The Dink Network

Reply to My time

If you don't have an account, just leave the password field blank.
Username:
Password:
Subject:
Antispam: Enter Dink Smallwood's last name (surname) below.
Formatting: :) :( ;( :P ;) :D >( : :s :O evil cat blood
Bold font Italic font hyperlink Code tags
Message:
 
 
November 3rd 2004, 02:44 AM
wizardb.gif
Kyle
Peasant He/Him Belgium
 
Now that the Dink Network is back on its feet, it's time for me to say goodbye.

From the moment I played the Dink demo, I was hooked. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the game in any stores, so I got it illegaly through a friend of mine back in the days (yeah, I know, it's a shame).

Back then the Dink HQ was still the best site to go to to get your d-mod fix and I made use of that and downloaded about every d-mod that was released. I was there when Prophecy of the Ancients was released and that was a turning point for me. I saw what the Dink engine was capable of and so I decided to give modding a try myself. It didn't go well and I forgot about Dink for about a year and a half or so.

When I got back to playing Dink some time later, a lot had changed. The Dink HQ wasn't very active anymore and activity had shifted to a new site, the Dink Network. This site had it all and on top of that it looked pretty good and loaded pretty fast for a site I accessed back in my 56k days.

Some time later there was an opening for the timeline position. I applied, got the job, but never really poured as much time in it as I should have. Of course, it was rather difficult to update it as I had to alter the HTML code itself, but that's no excuse. I also assembled a small team to make a Final Fantasy VII themed d-mod, but that turned out to be a big mistake, as I didn't know the slightest thing about Dink modding myself (sorry Paul, Killerbee).

The network grew and I became more and more involved on the board as well, which I hadn't before then. On the board I read a lot about people having trouble with modding, but others succeeding in creating a d-mod. It got me to look at modding once again. This time, however, I succeeded in learning most of what there is to know about the Dink engine and its commands and so I started a project with a friend of mine, Legend's Tale.

This project was a dream come true for the most part. We wrote a gigantic script and designed an original universe for the story to take place in. We even concocted stories for sequels and side-stories. We had Simon make us some excellent graphics too and I feel ashamed we were never able to deliver them to the public. But it has become painfully clear that instead of a dream it turned out to be a nightmare. We weren't ready for such a huge project as our first try at modding. Maybe if we had started out small and made some simple romps first, Legend's Tale would have seen the light of day after all, but it's too late for that now.

I got to know a lot of people throughout my years in the community. Some left, some stayed, many new ones replaced the old ones but in essence, not much has changed. The board is still filled with questions about the original Dink, questions about modding and just meaningless rants (although there were less of these in the early days ).
This is why I know that my departure won't change anything at all. I can rest assured that everything will stay the same and it will for another 10 years I hope (if Tal doesn't mess up ).

I've moved on to RPGMaker XP now, so if you ever see a Legend's Tale game for that, you'll know who made it
By the way, you really should play "The Way", it's the best fanmade game I've ever seen and better than most professoinal games as well. It's a game made in RPGMaker 2000 and it plays like the old SNES RPGs. You can find it here.

Maybe I'll lurk around from time to time, but that will be all.

Farewell, everyone and thakns for the great years I had here.