gomidog:

fipindustries:

nostalgebraist:

fipindustries:

https://twitter.com/Gomidog/status/656962065203073024

https://twitter.com/Gomidog/status/663056482196398080

https://twitter.com/Gomidog/status/663056670864646144

https://twitter.com/Gomidog/status/663056907121369088

http://jitenshasw.deviantart.com/journal/Shitty-news-and-awesome-news-Here-s-the-scoop-572502372

I’m having some trouble reading behind the lines here – what is this “sad state of affairs”?  I’m picking up “people were laid off” but I’d like to know more.

This is all i know so far. More than half of the development team was laid off in october/november. For Me is bad news because it means hiveswap will likely not be finished. Also because it May cause bad blood between hussie and his Team.

I would like to take a minute to address this post. This is my twitter and my tweets. I think by and large the rant posted here is good advice, or else I wouldn’t have said it, but I would really caution against drawing conclusions about any specific project, or thinking they reflect at all on my experiences at What Pumpkin. These are just things that I thought all those callow youths that long to make their own games would benefit from hearing, common mistakes that someone (my past self included) may run into on the road to bringing a game project to fruition. I’m going to make a separate post condensing these thoughts, and hopefully my grouchy ramblings will prevent those who come after me from falling into the same old traps.

I cannot comment on anything Hiveswap related beyond the fact that at this point in time many of us at the New York office have been laid off due to restructuring. That’s not a secret; it can’t be, not in an age when artists and developers rely so heavily on their social media contacts for news and opportunities. Other devs follow me and I follow other devs–we all work together as friends in the small pool that is the New York independent game development scene. To keep mum when I am hunting for freelance is to possibly deny myself the chance to regain the amazing experience of working with close friends in my chosen field, and to miss the same type of serendipitous connections that made the NY Hiveswap team something special.

This is not to say, however, that any of this reflects on the overall fate of Hiveswap. TF2 took almost a decade to come out, and when it did, its form was so far removed from the initial conception as to be nearly unrecognizable to fans of the original, but it proved to be a highly enjoyable game with an enormous amount of character. The persistently delayed Duke Nukem Forever was a gamer joke for years and years, so long that people were astonished when a booth appeared at PAX with a demo. I feel that at this point, I just need to say Half-Life 3, and video game fans will nod knowingly. Some games take a long time, go through multiple teams, even multiple studios, and still, sometimes, make it to market to the joy of the fans who never stopped hoping. It is not my place to speculate on the future of this project, but believe me when I say that even though it may not be my hand that brings it to completion, you may yet see a Homestuck game.

I will say this: My time at What Pumpkin working as an animator on Hiveswap was one of the most gratifying professional experiences I have ever had. I loved my team, I loved the project, and I loved coming to work every day to create storyboards, cutscenes, and bring those complex and endearing characters to life. Please continue to wait and hold out hope, and I’m hoping that someday, not too long from now, your patience will be rewarded.
-Emi
@gomidog
thiefrabbit.tumblr.com