Statement regarding Wonderful Dizzy for ZX Spectrum Next

[RichO4D]

I was just reading the latest edition of Retro Gamer and they mentioned about online abuse the Dizzy team received and that they cancelled the Next version. Being a backer of the first Next Kickstarter I was utterly baffled how the team were getting abuse, so I ended up here to find out more.

I just want to say that these individuals don't represent the whole community. There were a few who seemed intent on giving grief to the Next team when there were delays. Unfortunately niche, nerdy projects tend to attract some people who haven't got great social skills and unable to put themselves in other people's shoes and get upset easily. They shout loud and then it seems like they are spoke people for the rest...they are not.

When it was announced Wonderful Dizzy was coming out this month, I was joyful and didn't bat an eyelid when it was a 128K version. I couldn't remember what was promised, neither did I care as everyone is doing this as a hobby...right? I know how hard it is to do these things in your spare time.

So a big thank you for the Dizzy team for such a great gift. I would have loved to have bought a physical version for the Next but I guess the deal with Codemasters wouldn't allow for that.

[toot_toot]

What were the comments made about this? I'm not on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, but I did a quick check on them and I couldn't see anything that bad being said. There seemed to be a lot of disappointed comments about it not being on the Next, which personally I think is understandable with the lack of promised games actually being delivered from the first Kickstarter campaign. But I didn't actually see any comments on a Donald Trump like level. Maybe I missed out on them, but unless there were really terrible comments, it seems like a bit of a "mountain out of a molehill".

[moroz1999]

I didn't want to elaborate further to restrain from making the things worse and I only speak for myself, not for the team.
My personal problem is not with the lunatics on social networks - we could clearly get over them. My personal reason to not continue with making the game for Next is a strange reaction from Next's team. I've personally got the impression that no one really cares about the project - then why should I?
* Nobody tried to reason the people complaining in social networks. A simple statement on official web would do the job, but we've been left on our own.
* We've only got some feedback on early stage of the project from Next team and in the last two years I don't recall any interest in the project at all. I would like to remind that this wasn't just a game for Next, but it's one of the stretch goals, so some basic question "Guys, how are you doing?" would be really appropriate.
* After we have released the game there was literally no feedback from Next team as well. I would expect a simple private "thank you for the efforts" to the team but nobody really contacted us, just silence.
* Instead of this one day we discovered the statement on official Next website stating that the Next version is cancelled with extra clarification that "it was supposed to be Next's exclusive and it didn't turn out that way". Do you know how this looked like? From my perspective this looked like putting all the blame for the situation with this fake exclusiveness directly on our team. Next website basically states with this text that it has nothing to do with the situation and they are surprised as well. This was totally unexpected and inadequate. Was it so hard to open the messenger or email client and ask somebody of us directly? I doubt it, we are not biting, we've been really close all the time, on social networks and in email conversations.

I've read all the explanations by Henrique and appreciate the fact he has told all of this, but what does it really change? I like the Next project, the influence it has on our retro scene, but if Next's team is not capable of caring a little bit about their stretch goal (!) then why should we? We are just a bunch of guys with hobby interests, why should this be our problem if "exclusiveness" was never our mistake?

So, no hard feelings for anybody involved, but I had to clarify how I see the situation, because the attention in this topic has clearly gone to a wrong direction. I wish Next's team all the best with their honestly great project, but life is too short and I'm personally not interested in clearing somebody else's mess in what supposed to be a fun ride.

If you want to see not only my "part of truth", then please take a look at idpixel's article.

[Alcoholics Anonymous]

* After we have released the game there was literally no feedback from Next team as well. I would expect a simple private "thank you for the efforts" to the team but nobody really contacted us, just silence.

The honest feedback? I am disappointed. I can't really speak for the others but I think this is the general sentiment from conversation. Not in the quality of Wonderful Dizzy - everything is bang on. The artwork, the music, the game design, the programming is all top-notch and the final product is a worthy Dizzy game. The only source of disappointment is that a Next version was promised and won't come (I think some people still hope it will come once cooler heads prevail ) After all, the Oliver Twins' involvement came about because of the Next kickstarter. It was unfortunate that "Next exclusive" got put into the goals text but that was how it was understood when the goals text was written. Nobody thought twice about that when it became clear some time after that there would be a 128K version too. Even better right? I thought so.

I think I can speak for others when I say we will never criticize the decision not to finish a Next version. We understand full well the amount of work that was put into this game and for free. The payback has to come from the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment that you guys get from delivering on a project well done. If that is not there anymore then it's a big ask to ask that you continue. We can be happy in that there is a brand new Dizzy game that was born out of the first kickstarter and delivered by top talent in the spectrum scene.

Here's the thing -- when you announced Wonderful Dizzy you announced everywhere *except* in the Spectrum Next community. No announcement in the facebook group and no announcement in the specnext forum. There are 9400 members in the facebook group - this is the primary means to immediately communicate with Next users and is a larger group than any other spectrum forum. We all thought that was strange and it caused a question to be raised about whether there was still a commitment to making a Next version. Nevertheless an announcement was sent out to all backers via a KS update two days later https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sp ... ts/3055758 . We still thought the Next version was coming and the announcement oversight was likely just that -- an oversight. At the same time, the list of Spectrum Next games was being moved from a privately held website to specnext.com. In the Wonderful Dizzy entry the question was left there about whether the Next version was still coming out which is something that needed to be clarified. Had I written the text I never would have said "cancelled" but there are many people in the team with different amounts of information doing different things. The site went live with that that text in there. There is no conspiracy here; we also have full time jobs and sometimes stuff gets put off for a few weeks or is forgotten.

* Nobody tried to reason the people complaining in social networks. A simple statement on official web would do the job, but we've been left on our own.
* We've only got some feedback on early stage of the project from Next team and in the last two years I don't recall any interest in the project at all. I would like to remind that this wasn't just a game for Next, but it's one of the stretch goals, so some basic question "Guys, how are you doing?" would be really appropriate.

I'm afraid we don't monitor every corner of the internet -- I had no idea you guys felt like you were being harassed or abandoned although I could imagine it happening as I'd experienced it first hand several times in the past three years from the community. I personally answered questions about what was going on with Dizzy several times over the past three years when the topic came up in the facebook group. The answer was always that a Next version was expected to follow a 128K version. There was such a post on the day Dizzy was released and I answered that one too. The KS update two days after the release mentions "This release is the 128KB Speccy version of the game, which the team wanted to release before starting the work on the enhanced version for the Next." When it became apparent something was going on both Henrique and the Oliver Twins posted about it to clarify things.

About contacting you about progress... this doesn't happen on a daily basis. It happened maybe every nine to twelve months and it was directed at the Oliver Twins. We got screenshots of the 128K version and that's how we found out there was going to be a 128K version and it was likely coming out first. No one explicitly told us this as far as I know nor did it matter -- the fact a 128K version was coming was fine by me. That was a year or two ago.

I like the Next project, the influence it has on our retro scene, but if Next's team is not capable of caring a little bit about their stretch goal (!) then why should we? We are just a bunch of guys with hobby interests, why should this be our problem if "exclusiveness" was never our mistake?

!! We care a great deal but we don't nag. Adults accepted the responsibility of the goals for which we are all grateful. We know full well that hobbyists took on the goals. We are hobbyists ourselves completing the zx next project, supplying many many volunteer hours just as you did. The project was lucky to excite and attract some names from the past to update their games. But again everyone is volunteering their time and completion depends on their continued interest and desire to complete. We can periodically inquire about progress as a reminder and we can try to stoke excitement by mentioning the success of KS2 but making demands is not reasonable.

I am glad that the game came out and it turned out so well. The Oliver Twins' involvement has made it extra special. And of course as a Spectrum fan I like very much that I get to play it

[clebin]

(Left it to Alcoholics Anonymous to respond.)

[Pegaz]

Or to sum up, we are all brothers and no one is to blame, even the one who posted this as bait, erm... the promised stretch goal..

[akeley]

Perhaps, but I'm so tired of retro drama. In this particular case I'd settle for this:

[XTM]

You mean

Code: Select all

 X Errare Humanum, 0:1

[Alcoholics Anonymous]

Or to sum up, we are all brothers and no one is to blame, even the one who posted this as bait, erm... the promised stretch goal..

The oliver twins became involved because of the next kickstarter and they were on board for making a game that used the next's features. The stretch goal text was not the result of weeks of negotiations about deliverables but rather something quickly written shortly after all involved were on board to make a game for the next. Not the 128, the next. A game that uses the next's features is a next exclusive because such a thing will only run on the next. The choice of using "next exclusive" in the stretch goal text was Henrique's but that was accurate as far as the next team was concerned because that's how it was understood. All the same, neither the oliver twins nor the dizzy development team ever objected to that text in the stretch goal. We found out about the 128K version much later, maybe a year later. Or maybe it was just me I don't know.

I do think the 128 version almost came about by accident. When Evgeniy got started, the next hardware was in the midst of some changes. Because of that he got started developing on a 128K rather than the next. Progress far enough along that path and it can make sense to make a version that fits in 128K and then later enhance it for the next. Going the other way would be more difficult because if you start using the next's extra hardware, the game has to be modified to suit more limited resources in the 128K. I'm only guessing though. My sole communication with Evgeniy early on was always about making sure the 128K second display file was going to be compatible with layer 2 because he wanted to mix the two on the next. For people interested in these things, I think it was Evgeniy and others on the dizzy team who suggested the ulanext colouring method. That was a little before my time so I don't know the details.

Making a 128K version is not a bad thing. Dizzy is an iconic series on the spectrum and reaching the entire spectrum community with a 128 version is attractive particularly as it involved the oliver twins. I thought it was a good idea. Everyone gets a new dizzy and besides that we get to see a little of the new machine that attracted some of the famous names in the first place.

It's clear as day there was misunderstanding and it was about something inconsequential. Not being a next exclusive is not a bad thing. Why would you want to deprive some portion of the community if the developers are willing to do something extra? This drama where there is a need to blame either the dizzy dev team or henrique over something so small is ridiculous.

[Lethargeek]

A game that uses the next's features is a next exclusive because such a thing will only run on the next.

by this logic non-exclusives do not exist

last time i checked "exclusive" meant "not ported to incompatible systems"

[arjun]

last time i checked "exclusive" meant "not ported to incompatible systems"

You're applying a very narrow definition of 'exclusive' there. There are other definitions. For eg, sole rights, limited availability, limited scope etc. So in that sense, you're both right.

Anyway, are we non-Next owners getting a new Dizzy or not?

[Lethargeek]

You're applying a very narrow definition of 'exclusive' there.

i'm applying "%systemname% exlusive" definition to "next exclusive"

There are other definitions. For eg, sole rights, limited availability, limited scope etc. So in that sense, you're both right.

irrelevant here

[Alcoholics Anonymous]

last time i checked "exclusive" meant "not ported to incompatible systems"

No it's exactly the right word. It means only playable on the next which is what happens if you use the next's extended architecture.

"Exclusive" means "limited to". If you are speaking within the spectrum community "128K exclusive" means there's no version for the 48K spectrum. If you're speaking outside the spectrum community "spectrum exclusive" means there's no version available for non-spectrum machines (48K and 128K included).

[Lethargeek]

last time i checked "exclusive" meant "not ported to incompatible systems"

No it's exactly the right word. It means only playable on the next which is what happens if you use the next's extended architecture.

"Exclusive" means "limited to". If you are speaking within the spectrum community "128K exclusive" means there's no version for the 48K spectrum. If you're speaking outside the spectrum community "spectrum exclusive" means there's no version available for non-spectrum machines (48K and 128K included).

NOT the right word and NOT the right example - "no version for the 48K spectrum" is NOT equal to "uses 128k features" as in

A game that uses the next's features is a next exclusive because such a thing will only run on the next.

[arjun]

[mention]Lethargeek[/mention]

You're splitting hairs, really. But whatevs!