Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

[CrackTiger]

I don't have time to get into detail, but after a year or two of silence, it's finally come out that Fonzie really is a control freak who pushed Tulio out and has never had any intention of providing the service they sold investors with the magical gems factory. He has told everyone that there will be nothing previewed until Project Y is released and if you don't like tgat, you can apply for a refund.

From what gas slipped out from others who contributed ti the gane, it us currently receiving yet another iverhaul abd now peopke are veginnjng to wonder if it will ever get rekeased.

[GaijinD]

I guess Super Fighter Team was responsible for similar Shenanigans? Inquiring minds want to know! :-)

I'd be sorry to hear that, as aside from his baffling love affair with a terrible fighting game, the guy that runs Super Fighter Team always seemed decent enough to me. Of course, I've never bought anything from him, and I'm sure I haven't talked to him in over a decade.

[Trenton_net]

I guess Super Fighter Team was responsible for similar Shenanigans? Inquiring minds want to know! :-)

I'd be sorry to hear that, as aside from his baffling love affair with a terrible fighting game, the guy that runs Super Fighter Team always seemed decent enough to me. Of course, I've never bought anything from him, and I'm sure I haven't talked to him in over a decade.

I would tend to agree, which is why I am curious to hear what exactly happened. Though I will say, while Super Fighter is a terrible game, 武将争霸 (Aka Sango Fighter) was much better.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I don't have time to get into detail, but after a year or two of silence, it's finally come out that Fonzie really is a control freak who pushed Tulio out and has never had any intention of providing the service they sold investors with the magical gems factory. He has told everyone that there will be nothing previewed until Project Y is released and if you don't like tgat, you can apply for a refund.

From what gas slipped out from others who contributed ti the gane, it us currently receiving yet another iverhaul abd now peopke are veginnjng to wonder if it will ever get rekeased.

Fonzie was the dickshit that was telling paying people they didn't deserve anything.   Dude needs a reality check.

I generally don't follow this sort of stuff. I know that Watermelon became famous for Pier Solar, but what went wrong?

So, Fuck Watermelon.

they're about as bad as Super Fighter Team.

I guess Super Fighter Team was responsible for similar Shenanigans? Inquiring minds want to know! :-)

Cobbweb is just full of himself and makes things up.    His site has stupid ego-stroking shit all over it.

Like claiming he's the first to do Japanese partnership.   Sorry, that already happened on the MSX, years ago.

He takes way too much credit for the games that are produced by him.   

OH, and his clamshells suck.  They shatter like a 90 year old's hip at a kickboxing tournament.

then there was that Beggar Prince thing where the game didn't work, and you had to pay for a replacement.

dick.

[Trenton_net]

I don't have time to get into detail, but after a year or two of silence, it's finally come out that Fonzie really is a control freak who pushed Tulio out and has never had any intention of providing the service they sold investors with the magical gems factory. He has told everyone that there will be nothing previewed until Project Y is released and if you don't like tgat, you can apply for a refund.

From what gas slipped out from others who contributed ti the gane, it us currently receiving yet another iverhaul abd now peopke are veginnjng to wonder if it will ever get rekeased.

Fonzie was the dickshit that was telling paying people they didn't deserve anything.   Dude needs a reality check.

I generally don't follow this sort of stuff. I know that Watermelon became famous for Pier Solar, but what went wrong?

So, Fuck Watermelon.

they're about as bad as Super Fighter Team.

I guess Super Fighter Team was responsible for similar Shenanigans? Inquiring minds want to know! :-)

Cobbweb is just full of himself and makes things up.    His site has stupid ego-stroking shit all over it.

Like claiming he's the first to do Japanese partnership.   Sorry, that already happened on the MSX, years ago.

He takes way too much credit for the games that are produced by him.   

OH, and his clamshells suck.  They shatter like a 90 year old's hip at a kickboxing tournament.

then there was that Beggar Prince thing where the game didn't work, and you had to pay for a replacement.

dick.

How was the game defective? Like game braking defective? Seems like a pretty crummy move not to fix them for free :/

[Arkhan Asylum]

The original run of Beggar Prince had a bug where you effectively had to start the game over because your ass would be stucked.

This is what happens when you localize a Taiwanese RPG and halfass it, I guess?

but yeah, from what I remember, you had to pay for the fixed version.

I'd still say these games from Cobbweb are better than Pier Solar since they're not trite Lunar clones.

He's just a total knob-polisher.   All those interviews/articles about him went to his head.

[Mathius]

I bit the bullet and pre-ordered the reprint of Beggar Prince back in '14. Hope it releases drama-free.

[TurboXray]

I was approached by both Cobb and Watermelon (Magical game factory whatever). Cobb had a
Chinese famicom game that he wanted to release with some upgraded stuff on the PCE (using my nes2pce libs). I looked it, and it was doable, but I felt uneasy about the whole thing. So I turned it down.

 Magical Watermelon Factory wanted to publish any TG/PCE stuff I did, or work I would do - whatever. I never even bother responding back to their emails. I think they got the message.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I would've sent them a ROM that says DEEEEZ NUTS and plays rap music.

[CrackTiger]

One of the other things I firgot about, is that Watermelon published a guy's game and never paid him. After months(years?), he eventually took legal action against them, which is difficult when everyone is in different countries. At first, that only got him a small amount of what he was owed, but apparently now, many months later, Watermelon, or as he puts it, "Fonzie finally paid up".

[Arkhan Asylum]

One of the other things I firgot about, is that Watermelon published a guy's game and never paid him. After months(years?), he eventually took legal action against them, which is difficult when everyone is in different countries. At first, that only got him a small amount of what he was owed, but apparently now, many months later, Watermelon, or as he puts it, "Fonzie finally paid up".

great. 

[NightWolve]

Hey, this ole thread! So how did the joke go again ? Ah yes! Saber Riiiiders ... ridin' off with all your money... Riders gonna riiiide after all...

One of the other things I firgot about, is that Watermelon published a guy's game and never paid him. After months(years?), he eventually took legal action against them, which is difficult when everyone is in different countries. At first, that only got him a small amount of what he was owed, but apparently now, many months later, Watermelon, or as he puts it, "Fonzie finally paid up".

Good to hear! I really respect that and people like Agness Kaku who sat down for as long as it took to put a legal case together.

I'm coming to that point with XSEED Games where I'm fed up enough to draw a couple of grand out of my retirement funds to initiate a lawsuit... Win or lose, the satisfaction of them being summoned to court would be worth it. I just have to sit down this summer and carefully write a factual timeline of events, something a lawyer can read that's clear, to the point, free of say any profanity (which is really difficult for me) who can then take it from there, tell me what to do. He'd have to be remotely hired in California, near or at the city XSEED is located at.

From what I saw with Agness Kaku fighting John Schizomaniak, she also had to hire a rep so as to avoid having to fly to the jurisdiction of the target to show up on the court date, another issue/cost. I might be willing to road trip it if need be, never been to California so what the hell...

My fear though is that I've let too many years go by for the 3 main cases. Last time they cheated me was 2012 with Ys Origin, only 4 years ago but the 3 main cases for Ys 1, 2 and Felghana was in 2010, 6 years ago... I may have run out the clock and crossed a statute of limitations there so I need to get going... I know that the DK developer fought Nintendo and got justice after 10 years but that was Japan, I need more legal consultation to see what, if anything, I have a shot at...

[esteban]

Justice: just having XSEED spend money on legal counsel would be worth it! Well, you should have a Kickstarter (TM) campaign to find your lawsuit against XSEED (the problem is that ignorant fans of XSEED greatly outnumber the folks who understand what you went through). 



As William Blake wrote:

Ethics
Business
The two
shall
never
meet

Adol
Cries
Himself
To sleep

—Ode to a broken wing

[Trenton_net]

Man, I'm so out of the loop it seems! What game did Watermelon publish, which they didn't pay out for? What was the excuse for not paying? Or did they just drop the excuses and say "we don't want to pay because... Because we can!"?

@NightWolve: I'm sorry to hear your having troubles with XSEED Games. Did you do work for them, for which they don't want to pay you for as well?

[spenoza]

That door cannot be un-opened. Be cautious what you wish for...

[NightWolve]

Justice: just having XSEED spend money on legal counsel would be worth it!

I'm inclined to mostly agree now, but on the flipside, for years I leaned on not wanting Lipschultz and his creepy pals to gain the satisfaction of me losing a case and then having that over my head in a "Hah, you lost, case closed, too bad sucka, now get over it, and f-ck off!!!!" fashion. A loss served as a deterrent knowing XSEED always had a legal advantage in all of this, which they know... But yeah, better to have tried and lost than to let them get away with it with just negative PR posts and a boycott that they laugh at...

Well, you should have a Kickstarter (TM) campaign to find your lawsuit against XSEED (the problem is that ignorant fans of XSEED greatly outnumber the folks who understand what you went through).

It's a nice thought, but raising money from Falcom/Ys fans was always a losing proposition when the freeloading rate was 99% on all past software I produced. I guess I should've gotten in the bootlegging business years ago... Nice piece of pretty plastic actually gets people to open their wallets versus begging for donations after providing digital-downloads. Heh.

As William Blake wrote:
Ethics
Business
The two shall never meet

I have to agree. (a) They conveniently worked these shameful deals where they only had to pay 1 person instead of 2. (b) They paid whatever they wanted to pay since "we were just fans" versus professional translation companies who set their own rates in a take-it-or-leave-it fashion. (c) They let an employee use the company for revenge against someone he deemed "bad guy" and was feuding with before being hired... (d) They got away with it and while they could take corrective action tomorrow to meet my free demands which were just for proper crediting, they choose to ignore the issue and pretend they did nothing wrong... Denialism at its finest! DeuceBag now says, "I did nothing wrong. I owe you nothing, suck it up, move on!"

(Quick Note: I never asked for money in the aftermath when I called Ken Berry in 2012, as I knew I was dealing with a cheapskate company and they would completely ignore me if both crediting and payment were apart of my demands. I just asked for crediting because I felt part of what Lipschultz wanted to accomplish was erasing me from Ys history. Money can be replaced/earned, but that was a very powerful Orwellian message to deny me anything and to make sure only my backstabbing criminal translator received 100% credit which many parties/trolls took pleasure from sad to say...)

@NightWolve: I'm sorry to hear your having troubles with XSEED Games. Did you do work for them, for which they don't want to pay you for as well?

It's not great, but with some help by someone else, I have a basic summary to provide a quick explanation as to how I was cheated, how the fan translation partnership was exploited/profited from to benefit only my backstabbing translation partner... This link:

https://www.facebook.com/boycottxseed/posts/496140430505456

The best way to explain it is if you frame the translation process in 3 steps:

Step 1. The programmer performs IT/tech work hours to extract/prepare the Japanese text and images from the videogame for the translator.

Step 2. The translator receives the Japanese text/images and performs work hours to convert the Japanese to English.

Step 3. The translator is secretly contacted by a company called XSEED to port the translated results. He's paid 100%, he's credited 100%, then disappears for ~3 years pretending he longer knows the "step 1" programmer .

Question: Did the Step 2 translator "cheat" the Step 1 programmer ?

Only reason the Step 1 guy did free work hours is because it was about a fan patch and the Step 2 guy was not a proxy to a for-profit commercial entity/company... Right ? Originally Step 3 was the programmer gets back the translated results and puts them back in the videogame, but just imagine if that was the order of events for a moment.

Nobody would've been stupid enough to do free work hours for some psycho, homicidal c0ck-flasher that crawled out of the Neo-Geo.com forums (who wants to kill numerous members there AND their families...) if he/she knew what his views were on what should happen with a once in a lifetime commercialization opportunity... He did free fan work hours for me cause I was a fan and not a company, and I did free fan work hours for him because he was a fan and not a company and it was all about the production of a fan patch without licensing... Commercialization should've triggered a contacting of all relevant parties... You'd think, but Lipschultz hating me was why things went different...

You know, I did an interesting social experiment a few years back. I found that if I got away from XSEED/Ys fanboys and explained the situation to anybody outside that group, even other gamers, nobody had a problem concluding the translator cheated/exploited the programmer... My neighbor instantly said of course, and that those work hours done in the past become billable in the present since DeuceBag got to commercially profit from them years later!

In contrast, if you go to XSEED/Ys fanboys and ask them, those that know me and developed a grudge, suddenly you start getting excuses, justifications, red herring arguments, all sorts of bullshit besides the most honest, "Rawr, you got exactly what you deserved, NOTHING!!!!" So amazing basically how blind hate for one party and blind love for the other changes the responses versus neutral/unrelated parties...

Anyway, the link should explain more particulars enough. If you see room for improvement, or want more clarification to explain this, lemme know. I tend to be verbose, and the downside is if something's too long, whatever the subject, less readers will be willing to read it all the way unless it's interesting enough... :/

[Trenton_net]

@NightWolve: Sorry to hear that. If you do go through with a lawsuit, it would be interesting to see what kind of a defense they would use. I'm not sure if there is a defense against douchebaggery.

[NightWolve]

@NightWolve: Sorry to hear that. If you do go through with a lawsuit, it would be interesting to see what kind of a defense they would use. I'm not sure if there is a defense against douchebaggery.

Thanks, but yeah, looks like I did run out the clock by inaction... I researched the statute of limitations in California a little bit after seeing CrackTiger's post and being reminded of this. Violating a written contract is 4 years, most other categories I see are 1 to 3 years... Only wiggle room for yourself is lying about when exactly you discovered alleged wrongdoing (I would have say I fully realized wrondgoing in 2015 or something)...

If you can still drag someone to court, force a summons to be delivered which they have to show up in court for, then get dismissed under statute of limitations, it'd still be somewhat worth it for justice and to pressure them to correct the situation voluntarily, but this is an arrogant, bigoted, stubborn bunch as I've learned over the years so unlikely still... In short, doesn't look good, I procrastinated too long and didn't get enough legal advice in 2012 to learn about details like this when I was more committed to trying. :/ Who knows, perhaps a creative ambulance-chaser of lawyer there might have ideas and/or knows a judge that could be "flexible" to still allow legal recourse.

[Mathius]

I would definitely still talk to a lawyer. You never know.

[esteban]

Back on topic: I have never seen this "Saber Roder" show. But it has inspired me.

 I WANT TO WATCH STAR BLAZERS.

AND I WANT TO WATCH GALAXY RANGERS.

Hopefully, my daughter will think they are somewhat kool. Otherwise, I'll be the sad old man watching 'toons alone.

The funny thing is that "Watchin'-'toons-alone" was my nickname in grad school.

[esteban]

CLARIFICATION: I had to fix an error in the prior post. As it turns out, nickname in high school was "Listening-to-tunes-alone"

[esteban]

EDITOR'S NOTE: At no time was "poppin'-balloons-alone" a nickname. It was simply a descriptive term my wife used when explaining my obsession with PANG! our children. I miss them. But I can get to the Taj Mahal stage without dying once. Yup. Practice makes perfect.

[elmer]

OK Arkhan, how's this coming along for that June 2017 deadline? 

**********

I see that there have been some fairly-underwhelming updates on the project page, with news that most of the original staff have been fired along the way, and a rumor in the "comments" that all the money has been spent and that nobody is working on the 3DS version ... but apart from that, it's all looking good, and the new background art is quite pretty!

I loved the "rant" blog entry on the actual http://www.saberridergame.com/ website. 

I've worked with Simon before, and I may have to get in touch and hear his side of the story.

That could be good for a  laugh!

[NecroPhile]

I'm assuming my money is as good as flushed down the toilet and I'll never get anything.

It'll be yet another failed kickstarter campaign, but those scumbags will claim it's a success because we got the video or maybe a poster pdf download.

[ccovell]

I've worked with Simon before, and I may have to get in touch and hear his side of the story.

If it's this Simon, he's already given his side of it, in a hilarious way:

His rant here already is one of the best things caught on video:

[Dicer]

I've worked with Simon before, and I may have to get in touch and hear his side of the story.

If it's this Simon, he's already given his side of it, in a hilarious way: https://youtu.be/kR3Gd4-8nnY?t=3149

His rant here already is one of the best things caught on video: https://youtu.be/kR3Gd4-8nnY?t=1435

Damned right handers fucking shit up for everyone YET AGAIN.

I never really had hope I'm so glad I've never invested penny 1 into any crowd funded thing, it's always seems like the modern version of a snake oil salesman, maybe someone can make a game based around that?

[LostFlunky]

I am done with crowdfunding...

FWIW, that Simon guy comes across pretty arrogant and intolerant.

[elmer]

If it's this Simon, he's already given his side of it, in a hilarious way:

Hahaha, yes, that's Simon. He's not changed much after all of these years. 

Thanks for the link, it was all very nostalgic to see them together again. 

His rant here already is one of the best things caught on video:

Brilliant! 

FWIW, that Simon guy comes across pretty arrogant and intolerant.

He doesn't put up with fools or waste, and he has the intelligence and wit to come up with some really good insults.

That makes him a "troublemaker" in a lot of company's eyes, particularly when there is so much clueless middle-management around that demands dewy-eyed subservient respect for their authority while they're busy f*cking up.

You can call that "arrogant" or "intolerant", but I'd rather work with someone that challenges decisions and tries to make things better, than someone who just sucks the time and money out of a project while delivering as-little-as-possible in return.

Just compare the drawn-out lack-of-results of the Sabre Rider project, and the Sydney Hunter project, with what folks like Simon, and Steve and even Mark used to be asked to do, and actually delivered, within a few weeks or months of work.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Firstly:
Fuck that Simon guy.  For starts, the sprites he drew sucked. 

Secondly, he didn't seem to give a shit about the series, or the project (as proven in the video).   

He just wanted money, and his lackluster bullshit kind of indicated that.  For someone who's apparently a seasoned veteran, and master talent, why the fuck is he apparently so hard up that he needs to hit up a kickstarter he doesn't care about to get money?  lol.  seems legit.

It also takes a giant dose of moron to sit there in a chair and talk shit about fans of a series for wanting their right handed characters to be right handed in the game.

Dude in Rolling Thunder is right handed.  Worked fine.   Samus is right handed.  Worked fine.   Learn how to draw better, maybe?

Anyway:

We've not done much, and the project itself has not done a great deal either outside of what you can see on their KS, as the person in charge was hospitalized with fairly serious health issues, and is/was still recovering and sorting things out.

...Including dealing with the backlash of all of the KS people, who as usual, misunderstand the potential risks of crowdfunding, and shit the bed almost immediately when they aren't getting their toys immediately.


Also, while it's easy to sit back and poke fun and name call someone while talking about whatever glory days or deliverable some other dickfaced party produced, I'd prefer to wait it out until I see ACTUAL signs of shit-showing, as opposed to "hey sorry, I almost died".   

Keep in mind, too: The Asstastical Watermelon Factory is involved, so some blame for any project mishaps should also fall on their stupid asses.

Anyway, I also don't see why it was even necessary to bump this thread, other than to be an ass (you yourself claim you apparently enjoy doing this because you think it accomplishes something.), and to remind people that you used to work with these people at one point in time so you can take a walk down memory lane.   

You clearly already saw the latest/greatest updates, and you probably didn't even back the project anyways.   

If you want a real update on the PCE one, though, I'll say what I already said, as nothing has really changed and people have shit memories:

• It won't be like what is shown for the other versions.   It's apparently become Contra: CosmoDodge City.  I'm not a fan of that.   I also want the PCE one to be in line with a PC Engine style game, instead of trying to be something else.
• The art will all need redone.  Sizes and color depth are not PCE standard.  This is similar to why I keep telling people I am not porting Inferno to PCE.   
• Most, if not all of the parallax won't really be a thing.  The tile layouts were not done with PCE in mind.   Going with high detail, non parallax backdrops seems like a better idea than over simplifying shit so there can be some campy parallax effect on some levels.  If it's possible to revamp stuff for decent line scroll parallax, it might become a thing.   I doubt it.    Plenty of top-end PCE games don't use parallax, so, 
• Those first persony scenes will probably be nixed.  They seemed dopey anyways.
• We've not been given any assets to work with yet, and any sort of payment for what we do has also not really been mentioned or finalized.  The one doc we were given is pretty out of date based off of how stuff has changed.
  

Unfortunately, the PCE was not the main source of money or backers.   It's not a top priority version, despite the fact it will likely involve the most effort.

So, everyone might as well just forget about it until I say otherwise.   You'll know if I've started working on it, because I will tell you.

PS: It's Saber Rider.  Not Sabre Rider.   Your English doesn't apply to show/game titles.   You're always so pedantic about shit, I expect you to not do things like this.

[elmer]

Wow, someone got out of the bed on the wrong side again this morning!

That's twice this week that you've had a wild over-reaction and gone on an angry rant at me. 

If you want a real update on the PCE one ...

Yes, please.

... reading ...

Thanks!

Anyway, I also don't see why it was even necessary to bump this thread, other than to be an ass (you yourself claim you apparently enjoy doing this because you think it accomplishes something.), and to remind people that you used to work with these people at one point in time so you can take a walk down memory lane.

Nope, I went to look because I was contacted by the musician on Sydney Hunter inquiring about the possibility of using Huzak instead of Squirrel, and that reminded me of both The Old Man's posts on Sydney Hunter, and about Saber Rider.

So I went to take a look at both of the KickStarter pages to see how they were getting along.

Then, since it looked like there had been a few roadbumps, I thought that I'd ask about the progress.

I'm sorry if you don't share my amusement at the art of a good rant. Heck, I even find Lewis Black amusing at times!

A sense of humor is a very personal thing. You might try getting one sometime, and seeing if you like it.

PS: It's Saber Rider.  Not Sabre Rider.   Your English doesn't apply to show/game titles.

Sorry, you're right. I forgot to check and just typed in the correct spelling for the word, rather than the kids-show sound-alike.

I should have checked and got it right.

[TurboXray]

... raw nerve there, Arkhan lol.

[NightWolve]

I've worked with Simon before, and I may have to get in touch and hear his side of the story.

If it's this Simon, he's already given his side of it, in a hilarious way:

His rant here already is one of the best things caught on video:

Rubbish and God help anyone who pledged to its Kickstarter ??? Hahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!

Saber Riders!!! Forgot all about this thread!

[Arkhan Asylum]

I have a sense of humor.   

There's just not much I find funny about the tongue in cheek delivery of your inquiry, including sitting back, polishing your dicktip while talking up some dude that looks like a ballsack with eyes, and his opinions on a project he clearly didn't give a shit about when signing on.   People who sign onto shit just for the money are giant tools.   This guy included.   Then he goes and makes moronic rants to a room full of gimps.  No wonder he's now a washed out old simpleton that can't even get his garbagey art to stick in a KS he doesn't care about.

Besides, Ocean put out a lot of horse shit back in the day, so you should stop acting like this guy is some saint/powerhouse, especially since you've done so while ignorantly talking a little shit about the person doing SRATSS, without realizing what all is going on.

You often talk about the professional glory days.    That doesn't seem very professional.

and, I will repeat:

His art fucking sucked.  I'm glad that at some point in the future, we won't be having to re-diddle his sprites for PCE, because they looked like total dick.

This is the PCE scene.   Everyone's used to waiting for shit.   


By the way: how's your PCFX game coming along?

[ccovell]

Nobody is exactly wrong here, but I think the definition of "professional" could be argued that one is capable of finishing something only for the money.  If you need passion to get something done, and then so lack speed when your heart's not into the project, you are not professional enough by this definition.  I think a person who knows himself well enough & is disciplined enough to finish something through just for the money (ie: he couldn't care less about the character) is an asset when well-directed on a project.

Then, there's the flipside of people who are incredibly passionate about things from their childhood (anime, comics) but who only have passion to spare; and no business sense, acumen, leadership skills, etc.  Mr. Butler said the same thing in that video about Mr. Saber Rider, but here's a better example:

Basically he does lots of armchair analysis of seemingly why projects go south, and the common denominator often tends to be dreamers who don't know their limitations, but yet somehow are lucky/cunning enough to get people to pay to follow that dream.

[esteban]

I am glad this thread was bumped, because I have looked for it a few times, but I could not remember the damn title of the show ("Saber Ryders and Omar Sherif").

I have never heard of this show, nor have I seen it, so I was curious and wanted to watch at least an episode or two.

Instead, I ended up watching:
Doctor Zhivago
Galaxy Rangers
Lawrence of Arabia
Bravestarr

[ToyMachine78]

You sure it isn't Sabuh Ridaz?

[Arkhan Asylum]

Well, the other part of "professional" or "professionalism" is knowing how to act/behave in certain environments.  I know when to hold back my usual way of delivering a point because I don't want to deal with someone pouting, or me sitting in HR's office explaining why I called someone a dumbfuck in a meeting.

I am currently leaning towards the side of Mr. Oceanman got a little too pompous and forgot he's sort of a washout now.

He's currently seeming like the VIC-II palette of the retro art world.  Replaced by better talent, but still being a dick anyways.

It's hard to direct someone who does't give a shit AND is being a bit stuck up.  Those are not the kinds of professionals people want to work with.  Annoying hired help sucks.

It's a lose lose.  Which leads to why he's not on the team (and the new art looks better).

So, a lose win!

What's funny is, you don't quite need a "game design" to be able to properly draw a 2D sprite of a dude holding a gun, running.  Turrican, Contra, Gunstar Heroes, Metroid, Rolling Thunder, etc. are all pretty much the same kind of sprite, despite being different games.  It's a 2D side scrolling shooter.  How much more "design" do you need, especially if you've already seen the prototypes and target "look".





I mean, for fucks sake.  There's right handedness, and it looks *great*. 

PS: IF the PCE one actually gets somewhere, Rolling Thunder was one of the games I thought I'd model it after, because the sort of Bonanza like shoot-out style seems to lend itself better to both the PCE, and the setting of the game.  It's technically a "wild west in space" show, so I think the pow pow *duck* pow pow style stuff is just a better move.

Sorry this won't be PC Gunjin, lol.

I'm still holding out and giving these dudes the benefit of the doubt for now.  Having to come back to a shit storm to sort out after being hospitalized for months isn't something that's cut/dry to deal with.

I don't know what will happen with the PCE project, but I am at least confident that the main focus points will get their games done.

[esteban]

I had to add this, but it was too late to amend my earlier post above.

...

Then, there's the flipside of people who are incredibly passionate about things from their childhood (anime, comics) but who only have passion to spare; and no business sense, acumen, leadership skills, etc. ...

New York Toy Fair: The Game
https://appsto.re/us/1Kznhb.i

[Fire-WSP]

Sombody made me aware that there are some posts about Simon Butler and his involvement with Saber Rider here. I saw this youtube video the first time today. Well yeah what should I say. XD
The video clearly shows why I kicked him very early from the team!

What ever he claims to know about the project or saying about the project is bullshit.
He knows nothing! How he acts in that video reflects exactly the quality of the material I got from him - basically shit.
It took him 3 month for 3 hero sprite sheets. He was slow, he asked already answered question at least 5 times again like somebody with Alzheimer. The material was always with errors and he refused to correct them. I had to do this on my own which took some time. This time could have spend on other parts of the project. He questioned every decision I made which confused me very much. I always wanted to go the easy and cheap way. In the end all his material had to be put in trash because nobody wanted to finish his shit. The new sprite artist did the same job in just 4 weeks!

Back when we started  I had huge respect for this moron so I made sure that he gets paid always on time and so on. Since he had money problems (like he said himself) I even paid him much earlier to help him. Unfortunately he was just a waste of my time and the bakers money!
At one point I had enough and kicked him out. After that he started to rant about the project in his podcasts and other places. When I found out in december that he even told my name in the december podcast he got a very clear email from me what I think about him and what I will do if he will not stop his nonsense. Telling false things in order to hurt somebodys reputation is a crime in germany.
Also if every company he worked for would know what shit he is talking about them he would get sued and end up in jail pretty fast. His arrogance will break his neck some day!

I took the time and listen to all his podcasts from 2016 - what an asshole. I wish I had checked him out much earlier because with all the infos I got I would NEVER ever hired him in the first place.
Guys like him are the reason why good ideas are going down the toilet.
That said he was the second choice anyway. I always wanted to work with Henk Nieborg on the project but Henk was ill back then and not able to work on Saber Rider. That has changed. Henk is on the team and he is doing a awesome job!

Oh and calling me a kid... I am 36 years old.
And seriously what good stuff has Simon done? 5 years Ocean Software and most Games from that company was utter crap. Look at his linkedin account. He never lasted more than a year in most companies. Mostly the kicked him out. He told me himself that a lot of stuff didn't worked out because of is attitude.

If you want details about the matter Simon Butler/Saber Rider check out my blogpost here:
http://www.saberridergame.com/post/154310734664/beware-of-loose-cannons

Also about the Project, Saber Rider got greenlit on Steam a few days ago:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=836836038
You can check out the video there.

If somebody has any questions, just ask them here.
For now I am going back and bug check the new Dreamcast version.
In the end I wasted time again on that Butler guy.

[Fire-WSP]

OK Arkhan, how's this coming along for that June 2017 deadline? 

I see that there have been some fairly-underwhelming updates on the project page, with news that most of the original staff have been fired along the way, and a rumor in the "comments" that all the money has been spent and that nobody is working on the 3DS version ... but apart from that, it's all looking good, and the new background art is quite pretty!

I loved the "rant" blog entry on the actual http://www.saberridergame.com/ website. 

I've worked with Simon before, and I may have to get in touch and hear his side of the story.

I wonder from where you get your informtion?
You propably missed the important ones.
We could compile a 3DS version at any time if we want to. The framework supports it, no problem but why now? After the Kickstarter results, the 3DS version had the lowest number of bakers and therfore the priority was shifted to Dreamcast and PC/win/mac/linux.
The 3DS version needs some extra attention because of the second screen and this will be done when the other versions are content complete.
Also as soon as the content is ready we will hand over the material to the PC Engine Guys because the PC Engine version will be the only version which will be standalone and from scratch again.

Also I fired only two people from the team.
Simon and the coder. Both have been replaced and oh look less problems for me.
I wonder why...

Good for you if the cooperation between you and Simon worked out.
It didn't for me. And yeah if you ask him, then ask him also how much fucking money he got blown in his ass. The material I got was like "yeah I dont care I just need money" No, Thank you!

[NecroPhile]

We've not done much, and the project itself has not done a great deal either outside of what you can see on their KS, as the person in charge was hospitalized with fairly serious health issues, and is/was still recovering and sorting things out.

The update that said he was out of the hospital and back to work was four months ago!  There's nothing wrong with questioning why there's little apparent progress in a third of a year, especially when so many of the updates we've since been given are about getting more people to buy the game or promotions for other people's games.

...Including dealing with the backlash of all of the KS people, who as usual, misunderstand the potential risks of crowdfunding, and shit the bed almost immediately when they aren't getting their toys immediately.

If you and Fire-WSP want less complaints about it being late, it's up to you to provide meaningful updates and a revised schedule.  It's pretty clear he doesn't really know what he's doing, plus he's already got one failed project under his belt, so it's not surprising that peeps are worried about the lack of progress.

[ToyMachine78]

...Including dealing with the backlash of all of the KS people, who as usual, misunderstand the potential risks of crowdfunding, and shit the bed almost immediately when they aren't getting their toys immediately.

If you and Fire-WSP want less complaints about it being late, it's up to you to provide meaningful updates and a revised schedule.  It's pretty clear he doesn't really know what he's doing, plus he's already got one failed project under his belt, so it's not surprising that peeps are worried about the lack of progress.

Necro nailed it. This is project management 101. You have to manage schedule, and you have to keep customers informed so their expectations are realistic and properly set.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I am not really worried about complaints or questions, if they're at least thoughtful. 

Also, I thought everyone was already aware that the PCE one would begin after large progress was done on the main versions, and things were more finalized.  Because there were delays, an already intended delay being delayed seems to be a no brainer.

What *I* have a problem with, is tongue in cheek bullshit designed to instigate and be a bit of a dick instead of asking any meaningful questions.   

Elmer's not very invested in the project, as he's not backed it (afaik) nor does he have any real interest in it as an IP other than trying to poke fun at it's lack of progress.

all while cluelessly throwing someone under the bus and talking about his old chap Simon or whatever as if he's some saint/christ figure in the retro-gaming community.  Seriously, what kind of dickhole do you have to be to basically step all over someone to talk up some dude's pixel art and work in the past?    Especially since his past is not that great.

Fuck that nonsense.  It's not necessary.  Simon's clearly a shitlord, anyway.

There's nothing wrong with the Steam Greenlight promotion, as you *have* to take care of that, and they shifted gears to the more popular/desired PC platforms, and Dreamcast (blech, Watermelon).

Also, no updates doesn't mean no progress.  4 months post hospital isn't really that much time, and can fly by relatively quickly.   

Stuff is happening and moving forward.    Once it's more fleshed out and sorted out, expect something PCE related to occur.

Necro nailed it. This project management 101. You have to manage schedule, and you have to keep customers informed so their expectations are realistic and properly set.

There are updates and such.   People elsewhere seem informed enough.

I think you might only get some of them if you're a backer, though.   


EDIT:  I should also point out, we ought to drop the bias.   When updates / WIPs like this show up in the PCE scene, everyone's got their dicks out going OMFG, YES.

When tons of delays/real life/even cancellations pop up, people are like oh its ok.   and then we have a tendency to repeat the process when it happens again.

Why is this suddenly different?    I can't say I quite get that.   We've gotten massive erections for less when it comes to the PCE scene.

[Fire-WSP]

The update that said he was out of the hospital and back to work was four months ago!  There's nothing wrong with questioning why there's little apparent progress in a third of a year, especially when so many of the updates we've since been given are about getting more people to buy the game or promotions for other people's games.

If you and Fire-WSP want less complaints about it being late, it's up to you to provide meaningful updates and a revised schedule.  It's pretty clear he doesn't really know what he's doing, plus he's already got one failed project under his belt, so it's not surprising that peeps are worried about the lack of progress.

You are right, that was 4 month ago but that was just the one thing. I am still dealing with BurnOut and depressions. It comes and goes. The last two weeks for example were real bad again. It renders me almost useless everytime it happens. I wish I could switch it off but I can't.

To be honest, I do not get many complaints about being late. The crowd on Kickstarter is very cool. In fact I have maybe 10- 15 complaining people in total on several forums and on Facebook.
On the other hand I get almost daily request from people asking where to get a limited edition for dreamcast.

[Arkhan Asylum]

On the other hand I get almost daily request from people asking where to get a limited edition for dreamcast.

lol, friggin Dreamcast scene.

[NecroPhile]

Also, I thought everyone was already aware that the PCE one would begin after large progress was done on the main versions, and things were more finalized.  Because there were delays, an already intended delay being delayed seems to be a no brainer.

Obviously.  I'm talking about the lack of progress on ALL versions.

There's nothing wrong with the Steam Greenlight promotion, as you *have* to take care of that, and they shifted gears to the more popular/desired PC platforms, and Dreamcast (blech, Watermelon).

By itself, that wouldn't bother me either.  It's the fact that of the seven updates given since he 'went back to work', two were for greenlight, two were promoting other games, and one was how to give them more money.

Also, no updates doesn't mean no progress.  4 months post hospital isn't really that much time, and can fly by relatively quickly.   

Stuff is happening and moving forward.    Once it's more fleshed out and sorted out, expect something PCE related to occur.

Like I said, no apparent progress.  Maybe it's almost 100% complete, but I'm not a mind reader.

EDIT:  I should also point out, we ought to drop the bias.   When updates / WIPs like this show up in the PCE scene, everyone's got their dicks out going OMFG, YES.

When tons of delays/real life/even cancellations pop up, people are like oh its ok.   and then we have a tendency to repeat the process when it happens again.

Why is this suddenly different?    I can't say I quite get that.   We've gotten massive erections for less when it comes to the PCE scene.

It's a different standard when you've already paid $70 for something, doubly so when the money is going to an outsider without a history of being able to deliver eventually.  Had the money gone to you directly, I wouldn't care so much about delays (just like I'm not worried about Yuki delays), but that trust doesn't extend to Johnny Nobody.  You don't even have a contract, for fuck's sake.

[Fire-WSP]

I uploaded a video today showing the game on Dreamcast displayed on a real CRT.
You can watch it here:

[Arkhan Asylum]

Unfortunately, it seems some of the money was blown paying Elmer's old boyfriend.

So that's another unfortunate KS side effect:  You pay an idiot and they fuck off with your money.

lol.

[Gredler]

I think a person who knows himself well enough & is disciplined enough to finish something through just for the money (ie: he couldn't care less about the character) is an asset when well-directed on a project.

[NightWolve]

I uploaded a video today showing the game on Dreamcast displayed on a real CRT.
You can watch it here:

Looks good, I like the 4-5 background layer use there. Yeah, I guess a Roller Thunder/Contra model is the most appropriate to translate the show material to a game somehow.

All joking aside, I hope it works out. It's not good for team morale obviously to find someone you contracted out for work attacking you over the Internet after being fired.