Hoping to make your life's design a bit more dynamic!

Bongo` retired last year from doing any hacking work. That being the case, we have lost assembly support for our projects. I personally never got very good at assembly and am pretty well useless with it. This has lead to a problem. We have many projects close to completion but might still have some bugs left. This includes Aretha II. We have decided that we are going to release these games and label them as beta releases (probably like v0.90 or 0.95 or something.) If the game doesn't have bugs, we'll be glad to label it 1.00 but that isn't likely for most projects. If we can find assembly support later, we'll be glad to update to 1.00 at some point. However, we are not going to hold on to them and keep you from being able to enjoy them because of a few bugs that won't keep you from completing the game. It might not be ideal, but that unfortunately is just what we have to do at this point. I just wanted to let everyone know where things stand. I would expect that Aretha II will be released to the public in February as 2 of 3 beta testers have finished and I've incorporated their work. I still need to process the reports of our third member but his will take more time as he is a terrifically thorough tester any group would be lucky to have help them.

Do not be upset with Bongo`. He has extenuating circumstances and needs to focus on himself and family. He deserves respect for everything he has given to the community and well wishes in everything to come. Thank you Bongo` for all the years of tireless work and dedication to this hobby.

Anyway, I wanted people to be aware of events in the group as we hadn't really talked publicly about this until now.

Although I think I've never talked directly to Bongo (the DD member I've interacted the most, concerning the betatestings I've helped in, has been Wildbill) I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to Bongo for all the work he has done in the romtranslation scene. Thanks a lot for all your efforts, and best wishes in any future endeavor.

Thank you Bongo for all your hard work!

Personally, I knew about Bongo's departure.
He's done fantastic things for D.D.
Simply put, THANK YOU!

I've known about this for a while now too. And now that his retirement from romhacking has been made publicly official, I would just like to thank him for all his hard work and support during all these years. Good luck Bongo` and thanks for everything! It's been fun working together, please feel free to drop by and say hello whenever you may have the time for it.

However, this does leave me pondering about the future of D-D. After all our current projects are released in whatever state they may be in, what happens next? Without a main romhacker, we won't be able to take on any new projects. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see if anyone might be interested in joining D-D. Or at the very least, collaborate on certain projects.

We still have enough on our plates for the time being. Who knows, maybe I'll find time in the future to work on learning assembly again. I was poking at Atari 2600 assembly--which uses virtually the same processor as the NES--a while back and it taught me a lot. Especially about the TV standards. Programming a 2600 was called racing the beam for a reason. Maybe I'll find time in the future to get back to learning. Maybe someone else will join. Or, we could decide the group just doesn't have the time anymore and all retire. Either way, everything so far has been fun and I'm glad to have taken this journey with you fellows. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh man, not been here in a little while and really gutted to read Bongo has left D-D and romhacking for good, he was a talented hacker that brought the RPG community and rpg lovers some fine games over the years because of his talents with a few groups. so a BIG thank you for his hard work over the years.

That said, it's a little upsetting that games left now without an assembler may not be released but it can't be helped when life throws curve balls and such that it effects a hobby, a persons life, and potentially an entire hacking/translation team.

I just hope you guys can get your unfinished projects some how complete before you ALL decide to retire because I can see that happening by the end of this year or next year IF you decide to somehow get them done.


Either way, ALL your projects have been super awesome to play over the years, and more recently the ones I beta tested for you.. so NOT just a thank you to Bongo but a thank you to D-D also.

I've been away for a while on personal business, myself, and haven't weighed in on this subject in this thread.

At the outset, let me say that some of us here at D-D (and probably elsewhere) are fully aware of the exact reasons why Bongo` retired. As for all of us here, through the years, we've been like a band of brothers. Taskforce, Draken, and I founded Magic-Destiny. Bongo` joined, and we changed our name to D-D. We know a lot about each other. Taskforce and I have been to each other's homes. Once, I met Musashi at a bookstore where he worked while still in college. Even though our members through the years have been spread out over four continents, we knew the life history of many, including Faraday, Red Soul, and others. We've always worked out differences of opinion amicably, in the long run, and stayed supportive of each other - what teamwork is all about.

Therefore, putting everything into perspective, I can honestly say this about Bongo`. His personal reasons for retiring are far more important than all of these games and remaining projects put together. We have always done this for fun. We do it for ourselves and our teammates - and, as I've always said - we are happy to share our work with our friends, those who play video games purely for enjoyment and no other reasons. I want to thank all who have assisted and supported us. Those of us who wish to go forward will keep doing so. I am one of those.