DSL? What is it...

[SteveM4]

What does DSL actually stand for?

I have been trying to figure it out for a while now.

[G.K.]

Darkrat Starcore Lu-Tze

[SteveM4]

Thanks G.K!

Also, where did the Red Fork go in DSL?

[Stagfish]

I've wanted to ask that aswell actually.

[G.K.]

The what?

[Squirrel_Monkey]

Bracket Wedge?

[SteveM4]

Yeah that, I liked that...
wanted it skinned for a PA rep.

[NFX]

It may very well be in cheatbot2 somewhere.

[MassimoV]

I was wondering what the TC stands for.

[NFX]

Total Conversion. =P

[Sage]

Really should be DSLC

[Starcore]

When we were creating DSL I had already released two highly successful versions of the Starcore packs and Darkrat had completed multiple component packs and a gorgeous set of RA2 Replicas of many of the most impressive bots of Battlebots and Robot Wars. He was on his way out of the RA2 scene, highly frustrated that people frequently considered his parts cheat parts because of a lack of standards. His replicas were in majority initially 'picture bots'. Many with no or only token internals. I suggested we do a pack standardizing expanded parts based on Real Life components and replica bots. The AceUplink group had done some gorgeous looking replicas in their Battlebots pack but many of the bots were not balanced component levels and shell strengths. We wanted to take RA2 to the next level and get it a greater range of parts standardized. Lu-Tze had also been an innovator that was on the way out. She had cracked the code on wheels and made some fantastic arenas. We brought her into the team. It was our Swan Song gift to the RA2 community.
 
As to the naming. The projected started off to show off Darkrats replicas and parts so I leaned towards having his initial first. I was project CEO, AI Lead, populated most the internals, initial pack creation and testing vs the Starcore bots (the Starcore bots kept beating the DSL bots in early revs) and Lu-Tze was primarily Arenas. With Lu-Tze being very ill we had thought of having her initial first but felt LSD (known drug) or LDS (nick name initials of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) did not work well as a name. We settled with DSL (this was before Digital Subscriber Lines were a popular way of getting budget broadband Internet access).
 
We had considered adding TC for Total Conversion to the mix but at the time since much of the core engine was still there and we did not have access to changing some of the key elements we were a bit cautious about requiring that part. Since as it has grown many are comfortable calling it a TC. So most times it is known as the quick and easy to remember DSL and also valid to call it the DSL TC.
 
Starcore
 

[Gigafrost]

Ah the nostalgia, I remember that well. Downloaded DSL 1.0 BETA over a 56kb dialup connection. And true DSL (game) was out even before the term DSL (broadband) became popular. When it did it was crazy expensive. Dial-up Took forever but i was happy when it was released. I still liked the dirt old UI menu way more than the one we have now, but oh well.

@ king mushroom: The Bracket Wedge is probably still there in a drop-down menu. If not then you can check out the AI folder, find the corresponding txt file, and set the hidden value to 0 (i think). If push comes to shove you can probably just copy the component folder from the stock version and paste it into the dsl version. But i don't know if that will solve the issue.

[Naryar]

Bracket wedge... WAIT. It's true that it has been forgotten. That should totally be a legit part for DSL.

Yeah, I think it's hidden. And it's still just a stock part, so 1000 HP and all stock "balanced".

[Vertigo]

Who wants to use the bracket wedge anyway?

[Pwnator]

Who wants to use the bracket wedge anyway?

Might be useful for some replicas.

[Naryar]

You will want to use it when I will bump it's hitpoints high enough

[G.K.]

KM, It seems