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Mercenaries: On Hold No Longer!

Started by LastingDawn, February 16, 2010, 02:54:11 am

LastingDawn

I apologize to everyone who helped me in my naive undertaking, but I am afraid life has swallowed me whole. I should have been aware of my folly well before I had begun. (I have a knack for only half finished projects that fool the people into thinking that they're accomplishing anything...) I have too many people to thank that I could spend all night listing them, so I can't exactly do it and I assure you all this is not how I had wanted things to go. In the end though, I fear this is the only way for things to play out.

This post will probably be seen as highly melodramatic and I apologize for that. This was a project I kept close to my heart for a good two years. I had created (along with much help from Eternal and Asmo) a truly Incredible story, and thanks to much of your input truly creative classes and abilities. With a battle system that is 85% refined, it is still playable in a few parts, and of course the possibility of new scenarios that people wish to make from this nearly complete battle system (battle system = items, classes, abilities, of course).

I will be releasing all of my notes, aside from the story (by request of the co-script writer, Eternal), along with the patch, so people can see what I had accomplished (Which really wasn't a lot). I cannot apologize enough for stringing you all along with a project that probably reached its peak in the fall of last year. If anyone Truly wishes to continue this project (no chance...) I will only hand over the story when I see that you would be serious of taking on this job. That includes events, (likely sidequests shown in the sidequest thread) and actual testing of the battle system in place.

A lot of things made me make this decision, but first and foremost is my lack of time, secondary is the talent being wasted here. Everyone who has helped me here has some of the best talents on the forum and it is a shame that they were so squandered by my inability to lead. As such I ask that everyone who had assisted with Mercenaries,  Please support Call of Power. Kokojo has done Incredible work, dwarfing anything I had done, by at least two to threefold, if not more.

Because this project was the "First" real large project it attracted quite a following, but left other, more than worthy projects, out in the cold. Remix, Call of Power, and Symbols of Rage all come to mind. Your talents helped this foolish undertaking shine brighter than I ever could have imagined, allow those talents to burn for a project that has purpose and devotion behind it. I was nothing more then a mediocre event editor (what should have taken minutes took me hours to figure out and apply) and less of a hacker then I displayed myself. Sure my grandstanding and impressive (for the time) displays may have attracted others, but it really alienated other, more talented project leaders.

So without further ado, the current form of Mercenaries (note it's still playing from a "Training Demo" standpoint, so you will need a save file past the start, or extract the events from the original demo and input them in here. Even then, it may be unstable. Keep in mind the game was meant to be only two fully customizable units, please take that into consideration if you should choose to create any scenarios.

I might come back to this, who knows what freedom summer brings? For that reason, that last slight sliver of hope, I will not be releasing the story for that reason (unless as listed above someone wishes to be a true successor to this, honestly mediocre project). Once again I fully suggest everyone check out Kokojo's Call of Power, it has made leaps and bounds far beyond Mercenaries.

Here you are, the two packs you'll need for everything Mercenaries.

(Remember to Patch you must have an extended ISO or there will be problems)

http://ld.ffhacktics.com/Mercenaries.zip
http://ld.ffhacktics.com/Mercenaries2.zip

Don't get me wrong, I won't be quitting this forum (though I've been on it a lot less due to school and other issues) I just don't have the time to care for this little pet project.

Also I must deeply most apologize to Mav, you had done such brilliant work for this project and only hope you continue using your grand talents for Kokojo's own work.


EDIT

I've grown accustomed to the ways of college life, therefore I can now work on this project again, while balancing my time to do so.
"Moment's anger can revert to joy,
sadness can be turned to delight.
A nation destroyed cannot be restored,
the dead brought back to life."

Art of War

Beta & Gretchen Forever!!!!

Eternal

The moment you need me to make Rondel say something snarky, I'm there!
  • Modding version: PSX & WotL
"You, no less human than we? Ha! Now there's a beastly thought. You've been less than we from the moment your baseborn father fell upon your mother in whatever gutter saw you sired! You've been chattel since you came into the world drenched in common blood!"
  • Discord username: eternal248#1817

Cheetah

Well...I'm glad you aren't leaving the forum at least LD. I think you would do well to think about recruiting people who want to keep this going and redefine the scope of the project a bit so that it could be released in some kind of polished form. This project is much beloved by many and I think work will continue to be done on different pieces by devoted people even if the next step in its release is a bit unknown.

Hacking is hard work, given the amount of invested time it takes along with balancing with real life. It seems the more we learn, the older we get, and the freaking less time we have to actually work on this stuff. These types of projects are rarely finished and takes years upon years of really dedicated teams. Mercenaries has hit a hiccup, but don't count it out yet. Most importantly, the forum needs Lasting Dawn more than it needs Mercenaries, so don't go disappearing just because your main project is on hiatus.

Best of luck.
Current Projects:

jimmyjw88

Well, it is sad to hear that this will be on hold but it is certainly glad and happy to hear that you're not leaving nor quiting the forum and this project.
Anyway, I will continue contributing sprites as its the only thing I could do (sorry) and await your return, Sir LD.

Best of luck in your life and may you be able to sort things out.
Kindly upload the images to other image hosting sites. I can't view imageshack. Thanks.

Kaijyuu

Life comes first. We understand.
  • Modding version: PSX

Dome


"Be wise today so you don't cry tomorrow"

Kagebunji

Oh, that's so sad. But I understand that you have life, as all of us :)
  • Modding version: Other/Unknown

Archael

IRL is more important because without IRL FFH is not possible

I'm sure you will find the time to come back into it during the summer..

Kokojo

Well, see you LD. Hope you'll come back anyway a lot of times (And eventually finish :3)

Good luck and ect !

Quote from: "LastingDawn"I was nothing more then a mediocre event editor (what should have taken minutes took me hours to figure out and apply)


Pssh, event Editing takes ages for anyone and you know it :P
I keep leaving, I keep coming back. Boomerang boy.

mav

Oi. It's tough to hear that the project's suspended indefinitely, but I understand where you're coming from,. These projects take quite a while, even with the most dedicated team; I'm just glad we all got an opportunity to refine our skills while working on this project.

Lastly, I'm glad someone got to see some of my work and hear some of my ideas, but you don't need to apologize to me (or anyone else), LD--we asked you for so much and you handled all of us graciously. And for that, I thank you. Best of luck to ya.

SilvasRuin

QuoteIf anyone Truly wishes to continue this project (no chance...) I will only hand over the story when I see that you would be serious of taking on this job.
I'm quite certain you are mistaken.  SOMEBODY has got to want this completed in the pure form you were aiming for.  Hell, I'd want to do it if I knew what I was doing.  (But I don't know what I'm doing, so moot point.)  I think you're underestimating how much people love this patch, even if it is still unfinished.

QuoteI might come back to this, who knows what freedom summer brings? For that reason, that last slight sliver of hope, I will not be releasing the story for that reason (unless as listed above someone wishes to be a true successor to this, honestly mediocre project).
Replied before I got to the end.  What I have to say to this one is wait until summer regardless and see if you have time.  If you do not have time even then... THEN consider handing it over.  It is much more likely to stay true to your vision if it is you leading it, no matter how much someone else want's your vision to come fully to life.

Kagebunji

Hey, Silvas is right, try waiting to summer and then hand it over eventually.
  • Modding version: Other/Unknown

Smitson

Tis a shame, but real life does indeed take priority. Still loved what I seen from it LD. This also shows that its very hard for one person to do a patch on there own( LD, Zozma, SB) because if its one more person obviously there going to have real life struggles and delays. I think it's almost necessary that at least 3 people combined wits to work on a patch(very impressed that Kokojo has managed so well thus far). Anyways, it's good that your still sticking around LD as not many people bring to the forum what you do.

Bloodthirster0

I cant describe the sadness Im feeling,although I understand his point,since real life always come before internet stuff,its was a wise decision to post this,but you were very harsh with yourself.

but always remenber,talent is never wasted,even if mercenaries never come back,everything done for it can be used for something else
Need something useful to write here

Sephirot24

Well, that's a pity =/ But don't worry LD, real life always goes 1st.

Take your time, for now forget about Mercenaries. When summer comes, if you still haven't found the time to work on this, you can pass it on.. or if someone really really wants to take care of it now. Working alone on these big projects, that involve almost complete rehauls of the game, story, sprites, mechanics and all that is obvious work for a team, and not for a single person. Maybe if you find time on summer you can have some help with those events?

Also, as always you're too harsh with yourself v.v

Anyways, is good to finally hear from you again and also that you're not leaving the boards.

MiKeMiTchi

February 21, 2010, 07:54:37 am #15 Last Edit: February 22, 2010, 05:36:08 pm by MiKeMiTchi
To be honest, I'm very dissapointed.
You shouldn't have told us about this, Sir LD.
Jot5 GFX Designer :: Spriter :: Mitchi

SilvasRuin

He is under the impression Mercenaries will never be finished and thinks much more progress could have been made on another patch instead, therefore the talent was being wasted.

And priorities generally prioritize food to eat, a roof over one's head, a vehicle, and then whatever bills are required for those, and the well-being of family.  If those are somehow threatened, there's not much you can do about other things being neglected.

I think what you truly have a problem with is LD's defeatist attitude.  I do too, but what he needs right now is encouragement, not berating, and as I said, if his job, education, or family is somehow in crisis, all he can do is deal with said crisis.  We'll just have to wait it out or eventually continue on without him.

warrioroflight

I've been watching this patch as it slowly developed. I feel that we have to keep the momentum going or else production will come to a complete halt and everyone will unfortunately forget. We need to find or elect someone or a group of people to run, organize, and assign jops to people so this patch can be finished soon. LD always appeared to be a "father figure" to this forum and this project, so of course we can not replace him. We can, however, try our best to continue to work in his absence so that if and when he does make his miraculous reappearance, a wonderfully developed patch is here waiting for him.

ffta707

Lasting dawn, I've gotta say, the authority and leadership it took to run this project was incredible, and I still look up to you. Don't beat yourself up first of all. I can't even count the many times you've helped me with event editing in the past three months. My point is, and was already mentioned, is that no talent is wasted, talent is passed on to the next person. To be honest, the reason I discovered this hole sight was because I saw a video on mercenaries on youtube. I think that this project should be continued, and that someone responsible takes over, in respect to you.

TRC

While I am sad to hear about this...such is life. :(