I'd like discuss sponsoring this project and see what the community feels. My game releases in Sept/October and sales projections are all over the place depending on when I actually release. If I should end up anywhere near the middle of those projections or higher, I will have some money to work with beyond my studio's next two simultaneous titles.
If that is the case, would you be interested in my use of resources to help progress this game? I see two key issues at play and a third minor. The first is the nature of the beast which is organization. Since it's an open source project there is a lot of wasted time and energy figuring out what to work on and finding a community consensus. The second time is a lack of dedicated programming hours.
This is merely talk right now, but it's the time for such discussions. First, if the assistance is welcome I would initially bring in a project management expert to consult and organize the project with a 30, 60 and 90 day plan followed by a 1 and 3 year timeline. I would pay them to provide 3 hours a week after that to keep up on recording progress and maintaining the track with assignment for those producing.
Speaking of producing, I would pay a stipend for 2 part time programmers. Ideally one would be Lap. It would be best if they could commit to 40 or 60 hours a month in exchange for a reasonable stipend.
Is there any interest in this? My reasons are purely philanthropic. I believe gamers have wanted this game since our emotions were toyed with so long ago. I thing a commercial attempt would be met with demand and then severe damage and finally pitchforks due to the media. This is the best way imho.