Zelda Fan Network
From Zelda Wiki.org
Please see the relevant discussion on the article's talk page.
|
Please discuss this issue on the talk page. Editing help is available. This article has been tagged since Feb 2008. |
| Zelda Fan Network | |
|---|---|
| | |
| URL | Defunct |
| Language | |
| Owner(s) | |
| Webmaster(s) | |
| Launch Date | 2003 |
| Status | Closed |
Zelda Fan Network (http://ZeldaFN.com) is a site that provides materials for fan-games relating to the The Legend of Zelda series. ZFN was created Sept 13, 2003, 10:43am by Chris Doucette (previously known as ZeldaFN).
Contents |
History
Zelda Fan Network has sustained great change over the years. It became popular amongst the ZFGC community during its launch, and gained enough publicity to grow. As administrator I would soon become known as the infamous ZeldaFN, and both communities would never be the same again.
Version 1: Very Beginning
In May of 2003, I had discovered DanielBarras.com. The site was dedicated to a 2D remake of Ocarina of Time, aka OOT2D. The site included a message board called ZFGC, which stood for Zelda Fan Game Central. Eventually after tension between myself and a mod by the name of Scrappersa, I was banned. I was young, immature, and made poor decisions that contributed to later issues.
In spite, I decided to make a community better than ZFGC. This community was named Zelda Fan Game 4D aka ZFG4D. The name was absolutely cheesy, but the forums and site surely were not, as they quickly became widely known and visited by ZFGCers. A few weeks later, the site was renamed to Zelda Fan Network, and I had to decide on a new adminstrator name for my forums, since it was previously ZFG4D. My new account name would be ZeldaFN.
The first forums and website were pretty simple at first, and then I started to express my creativity. The forums, utilized free proboard service. The actual forums still exist today years later. http://zeldafg.proboards21.com/index.cgi, they just arn't used anymore. I used Wind Waker graphics, bright blue colors, and had my own special features for the board such as ZFN Radio.
To compete with ZFGC, I started my project to make my own 2-D Zelda fan-game. This fan-game was titled "Blade of Evils Bane". I had one demo released with numerous screenshots, and my progress started to get quite far, but then I suddenly abandoned it. The Version 1 site, located on http://geocities.com/zeldafangame4d/, was never updated after the name switch. It lingered on for years and years.
Version 2: ZFGC vs ZFN
Version 2 of ZFN was absolutely wonderful. The forums made a switch to Invision Free on Feb 24th, 2004, 6:28pm, and kept its TWW style. It looked far better and IFB was definetly worth the switch. I finally made an up to date site for ZFN, which was located at ZeldaFanNetwork.com. The site was a flash applet, with a cartoon Hyrule transitioning from day to night. On it where three links; The first pointed to OOT2D, the second pointed to information on my fan-game, and the third pointed to the IFB forums.
As we moved into 2004, an extremely horrid cyber-war developed between ZFN and ZFGC. ZFGC by now had become infamous itself amongst other Zelda sites. IGN constantly bashed Daniel Barras and OOT2D, bashed the community of ZFGC for their behavior and actions that was both inappropriate and immature. TSA featured all three subjects, Daniel Barras, OOT2D, and ZFGC on his "Gannon-Banned" site. I bring this up because when I say it was nazism in early ZFGC, it was! I had some words with Daniel Barras and then the entire staff hated me, and convinced its worshiping members to go on a hate crusade against me. My community of course stuck up for me, including my best friend Robert Pledger aka Telltolin. After countless immature threats and arguments from both sides, things got REAL ugly. On April 4th 2004, the forums were hacked into. ZFGC's staff had buddies in InvisionFree staff and had convinced them to shut down my forums soon after they hacked them, and IFB ignored my complaint of hacks and closed down my forum. Luckily there was a back-up board, so the community was moved to the back-up board.
The community never really recovered from the attack so later the community died out, and all members, board, etc, were wiped clean. ZeldaFanNetwork.com was gone after a few weeks, because on July 21st, 2004. A new site was started.
Swords and Crossbones
The NEW site was located at Chrispirate.com/ChrisDoucette.com and the forums were transformed again. The new theme of the forums, pirates. The point of the forums? About my 3D pirate game called "Swords and Crossbones". The game had lots of good screenshots and a basic engine, but it fell apart in the Fall of 2004 and the community died out, but this time i didnt wipe it clean.
Version 3: The Revival
ZFN was revived on August 2nd, 2005. - http://z6.invisionfree.com/ZeldaFanNetwork/index.php? It went through ups and downs in activity. Booming for a few months, almost dead for another. I decided to expand the community by adding a new website that same month. It was ZFN's first true website. Filled with content ranging from walkthroughs and character information, to music, buddy icons, and wallpapers.
Version 4: Expanding
It was not long after the creation of the Version 3 site, that the Version 3.5 forums found their way. I successfully installed my own forums and hosted them. The software was IPB 2.0 and it was far greater than the IFB board which used IPB 1.3. During the Winter of 2006, I was in the process of switching my hosting. My host, Lightfyre, neglected all their customers, but continued to take in new customers. After months I finally got in contact with the admin and was able to cancel my account and safely transfer all my files and database to a new host. This new host appeared to be wonderful, but then my new host failed to bill my credit card automaticly and thus I had to do it manually, but no invoice was sent to me so for 3 months I did not pay. Though it was their fault, they ended up shutting down the site, and when I asked for a back up of my forum files and database, I was told to pay for the hosting. They wanted $30 for the 3 months, up front. I did not have it and I lost my copy of IPB 2.0 and all the database information.
Version 4 of the forums was thus born when I decided to go with SMF instead. Now at a new host, 1and1.com, ZFN began to thrive better than ever before. The hosting was cheap, and the value was triple. ZFN had a huge active peak, but it recently declined in activity since I stopped updating. Unfortunatly my computer was damaged by CompUSA, and I am currently fighting them for compensation. Since my computer isn't useable, all my progress was haulted for the new site and my 3D project called Tortuga Online.
However, I have recently began finishing the Version 4 website, and here is a sneak peak.
This new site utilizes Joomla, a popular and free Content Management System.
I hope to have it finished sometime in December.
Features
(??)
Tortuga Online
Tortuga Online is a 3D world in the ActiveWorlds.com Universe. In it you can explore a huge tropical paradise filled with treasures and magic. You can go on scavenger/treasure hunts competeing with others online in real time.. there are interactive bots that act as NPCs. The time of day transitions each hour for realistic effect.
Tortuga features playable instruments such as the Piano in the Drunken Rat Tavern. Vehicles are also included in the world such as the Black Pearl, which can set sail around the island, it is useful for quicker transportation. A video demonstration of Tortuga Online in its early stages. http://root.zeldafn.com/AW/scumm/tortugademo1.wmv
