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Wow, I'm amazed and grateful for the news coverage! Let me make a couple of comments about it.
Well, SourceForge, not SoundForge 
We were accepted and a version of the code is available. But let me explain the history of MD so you know what is there and where it's at.
We have three different versions of MD floating around. The initial version (which is called 0.4.4.647 and is still available on our webpage) was the most worked on, and is the most functional.
After this version we decided to do an interface redesign, because 0.4.4.647, while functional, was pretty ugly However, the redesign was a total disaster. It never got very far (although it's still temporarily available as "Demo 5" on the site, I'm going to take it down soon).
Then MD went into hiatus. I went off and worked on another project for a while. Although I swore up and down I would get back to MD, most people saw this as the death bell (which is understandable, "we will come back to it" is the universal cry of dead projects everywhere, hehe).
The hiatus lasted almost two years. Then, much to the surprise (I think) of everyone, I did in fact come back to MD. Now, we are doing an interface redesign again, but this time, I've taken what I learned about UI design from my other project and applied it to MD, and the results are coming out MUCH better.
The point of this is, the version you will find on SF is our second interface redesign. Functionality wise, it is nowhere near as far along as the 0.4.4.647 version, and won't be for a little while.
The primary goal for the next demo (which I'm going to tenatively call an "interface demo") is going to be to have all the major screens (there are 14 of them) complete and working such that you will be able to get a very good idea of how the game will play by examining the screens and playing with the controls and seeing what they do.
The next releases in this branch will be to start feeding in the functionality of 0.4.4.647 back into the new version. This should be relatively quick, because all the code already exists, we just have to make it work with the new interfaces (which for the most part will be pretty trivial).
So that's where things are at.
Indeed. Although I don't really expect to get more coders until we release the interface demo, if someone was interested, I could use the help at any time. If you've never used SF before in a development project, it's a little involved to get set up. There are detailed instructions on my site for it, though. Just contact me or leave a message if you're interested.
Did I say that? I probably did at some point I'll stand by it as long as I get to qualify it a bit. The 0.4.4.647 version is 80% playable. I wouldn't call it 80% complete (there's still a number of things missing, like espionage and most of the Leader aspects), and we only have techs up through about the middle ages.
However, those aspects aren't critical for basic play. The only thing that is missing from that version that we absolutely need for interesting games is combat. Otherwise it's pretty much ready, it has research, unit design, city founding, production queues, stack control, resource collection, file handling, and so on. Everything you actually need to play a game (which we did, there was a test game that played for a couple dozen turns with 5 or 6 people involved).
So that's the deal.
Ron
(21 June 2004, 22:35 | Alt) The pre-alpha version of Manifest Destiny, a Civilization-style fan-written and marketed game, is planned to be posted on SoundForge at some point in the near future.
We were accepted and a version of the code is available. But let me explain the history of MD so you know what is there and where it's at.
We have three different versions of MD floating around. The initial version (which is called 0.4.4.647 and is still available on our webpage) was the most worked on, and is the most functional.
After this version we decided to do an interface redesign, because 0.4.4.647, while functional, was pretty ugly
However, the redesign was a total disaster. It never got very far (although it's still temporarily available as "Demo 5" on the site, I'm going to take it down soon).Then MD went into hiatus. I went off and worked on another project for a while. Although I swore up and down I would get back to MD, most people saw this as the death bell (which is understandable, "we will come back to it" is the universal cry of dead projects everywhere, hehe).
The hiatus lasted almost two years. Then, much to the surprise (I think) of everyone, I did in fact come back to MD. Now, we are doing an interface redesign again, but this time, I've taken what I learned about UI design from my other project and applied it to MD, and the results are coming out MUCH better.
The point of this is, the version you will find on SF is our second interface redesign. Functionality wise, it is nowhere near as far along as the 0.4.4.647 version, and won't be for a little while.
The primary goal for the next demo (which I'm going to tenatively call an "interface demo") is going to be to have all the major screens (there are 14 of them) complete and working such that you will be able to get a very good idea of how the game will play by examining the screens and playing with the controls and seeing what they do.
The next releases in this branch will be to start feeding in the functionality of 0.4.4.647 back into the new version. This should be relatively quick, because all the code already exists, we just have to make it work with the new interfaces (which for the most part will be pretty trivial).
So that's where things are at.
C++ coders are still in particular demand to see the work to fruition. Hiler is actively recruiting qualified, interested and available individuals through the forums of the software company he co-owns and operates, R&J Cyberware.
He has previously and continues to indicate that MD is 80% complete.
I'll stand by it as long as I get to qualify it a bit. The 0.4.4.647 version is 80% playable. I wouldn't call it 80% complete (there's still a number of things missing, like espionage and most of the Leader aspects), and we only have techs up through about the middle ages.However, those aspects aren't critical for basic play. The only thing that is missing from that version that we absolutely need for interesting games is combat. Otherwise it's pretty much ready, it has research, unit design, city founding, production queues, stack control, resource collection, file handling, and so on. Everything you actually need to play a game (which we did, there was a test game that played for a couple dozen turns with 5 or 6 people involved).
So that's the deal.
Ron
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