heres the catch: promoting yourself on gamespot/ign/etc. costs money. LOTS of money.
and in
this threadare some important points.
1. they're not getting paid at all, except by the gratuity of the fans.
2. they don't make any money off the mod, and what they get from donations goes to keeping the websites/forums running.
and also, TC:E is probably the most popular total conversion for ET, and among the top mods, and if you don't count ETpro and Jaymod, more than likely #1.
there are TONS of mods that
1. have only a handful of servers (we have at least 20 per gametype)
2. have little or no publicity
and
3. barely get the love and care TC:E does.
IMO, how we're going is just fine.
regular updates are already part of the plan, and IMO, the only reason .49b is considered a "substandard" release is because people are mad about free-aim, and aside form that, it is a maintanace release. if you want a new feature every release, be prepared for another 15 bugs too.
and you know what? TC:E's models are AMAZING for a game running the engine it is. I would say with confidence, that if we moved to the source engine, we would lose about 90% of our playerbase. same if we moved to any other engine (minus Q3GPL, but it's been done, in a sense) and the graphics would only get a slight boost (we'd get true HDR, slightly better textures, and slightly better models.) and have to fight major problems (I.E. mod being toasted after steam release, requiring a MAJOR bugfix, performance problems for 50% of the players, etc.)
IMO, I'd rather have a mod I can run on my older computer(s) so I can have a LAN game against my pals than have slight improvements.
your next paragraph is similar to one written by my down-the-block neighbor (he's 7.), all I can make out is that you don't like the playermodels aand limbo menu, and that people are going to like the game 3x more because of it, but here's a newsflash:
playermodels are the best they can be. changing them more can be done, but with one problem: they cannot be implemented, because the engine can't handle any more. and IMO, the limbo menu is just fine. it lets you see what's going on as you select your weapon. could it be tweaked? sure.but I STILL want drop-down menus. clicking+holding once is easier than clicking an arrow 20 times.
one more thing about eye-candy: it's a beta. from TC:E 1.0 I would expect MUCH better things.but we're half-way through the development process. hell, .49 is thier 4th ET build. everything before that was TrueCombat. considering that they've been working on the engine for a shorter time than many other mods, but still churn out top-quality stuff (we're on the best of tactical gaming page. as a recommended game.)
and at this stage in development, it is ALL about gameplay. here's how it should go:
<internal builds>
1st build: new models/skins, some weapons too
2nd build: full weapon selection (given none are decided upon in the development process), new animations, initial HUD/limbo menu changes
3rd build: HUD/limbo menu almost complete, features like ironsights, etc are added.
<closed beta>
4th build: tweaks to weapon balance, changes to hitboxes and damage system
5th build: gameplay
<open beta>
6th build: gameplay, balance, etc.
7th build server browser tweaks, balance, features by popular demand (this is about where we are)
8th build: gameplay, major bugfixes
<final version>
9th build: changes to models, etc.
as someone who actually plays the mod, I know that gameplay at this time is VERY important. and I (and my pals) would rather see changes to weapon balance, gameplay and features than have new models.
I've seen some games for the source engine that look terrific, city 14 is one of them, it looks amazing. only one problem: the game is literally impossible to beat. you're locked in a room without any supplies. no HEV suit, no weapons. just you and a boarded up door (I nocliped around, there is no other way out except a vent that needs to be broken. that you cant.)
then there are games that look like crap. suck as Iron Grip: the oppression. it looks like it was made on the ET engine. the models are FAR worse than those of TC:E, but you know what? it is TONS of fun to play. it won mod of the month a while ago, and has a very nice community.
now on to advertising ideas:
signatures would be a really good idea. I, for one, would have one on every forum I can possibly fit it in.