The Dink Network

Most of you won't know me I've been here awhile lurking and at some times posting (I also once tried to make a D-mod but didn't find the time) but can you guys see a realistic end to the Dink network?

I've been here for multiple years and more or less it seems to maintain a solid community size.
Will it end when all the members die?
Will we pass the site on to our children and keep it going for hundreds of years?
Will somebody eventually take down the site for one reason or another?

What do you guys think?

Dink Network will only die when the internet dies.

This is just another one of those kinds of threads. We all already know the answer to this and it is pointless to discuss it any further.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying;
And this same flower, which smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying."

Logically, possible ends would be: Site is taken down, Dink becomes so obsolete that no computer can play it, people move to other sites and don't visit, and of course the most likely scenario, we are invaded by alien potatoes who eat our interwebz.

If Dink was to become obsolete on all computers somebody would make a compatibility patch. I guess everyone will just slowly die off.

this small community will die when the sun goes supernova
not earlier but could be later if by than we are in the spacial age

Not if we name our children after various Dink characters.
This place will never die.

this small community will die when the sun goes supernova
not earlier but could be later if by than we are in the spacial age

I would like to point out that our sun is not nearly massive enough to go supernova when it dies. What is going to happen is that the sun is going to expand into a red giant when it gets ready to die, engulfing Mercury and Venus, and possibly Earth. And we'll likely either be spread out through the galaxy, or dead when this happens in 4.5 billion years.

This is completely unrelated to the topic, but being an Astrophysics major, I had to correct your statement.

Even though it's incredibly unlikely, it's great fun to imagine the Dink community somehow persisting for generations. My "all the DMODs" thing would become a nigh-sacred text. >_>

I read the title and nearly had a heart attack

Even though it's incredibly unlikely, it's great fun to imagine the Dink community somehow persisting for generations. My "all the DMODs" thing would become a nigh-sacred text. >_>

All hail the great savior Cocomonkey! Tell me again, the story about how you saved us from the hellfire of the Dead Dragon Carcass!

i want krisknox's D so bad

Dink ages like a good red wine. It improves with age, but not indefinitely. Many of us will still continue drinking it well after it's turned into moldy vinegar.

To be fair, it's amazing how long the Dink Community has existed. Fact is, not many video games get the sort of following Dink has gained, let alone an independent short RPG from 1998, which was already somewhat outdated when it got made. I don't think we actually give enough credit to that fact. We may have never been a big community, but we've been around longer than some of the biggest fandoms out there.

Dink Smallwood will never die or I'll eat my cat.... I mean my hat... yeh.

Indeed!

The hat in question has been long lost to the ravages of inebriation, sadly.

Does it really matter which hat it is, though? I'd assume they all taste rather unpleasant.

The hat in question was a rather large hat.

I know I shouldn't be, but I'm continually surprised at how this place just keeps going. It's pretty impressive.

i want krisknox's D so bad

The only 'D' you're getting from 'Me' is disproportionate retribution.

dink smallwood will continue as the rare awesome game someone found it and was shocked to know it was free and it has all these dmods as well. Longer than any of us.

what would be cool to see is seth release a sequel for the game

I know, Striker; I pop in here every few years just to make sure people are still posting, and I've obviously never been dissappointed. More surprisingly is it's still a lot of the same people.

I might the the words of slayer for my own.
I even wanted to do some network project relating to Dink, but so far I had so much dragged into real life errands that my codes became unreleased abandonware.

I thought dink community was as dead as it's chat but then again, as I came back, I noticed people are posting here, in 2014.

Btw... Nice still alive from VG cats.

The chat's not completely dead yet. Magicman and I still talk from time to time. Every now and then Enchilado pops a couple words in too.

Oh, is it this time of the month again.

Oh, is it this time of the month again.

More like week.

Yeah, there's a lot of people I miss though... glad to see that Pureevil showed up again, even if briefly.

Funnily most of the people we miss were on the Dinknetwork significantly shorter than those that are still around. For some reason the further I look back the longer each year becomes. Kinda the opposite of normal history.

Same for me. Oddly enough, for me Dink Network in 2009 feels like yesterday whereas Dink Network in 2008 and beyond that feels like years ago. My brain's calculations make no sense.

Dink Network is a time-warp, a parallel universe...

Five years ago TDN was a stage, now it's a restful garden tucked away from the stresses of adulthood!

This monstro.... Beautiful site can die!?

This again...

Not if we name our children after various Dink characters.
I got dibs on Quackers.

Any of us will have kids, let alone girls...I think the DN will "die" before that.

I think I'll name my daughter "1998", as that was the year Dink was released.

It was the year I bought Dink, but I've heard it came out in 1997?

I checked the release date on here and it said 99, but that didn't feel right so I went to wikipedia and that said 98. I dunno, maybe it came out in 97 and wikipedia is wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

I believe Dink came out in 1998. There were some demos released in '97, and the game became freeware in '99.

I think I'll name my daughter "1998", as that was the year Dink was released.

If you have a son, you can name him Dink or Milder.

If you have a son, you can name him Dink or Milder.

I was gonna call him Mom, but you're right. Those are way better names.

I suppose naming a child Bishop Nelson might not be a good idea?

I suppose naming a child Bishop Nelson might not be a good idea?
Maybe King Daniel would be more acceptable ?

Maybe King Daniel would be more acceptable ?

Good idea.

It's difficult to pinpoint the exact date for certain. This site lists it as June 15, 1997 (thanks, Tyrsis):

https://web.archive.org/web/20060327095850/http://www.gametunnel.com/gamespace.php?id=79&tab=3

However, that's just a third party game site. This snap of rtsoft.com from June 25 1997 gives the impression that it wasn't out yet at that time (so either Dink wasn't released on the 15th, or Seth took his good time updating the website):

https://web.archive.org/web/19970625173749/http://www.rtsoft.com/

Get Ready for an Adventure you'll never forget because the Biggest and Best RPG Game is about to Explode This Year!...
Dink SmallWood

It does say it's going to be released that year, though. The next snap isn't until January 27 1998, at which time the game was out. (https://web.archive.org/web/19980127104306/http://www.rtsoft.com/)

Taking all that into account, I'm inclined to believe Dink was released in 1997. Very early in 1998, at the latest.

Wikipedia says 1998. And I'm pretty sure Redink wrote the article, and I wouldn't question his knowledge about the game.

Also, the Readme as well as the description of version 1.08. say "Copyright © 1998-2006 Robinson Technologies", which would suggest the original full version was released in 1998.

So I stick by my statement that the demos were released in 1997 and the full game in 1998. There were actually two demos, one that ended at the first bridge and another that ended when entering KernSin. For some reason, June 1997 rings a bell for me. I'd say that was the release date of the first demo.

Nice research there, scratcher. I didn't know about Dink until the demo was on the PC Gamer disc in... July 1998, I think? June? Definitely before August, because that's when I made Dink Forever.

If you look at the dates that the scripts of the original game were last edited, you see a gap appearing between january 2nd 1998 and october 14th 1999. Only 14 scripts have been last edited between those dates, probably because of patches or something. Based on that I think it is likely that the game was released after january 2nd 1998.

Between December 2nd and january 2nd 171 scripts were edited, sounds too much to be just patch work... And I am probably missing stuff from scripts that were edited again for the 1.08 version.

Wikipedia says 1998. And I'm pretty sure Redink wrote the article, and I wouldn't question his knowledge about the game.

It wasn't written by redink1, c'mon. Besides, the article also says Dink was released in 1997. (And used to say so everywhere, until Austriacus changed the dates to 1998 (whoever that is)) Never take Wikipedia at face value.

Meta: I see the gap you mention. That would make sense. In any case, June 15th 1997 for the full version must definitely be false. This is from the readme of v1.01, the early-early demo (PS. copy-pasting the text screwed the symbols, for some reason.  is actually supposed to be a weird B thing):

10-15-97: V1.01, shareware archive.

These dates are estimates and may change slightly. Anyone who preorders
will be able to get a full refund at anytime before the CD's are shipped.

10-01-97: Release shareware, begin accepting preorders at $15 + 4.95 s/h!
(us funds!)
11-01-97: Begin charging full price. Print CD's, # based on preorders.
11-15-97: Begin shipping!


By the way, check out the concept art on rtsoft's page. Two of the three opens fine for me, but the second one doesn't, for some reason. Th... That's Dink?

I had never seen that concept art page. Sweet bonca on the third image!

That Spiked Pillbug though. So cool.

I'm quite sure that pillbugs in the final game are also spiked (look carefully). They do look different, though.
I must say I have never seen that old website before. It's interesting to see the concept art.

It's just not the same.

Would the conversation be off topic now even though people started to talk about when the game started or is it still on topic?

That pillbug used to be the DN header lots of years ago.

It's awesome.

It wasn't written by redink1, c'mon.

Well, it was definitely written by someone who knew pretty well what was going on. I think it was at least partly written by Redink, especially about the parts which talk about Seth approaching him about v1.08.

Anyway, in case you want some further proof, the publisher of Dink, Iridon Interactive (now known as Legendo Entertainment) wasn't founded until 1998. Furthermore, the back of the original Dink Smallwood box clearly says 1998.

I think the part on the Wikipedia article that says "Dink Smallwood was initially released in 1997 for purchase in the United States and Europe" is referring to the demo, but somebody messed up and it should be saying "Dink Smallwood was initially released as a demo in 1997, and the full version was released for purchase in the United States and Europe in 1998". Either that, or you would have had to pay for the demo, which seems unlikely.

Another thing that rings a bell for some reason, is that yes, Dink was released very early in the year. As in January-February early. I could be totally wrong, but for some reason I seem to remember something like that.

EDIT: Seeing all that concept art is kinda wistful, cause looking at them you can tell Seth had much bigger plans for Dink originally, which sadly never became true.

You can still see on Mike Snyder's old site that he released Scar of David in March, so obviously the release was before that.

Seeing all that concept art is kinda wistful, cause looking at them you can tell Seth had much bigger plans for Dink originally, which sadly never became true.

I agree. Some in-game references also make this kind of obvious, too. What about Charlie and his house (Although that might have been just a joke)?
There are also many references to Port town. Remember that big island east of Windemere ? If I remember correctly, it is inaccessible by normal means. I think I have read somewhere (it might have actually been one of you guys who wrote it) that the island was supposed to house Port town. This might have just been a rumor, though.

Yes, I believe Port town was cut, and I think it was supposed to be on that island.

I don't recall updating the Dink Smallwood wikipedia page. I may have, but it doesn't feel like something I would do.

I think Dink ended up shipping in late '97 or very early '98, I have some vague memories of old forum posts about how some people got it around Christmas. Or not getting it in time for Christmas. Something about the holiday, at any rate.