[From hack to indie] Path of the Midnight Sun

[Kimmo Pronger]

What happened to Pokémon Prism should ring some alarm bells, though.

I love what you presented thus far, but if you think it's not safe or is going to get removed via copyright claim, I'd suggest playing it safe. I'd hate for you to feel like all your hard work has gone down the drain.

[Wayward Winds]

Just to check, how do we know that the cease-and-desist given to Pokémon Prism was the real thing? Didn't Midnight Sun get targeted by a phony earlier in the year? The person who tried it here didn't even work for Nintendo anymore!

[InvdrZim13]

Just to check, how do we know that the cease-and-desist given to Pokémon Prism was the real thing? Didn't Midnight Sun get targeted by a phony earlier in the year? The person who tried it here didn't even work for Nintendo anymore!

The C&D on Prism is legit, MS got targeted by some fake to remove the download, but it wasn't a C&D.

What happened to Pokémon Prism should ring some alarm bells, though.

Everyone just needs to emulate Primefusion and stay underground

[Primefusion]

Everyone just needs to emulate Primefusion and stay underground

Aaayyyyyy

[Wayward Winds]

Has anyone noticed how these cease-and-desist things only seem to come when a project is nearly complete and about to be released? (See: Chrono Trigger Resurrection, Crimson Echoes, and now Pokémon Prism.) Maybe the underground thing only needs to come when Alfred's nearly done and making that last dash to the finish line. Heck, maybe he could make a bogus "cancelled" announcement at that point just to make sure they don't bother.

[DarkDestr0yer61]

Has anyone noticed how these cease-and-desist things only seem to come when a project is nearly complete and about to be released? (See: Chrono Trigger Resurrection, Crimson Echoes, and now Pokémon Prism.) Maybe the underground thing only needs to come when Alfred's nearly done and making that last dash to the finish line. Heck, maybe he could make a bogus "cancelled" announcement at that point just to make sure they don't bother.

Honestly... and don't misunderstand me, because this is NOT an insult to Alfred's work... but I don't feel like Midnight Sun would ever get hit with a C&D because Fire Emblem isn't nearly as recognizable as Pokemon or Metroid. Fire Emblem has only really been rising in popularity in the last few years. Many people may have heard of Pokemon Prism and AM2R, while many may not know what a Midnight Sun is or that fire emblem rom hacks even exist.

[Kimmo Pronger]

Honestly... and don't misunderstand me, because this is NOT an insult to Alfred's work... but I don't feel like Midnight Sun would ever get hit with a C&D because Fire Emblem isn't nearly as recognizable as Pokemon or Metroid. Fire Emblem has only really been rising in popularity in the last few years. Many people may have heard of Pokemon Prism and AM2R, while many may not know what a Midnight Sun is or that fire emblem rom hacks even exist.

I can see what you mean. And in no way what you said was an insult at all. Don't worry about that. I agree with this, mostly. I think that little bit of obscurity may be a blessing in disguise, if it means not having his work removed.

[ghast]

Personally, I doubt anything hosted on SF will get C&D'd here.

We have a Fates translation and that's still up and running. That shit even went viral and Nintendo didn't act on it.

Prism and Uranium I'm fairly certain had their own websites which got targetted by Ninty. Not sure about AM2R, but maybe it was a similar deal.

I don't think its very likely that an individual user on SF would get a Ninty email if they are targetting sites that host the projects themselves. And in that case I don't think its in NoA's best interest to target SF as a whole for this sub-forum.

Plus, yeah. FE is much smaller than Pokemon.

Anyways, knock on wood.

Edit: on twitter the maker of prism attributed the take-down to his hack trailer netting over 1.4m views on youtube.

Sooo try not to make anything viral and I think you'll be chill AK

Edit2: AM2R had their own site/forums and whatnot, too

Edited December 30, 2016 by ghast

[MCProductions]

Fairly certain AM2R was a victim of bad timing. Regardless of people's thoughts on Metroid Federation Force, it is a fact that in the week before the takedown, many people on the internet went nuts of NOT getting Fed Force because AM2R existed. I'm not a Metroid fan, nor am I game developer, but as a business major, I can say if I saw what was happening with the relationship between AM2R and Fed Force, I'd sure as hell try to remove AM2R from this detrimental equation.

Pokemon Prism on the other hand, I really can't say why it got targeted, tho that video Ghast mentioned sure as hell played a role.

[wheelsonfire]

Pokémon prism also was the target of bad timing, I'm afraid. It was going to release right around Christmas, when many people are going to otherwise get Sun and Moon. In fact, a lot of people in the comments went and got the leaked version to play it over Sun and Moon (or said they would play it over those games when it released publicly). Considering the creator was well known amongst the hacking community, can you imagine what would've happened if it had released publicly? It's original release date was even worse, because it was planning to release in November, right when Sun and Moon were going to be released. The creator should have noticed the bad timing, but did not.

The other thing was that Prism was more popular than any hacks seen before and probably since. It had a popular Facebook page and site that had more likes and followers than any before it. There was the aforementioned trailer, but also the fact that the game was played by Twitch Plays Pokémon. That channel is probably the most popular Pokémon Channel in existence on one of the most popular platforms in existence, on top of the fact that it was codeveloped by them. If that's not going to draw the eyes of the creator, nothing will.

There's also the fact that Prism introduced a lot of new concepts to what many players considered stale gameplay, such as newer Pokémon in an older setting, a representation of Missingno, Pokémon only segments, new types, a new region, and an absolutely massive amount of gym leaders. With all its popularity, new mechanics, and innovative creation, there was no question that it would've competed with Sun and Moon. Not to mention that if the creator hadn't hyped it up as much as he did, it might still be around (proven by his other hack, Pokémon Brown, being around and undisturbed for about 10 years before this happened, with the former hack getting almost no publicity at all before this).

With so many people having the leak and more and more people getting access to it, it makes you wonder if someone will try and finish it themselves on other sites (like people are trying to do with Uranium).

Edited December 30, 2016 by wheelsonfire

[IkeBoyDude]

Well, the fact that PKN Prism got the "C&D" sucks, bad timing, unlucky? who knows why but it happened.

i don't think Midnight will ever have the same fate.

the one time it got removed from Mediafire, but that was due to a troll fessing up about it, it wasn't done by Nintendo themselves literally.

i'm Looking foawrd to the next ver of might night sun whenever it does out.

the game's been great so far from v1.0 to v1.6.

v2.0 is going to be awesome when it comes out.

Fan FE games are really fun and challenging to play aside from the "Normal" FE games.

more hard,challenging etc" to really make you use your head/brain etc to beat the game/hack.

[Kimmo Pronger]

If it's alright to change the subject...I'd like to ask around here.

Has anyone attempted to try this game out on Difficult Mode? I'm thinking about doing it.

I'd like to know from people who attempted or tried it. Just how...well, hard is it?

P.S: Happy New Year

Edited January 2, 2017 by Kimmo Pronger

[The_Cursed_Path]

If it's alright to change the subject...I'd like to ask around here.

Has anyone attempted to try this game out on Difficult Mode? I'm thinking about doing it.

I'd like to know from people who attempted or tried it. Just how...well, hard is it?

P.S: Happy New Year

I did try the difficult mode and it was challenging for me but, I have to gang up most of the time to defeat the enemies which and nobody could pretend to solo the map excepted in few case.

Unfortunately I just can't use the pegasus knight in there it maybe cliche but male pegasus is not a thing for me.

[The_Cursed_Path]

If it's alright to change the subject...I'd like to ask around here.

Has anyone attempted to try this game out on Difficult Mode? I'm thinking about doing it.

I'd like to know from people who attempted or tried it. Just how...well, hard is it?

P.S: Happy New Year

I did try the difficult mode and it was challenging for me but, I have to gang up most of the time to defeat the enemies which and nobody could pretend to solo the map excepted in few case.

Unfortunately I just can't use the pegasus knight in there it maybe cliche but male pegasus is not a thing for me.

[Alfred Kamon]

Hey guys, I bring some news. I don't think that v.2.0 will come out this year, or anytime soon.

The fact is, I've only recently realised that I didn't have any real will to continue working on the game. Midnight Sun (at first "Sunpath of Midnight") was a hack rom I created to fulfill my deepest desires, to express myself through various characters, and ultimately to create an alternate world where I could go whenever I wanted to escape from reality. I felt lonely at the time, and I made this game to be recognised and praised by people. I just wanted some affection. Some friends. A place where I belonged to.

When the game was released in 2012, I was happy. My hard work was appreciated by fans all around the world, and I found the courage to confront my real self and better my life.

So, why didn't I stop there?

The reasons were few, but important. The "promise" I made back then... "I won't surrender, I'll finish this game for sure!"; all the people waiting for more chapters; and, most importantly, my team and in particular my dear proofreader. I didn't want to tell those people that I was satisfied after all the hard work they had put into the game for me. It was like... betraying them, from my point of view.

But... as time went on, I realised I couldn't continue the project. Every time I worked on the game, I did it for someone else, and not for myself. I was continuously spending my hours in a virtual world for the sake of the fans, and it felt really painful. I was... lying to myself into believing that I wanted to finish the game. And then I thought: how long should I still work on the game in order to finish it? 3000, maybe 4000 hours? How many years must I work on this project?

I'm tired, guys. I love this story and these characters, so I might work on them again in the future, maybe in a book, or maybe on a legit software. But for now, I want to focus on the precious things I've found in my life in these years.

I know that a lot of people were looking forward to the rest of the game, and I feel sorry for deluding them, but it feels painful for me to continue. I also apologise to those (few) who donated some money. I thank those people for their kindness and for appreciating the project so much that they felt the need to give me something.

But now...

I just want to selfishly wake up from this Nightmare module.

Edited January 27, 2017 by Alfred Kamon

[ErrantDShepherd]

It's understandable. You have made a really awesome work, that many of us have thoroughly enjoyed, Alfred.

(I know what it means to have life happen. Hopefully you are having a good one. :) )

I wish you all the best, and thank you for the fun characters and good memories! :D

[urug99]

Yeah, I can't deny that this is incredibly sad news. This was an awesome mod with great characters and a great story, and I appreciate everything that you created. This really was one of the best hacks I have ever played, hands down, and you definitely earned the praise you were given. I hope one day you will come back and finish it, but no one would expect you to continue if it's causing you pain. The reason MS was so good was because of all the care you put into it, and I wouldn't even want to see it continue without that same care. I am glad you were able to better yourself, and you brought tons of joy to others, including myself. If this is truly the end of MS, then I wish you the best of luck. If you ever feel like coming back and continuing, I will definitely welcome you back with open arms, as I'm sure everybody else will.

Edited January 26, 2017 by urug99

[MegaTheGamer]

Well, I'll be sad to see the project go, but even if you kept working on it, it wouldn't be the same if you were no longer enjoying it, no longer doing it for the same reasons you started. So if that is so, better to kill it off now and not put yourself through any more pain or trouble trying to keep it on life support. Thanks for at least coming out and telling us this, rather than just going silent or dropping it without explanation.

And don't feel bad about us; we still have the part of the game you gave us, and I, at least, would rather you be happy with what you've done and move on than continue something you no longer want to do. It's clear you've thought about this, you didn't make this decision lightly, and that's what matters. I'll accept your decision, and I'm sure everyone else will, too.

It was fun while it lasted, Alfred. All I can do now is wish you luck in your life, and on whatever comes next for you. You still gave a great thing to this community. Don't worry about what you didn't or couldn't do. Be proud of what you did.

Catch you on the flip, man.

[eclipse]

What you have now is a lot more than most fan hacks have.  Please take care of yourself IRL, because your well-being comes first!

[thesios]

That's disappointing, but understandable. Been following this hack for the past 2 years now waiting for an update, but I can say that it is by far the most polished hack I've ever played.

Good luck.

[Lord of Gabriel Knight]

On 1/25/2017 at 0:12 PM, Alfred Kamon said:

I just want to selfishly wake up from this Nightmare module.

Worth it for this pun

[joker1995]

sooooo whats new ???? =3

[InvdrZim13]

16 hours ago, joker1995 said:

sooooo whats new ???? =3

The hack's been cancelled, read up next time.

[Asmont Osborne]

Alfred I believe everyone here is really sorry to see this go, but I personally keep following you as a YouTube subscriber. I must say, this was a better work than half of everything I've ever seen in FE to this day. Your real life is more important than a game, and we will withstand this. After all, there is no reason to believe that FE hacks are dead, with great ones such as Bloodlines and Staff of Ages... Your work was truly magnificent, Alfred. We will eagerly wait for something new from you, even if it takes as much as waiting for Faratrass to level Spd...

[Mangs]