Before the same speculations pop up as on Reddit:
- I added uncredited art in my private tileset in 2016/17. Back then I didn't knew better, it was the first time working with sprites. I came from modding, I was more interested in actually putting pictures in the game using TWBT and dfhack, not drawing pictures myself.
- Over the years I learned about licencing and starting taking it more serious; I also started drawing my own sprites.
- I then got hired by Kitfox to work on the Steam release. They initially wanted to use my tileset as the base, but I told them that's not possible because a lot of sprites are from other sources.
- We then decided to start a new tileset from scratch, with Mike as the designer and me mostly doing variations/edits of his sprites and working out the intricacies of where to add which sprites, how to display ingame info, etc. Things I'm used from modding.
- Mike ended up having far less time than expected, so I had to step up and draw original sprites too.
- Vettlingr stumbled over my copyright violations from 2016/17 in my private set and very publically alerted both me and Kitfox about it.
- I took my personal tileset down and Kitfox convened with their laweyrs about what to do. The safest course of action for the Steam release is to distance themself from me, so my contract was terminated and all original artwork I did for them removed. They will probably keep the edits I did of Mikes sprites.
The situations sucks for everyone involved, but please refrain from attacking anyone, be it vettlingr, Kitfox or me. Vettlingr did something right, just in a rather blunt way. Kitfox acts like a responsible business, just a tad bit inpersonal. And I did something wrong, and now I'll carry the consequences, which is fair.
I know that Tarn is still working on the UI and I foresee a lot of time for optimization in that regard, because the UI is, as everyone here knows, not the strong suit of DF. In the meantime Kitfox is asking around other community artists that might replace me and help Mike finish what was started.
I myself will take a break from DF, since I can't work on the Steam release any longer; my own project of the last 5 years imploded; and working on a new community tileset with all the insider knowledge I have of the Steam release would be... odd? Unfair? I'm not sure.
I'll answer Rekovs questions for now, but I probably won't be around here much, so please don't send more my way. I'm not even sure what Kitfox thinks about me posting those answers.
Did Kitfox fire Meph for something he did in a free tileset several years ago?
Yep.
Or did Kitfox fire Meph for doing something in the present, while working on a paid project?
Nope.
Why is this content being reworked? Was it of questionable provenance, as before? Or was it merely unfinished content?
To be extra safe. Technically I am a "questionable provenance" from their point of view.
Will Kitfox be redoing all of Meph's work so far, or merely some? In other words, are they willing to take his work, but just not him?
As far as I know, they plan to redo the original sprites I did; they plan to keep the edits/variations I did based on Mikes sprites. I have no idea what happens with the replaced sprites, but I assume that they will never see the light of day. Would be cool to see them as community assetts for non-commercial tilesets in future, but I don't expect that to happen.
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Topic: Steam Official Announcement Thread (50.11 Edition!) (Read 444054 times)