My first tent was an OD canvas Boy Scout tent I got when I was nine. Wooden tent poles, about five feet high. Guylines to hold the bottom part of the sides so that they made short vertical walls. No floor. Dad put down a tarp.
I have trouble seeing custom footprints as anything but a good thing. I used the plastic sheeting for years, but I hated to just throw it away, and it degraded and got brittle after a while. Tarps always seemed to catch water or slide around. I like the new footprints because they attach directly to the frame of the tent, they’re exactly the right size, they stay taut, and they give you the option of floor-and-fly packing in one easily set up, integrated system.
I never bothered with footprints myself. A high-tech solution to a low-tech “problem.” 3 mil plastic, cut to fit, just like NurseCarmen. Use it, abuse it, throw it away when you get home.
These days, of course, we use these. The annual Thanksgiving trip involves 2 6-person and one 8 person-tents. That’s for 4 people, mind you! We do like our comfort. 
Yeah, but I’m of a strong ecological bent. I hate throwing away big sheets of plastic. The footprint’ll last for years.
What you really need is a heavy-duty sewing machine, or a friend with one. That way you can manufacture your own custom footprints, bags, etc. I have such a friend. We always get his prototypes to play with.