Here's an idea to revive the dying (and some would say dead) Ares community. Perhaps we could construct a hyper-plug, where each person contributes between a well tested, well engineered pluglet consisting of say one to four levels per contributor.
The theme could be one completly different from the existing Ares universe, for example the adventures of the Starship, um Bloodsucker or Preadator, or whatever, as Earth expands its dominions beyond the Sol System...
Or a competative expansion of two empires into bordering independant Systems...
A better theme anyone?
Ships. Existing sprites would do fine (I think), but new ones would not be objectionable.
New weapons and new ship characteristics would be a must.
The most important element would be a strong and interesting plot line which would then evolve as people add their scenarios. New mission parameters and new weapons are I think essential to keep the player interested, otherwise its just more of the same.
For example there was much chatter on the web board regarding the development of a cruise missile system about a year or so. Has anyone done any work on this? (The one I developed in Its War is rather primitive. But it works...!)
A hyper-scenario project would be capable of producing a (good?!) scenario relatively quickly. This way developers wouldn't get too bored with it too soon... 
The idea would draw on the best talents of each contributor.
Opinions? Anyone interested?
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Oh, so it is another bug hunt then...