Author Archives: zico

Hello pilots, Zico here!

It’s been said you should always end on a high note. Without a doubt, when it comes to DXX-Rebirth I missed that mark… a few times actually.

When I started this project in 2005 I worked on it almost every free minute I could spare. For years. It was just a hobby, but it was fun. More importantly it was for two of my favorite games. That is until I burned out on it entirely. That was somewhere around 2014. Told myself I just had to take it a bit slower, but just another year or so later, I dropped off entirely. Stopped checking mails, the forums, couldn’t even bring myself to look at the source anymore. Ignored all the signs. But I always kept myself the promise to return one day.

And last year I decided to give it another go. Because I still care for this hobby project, which grew way bigger than I ever could have anticipated. And make no mistake, I am forever grateful for the community. For you! You who gave this port a chance, played it, maybe liked it. Those of you who contributed, wrote bug reports, patches and whatnot. You’re the best!

So I felt an obligation to continue and may it only be by testing, fixing a few bugs, maybe implement a feature or two. But I realized that it’s time to wrap things up. For good this time. As much as I hate to admit it, these years burned away all the love and drive I had for these games and this project. And DXX-Rebirth deserves at least someone who cares. Luckily kp has been maintaining it for the past years and done amazing things. So don’t you worry, DXX-Rebirth will live on. Nothing is going to happen for the foreseeable future. I will keep the website online and as long as kp is updating the port, I will provide semi-regular packages. That’s the least I can do for all of you.
However that’s where my involvement will end. That also means the Discord server will close by the end of February. I wanted to provide a platform for the community, but I just can’t do it. I’m sorry.

Once more I would like to thank all of you who stuck with DXX-Rebirth for all these years. Players and contributors alike. This port wouldn’t be where it is without you. And as long as you are still there, it is in good hands.

DXX-Rebirth started in 2005 – almost 15 years ago. Since then, the internet has changed quite a bit. Initially I launched the forums to keep track of bugs, suggestions and provide a place for people to talk about the project.

By now, the GitHub issue tracker has replaced the forums as a much more efficient way to keep track of bugs and suggestions. Additionally, other solutions emerged that serve as a better place for the community, allowing to chat, have fun and play together.

That’s why I created the DXX-Rebirth Discord server with a selection of text channels and voice chats for general purposes as well as Multiplayer games. If you think that sounds fun, then feel free to join.

We think that this server provides a much better alternative for the remaining purpose the forums are currently serving and that we can eventually retire them. For the time being, the forums will stay online so you can back up images or other memories.

Hello pilots!

Two weeks ago, I started providing up-to-date builds of DXX-Rebirth based on the current source code again and promised to keep this process going. I called them “Weekly builds” and I already suspected this term might not be the best since there could always be days when an update might not be worthwhile. May it be because there have not been any changes, game breaking bugs, me not being around or something else.

Such is the case today. There’s only been minor updates regarding the build process which make no difference for the Windows build whatsoever. And since my webspace is limited, I decided to skip an update this week and instead focusing more on testing. As there are new changes, I’ll update again of course.

That being said, by now I’ve tested the current build of May 30th extensively and such as it is, the game is in a great state, thanks to kp’s work over the years. In case you’re still using an older version, I highly encourage you to update. On that note, I removed the build of May 24th due to various mistakes I made packaging it and some libraries not being up to date or missing (it couldn’t play OGG or FLAC files).

Since I’ve been absent from the project for years, I think the least you deserve is an update. I’ll keep continue testing and frankly, being able to just play the games for once is great. Prior to my break, I did nothing but work on the engine for about a decade and I nearly forgot how much fun this game is.

I also have a few other things on my plate, some catching up and a few new things that I hope you’ll enjoy. Stay tuned!

Have fun in the mines!