Hey all, this is Falconpunch. Today I've got a serious announcement regarding the project.
It has been a little over 10 years since the start of the project. We had a lot of ideas and ambition going into this project, and I was around to see it grow especially since I was a kid.
Now, to cut all of the bullshit and get right to the point... We have a problem. All that ambition seems to have gotten us in a bit of trouble.
As it stands, aside from a missing couple of bosses (Madame Mau, Hindenbird, and the two final bosses to be exact), some levels (which I claimed but lost the motivation to work on temporarily) and music reworks (like Tapeworm's desert theme revisions) and a whole bunch bug fixes, the core part of game is done. But you knew that already, didn't you? I mean, we've been saying that for years now.
Unfortunately, that's exactly the problem. As the years go on, the hack itself get more and more "outdated" by today's standards. Everyone wants to come in and update these new-fangled graphics, and redo this level, update this music, and so on. The problem with this is with the work that has been done and the work that was supposed to be done, are kinda counteracting each other. We are stuck in this infinite loop where stuff is getting done, but also not getting done. People come in, want to help out, then disappear and now we are further behind than we were before.
The biggest disappearance of all however, was Blind Devil's resignation from the project. He was doing great, and despite his depression and his rough life, he still wanted to make the dream of the new and improved SMWCP2 a reality after seeing how much of a mess it was back then. Unfortunately, his departure from SMWCentral and the head project manager was the biggest blow of all to the project and any hope it has for its new, polished features we promised.
10 years for a hack to be in limbo like this is ridiculous and embarrassing for the site. Thankfully, the project isn't doomed to failure like SMWC Island is, what with Raidenthequick leaving the site/project and deleting the branch on GitHub, but we won't be able to add all of the features we had hoped to add in the finished project, as I've said.
After a good and long discussion in our Discord channel, we've all had enough. From this point on, we'll be making the following changes to our goals (and the to-do list) for the project:
1: We are no longer accepting any "new" ideas to be included in this hack. We are no longer creating new music, levels or Graphics unless it is game-breaking as it is. If it is too broken, it is getting replaced with something else or being completely removed. We won't have to 100% complete the level and its aesthetics or music, as long as it works and is suitable enough to work, or if people actively wish to revise it.
2: Most of the ASM-related stuff will have to be cut. Other than some of the beginning stuff that is already inserted like the intro, cutscenes are being cut out. But not to worry, we will keep the script of these cutscenes available when you download the hack file, kept in a Rich Text Document file. Any bosses still in the planning phase or that take too long to come out (yes that means the Dreamer) are not happening. The only one we are now focusing on is the final boss, and I believe we have an upcoming plan for that. And of course, the Hub and its new features won't be happening either. We hate that we have to do this, but we can't keep promising these new features if nobody is willing to deliver on them.
3: The Todo list is updated to focus on what needs being done the most. You can check out the new todo list in the thread here.
There has been a lot of people that have had their hands in the project, and we can't just sit by and continue to let all of this hard work fizzle out. Lightvayne has even said it himself that he regrets not taking this action earlier. We hate that we have to resort to cutting out features, graphics, and even levels entirely, but...we're struggling for better solutions.
tl;dr: We will be beta testing this hack to the fullest as a final version and removing anything that is "game breaking" so we can finally release this as a proper and fully playable hack, minus some of the fancy-schmancy stuff that has been holding us back for so long.
If at some point down the line someones wants to implement the missing content and/or change stuff in the future, they can pick it up and work on it on their own (much like SMWCP1.5). But as of now, we just want to get the project out so we can consider it done, and have it stop collecting dust (especially after Blind Devil's departure).
Thank you, and have a nice day.
It has been a little over 10 years since the start of the project. We had a lot of ideas and ambition going into this project, and I was around to see it grow especially since I was a kid.
Now, to cut all of the bullshit and get right to the point... We have a problem. All that ambition seems to have gotten us in a bit of trouble.
As it stands, aside from a missing couple of bosses (Madame Mau, Hindenbird, and the two final bosses to be exact), some levels (which I claimed but lost the motivation to work on temporarily) and music reworks (like Tapeworm's desert theme revisions) and a whole bunch bug fixes, the core part of game is done. But you knew that already, didn't you? I mean, we've been saying that for years now.
Unfortunately, that's exactly the problem. As the years go on, the hack itself get more and more "outdated" by today's standards. Everyone wants to come in and update these new-fangled graphics, and redo this level, update this music, and so on. The problem with this is with the work that has been done and the work that was supposed to be done, are kinda counteracting each other. We are stuck in this infinite loop where stuff is getting done, but also not getting done. People come in, want to help out, then disappear and now we are further behind than we were before.
The biggest disappearance of all however, was Blind Devil's resignation from the project. He was doing great, and despite his depression and his rough life, he still wanted to make the dream of the new and improved SMWCP2 a reality after seeing how much of a mess it was back then. Unfortunately, his departure from SMWCentral and the head project manager was the biggest blow of all to the project and any hope it has for its new, polished features we promised.
10 years for a hack to be in limbo like this is ridiculous and embarrassing for the site. Thankfully, the project isn't doomed to failure like SMWC Island is, what with Raidenthequick leaving the site/project and deleting the branch on GitHub, but we won't be able to add all of the features we had hoped to add in the finished project, as I've said.
After a good and long discussion in our Discord channel, we've all had enough. From this point on, we'll be making the following changes to our goals (and the to-do list) for the project:
1: We are no longer accepting any "new" ideas to be included in this hack. We are no longer creating new music, levels or Graphics unless it is game-breaking as it is. If it is too broken, it is getting replaced with something else or being completely removed. We won't have to 100% complete the level and its aesthetics or music, as long as it works and is suitable enough to work, or if people actively wish to revise it.
2: Most of the ASM-related stuff will have to be cut. Other than some of the beginning stuff that is already inserted like the intro, cutscenes are being cut out. But not to worry, we will keep the script of these cutscenes available when you download the hack file, kept in a Rich Text Document file. Any bosses still in the planning phase or that take too long to come out (yes that means the Dreamer) are not happening. The only one we are now focusing on is the final boss, and I believe we have an upcoming plan for that. And of course, the Hub and its new features won't be happening either. We hate that we have to do this, but we can't keep promising these new features if nobody is willing to deliver on them.
3: The Todo list is updated to focus on what needs being done the most. You can check out the new todo list in the thread here.
There has been a lot of people that have had their hands in the project, and we can't just sit by and continue to let all of this hard work fizzle out. Lightvayne has even said it himself that he regrets not taking this action earlier. We hate that we have to resort to cutting out features, graphics, and even levels entirely, but...we're struggling for better solutions.
tl;dr: We will be beta testing this hack to the fullest as a final version and removing anything that is "game breaking" so we can finally release this as a proper and fully playable hack, minus some of the fancy-schmancy stuff that has been holding us back for so long.
If at some point down the line someones wants to implement the missing content and/or change stuff in the future, they can pick it up and work on it on their own (much like SMWCP1.5). But as of now, we just want to get the project out so we can consider it done, and have it stop collecting dust (especially after Blind Devil's departure).
Thank you, and have a nice day.