So how's Darghul coming along?

[Frau Bishop]

Hallo Wolf. Alles ok?

 

[Nemolus]

Das warten hat ein Ende

German:

Ich denke da kommt nichts mehr. Habe diesen Thread jetzt jahrelang verfolgt, fast jedes Jahr hat es geheißen das Darghul bald erscheint. Ich habe keine Hoffnung mehr. Sehr schade darum, es hatte sich verdammt gut angehört.

English:

I dont think Darghul will ever released. I have no hope anymore. What a pity, it sounds so good.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Wolf is too busy making money. The game is more of an unwinding exercise for him I think.

 

[space odyssey]

Am I the only one that would like to hear alot more about his travels and what its been like permanently moving to so different a place?

 

[Adam P]

From what I understand his moving about is less than permanent. His career allows him to sort of drift about from country to country. Leveraging the power of different currencies to his advantage. Maybe I missed something.
I might speculate that the reason for the slowed progress of designing the virtual world is due to a preoccupation of redesigning his real world. If anything I'm jealous. If darghul never gets finished due to Wolf living too much, I think that can be counted a positive thing. Not to undermine resolution as a desirable character trait. I just wouldn't be to quick to label his priorities 'out of whack'.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

From what I understand his moving about is less than permanent. His career allows him to sort of drift about from country to country. Leveraging the power of different currencies to his advantage. Maybe I missed something.
I might speculate that the reason for the slowed progress of designing the virtual world is due to a preoccupation of redesigning his real world. If anything I'm jealous. If darghul never gets finished due to Wolf living too much, I think that can be counted a positive thing. Not to undermine resolution as a desirable character trait. I just wouldn't be to quick to label his priorities 'out of whack'.

Who is labeling his priorities "out of whack"? I think all of us here generally wish him well, but our priority from him is his game. I would think the same way he does probably, but since I am on the other side of the coin, I just want the bloody game in my hands. That is more of a compliment than anything else.

 

[Adam P]

I apologize if my post offended you in some way. I wasn't referring to anyone specifically, rather an attitude that is present in many of the posts in regard to darghul. I think everyone, including myself, understands your side of the coin. I was merely making an attempt to understand what the other side of the coin might be like. He is a magnificent game designer, I understand how people clamoring for the completion of the project could in some ways seem like a compliment. Though, staring at lines of code for hours seems glamourous, I wonder if traveling the world wouldn't rival it's luster.

I hope my comments are taken good hearted as assuredly they are intended in no other way!

 

[Wolf Mittag]

I'm really sorry for my long silence, and for the sluggish pace of development.

The past 15 weeks were a bit hectic for me. Too much work, and I traveled through too many countries, saw and studied too much, dated too many girls, and party'd a bit too much.

Yet I'm still working on DARGHUL whenever I have a free hour. It's a very big project. Really an awful lot of work. And I don't have much time.

But I'm doing the work bit by bit, and I will not stop until it's finally completed.

 

[Wolf Mittag]

Travel: If your job/family ties allow it, trying a nomadic life can be quite stimulating and rewarding. With so much information online, it's very easy. And thanks to undervalued Asian currencies, it's actually much cheaper than staying at home.

Asia is really great. Very civilized and safe. Broad middle class, many fluent English speakers. High standard of living, yet very low living costs. Very modern, yet also traditional (in a positive sense). And while most Western countries are stagnating or declining, most Asian countries are obviously improving most of the time.

 

[Blasterhead]

Just wanna say... discovered this game last week via these forums, had a kick ass time with the game, and am looking foward to playing DARGHUL.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

dated too many girls

There you go; the life of an indie RPG game developer. What are you waiting for lads?

Thanks for the update Wolf, and remembering this thread in between the travel, study, exotic food, money making, wine, women and song.

Ne pereant lege mane rosas; cito virgo senescit, though I am sure this advice is obviously being followed.

Cannot wait for Darghul (figuratively speaking of course).

 

[ecliptic]

Any countries you'd recommend to someone not bi-lingual and hoping to jump ship off the sinking ship which is the US?

 

[Wolf Mittag]

Rather, thanks to everybody reading this thread, for your incredible patience, and for your good wishes and encouragement! I really appreciate that.

Countries: If you want it easy (everybody speaking English) and civilized, Malaysia is a great choice (if you can get to like the warm climate), or Hong Kong. Both still feel very British, have fairly low living costs (Malaysia in particular), and give you hassle-free 90-days-visa on arrival. Singapore would be another good option, but it's much more expensive. The Philippines are supposed to be quite Third World and to have a high crime rate, but they're English-speaking, Christian, heavily American-influenced, and have very low living costs (I happen to be going there in April, and will take a look).

If you can live with not being able to talk much to most uneducated people, you'd have more choices. I think the language barrier actually isn't a big problem. Most situations or everyday business don't require words anyway. You just point at the menu, or in shops look at the cash till's display and pay. If it's more complicated, it's usually easy to find someone who'll volunteer to translate. University graduates, office workers in foreign owned companies, people who studied abroad, or people working in businesses that cater to foreigners or tourists will all speak fluent English. Usually, at least in major cities, you should not feel any lack of people to socialize with.

South Korea and Taiwan are extremely civilized and friendly countries; though comparatively few people seem to speak English; and everything, in spite of being modern and prosperous, tends to feel a bit provincial (at least when you're used to mainland China's huge metropolises). Thailand is nice and exotic and cheap, but also gritty and feels distinctly Third World in many places, and it's too crowded by mass budget tourism (and also has a lot of sex tourism), so most local people don't like Westerners very much.

My favorite place is obviously China. It's amazing and incredibly dynamic. All across the country, most cities are growing by 100,000s of new residents every year; old neighborhoods are being razed and new skyscrapers and malls are being built at every corner, and new subway lines added almost every month. People work hard and party hard. There's a huge and growing, prospering middle class, which really dominates society (feels like Western countries 20 years ago, before Western middle classes were taxed to extinction). The government can theoretically still do anything to anyone, but generally leaves people alone most of the time (far less everyday meddling in people's lifes than Western governments). Living costs are still incredibly low (even here in Shanghai: $2 per taxi ride, $15 for a nice dinner for two including drinks, $1 for a plain dinner, $15 for seeing a doctor). There are no minorities with integration problems, and no violent crime. Material standard of living (for middle class or foreigners) is mostly comparable to (if not better than) Western countries (while costing only a fraction, of course). And many people are quite Westernized (Western movies, music, fashion, foreign travel, studies abroad, stints in their company's overseas branches), and Westerners generally enjoy a fairly good reputation and are treated well by most people. All in all, life over here is quite good.

 

[Konjad]

Any news? Though I still haven't played much of your first game yet

 

[Gwendo]

I guess it would be nice to have another update about the game. Half a year since your last post.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Hopefully he wasn't robbed and murdered in the Phillipines...then eaten. Or the other way around.

 

[Gwendo]

So... Any news?

 

[almondblight]

My favorite place is obviously China. It's amazing and incredibly dynamic. All across the country, most cities are growing by 100,000s of new residents every year; old neighborhoods are being razed and new skyscrapers and malls are being built at every corner, and new subway lines added almost every month. People work hard and party hard. There's a huge and growing, prospering middle class, which really dominates society (feels like Western countries 20 years ago, before Western middle classes were taxed to extinction). The government can theoretically still do anything to anyone, but generally leaves people alone most of the time (far less everyday meddling in people's lifes than Western governments). Living costs are still incredibly low (even here in Shanghai: $2 per taxi ride, $15 for a nice dinner for two including drinks, $1 for a plain dinner, $15 for seeing a doctor). There are no minorities with integration problems, and no violent crime. Material standard of living (for middle class or foreigners) is mostly comparable to (if not better than) Western countries (while costing only a fraction, of course). And many people are quite Westernized (Western movies, music, fashion, foreign travel, studies abroad, stints in their company's overseas branches), and Westerners generally enjoy a fairly good reputation and are treated well by most people. All in all, life over here is quite good.

That's...mostly bullshit. I can got into a point by point rebuttal, if you want.

 

[villain of the story]

Please do so to the entertainment of the rest of us. I'm curious myself.

 

[Wolf Mittag]

China: of course it also sucks - 3rd world, totalitarian government, corruption and arbitrariness, polluted+filthy environment, widespread poverty, millions of rustic ex-farmers immigrating to the cities yet retaining their countryside-ish behaviour, really dangerous traffic, far too high inflation, over-reliance on a doomed export industry, a beyond-belief crazy real estate boom that will end in tears, and moreover, it is and will always be China (i.e., beneath the modern surface, a very Asian country).
Yet today's Western countries have declined a lot; and China has adopted much of what used to be good about the West; and right now, it is still booming. I've never been to any other country that's as dynamic, changing as rapidly, growing so fast, building so much, improving in so many ways, as China is today; and even though the boom can't last forever and there's probably a huge hangover ahead, most of China's long term future still seems fairly good to me (sure, plenty of problems; but the West's problems look worse to me; and China is better prepared to deal with hardship).
Well, and at least for the present, life in China is still pretty good; no one worries about unemployment, basic healthcare is very affordable, most middle class people own their own apartment, most people have savings and zero debt, and most people feel that their government, albeit being very corrupt, at least doesn't harm them much economically, doesn't completely disregard public opinion, and doesn't destroy their country's long-term future. I don't think anyone could say that much of any European Union country?

 

[Wolf Mittag]

Once again, my apologies for my long silence. After some time in the Philippines, China, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, I returned to Germany for several months because my parents needed my assistance. Amidst plenty of trouble and work, my programming progress on DARGHUL was not as good as I would have liked. - But things are mostly ok now, and I'll return to China in a few weeks, where I will fully dedicate myself to DARGHUL once again.

 

[almondblight]

All across the country, most cities are growing by 100,000s of new residents every year; old neighborhoods are being razed and new skyscrapers and malls are being built at every corner, and new subway lines added almost every month.

For the benefits of some. I'm not sure how good your Chinese is, but talk to the people on the street, talk to taxi drivers, etc. There are a hell of a lot that say that recent development has been for the benefit of a select few. I've even gotten a number of people telling me that they miss the era of Maoism (not that that makes sense, but it is interesting).

There's a huge and growing, prospering middle class, which really dominates society

In the well developed areas of the most developed city it certainly feels that way. But they're a small minority in the country. Granted, a small minority for China can be well over a hundred million people, so...

(feels like Western countries 20 years ago, before Western middle classes were taxed to extinction).

Not sure which country you are thinking of, but at least in the US, taxes now are much lower than in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, which was the high point for our middle class as well.

The government can theoretically still do anything to anyone, but generally leaves people alone most of the time (far less everyday meddling in people's lifes than Western governments).

I've met a number of people that have had difficulty because they are people out of town and get get the same rights, like sending their children to the same schools, as the Shanghai locals. If you are from out of town, you can't have the same jobs as the locals (like being a taxi driver).

In the US I can more or less move to wherever I want to go and not have to worry about not being born in that place, but not so in China.

The government can also decide to take people's property at whim, and often do. This issue doesn't seem to be as prominent in Shanghai as the rest of the country, but you do see protests about it every so often even in Shanghai (the signs quickly get taken down, are put up again, taken down again, etc.).

Living costs are still incredibly low (even here in Shanghai: $2 per taxi ride, $15 for a nice dinner for two including drinks, $1 for a plain dinner, $15 for seeing a doctor).

$2 won't get you very far in Shanghai, maybe just 10 minutes or so. The $1 food is also going to be highly suspect, and not very nutritious. I mean, for $1.50 I can get a hot dog with everything on it here, which is quite filling, but not nutritious and not what I'd call a plain dinner. A simple western meal will probably set you back 5 - 10 dollars, which isn't horrible, but not very cheap either. The quality will probably be less that that in the states.

There are no minorities with integration problems,

Xinjiang people, who everyone will tell you are thieves. They are also highly oppressed in the west of the country, where there's a slow ethnic cleansing going on.

and no violent crime.

It depends on what you mean by violent crime. If you include things like wife beatings, killing people for revenge over disputes, etc., I'm not so sure about that. Again, I'm not sure how good your Chinese is, but if you have a decent grasp read the Chinese newspapers, they can be pretty eye-opening.

You're less likely to get held up in a lot of areas in Shanghai than you are in a lot of places in the US, true.

Material standard of living (for middle class or foreigners) is mostly comparable to (if not better than) Western countries (while costing only a fraction, of course).

What are you taking into account? Cars - probably more expensive than in the west, and you have to take into account the cost of a license plate. A Shanghai plate will set you back ~$9,000 USD, which is more than the yearly per-capita GDP for the country. You can buy several cars in the US for that.

Apartments? For $500,000 USD in Shanghai, I can buy a poorly made (no insulation, poor wiring) apartment. I can get a well made house in my city for that price. In some other cities, I can get a house for a fraction of that price.

Food? You can buy it for pretty cheap, but if you read the paper you'll see at least one if not more articles every week about food safety. If you want to get decent food and not poison yourself, you'll have to pay extra.

School? Even some of the best public schools in Shanghai have no insulation at all. Kids are spending the day in classrooms with the temperature below freezing.

And many people are quite Westernized (Western movies, music, fashion, foreign travel, studies abroad, stints in their company's overseas branches),

It depends on what you mean by many people. As a foreigner, you are more prone to run into these people, especially if you don't speak the language well, or are with people that don't. There are plenty of people in Shanghai that when you speak to them (in Chinese), they've never (or almost never) spoken to a foreigner before.

Of course, there's a lot to like about China too (lot's of things to see, interesting cuisine, an abundance of tea, pretty convenient shops, bustling streets), but some things get exaggerated.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts as you spend more time there, and especially if you are studying the language or doing any kind of business that puts you in touch with factory workers or the like.

 

[curry]

What's up Wolf? Man enough to finally admit you'll never finish this thing?

 

[Wolf Mittag]

almondblight: thank you for taking the time and trouble to share your observations on China. I agree with much of what you say; and we certainly both agree that China isn't Switzerland or Sweden, and won't be anytime soon. Of course there are plenty of injustices, huge inequality, corruption, pollution, stupid laws, Eminent Domain, inflation and rising living costs, a real estate bubble, and many, many other problems. Many people are dissatisfied for very good reasons.

Yet compared to how extremely un-free, backwards, and poor this country and its people used to be, I think it'd be hard to dispute that something significant has happened here, over the past two decades. Not everybody benefited equally, sure; huge resulting inequality; and over the past few years, the working and lower middle classes got pressured by inflation. But does that mean it's all bad? In the end, I suppose our judgement of how 'good' a place is will depend on whose situation we look at (well-off local middle class, migrant workers, illegal immigrants from the countryside, Western expats?); and as far as we ourselves are concerned, it'll probably come down to whether the positive aspects happen to be enjoyable for ourselves, and to what degree we are/feel personally affected by the (inevitable) disadvantages...

 

[Wolf Mittag]

Sorry for my long silence. After some time in Germany and then again China (Chongqing and Chengdu), I've done quite a bit of work on DARGHUL. Sure, it takes ages; and I realize it's (and I am) quite ridiculous; but whenever I can, I still squeeze in a couple of hours of work on this project.

Next I'm going to Guangzhou and Macau. If I happen to land a huge win in one of Macau's casinos, I may go on a couple of vacations first.

But - unless I get struck by lightening or find some other untimely death -, I will definitively, absolutely, certainly, under all circumstances, complete DARGHUL, eventually (though, unfortunately, I have to admit it does take some time).

 

[villain of the story]

If you ever need help, just let us know. Them monies won't gonna spend themselves.