Some formal words of parting:

This is the welcome and goodbye section for the community. New members should introduce themselves here, read the rules and get free cookies!

Moderator: Developers

Post Reply
User avatar
PurpleSquerkle
Massive Gelfeet (Developer)
Massive Gelfeet (Developer)
Posts: 3176
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:54 am
Location: Oakland, CA
Contact:

Some formal words of parting:

Post by PurpleSquerkle »

Warning: This post contains unreasonable levels of sappiness. Those with allergies may want to find something different to read.


To everybody:
It's been a while since I "partially retired", and that partial retirement quickly declined into something more complete. I haven't been around in a while, and, to be honest, I haven't felt very bad being away. I feel like it's time to finish this for good, so I'm going to say directly what you had probably already guessed was true anyway:
I'm gone. I don't know what the future is going to be like, but I think I can say with a reasonable level of confidence that I won't be coming back.
It isn't because I dislike any of you. It isn't because I dislike Egoboo. Life has changed, time has passed... and it's time to move on to different things.
I enjoyed my time here. This community became really important to me, and working on Egoboo has been one of the more important experiences in my life. But the more you drag things out, the more it hurts when you have to let go, and in the end, no matter what you do... you always have to let go. So I'm leaving willingly, while I can still feel like it was a choice. Of course, this seems a little odd, since I've really been gone for a while now... But I have been sort of lurking, wondering whether I would return, and I need to finish this.
I have quite a few specific people and subjects to address before I go, because I don't want this to be too abrupt, and there are things that I feel like I need to say.

To Zefz:
You've been a great leader for this project. You've persevered through some pretty discouraging times, and even when things were slow, you remained optimistic that they'd pick up again. You have good organizational skills and this project has given you a lot of experience with different elements of game development, so I think there are some interesting projects left in your future.
You always brought some nice, silly humor to everything, and you helped keep everybody together. You did a lot of work nobody else wanted to do, and I admire that. You're a great guy, and I hope life goes well for you.

To Birdsey:
As I said to Zefz, you've worked hard, doing a lot of tedious and unglamorous stuff. You have a lot of really good ideas, and you're very good at carefully analyzing everything before implementing it. I don't know if you ever realized this before, but I looked up to you a lot, and I still do. I think you're a very wise and reasonable person, and I have quite a bit of respect for you. I'm sure there's a lot of other things already going on in your life, but you still have a future, too, and I'm confident that you're going to do great things with it.

To Chainsaw/Cimeries:
You're a very interesting and creative person. You obviously love games a lot, and analysis of other work has made you very good at designing things of your own. You have a unique personality, so keep on bringing that out in your work. I remember once that you had started working on your own game; I hope you keep that sort of thing up. I would love to see you finish something some day.
I always appreciated your unique way of welcoming new members; I think your humorous "creepiness" and "intimidation" actually had a significant positive effect on making people feel at home here. I liked having you around, so if we don't stay in contact after I'm gone, I'm going to miss you!

To Agent of Dread:
A lot of things about you are really surprising. Your maturity is pretty high for your age... And you're also very skilled. Keep drawing, and don't forget to keep learning, because talent only gets you so far! Interacting with you has helped me to stop underestimating people who are younger than me.
I know you like Aaron's games a lot, but I hope that in the future you'll get involved in playing other independent works and giving feedback; there are a lot of people out there who need to hear as much as they can. Egoboo isn't going to be in development forever, and I'm sure there are a lot of other projects out there that you could contribute to when you're ready to go on to something else... I can see you doing pretty well on your own, too, though. Whatever you choose to do, don't stop creating things!

To Clonkinator:
Look, I'll be honest with you... I can't think of many specific things to say to you for some reason. I could give you some general complements like "cool" and "creative", but I think by the end of this I'll have said something like that to pretty much everyone, so it doesn't seem like that will mean a whole lot... haha.
It's been helpful to see your perspective on games, and I hope that in the future I'll be able to hear your opinions on my work. That assumes I actually finish something cool, though, and I don't know how long it will be before that happens.
I don't know how you feel about making your own games or producing whatever else, but if you decide to do that, go for it!

To Woodmouse:
Oh, boy... Woodmouse!
You're crazy, but not at all in a bad way. I find your unique style, preferences, and perspective to be really interesting. I'll definitely want to see whatever stuff you produce in the future, whether that's art, music, games, or something else... You're a fun person to talk with; you always bring interesting flavor to conversations. I really hope we get to interact more in the future; I'll be sad if we don't!

To penguinflyer5234:
I've appreciated the time I spent getting to know you... Whenever we have talked in the past, even if it has just been for a little while, it has been a positive experience. I really respect the quality relationships you obviously have with Ben and 2222; keep on being nice to people... and keep on being you!

To penguinflyer2222:
I'm pretty sure everyone's mood improved measurably the moment you joined this forum. Your positivity is contagious, apparently! That quality is going to take you far in life... and you still have a lot of life ahead of you, so don't stop smiling.

To Maxaxle:
In the past, you've gotten a lot of negative attention, and I have to be honest... a lot of times, you were kind of clueless. But the past is the past! Things are obviously changing. Keep moving forward; you're a great guy, and your ideas are worth something. Keep sharing them; honesty and openness can be important. Don't let people get you down; try to stay optimistic and be as polite as you can... enjoy life.

To Ben Urban:
I have always found it neat that even though you have opinions and you aren't afraid to let people know what they are, you still treat people with respect. I hope that you continue to act in a noble way; keep being a friend to people, and remember to put an emphasis on building quality relationships.

To Hiroy:
I know you will probably never read this, but I feel like I need to say something anyway. Maybe somebody can get in contact with you and let you know what I said or something...
You, sir, are a very talented and skilled person! There are a lot of talented and skilled people out there, of course, but I feel that it makes a pretty big difference when the face behind the talent in skill is so pleasant. You have a great personality and are just generally a cool guy. Whatever you're up to now, I'm sure it's something fantastic!

To Scytale:
This isn't goodbye, since you're already gone from here and we still talk sometimes, but I figure I should say something to you as long as I'm doing it for other people. I'll probably have to send you a link if you're ever going to see it, though.
I made a lot of friendships here, of course; I love everyone in this community I have had the privilege of interacting with. And I admit that you and I aren't necessarily all that close, and that we don't talk all that often. Somehow, though, you are one of my favorite people. I have a lot of respect for you, and I have some reasons for that, but some of it really can't be explained. I hope that, whatever happens in life, I won't completely lose contact with you, because that would be a shame. You're a super cool guy!

To everybody I didn't mention:
Seriously, I'm sorry.
It was more or less impossible to do this without neglecting to mention someone (or several people, no doubt).
Don't think that just because I didn't say anything to you (or because I said very little to you) I dislike you or forgot about you. I'm a person, so I can't pull anything off perfectly.
Instead, I will leave you with a generic sentiment: Keep on being awesome!


Regarding the website:
I like the general format that's happening there, and it does have potential, but I feel like I should make a few comments:
1. In Firefox, at least, there are borders around the buttons. These borders are ugly. They should be removed.
2. Underneath the buttons and above where the text starts, it might be a good idea to put some kind of border line to reinforce the feeling of that being a frame for the content of the site or whatever.
3. Don't forget to put in a gallery with screenshots and artwork.
4. Someone should remind me about this later, but I think I can redo the rightmost button so it actually recolors properly when selected... Obviously that exact button didn't exist before, since they ran vertically instead of horizontally, and the curved corner was in a different place... Anyway, I don't think I'm the only one who can see the roughness of the recoloration. I'm pretty sure I did that in layers, so I should be able to give you a smoother version of that. Like I said, though, someone will have to remind me.
5. At the moment, there's too many colors. I like it when color schemes are limited somewhat... But that's just my opinion. I'll leave that up to you.
6. The "about" button... Doesn't do what it's supposed to. I hope you keep my text and the "Z for Zucchini logo", but ultimately, that's not my decision, of course.
7. I do like Booger's artwork, but I'm not sure I like the cloudy thing happening around the logo, and I'm disappointed you didn't keep my more regal-looking letters... I would like to see someone add a few details to those letters and make a banner with monsters and characters in it or whatever... Again, though, it's up to you guys.
8. I like how the picture with Lord Bishop in chains turned out. If you keep using it somewhere, I'll love you forever.
Just kidding! I'll love you forever no matter what you do!
...Yeah, I'm creepy! At least I know it!

Regarding the game in general:
I haven't seen exactly how things are at the moment, but I feel like the game really is close to completion. I have a few comments I want to make, though:
1. Networked multiplayer is definitely a pain, but it would be incredible to have. It's not a complete necessity, though, so if it isn't working out, it might not be a terrible idea to just forget about it... The single-machine multiplayer is still fun. If you don't put in networking, though, don't forget to take out the button! Heh...
2. I'm sad I never saw either of my playable character classes (the Hobgoblin or the Vampyre) through to the end. I'm pretty sure I'm not coming back to them at this point, of course. But they both got kind of far, so if anybody ever gets bored, it would be amazing if one of those got finished. You'd be my hero! If not... Oh, well. That's how life goes.
3. Did the Tourist ever get added? Man, we definitely need a Tourist. Also, I hear the Valkyrie got put in the game, which is cool... But it should definitely be an unlockable class. Also, at one point I seem to remember the G'nome being unlockable... And I thought that was fine as a starter class. I feel like the starter classes should be all of the old/"original" ones, because they were a tight, balanced set. The more recent additions (Valkyrie, Tourist, Archaeologist, and whatever else) should be unlockable. Those are just my thoughts, though, and given the current circumstances, they probably don't matter anymore.
4. Is there still only one Hero class? If that's going to be a real feature, more should be added. I thought my Recondite Panoply was neat (I did eventually upload that, right?), and then of course there's the Viking and whatever else... As many as possible should be put in.
5. Now that the new particles are all working (they are all working, right?) some of my items should be fixed... e.g. Myolnr should have red lightning and such. Yeah, you'd be cleaning up after my messes. Nobody's making you do it, I just think everything should be as polished as possible. While you're at it, there are probably several items that could be given some new particles.
6. I am going to continue to insist that Egoboo needs a totally original soundtrack before it can be a truly great game. Unfortunately, composers are hard to get... Maybe once other stuff has been put in place and the game is generally more appealing, people will be interested. At that point I can put a request on TIGSource; there are a lot of really talented people there.
7. Even after the game is "finished", there will always be potential for improvement! I hope some people stick around to keep adding content, fixing bugs, and improving features... But that's kind of silly of me to say, since I'm not going to be one of those people!


About the future:
I don't really know where my life is going.
If you hadn't heard, I am currently studying at a Bible college. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm planning on becoming a pastor or a missionary or something like that, but I haven't ruled completely ruled out those options.
There are probably a few of you who may be surprised by that information... We never had too many serious discussions here, so my beliefs aren't something that came up too often. I feel bad about that, though, because it's such a big part of my life, and I should have been more open about it. I know there are people here who are pretty cynical of any beliefs that aren't completely naturalistic, but I hope you don't lose any respect you may have had for me. I try to respect people of different beliefs as long as they have objectively evaluated them and come to them through a conscious decision. (Because, yes, it is of course possible for people to come to conscious decisions through objective evaluation and still be in disagreement.)
Anyway, my point is that, as a Christian, I believe in a God who has a plan for my life, so I'm not worrying so much about what my career is going to be or where I'll be five years from now (or even one year from now). Right now, I'm in a two year program in school, which means I'm on course to graduate next spring. I don't know where I'll go from there. Plans might change, and I might stay in school for four years. I might go through the rest of my life with a the two year degree (which, frankly, is pretty useless). I might go back to school later in life.
I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know what I'm going to end up doing to support myself. But here are a couple of things I am more sure of:
1. Wherever I end up going, I'm going to keep creating stuff. A lot of that will be games, yes. I also like to write, though, as many of you are probably already aware. I might be doing more fiction in the future; right now I have plans for a novel... but in the past I've had a lot of plans for a lot of novels. We'll have to see what happens.
2. Life is probably a lot simpler alone, but I doubt I'll be by myself forever. Yes, that means there's a girl I like, but I don't know where that's going... maybe nowhere. Eventually, though, at some point, I'll probably have a family... and that means that I'm going to have people to support. In order to do that, I'm going to need actual money. Writing and game development probably aren't going to make me any actual money.
So... Yeah, things don't seem to add up right now. But I'm not worried about it at all. I know everything is going to work out well.
You all have your own futures ahead of you, too, and I hope they're not entirely separate from mine. I don't want to completely lose contact with any of you... don't forget about me!

Concerning where I'll be:
I have Windows Live Messenger, and if you also have it, you probably have me added as a contact already. In case you don't, though, you can add idontreallywantspam [at] hotmail [dot] com.
I have recently started a new blog. This time the URL is more public, so I'll tell you exactly where to find it: machinesaint [dot] blogspot [dot] com. Feel free to read and comment there. It's going to be different than my last blog; depending on who you are, you may think it's better or worse.
I feel like TIGSource is a pretty important place for any independent game developer who wants to get anywhere, so I've been posting and reading things there. It's not all that frequent, but it is regular. It's a cool place, and since you are all interested in indie games, I would encourage you to join. You'll have to realize, though, that it's a much bigger forum than this one, so you won't be able to act exactly the same there... The people there are nice, though, and I'm sure you'll feel welcomed.
In addition, there's another community I've been active in lately. Game Jolt is a really cool website for freeware computer games of all varieties (both those that are downloadable and those that run in browsers), and it has a lot of features that give it the potential to be a great community... But right now it's still pretty small. I would highly recommend that you check it out, because I think it's really neat. We're all nice people; grumpy folks typically don't last very long around there... Either because they can't stand us or we won't put up with them. That seems kind of exclusive, but I figure... Hey, nobody wants grumpy people, right? We're trying to build a great community and an encouraging atmosphere.

I have a name on Skype and a personal contact email address that I am careful with, because I don't want just anybody to have them. I trust most of the people here, though... Pretty much anyone who would want them can have either one of those, so feel free to send an email to my other address -- machinesaint [at] gmail [dot] com -- and ask. I would love to stay in contact with all of you!

Goodbye!
User avatar
penguinflyer2222
Queen Penguin (Senior Member)
Queen Penguin (Senior Member)
Posts: 6614
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:51 am

Post by penguinflyer2222 »

....:O
Byebye, Purple...
Well, I'm sure this isn't completely goodbye. We'll all keep in touch. :)
Hmm... I'm sorta busy at the moment, I'll finish this post later. Also I'll link Hiroy on dA I guess.
......
User avatar
Agent of Dread
Protector (Senior Member)
Protector (Senior Member)
Posts: 8991
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:46 pm
Location: Australia
Contact:

Post by Agent of Dread »

Yeah, I was going to mention Hiroy's dA link. If you're still creating, you might as well join! :)
- Linktree: linktr.ee/trilbs -
User avatar
Zefz
Squirrel Knight (Administrator)
Squirrel Knight (Administrator)
Posts: 3820
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:27 am
Location: Norway
Contact:

Post by Zefz »

Whoa big post! Byebye squerkle. We will miss you! And thanks for everything! You really helped this community :D (you even got your own module in the game)
User avatar
Agent of Dread
Protector (Senior Member)
Protector (Senior Member)
Posts: 8991
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:46 pm
Location: Australia
Contact:

Post by Agent of Dread »

Also, he has Steam for others who do. Lamprey Master, thou shalt find him as.
- Linktree: linktr.ee/trilbs -
User avatar
octagon
Darkshine Knight (Extremist fanatic)
Darkshine Knight (Extremist fanatic)
Posts: 2589
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 1:07 pm

Post by octagon »

A pity that you leave... we all will miss you.

You contributed to both the game and the forum very much... you had a great style of handling things, and I appreciate your skill of pointing out things and structuring.

Egoboo isn't going to be in development forever
Who knows? :P

And always remember: At least, you had squirrel.
User avatar
Shade
Potion Mimic (Senior Member)
Potion Mimic (Senior Member)
Posts: 7349
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:25 pm
Location: Gensokyo

Re: Some formal words of parting:

Post by Shade »

Well, we all saw this coming, right? It's a shame, but we obviously can't force you stay here. Good luck with anything you're planning to do from now on. :)

PurpleSquerkle wrote:To Clonkinator:
Look, I'll be honest with you... I can't think of many specific things to say to you for some reason. I could give you some general complements like "cool" and "creative", but I think by the end of this I'll have said something like that to pretty much everyone, so it doesn't seem like that will mean a whole lot... haha.
It's been helpful to see your perspective on games, and I hope that in the future I'll be able to hear your opinions on my work. That assumes I actually finish something cool, though, and I don't know how long it will be before that happens.
I don't know how you feel about making your own games or producing whatever else, but if you decide to do that, go for it!

Well, I guess I'm just too generic, right? :lol:
Well, I did try to make my own games several times already, but up to this point, anything I put my hands on ended in a complete mess. I guess I just don't have the talent needed for creating games.
If you make a cool game and I notice it, you can be certain that you'll hear from me again. :P
User avatar
ShellShocker
Rust Eater (Senior Member)
Rust Eater (Senior Member)
Posts: 3625
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:37 am
Location: Australia

Post by ShellShocker »

You will truly be missed because you were a great member and a good contributor to the whole Egoboo community. Forever good luck with your future plans and remember you will be forever remembered in the Egoboo community. Farewell, friend.

I am awesome because I am under the "others" section
Image
This signature picture has been cropped to fit the size limit.
User avatar
penguinflyer2222
Queen Penguin (Senior Member)
Queen Penguin (Senior Member)
Posts: 6614
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:51 am

Post by penguinflyer2222 »

You were weird, and funny, and creative, and stuff like that. And you still are.
Of course we all had a good time.. But every developer eventually disappears.
And I always wonder that whenever you leave a community if you stick around and read posts in the thread..
I hope you do. And if you don't, whatever. We'll go somewhere else and tell you you're awesome. XD
And now I am going to fire up EgoMap and make some Mount Cookia while waiting for 2.8.0. :D
And by the way... /me gives :cookie: and :idea:
......
User avatar
woodmouse
Monolich (Senior Member)
Monolich (Senior Member)
Posts: 4586
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:53 pm
Location: Finland
Contact:

Post by woodmouse »

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
:cry: :cry: :cry:
BYE PURPLE!!! AND REMEMBER, YOU LOOK LIKE OBAMA!!! :D

...Okay, that was stupid of me to say. But anyway, you do look like Ob-
...Well. Anyway, I added you on MSN already, and I'm gonna come and say "UOOOOOOORH" at least once a day. :lol:

...Well, not. But well, usually. Sometimes. Or something.

...It's REALLY sad you're leaving...

Oh and btw. You yourself said earlier, that you'll never leave Egoboo or something like that. Two years ago or something like that.

...I hope you'll become just like some others. And after years, you come back. I know you won't, but...
But...
You... You will. YOU WILL. YOU DAMN SURE WILL COME BACK!!!
...okay, if you won't... I guess I'll just have to accept it... :?
And...

And...

DRAG YOU BACK!!! :twisted:

Okay, I won't drag you back.

PurpleSquerkle wrote:To Woodmouse:
Oh, boy... Woodmouse!
You're crazy, but not at all in a bad way. I find your unique style, preferences, and perspective to be really interesting. I'll definitely want to see whatever stuff you produce in the future, whether that's art, music, games, or something else... You're a fun person to talk with; you always bring interesting flavor to conversations. I really hope we get to interact more in the future; I'll be sad if we don't!


HAHAHAHA, if you only knew how true half of that first sentence is... :rofl: (or should I put :cry: ?)
But you're a nice person Purple, and it's sad you leave, but you're a nice person, so it's sad you leave, but still you're a nice person so it's okay how many times I said this already...? Well... :-)
...this is the THIRD TIME IN MY LIFE, that I use ":-)"...Purple is awesome.

...Anyway... Umm...
But... bible school or something!? :o
That's pretty scary. :lol:
Once upon a time, when unicorns roamed the earth...
User avatar
PurpleSquerkle
Massive Gelfeet (Developer)
Massive Gelfeet (Developer)
Posts: 3176
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:54 am
Location: Oakland, CA
Contact:

Post by PurpleSquerkle »

Agent of Dread wrote:Also, he has Steam for others who do. Lamprey Master, thou shalt find him as.

Ah, yes. And I would love to be blown up in Team Fortress 2 some time... So if anybody else has that, you should add me.

ShellShocker wrote:I am awesome because I am under the "others" section

Honestly, I didn't even know you were around anymore... You keep leaving and then coming back and then leaving again... It's hard to keep track of, especially when I'm here either!
Don't worry, I'll miss you too. :) :P

woodmouse wrote: But... bible school or something!? :o
That's pretty scary. :lol:

Does it really sound that scary? It's actually a very nice place. The people here are really cool. Some of them believe some pretty weird stuff that doesn't make sense to me. (e.g.: Rock music was invented by Satan. Or... something...) Most of them are very nice, though, and I respect them even when I don't agree with them.


Well, anyway.
Thanks for the kind words everybody!
User avatar
penguinflyer2222
Queen Penguin (Senior Member)
Queen Penguin (Senior Member)
Posts: 6614
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:51 am

Post by penguinflyer2222 »

PurpleSquerkle wrote:(e.g.: Rock music was invented by Satan. Or... something...)

O.o
Anyway...
......
Cimeries
Lumberjack (Developer)
Lumberjack (Developer)
Posts: 7720
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:56 am

Post by Cimeries »

PurpleSquerkle wrote:e.g.: Rock music was invented by Satan.

Rock music is the indirect work of god. He made Satan after all. ^^
:wink:
Post Reply