Ok guys and gals, let's face it. I won't be able to stay awake all night long for much longer. We're not enough and we don't have enough time to answer to every single message that is sent to us. There's already thousands of posts everywhere on the Internet, we first thought we could follow every single one, but well... it's now impossible. We're not going to reply anymore on the forums, blogs, news and so on. I'll try to keep replying to emails, but still. NEED TIME!
Let's face it too, if I continue to try to reply to everyone like this, the game will never make it on time. There's still work to do, and I need more time to concentrate on the project. I wish I could handle both the "community manager" and the "project manager" and the "lead level-designer" and the "webmaster" jobs at the same time, but not really :D
Anyway, there's still people asking us to put a donation link on the website. I'll copy/paste what I always say since we started : "Our goal has never been to make money out of this work. We're not going to ask money and not even to accept it. We used a proprietary 3D engine from Valve, we used their content and we also used a few (three) licensed music. For as long as we don't earn money out of it, we shouldn't get too much in trouble for anything. Plus, that was simply not the point of the whole thing."
I think we'll have a definitive release date after this weekend, I hope... We'll keep you informed, as always. Oh, and we also had new propositions from around the world, and believe me, this is going a bit too far. Magazine covers ? Phone interview ? Meetings ? No, no, no. Guys, no. That's an amateur mod made by three frenchies, there's a lot of mods already out that are miles away from what we did (Insurgency, Dystopia, PVK II, Jailbreak!, Synergy and so on...). I think it's time to get serious again and stop surfing on the buzz wave. You're only making us feel really bad about what could happen, now that everyone think this will be the best game of 2008... seriously, you don't even know anything about it.
We are aware that you're highly anticipating what we did, and that you'd really like to play it. But keep cool, that's just a mod (we know it must seem weird for you to hear us criticize our own project like that). But that's really going a bit too far =)
September 18, 2008 9:40 PM,
said :
Wow, when I first heard the project I was excited about it, but I didn't know everyone and their mother would be as excited as me. Heh, magazine covers, heck, I'd say go for it. When else in your life could you get a spot on a magazine cover? And if you're thinking about a job in the gaming industry, think about the exposure that would help give members of your team.
I think what people are excited about is that you are making an addition to an already great story-line. The other MODs you listed are multiplayer and don't rely too heavily on story-lines, so when we hear that someone is releasing information (even if its their own opinion) about a now well-known character (GLaDoS) they get excited. That and your trailer for the game was so professional looking and f-in' awesome!
All I can say is I've played NykO's maps in DeathMatch so I've seen what he's capable of and it makes me eager.
Also, sounds like you need a secretary or personal relations position to keep up with the mail.
September 18, 2008 9:48 PM,
said :
Congratulations on all the success, before release even! I would suggest making the most of it while you can. As long as you aren't making money from all of it, I can't see a problem with magazine covers or interviews.
Have fun while you can from all your hard work!
September 18, 2008 10:52 PM,
Nitro said :
Well, that's what happens sometimes when potential awesomeness appears.
It sounds like you need a seperate community manager.
Regarding magazines and so on, if I were you I'd wait and see if anyone wanted interviews with the team after the release. If they do want interviews after the release - why not say yes? Can't possibly harm.
September 18, 2008 11:43 PM,
Klondike said :
On a slightly offtopic note -- this website looks really, really good. Great job on it, guys.
September 19, 2008 12:00 AM,
said :
GREAT job!
did you know that you already made it to F-ing WIKIPEDIA!!!!
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_(video_game)#Franchise[/url]
September 19, 2008 12:48 AM,
Nicolas said :
We're really lacking time to answer to everyone. I'm sorry about that, so I'm just passing by to say that we're reading everything you write, and even if we don't reply, we're happy to read you.
AND WE MADE IT TO THE WIKIPEDIA. Dude, that's not even our initiative.
September 19, 2008 1:40 AM,
said :
I respect your modesty in all this, you seem to have the right outlook on the project.
Now do some HR management and hire a face already >=P!
September 19, 2008 2:39 AM,
Desire Campbell said :
Don't worry too much about it guys. And good luck; we're rooting for you!
September 19, 2008 4:03 AM,
Zero1328 said :
I don't really feel surprised that you're being overwhelmed by the hype, to be honest. I mean, you're (apparently) near completion, and you've only gone public about it recently. Usually it would be a long trickle of people over time, and such. I hope it won't affect your work that much.
September 19, 2008 4:16 AM,
uNCLEsAM098 said :
Glad to hear how modest you guys are with your project. It's really cool that you're not out like 'OMG we're the next counter-strike so donate to us MUHAHAHA!' Thanks :)
However, maybe you should look into being put into a magazine from an offer. It's not to stroke your own ego or anything, or to increase mod popularity (Heck, you already have more than enough :), but it would be an incredible plus to adding to your life story. Honestly, not many mods are being put into magazines. Also, it's one heck of an addition to any resume. Think of it as a free fun bonus.
Either way, very excited to see what you guys did. Maybe once things slow down dramatically, you could give some advice on making mods, for those of us who are interested. (Yes, I know how much modding info exists out there, but there can also never be enough since people like to create new things, and you can't really teach modding help on a new idea that has never been done before ;) )
-uNCLEsAM098
September 19, 2008 10:16 AM,
MrBunsy said :
Any chance of not changing the font colour and style every sentence? It's getting hard to read!
Thanks :)
September 19, 2008 12:11 PM,
Marc said :
I sent Gabe Newell an email via Facebook, I was so interested in this mod! Haven't had a reply yet, but if he does, I'll post it!
September 19, 2008 2:09 PM,
Scalioni said :
That's an amazing job you guys are doing! I watched the video from a Brazilian Games Website (www.outerspace.com.br) and they didn't mention it was a MOD. By the looks of the video and the plot continuity, I really thought it was something from Valve!
Keep the good job and finish it for us!
September 19, 2008 5:44 PM,
Floptickle said :
Just looking forward to see the final result :) No stress! :P
September 19, 2008 7:25 PM,
said :
it arrived even to israel :)
http://forum.vgames.co.il/content.php?do=view&f=12&id=3080
everyone is waiting here :)
September 19, 2008 10:25 PM,
Robert said :
It's on GameTrailers.com too:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/40078.html
Wooow!
September 19, 2008 10:41 PM,
said :
Would'nt it be funny if this was just a big hoax? I don't think it is at all, but it would be hilarious if all this hype came up and it turned out to be a prank