46 replies to this topic

[Deviance]

http://www.armageddo...ead.php?t=95898

Jman is leaving the Dev Team

[MarioBrosCom]

That's too bad... but it's bound to happen from time to time... I can't imagine being a developer for something like ZeldaClassic as being a something that can support a person... Maybe I'm wrong, though... At any rate, he and his contributions will be missed, but hopefully, someone will come along to take his place.

[Rocksfan13]

I hate to see him go, but I have seen this lingering since 2005. He had announced he was planning on a break, but came back.

Farewell jman2050. You will be sorely missed in the ZC community.

[CastChaos]

Not good, really not good... But he knows what he needs to do...
I imagine what time it will be until the next stable ZC... but... Jman is more important...

[DarkFlameWolf]

Well my response to Jman personally was made at the AGN post, but this post if for those awaiting LI. This news puts a significantly blow to the project and Petoe and I are considering cancellation of it completely. We simply don't know if there will ever be a stable ZC enough to play LI without enabling cheats just to complete it! That's ridiculous. Hopefully Koopa and Dark Nation will come through for us in the end, because I have little faith in the rest of the devs.

[Peteo]

Well my response to Jman personally was made at the AGN post, but this post if for those awaiting LI. This news puts a significantly blow to the project and Petoe and I are considering cancellation of it completely. We simply don't know if there will ever be a stable ZC enough to play LI without enabling cheats just to complete it! That's ridiculous. Hopefully Koopa and Dark Nation will come through for us in the end, because I have little faith in the rest of the devs.

Yes, I can confirm this and say I agree with her.

With jman leaving, all the hope for a stable ZC vanished in the air. I just pray koopa and DN won't give up and they can get ZC to work at least fluently enough so that it is possible to play and enjoy quests made and saved with the new betas.
But what jman did... what a horrible thing to do... talking to me on AIM, convincing that ALL the developers are working hard for a stable ZC, giving me hope and litting my ZC fire again. And then just like that "sorry, i just don't care about ZC anymore, bye". Yeaargh!

Right now I just don't know what to do. Me and DFW have worked our asses off for Lost Isle over a year now, and we were stupid enough to convert the quest to the new betas. Now that there isn't a stable ZC in sight, I have hard time finding the power to work on the quest anymore. Though it gives me some hope that the latest beta is very LI friendly and with only few bugfixes it could be a perfect LI player...

[ShadowTiger]

Oh, he cares. He cares a lot. He just can't handle so many people complaining about ZC all the time. It's just really hard for him to do all of this at once. He's got a life too, as do you all. Can't forget about that, right?

I'm sure people wouldn't be very happy if I busted out the old "You get what you pay for" reference, but people are already unhappy enough. It can wait.

[CastChaos]

Well my response to Jman personally was made at the AGN post, but this post if for those awaiting LI. This news puts a significantly blow to the project and Petoe and I are considering cancellation of it completely. We simply don't know if there will ever be a stable ZC enough to play LI without enabling cheats just to complete it! That's ridiculous. Hopefully Koopa and Dark Nation will come through for us in the end, because I have little faith in the rest of the devs.

No! No! No! No! No!
You misunderstand things! The fact that there won't be a stable version for at least months doesn't mean that you need to stop Lost Isle! Just put it down, save everything and backup more times and wait for the stable release even if it will be in 5 years!
When you (DFW and Peteo) spoke about LI and showed screenshots I felt that it will be thousand times better than HoD or MMDWRDC (and thousand times hard...). Cancelling it would make me feel like Phantom Menace would say that there won't be any more ZC versions or such...
You don't understand... The leave of Jman is a sign... First he leaves then LI is cancelled, then what? It would continue with even more scary things and the last happening would be the shut down of ZC... Just stop the circle! We can't undo Jmans leave, but LI could be saved!
However, the choice is yours. Just make sure that if you cancel LI you start something which doesn't require the next stable version. A wonder 2.10 quest or a very good b13 (I think it's the most stable beta) quest.
My desperate outbreak brought to you by: My Sudden Emotions|tm|

[/M/]

Well if LI gets canceled, then let it be. You guys are making the news worst by posting that here. -.-


Anyways, it had to happen. I just wish he could have added Z3 scrolling and a stable release before this. But hey, we don't always get what we want... I just hope _L_ Can fix these problems. He seems like a good DEV.

[Deathbringer]

No! No! No! No! No!
You misunderstand things! The fact that there won't be a stable version for at least months doesn't mean that you need to stop Lost Isle! Just put it down, save everything and backup more times and wait for the stable release even if it will be in 5 years!
When you (DFW and Peteo) spoke about LI and showed screenshots I felt that it will be thousand times better than HoD or MMDWRDC (and thousand times hard...). Cancelling it would make me feel like Phantom Menace would say that there won't be any more ZC versions or such...
You don't understand... The leave of Jman is a sign... First he leaves then LI is cancelled, then what? It would continue with even more scary things and the last happening would be the shut down of ZC... Just stop the circle! We can't undo Jmans leave, but LI could be saved!
However, the choice is yours. Just make sure that if you cancel LI you start something which doesn't require the next stable version. A wonder 2.10 quest or a very good b13 (I think it's the most stable beta) quest.
My desperate outbreak brought to you by: My Sudden Emotions|tm|

Wrong. Jman was one of the better developers who are Koapa and DN and Jman who is now gone. I don't call _L_ a good developer when all of his concentrations are one adding ten thousand more features to an already bugged up program. Infact, ever since he came along, he added tons of bugs to the project that was supposed to be bug free. He responds by adding smaller features instead having bug fixing on his lowest task.

[Dr. Mutagen]

Huh. I wonder why I'm getting this weird sense of deja vu........

Seriously though, it's sad to see him go, but you have to realize that it's particularly easy to crack under the pressure when you're put in a position of such high responsibility at such a young age (I think he's a few years younger than me. Correct me if I'm wrong).

Also, I would like to say that we shouldn't assume that _L_ will destroy ZC with an unnecessary amount of new features now that jman is gone. I've played around with some of these new features that he put into 16c (String editor, etc...) and they work remarkably well. Heck, I'm surprised that ZC is as stable as it is with all the new features being thrown in. I still believe that we'll get a stable 2.5 in due time.

EDIT: I know I'll be kicking myself for this, but I could care less if Z3 scrolling was implemented or not. This is a Z1 clone after all.

Edited by Dr. Mutagen, 19 January 2007 - 06:23 PM.

[Peteo]

Well now that the most shocking moment is past, it is nice to notice that jman is looking for a replacement(s) to take his spot in the dev. team. We all can only hope he finds someone skillful enough and someone who's number 1 priority is stability and unbuggyness.

But it would be nice to see all of the remaining developers to say something about their statuses. koopa and DN hardly ever post, but I hope that doesn't mean that they're not that involved with ZC developement anymore.


And CastChaos, what comes to LI, the quest will only get released if there's a stable ZC player to play it on. But no one said anything about cancellation. Losing jman is bad enough for the moment. Right now things seem bad for ZC, but Lost Isle is almost finished and the quest is looking so good that I am determined to get it finished and released, no matter what. I'm sure no one wants to see it cancelled, especially not jman.


EDIT - Yeah Mutagen, the hell with Z3 scrolling and the people who whine for it. ZC 2.5 has enough problems currently, no need for new features for a while. I am getting the feeling that _L_ is finally understanding this so I think there's hope for a stable ZC. he has definitely shown signs of improvement which is relieving. I'd love to respect _L_, and I will if he really has gotten past the "gotta add more" mood.

[Nathaniel]

While jman's departure may seem like a big surprise, for those thinking of canelling their work, whether it be Lost Isle or anything else, my suggestion is to simply take a break for a few days or a week. Give yourselves time to think things over. Put the project on hold if you must, but don't permanently throw it away.

You can't expect somebody to continue being in the development loop forever. I can understand the emotional aspects of such a decision, especially if it has been on your mind for months. You ask yourself, "Should I say something now?", or "Will these thoughts eventually boil over?". Quitting something you have done for a long time can be a very difficult decision to make. In one way you are thinking, "This is no longer interesting me anymore, so I should quit.", and another side of you thinks, "But quitting means that I might be putting a lot of people down." Not easy at all. So for those who are disappointed in jman, try to put yourselves in his shoes.

Hopefully jman will come up with a good replacement, but considering all the hard work that he has done, he should perhaps come up with more than one person to replace him. Somebody who obviously has very good programming skills, is mature, not too emotional, and is good at handling feedback. That is a lot to ask for, but it is necessary.

Let us also not lose hope in the other developers, and be careful not to give them the impression that we think they are incompetent or worthless, as such reactions may make them even less enthusiastic about releasing a stable 2.5. You have to put faith in people, and sometimes the loss of one can trigger some momentum for others. Let us hope that to be the case.

While this has created a very difficult situation for the time being, you have to put your faith in people. Without faith, there will definitely not be any hope. The more we respect the development team as a whole, the more they will want to do us their continuing favors.

[Linkus]

Oh man.... I guess good things must come to an end. But I can understand, I've been in that position before. But...

And perhaps, if things turn out the right way, I'll return to finish what I came on here to do... actively develop ZC to the point of stability.

Let's not have our hopes entirely down. There's a small chance jman will come back, but if he doesn't, I understand. We all have to move on sometimes.

[Bayta]

Well, for you guys like Peteo and DFW, why be so negative? Yeah, we lost a really good developer, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any other developers too. You guys can think what you want, but I have total faith in the other developers. The loss of Jman is a big loss, but it doesn't spell out the death of ZC... Not by a longshot.