some kind of Real Results.

    That’s why, in my thoughts, this is a dead project and I won’t spend a single penny with you guys.

  16. Zeth says:

    Let me reiterate. There is no team and there was no planned schedule of progress (from the very start). This is a shattered offshoot project from the ORIGINAL ZEQ2 intended just as a loose collection of DBZ-related productions. There are no persistent developers of any kind. Despite this well-known fact, supporters continue to participate towards their own personal growth and supply donations for community hosting. If you aren’t involved in the forums, SVN, or IRC, then this donation is obviously not for you.

    Complaints of any kind are illogical and misplaced. Who are you even directing your words toward? As was explained at the dawn of ZEQ2-lite’s creation, if you feel something should be done, YOU are the one help responsible for making it happen and YOU are the only one held liable if it does not.

    Furthermore, what is even the end-game and purpose of your argument? Are you trying to persuade the handful of individuals reading the comments on this blog into taking a stand against a non-existent team/entity? Again, those that will donate to this cause are those that actually USE the forums/svn/file hosting services provided specifically for the project.

    If you aren’t currently involved with ZEQ2-lite or its community in some way, then you have no weight in any argument whatsoever and probably shouldn’t even be making posts in this blog — especially when you apparently lack comprehensive understanding of the history and developmental/design practices that are in place.

  17. Lowcust says:

    I see you are not very clever, and keep saying the same things in all posts…

    First of all. NO, I’m not trying to persuade anyone. I was only showing MY OPINION and giving you some good advices. If you got pissed off about it, I’m Sorry! But sometimes the truth is hard to face.

    No schedules, no goals, and only excuses for lazy people – “If you feel something should be done, YOU are the one self responsible for making it happen” -, That’s why your project is a total disaster…

    Look at me as a good friend who is trying to open your eyes…you certainly doesn’t have any business spirit…

    And just because I’m not in IRC/SVN nor Forums, my opinion is not relevant? That’s not a mature answer… learn to respect other people opinion, even if the critic isn’t good.

    Just because i showed you relevant points who need to be changed, and why i will not spent my money, you freaked out FOR NO REASON.

    An explosive guy like you should not be helding this project….that’s a shame.

  18. Ian Lacerda says:

    Agreed, and if is it a open source project I suggest to fork it. If someone think it’s time to fork it I will support.

  19. Zeth says:

    I repeat myself because you (still) do not seem to comprehend the situation. Don’t misunderstand; no one is upset. I am simply trying to explain these points in the most logical manner possible for you two individuals.

    Yes, I expect you to be educated on a subject matter before engaging in an argument about it. This is simply practicality. For example, I know very little about the sport of hockey. One cannot expect any opinions/arguments I have about it to have ANY weight whatsoever. My views would be completely moot/hollow.

    Had you paid mind to my previous entries, you’d know that I am not the one “leading” ZEQ2-lite and this it is certainly not “my” project whatsoever. I actually have very little to no interest in the direct development and growth of things going on concerning ZEQ2-lite. I am merely a consultant (as others are) from time to time between my other projects for those who choose to be involved.

    Again, you are venting complaints about a hierarchy that doesn’t exist. There is no one in charge, no one’s mind to change, and no one one to direct your disagreements to. I’m not the person you need to convince. My present involvement is this project’s development is non-existent.

    If you truly believe these things need to change, you should take it upon yourself to MAKE such changes/forks yourself or convince portions of the community to do so. Try the forums.

  20. Lowcust says:

    There you go:
    “(…)
    Again, you are venting complaints about a hierarchy that doesn’t exist. There is no one in charge, no one’s mind to change, and no one one to direct your disagreements to. I’m not the person you need to convince. My present involvement is this project’s development is non-existent.
    (…)”.

    Like I said from the very beginning…Dead Project…

    You just assumed that.

    So, I’m assuming at least I wasn’t misunderstood, like you kept saying, disregards my “ignorance” about the subject.

    Thank you so much for finally agree with me in that point.

    And then, we are back to ZERO = DISASTER.

    “(…)
    If you truly believe these things need to change, you should take it upon yourself to MAKE such changes/forks yourself or convince portions of the community to do so. Try the forums..”.

    Sorry, but you are totally lacking in that point. Assuming we have a dead project, like you just confirmed, it isn’t my obligation to support it. Read my previous posts and you will see my point.

    You seemed very worried to try to explain why you guys need money – instead of keep 1 dollar/month to pay for it.

    So I presume you are the idealizer of the project itself. (Don’t say you are not, cause it will be embarrasing for both of us – Internet is our big house – and I know how to read).

    Fork this project is the better thing to do now. Try it.

  21. zeq2lite says:

    The project isn’t dead. Just a few months ago, I (MDave) recoded the camera system from scratch. Made it more powerful and user customizable.

    http://forums.zeq2.com/lite/viewtopic.php?t=5526

    And before that, there has been lots of other changes to the code. We have someone working on melee and lock on code, not an internal member of a team or anything, just someone from the community who stepped up and wants to help out.

    We have also been experimenting with skeletal model formats too, and we have had some help getting a lot of our content, mainly characters, converted over to use the new format.

    We have GLSL shader support getting worked in too.

    Just because we don’t have daily progress to report, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening 🙂

    The only thing the donations are for, as for hosting of the site/forums and SVN. Not to seek a profit at all. It’s a self sustaining project, and thats the way its worked for a long time. All we do is bring this all together for everyone to access. And literally everything about ZEQ2Lite is accessible, it couldn’t be a more open project.

  22. Lowcust says:

    I am following the upgrades and none is related the to the actual stable revision. Please read my second post. I’m tired of exposing my opinion for you guys…seriously.

    It is a dead project. The idealizer of it just assumed that earlier. So, please, stop saying its not, cause its embarrasing you even more.

    The camera mode you talked about it’s not “from the scratch”. It’s a mod from Bid For Power. Plus. The original camera was waaaaaaaaaaay better than this one. It has A LOT of bugs. If you continuous use block, the camera locks and you are not capable to get a 360º view – which is the center point of this “new camera” you are talking.

    Even the upgrades in the lock-on system are totally embarrasing. Who will lost the lock-on mode when you are behind a rock or something like that, if you don’t have power level equal to 1? – which is more like hiding yourself. You guys are totally missing the details.

    Also the animations done to transform into super saiyan are way out of hand. Seriously, “3 hours” to transform into a Super Saiyan EVERY TIME you reborn? Come on….Someone will probably shoot me in the back when I’m transforming and I will be dead again.

    Like I said a million times. Instead of trying to renew ALL the things done. Try to improve it, fix bugs and etc.

    Just read my second post, okay?

    You guys are not giving Any credibility for this project to grow up…one of you say its not a self sustaining project, the other, just now, say it is.

    I’m really tired…Dead project at all.

  23. Zeth says:

    Since I do feel you have serious points to make that apply to the project and community, this discussion has been ported to a thread here :

    http://forums.zeq2.com/lite/viewtopic.php?p=128575

    Further discussion among all of the community will continue there so you can address the changes you feel should be made.

  24. Domitjen says:

    I understand where you guys are coming from trough your point of view, if you are just following this project only by merely checking the blog for updates.

    But you if you never join the development irc, then you cannot judge in which state this project is or not, if you would join the development irc, then you would notice how much is actually going on behind the scenes, and that this project is not dead at all.

    Granted, if this would be a mainstream project, where there is supposed to be one core of developers working to 1 single goal, and seeing so little progress/updates, I would give up hope too.

    But this is not the case, as Brad explained earlier, everyone in here can make a difference, if you want to get certain things implemented, which is up to zeq2lite-‘s standards, you can if you are really willing to set your mind to it, which is already preceded by alot of people before. But if everyone would just sit around and wait for updates to magically show up, nothing will happen. Because there is no core dev team, Brad is the man you can go to for any question you have, he will always guide you on how to do it, and will try to get the best out of you so that you are able to contribute. But he’s not the person who will singlehandedly do everything, nor are the other people. Which is the entire concept of this open-sourced project.

    I recommend you people would join the development chat once, so your eyes will be opened.

  25. Anoxable says:

    @Lowcut
    Wow,you are confused my friend. First of all,this project does not have full time developers,doesent even have development team,however there is a group of people that are intrested in game developing ,so therefore they are helping the project to grow,but those people are not full time developers,they mostly do developing as their hobby,they have their own jobs,life problems,so you cant expect to see major updates in short time period,but i can assure you that everyone is contributing as much as they can.

    “And just because I’m not in IRC/SVN nor Forums, my opinion is not relevant?” It is to some point,you see you must be familliar with something in order to start a debate about it, otherwise you could be mistaken very easily,just like u were, by giving silly comments like:”This is dead project,no goals, and only excuses for lazy people”.As i mentioned before,most of us are working on this on our free time,we dont get payed for doing this.This is an open source project,so as long as there are people intrested in developing, this project will not be dead, so therefore the community is the one that is expanding this project more and more,they are the ones that can improve it more and more,Brad is not leader,there are no leaders. So dont make that blind statements.

  26. Le_steck says:

    Why you said Zeq2 Lite is dead ? There a good community and the dev revision are better than first public beta. I donate because it’s difficult for a amator project to go on and finish the project. Sorry for my bad english but esf is good project but Zeq2 is different and respect this project. I sur you post on esf website to tell esf project is dead ? But on the background of this project are a person who are a life…I love all this project but i have no competence to help, i donate if i can…

  27. ElementX says:

    You’re taking the effort into arguing and discussing on a board of a project you believe to be dead. If you believe the project is dead, you are free to leave. End of discussion.

  28. Lux says:

    With which license is released ZEQ2-lite? Because if have no license, automatically is published under a regular copyfight.

  29. Zeth says:

    ZEQ2-lite is under GPL — in and out.

  30. =Bill= says:

    Why do you need money???? AND+When are you gonna update?????? Plz TELL US!!!!!

    From,
    =Bill=

  31. =Bill= says:

    Why do you need money???? AND+When are you gonna update?????? Plz TELL US!!!!!

    From,
    =Bill= P.s the game is ASOME!!! i know i spelled ASOME wrong so be quiet XD

  32. isaac says:

    it going to be so mhuh fun

  33. Kakarot2550 says:

    Dudes i am using SVN and Forums and i didn t donate 🙁 maybe i will….

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