Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

[Zero_Gamer]

You sure it isn't Sabuh Ridaz?

[Arkhan]

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 dumbf*ck 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 f*cks 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 a$$hole. 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 f*cking money he got blown in his ass. The material I got was like "yeah I dont care I just need money" No, Thank you!

[Necromancer]

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.

[Zero_Gamer]

...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]

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.

f*ck 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]

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

lol, friggin Dreamcast scene.

[Necromancer]

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 f*ck'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]

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 f*ck 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.