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Actually, that is how the industry works, and what a programmer, artist, or musician would expect. It doesn't matter if the product floats or sinks, you pay the devs while you are developing. That's why games have budgets. Granted, there are some exceptions to this (think of the Indie part of the industry -- however, keep in mind that's a whole different beast), but you don't see EA or any major company telling their employees: "Oh, we'll see if you'll get a paycheck four years from now after you've sunk countless hundreds of hours into a project that might never take off."

thanks for the condescension lmao, now I really regret ever trusting you guys. you guys made ninjabread man. you've spent the last ten years making awful Wii shovelware, and now that's all your company is known for. do you really still not know what that word means? and I never once said anything about copying, I just used that as an example because it's the only game I know of that demonstrates my point, as it's similar to the large-tile layout of Rock Raiders (as opposed to the small blocks used in Minecraft) while having depth to the world like I was suggesting, allowing for water depth and physics, multi-layer cavers with huge mushrooms and flying creatures, etc. it was essentially the same sort of stuff Polaris or whoever said in one of your topics, just with an example of how that would work, with a game that makes it work well. ok ignoring the fact that I said "something like a 3D [version of]", only developers with a hard-on for the Nintendo 64 will tell you that. have you really not seen how many 2D games there are out there, both in layout and in graphical style? like, you know, the game I was using as an example, which you know a little about despite apparently being a step backwards that no one wants? have you seen how successful and popular some of them have been? just because most of the biggest video game companies keep pushing for more realistic graphics for their AAA console games, doesn't mean there isn't a market for other styles. but that's all irrelevant because that's not what I said. this is honestly the first I've heard of this. maybe if you guys didn't fall off the face of the earth... obviously not most of the people here are (or were when this stuff started out) in their teens and early twenties and have little or no experience. some people here have some good skill in those areas, a few looking for jobs there, but for the most part we're hobbyists and fans, or just starting out. because I have no faith in your company. the post I made directly above Xiron's post above yours should show why. I programmed hello world and super-basic choose your own adventure stuff back in high school. that is the extent of my knowledge of programming. I have a little experience modelling and drawing but I've become really rusty with both, and it was always pretty crap anyway. I don't have anything to offer you right now. come back in ten years and i might be more skilled in one of those things, but right now I'm basically a little above zero. and now you're starting to sound like a post from clients from hell, so I guess there's nothing else I can say. your company is the laughing stock of the game industry and you haven't done anything here to show that this will be different.

Gonna say this as straightforwardly as possible: This entire reply is bad. Throughout the entirety of this post are examples of you trying to claim to be a superior human being because you did some games once (some of which are, simply put, shovelware), and all this comes across as is trying to big yourself up. At one point you complain about the lack of people on here contributing to this project when, y'know, you (and this game) LITERALLY fell off the face of the earth for an entire year. What did you expect us to do, keep working on a seemingly dead project in the hope that you'll suddenly reappear with a finished project? Also, how are you actually gonna be recompensing the people on here who do end up contributing to this project? Because if you're planning to sell this game as a commercial project without paying the people who put work into it on here fairly, then boy you're in for a world of pain. I'm not telling you to pay them now (that'd be a dumb idea, especially since we have no idea whether this thing will be a finished project one day), but if you've got it into your mind somehow that the members of RRU and the internet in general will work for you for nothing, think again. So yeah, I'm pretty much 90% sure that this project is just another piece of shovelware that's only RR-related to try and cash in on the name in the vain hope that we'll blindly buy anything with Rock Raiders slapped on it. Yes this post is really harsh, but please at least try and take all of this in.

Hello Rock Raiders United! I was so happy to discover that the loading times were fixed, so I whipped up a program to easily apply these patches. I just love seeing old games get fixed like this. Download, instructions, and source are found here: https://github.com/JeffRuLz/LEGO-Island-2-Patcher

imagination

I think the best thing to do at this point would be to post a rundown of where the project is these days. Given how many and how quickly ideas were being discussed, and then the silence, it's a bit unclear what the project is currently envisioned to be - and given the website went offline and Facebook went inactive, most people assumed it had been abandoned entirely. I think people will be able to give more helpful reactions if they know more about what we're talking about.

make rock raiders great again

yes

Looks like things went a little bit off the rails here. Throwing insults, regardless of direction is not going to accomplish anything here other than continuing to sour the waters. I will be direct on my feelings towards some of the mistakes that were made, they are not meant to offend. I will also state ways you could solve these issues in my opinion. - The association of Minecraft. People considered LRR unique, mentioning Minecraft threatens LRR’s uniqueness and the community did not want that. It was also spoken about in a time when many Minecraft clones were appearing. Yes, DDI changed directions on that, which was great, but some did not realise this had changed and the name “Block Raiders” still mentioned in areas didn’t help that. Solution: Remove any mentions of “Minecraft” or “Block Raiders”. Change promo resources to reflect this also. If LRR2 is inspired from anything, it should be inspired from the original game. - Big changes to mechanics. People loved the original LRR, the majority of people don’t want major changes to game mechanics, rather they want expansion, enhancements, refinements etc… The idea of vertical mining is an example of expansion that the community wants. And most of all, the modding. If someone wants to change certain mechanics that defined LRR, it would be on their own terms. Solution: Show the community the idea list and revise it if needed and put it somewhere where people can refer to it easily. - Lack of consistent, informative PR. Most people thought the project was dead, and again more people thought it was still going to be a Minecraft clone (as above). The lack of consistent regular communication, whether it’s just a drop in every fortnight or something to say “hi” and say what you’ve been up to, or weekly updates etc.. A lot of professional indie developers keep their communities in the loop, this is what this community wanted. Companies generally appoint someone to do this for them, so everyone else can focus on the game. Solution: This is pretty easy, keep everyone up to date. If there’s no updates, still engage the community to let them know the project didn’t die. - Visual Impressions. This is a HUGE factor as to whether people will suddenly have a good impression or bad impression. If you give them a bad impression, that impression has a greater chance of getting worse very rapidly. People’s impressions of the LRR2 website were very poor, it was half themed, it loaded slowly, there wasn’t barely any “new” content (other than the concept art)… just to mention a few of the many issues. (btw it’s also offline now). I offered my services to re-design it, but you weren’t interested at the time. Then there is the promotional content and the reusing of old resources mixed with minecraft stuff which didn’t help people’s opinions that a quality game was going to be made. Solution: Get all PR material re-designed professionally. - Facebook. I’m just adding this one here because well…. it’s a bit of a given. Facebook is a bad platform for proper discussions between fans and developers. If you want to do promotion, sure, Facebook might be perfect. If you want to talk about the game itself with fans, you need a platform for that, this is why most game developers employ Forums. Another thing about Facebook is that, a lot of the fans on RRU, do not use Facebook and won’t sign up to it. Solution: Keep your main communication platform where it’s already established, or find a proper platform designed for this style communication. --- And like Cirevam also mentioned above, this community likes specifications and other hard details.

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while. My apologies. A lot has changed. Graphics overhaul, steamworks support, over the last few months I ported the game to C++, and just a few hours ago we launched a new beta branch. Check out the game again: http://steamcommunity.com/games/371970/announcements/detail/799768937967092167 Also, the game is 66% off due to the steam summer sale, get it for $3.39!

cool, you could've posted that in your own topic and linked to this one and only posted here you were actually done with the mod or at least had something to show, instead of bringing this back after two years with nothing interesting to say.

tomfyhrToday 4:14 PM @Ringtail So you are discriminating persons with autrism? They are the people who take things with total literal sense. Just to clarify, I do not have autruism. WOW edit: noghiriToday 4:20 PM As someone with both autism and altruism, what on this sweet blue-green treeball is going on in this chat? tomfyhrToday 4:22 PM Bingo. A person with autism on the forum who has witnessed this chatroom. By stating that all persons who are taking things with literal sense are bots, you are essentially degrading persons such as noghiri, which is a form of harassment. Therefore, you have just broken one of the rules, which states you cannot hurt someone else. TerrevToday 4:22 PM wAT

i haven't looked at DDI's site in a long time and i completely forgot what an abomination it was. i was played like a fool. why would anyone ever trust someone with a site like this. i've seen grandma sites less disturbing and s***ty-looking. what idiots we were to have ever had hope for this. even now, the evil seed of what you have done germinates within you...

Today I accepted a co-op internship with Entre Computer Services as a Co-op developer working on a variety of apps and projects. The co-op serves as part of my graduation requirement. With 6 months of co-op experience programming or developing games, I can finally graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Game Design. Also it gives me money. Money is nice. I start on the 6th of July. Also the place has tons of apartments which are like a kilometer away or closer. Yay.

There is no update, I responded today because I suddenly got 4 RRU posts in my email, I was hoping there was a resurgence of interest. No-one has been working on RRU, I did get two old RR programmers signed up but three other members we wanted were not available at the time. As a company we have been developing a financial services site for the last 18 months (not nearly as much fun- but it pays well). This is due for completion by August when we need to decide what project to do next.

Speaking of getting back on topic, what's the state of the project? Any new developments, news? We haven't heard anything in a good while.

I actually want to see a (at the very least, spiritual) sequel to Rock Raiders succeed. I believe I contacted you some while ago about more details on the programming aspect -- and I did get a response. Do know I am still interested in contributing to this endeavor. However, my situation remains the same: I am a full time student and I presently work at an Indie game studio. Right now, I don't know how I'd work out my schedule to be able to contribute to this project. Regardless, I'm still interested in this project: if I'm at all able to, I'd love to get in on it. I might not have been too outspoken about it up until this point in time, because I don't want to make any promises and then have to break them due to my present time constraints. At any rate, please keep us posted. I thought this project had been scrapped due to the recent lack of updates.

Then you are confusing me with someone else because I don't have any job remotely like that. edit: also I think everyone would still like to know what the hell happened over the last year.

Well, by "later" I mean "when this project has an actual budget and isn't just some bloke from DDI stating he wants a game made", because at the moment that's exactly what this is.

Very wow. Much reverse engineer.

Hello RC-3197. And welcome to RRU. Remember always to hide the energy crystals before the Rock Monsters kill us!

I'm not a big reverser, so I don't really have much of a hello to give you. Although I do have a waffle, so have that instead!

yes Yes. I am looking for a serious and well-constructed mining game with well-constructed and in-depth mechanics. In 1999, I was a child. Now I am no longer, and the child-orientated games that entertained me then do not hold the same grasp on me now. I'm not saying I don't still boot up LRR occasionally -- it will always have a special spot in my game collection, but you won't see it sitting anywhere near the top of my Steam play list.

... k. I think I'm just gonna ignore most of the details of that post and simply ask - has anything happened in the year+ we haven't heard anything? The Facebook page has been inactive, the website went offline entirely, etc.

[9:09:20 AM] Hugh Wotmeigh: Why can't Tt combine games and fun for wider appeal?

Tinnitus in my right ear, either because of a buildup of earwax or hearing damage (I need to have a doctor actually get rid of the deep stuff).

I think that the Rock Raiders community as a whole is definitely behind the idea, Mr. Stewart. It's just that there are quite a few conflicting ideas about how the game should be. There are a lot of subjective attributes, but also a lot of objective ones. It does seem that the fan base is not able to "make the game themselves". As a general rule, the members who have time don't have the talent, and the members who have talent don't have the time. You could count the number of people who have both talent and time on one hand, I'd say. Because of this, it would seem to me that the only way to get this project off the ground is to have a dedicated studio/game developer (someone like you, Mr. Stewart) with drive, dedication, and talent, do it themselves. Frequent progress updates would galvanize the community to give ideas and concepts of their own accord - but only if they can count on the game getting done. I totally agree with Polaris' point: "...just narrow the focus a wee bit and take McJobless' suggestion of not making this game for popularity." Oh. I guess it's McJobless' point too. The game appeals to a very, very niche group who, if the game lives up to the original, will love it to death. It just may not make a lot of money. Which again brings it back to you, Mr. Stewart. We can't, in all fairness, ask you (for our own sakes) to take on a project that will: 1. Take a good deal of time and serious commitment. 2. In all likelihood have a small financial return. Game making is your job. Everyone has the right to take on jobs that provide them with financial security and reasonable chances of popular success. You can't exactly say that about a Rock Raiders 2. Nobody wants to see you ruin your job just to try and make us a game. It's all, totally and absolutely, up to you. Thanks for all you've done.

Greetings from Texas. My (former) neighbors butchered a goat in their back yard. There is a donut shop on every corner. The local barber shop is filled with taxidermied animals, and the barbers have far more hair on their chins than they do their scalps. There are fire ants everywhere outside. Have you remembered the Alamo today?