Making FH more popular (again)?

[BurnSight]

Hey there!

So It has been a awhile since I was last seen here... I totally miss this game. I looked around the game discussion posts and I kind of noticed that alot of people are thinking of "ways to improve" feral heart and what they would like inside the game. I don't know if the staff is still working on the game for new updates...

BUT I would like to know what else you would like BESIDES new models, marking options and combat. What do you think would make Feral Heart more attractive and appealing for new players or/and old players to join?

For me that would be:
-Higher quality in the map/object textures.
-Online quests you can solve by playing. You can for example turn them in outside the game by answering it or sending a screenshot...
-I would love an actual big Bonfire inside the game where players can gather around. Something that moves...
-A choice between the normal game and a story mode?

Let me know what you think and would like to see.
How can you make feral heart more popular?

[Azurain]

The thing about all of this is the staff would need the game's source code for options like that. The original creator of FeralHeart took it with him when he left and he hasn't been seen since so the likelihood of it ever being recovered again is slim to none.

However, the staff ARE currently working on a new patch (similar to the one in 2016) and you can read more about it and even see a preview in the 2017 Years End Update Thread.

Hope this helped clear things up. ^^

[WolfQueen]

The reason why FH was really popular back in the day is because MMORPGs where you play as a animal in a simple environment was still a new thing. Now with the multiple IT servers, Cereal Soup, and many other games in the works it isn't much of a unique idea in general today. All those other games already have new models, markings, and/or a PvP system ether in the game already or being implemented later on.
The only thing that could make FH more popular again is to bring something new to the table. It's true that the source code is gone and has been gone for 7 years, but honestly I think that excuse is overdone and it seems like it's only used to shut people up. (No offense Azura)

What can we do without much of the source code, though? By the looks of it, all we can do is change textures, add new meshes, and replace maps. The only changes made after KovuLKD left the scene was removing general and replacing the original maps with what we have today. There also has been HD remasters first by Slycan (Feralrealistic or whatever it was called), FH+ by Simba/TLK4evr, and more recently by Brokami but it has been pretty hard to find without third-party sharing at this point. The reason why these upgrades are now semi to completely hidden from the public isn't relevant to say currently. Lets just say that the staff's idea of requesting content from creators not on the staff team is relatively new.

What can we do to make FH more enjoyable for new players, regardless of the source code? The biggest thing to set apart you game from the others is a plotline. FH veterans correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe FH was originally going to have a plotline that had something to do with animals on the run from civilization (hence the name "Feral" "Heart"). Kovu was going to implement a story mode with NPCs into the game. But now with him gone, that idea was nothing but a pipe dream. It's been 7-8 years now. It's a sad truth, but unless the game is rewritten all we can do is make the game more pretty. Unfortunately there isn't many people in this community like KovuLKD that is willing to write a new game.
The original Bonfire Island was a hubworld where you can socialize with your fellow players and was going to have an actual bonfire like in IT. That idea backfired due to the difficulty in actually getting into the game as hundreds of other people tried to as well. That was why Lonely Cave was created.

TL;DR: The game is outdated and slipping out of relevancy. The simplest way to set it apart is a plotline. The developer left the game and realistically we can't get anything far without him. Unless the game gets completely recreated, all we can do is add more meshes, maps, textures, and markings like we have been.

[Kuri]

As for the quest & story mode ideas...   Well i've seen maps with choices as portals which didn't quiet work as quests...  tried making an actual quest myself but completing it wouldn't hold much relevancy in the game.  Although it might be possible to make a long quest in the official downloads, for all i know there could be a possibility of setting up a server side trigger that detected someone entering the final quest map that would allow them access to something else or just unlock a forum title.  That's the only things i can thing of with the current resources.

Oh, and remind people of the sandbox qualities of FH & it's easiness to mod'.

[Jango_Fett]

honestly i dont think quests/hunting/etc would actually benefit the game as it is(or would've in the past), as that's a feature that could/can/will get boring very quickly.

really the game just needs something fresher to happen again.



when there were consistent 'youtubers' making videos on feralheart it got some pretty decent exposure, however that's kind of a hit or miss niche thing.



i'd say in the summer try and do a little ad campaign or something, maybe.

[Melon]

The staff can't really do much other than stuff stated above without the source code.

It'd be highly unlikely that KovuKLD would just reappear and give the staff the source code.

You can't just message them about it either since he doesn't respond.


If we could update the game to add more stuff, that would be great.

However, recreating the game would be alright too.

[xXQueenXx]

The reason why FH was really popular back in the day is because MMORPGs where you play as a animal in a simple environment was still a new thing. Now with the multiple IT servers, Cereal Soup, and many other games in the works it isn't much of a unique idea in general today. All those other games already have new models, markings, and/or a PvP system ether in the game already or being implemented later on.
The only thing that could make FH more popular again is to bring something new to the table. It's true that the source code is gone and has been gone for 7 years, but honestly I think that excuse is overdone and it seems like it's only used to shut people up. (No offense Azura)

What can we do without much of the source code, though? By the looks of it, all we can do is change textures, add new meshes, and replace maps. The only changes made after KovuLKD left the scene was removing general and replacing the original maps with what we have today. There also has been HD remasters first by Slycan (Feralrealistic or whatever it was called), FH+ by Simba/TLK4evr, and more recently by Brokami but it has been pretty hard to find without third-party sharing at this point. The reason why these upgrades are now semi to completely hidden from the public isn't relevant to say currently. Lets just say that the staff's idea of requesting content from creators not on the staff team is relatively new.

What can we do to make FH more enjoyable for new players, regardless of the source code? The biggest thing to set apart you game from the others is a plotline. FH veterans correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe FH was originally going to have a plotline that had something to do with animals on the run from civilization (hence the name "Feral" "Heart"). Kovu was going to implement a story mode with NPCs into the game. But now with him gone, that idea was nothing but a pipe dream. It's been 7-8 years now. It's a sad truth, but unless the game is rewritten all we can do is make the game more pretty. Unfortunately there isn't many people in this community like KovuLKD that is willing to write a new game.
The original Bonfire Island was a hubworld where you can socialize with your fellow players and was going to have an actual bonfire like in IT. That idea backfired due to the difficulty in actually getting into the game as hundreds of other people tried to as well. That was why Lonely Cave was created.

TL;DR: The game is outdated and slipping out of relevancy. The simplest way to set it apart is a plotline. The developer left the game and realistically we can't get anything far without him. Unless the game gets completely recreated, all we can do is add more meshes, maps, textures, and markings like we have been.

Everything WolfQueen said.

[ShadowMT13]

Sound interesting, though I will say that without the key that the admins would have to use to edit the world and game, this is near impossible, I am not sure if anyone has stated this yet since I did not read all the comments because most are too long winded. But most of the time when I have asked the admins about certain things they said they would need the access key or something like that, but the problem is they don't have it. The original creator of FeralHeart left FH and took the key with him sadly, I do hope the guy who made this is doing well though! I wonder if he knows that FH is still going strong and it did not just die when he left :3

[Telluric]

a lot of floofs beat me to the punch, not as if i could explain it very well, but yea, without the source code we get new maps, textures and such and that's about it.
i do however wanna mention that the premise of making your own content for the game could be a very big selling point- if word was spread about it.
sadly it's not an overnight thing, but keep telling people you know, maybe a few of us could pick up the art of making silly sketch comedy videos for fh again, who knows. just because the bird is descending doesn't mean it can't ever get back up in the sky.