Sonic Hurricane Combo DVD Canceled

For better or worse, i finally decided to take the plunge into a (rather intimidating) game design career, which means three things.

First, the industry is known for demanding ridiculous work hours, so updates will most likely stay slow around here. I’ll try to keep ComboVid.com updated on a fairly regular basis, but no promises there either. And i may disappear completely for three-month stretches whenever a major deadline is coming up. That’s how it goes.

Second, i’ll probably spend quite a bit more time rambling about vague game mechanics. In fact, here’s a new Game Design category intended for exactly that purpose exclamation-point.

Third, i’ll have to cancel the DVD and refund everybody’s money. Any other choice would be inviting legal disaster. It was a dangerous gamble before, but it’s a lose-lose situation now.

I’ll dig up each preorder and issue refunds manually later this week – since paypal doesn’t have an automated option for payments beyond 60 days, which in this case is all of them.

As for the two remaining SF4 TACV episodes featuring Seth and Guile, i’ll still attempt to finish those as soon as possible. Fair warning though: I don’t have the slightest idea when they might be done. Once things settle down (if things settle down), i may also produce a couple of bonus vids that were planned as DVD exclusives. Believe me, i’d love to work on them – but it’s a matter of finding the time. Until then, pretend this paragraph doesn’t exist.

Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused any of you.

22 thoughts on “Sonic Hurricane Combo DVD Canceled

  1. Maj Post author

    I really wanted to send out all the refunds today, but the holiday weekend screwed everything up. I transfered all the money from my bank account to paypal on Thursday, since their guidelines say it takes 3-5 days to add funds. But the “expected clearing date” is listed as September 8th, so unfortunately my hands are tied until then. It’s only two more days, so please bear with me.

  2. Maj Post author

    Thank you sir. Today was my first day and everyone worked 12-hour shifts, which seemed like an appropriate welcome to the field. Otherwise it was pretty cool, so i suppose it balances out.

  3. pyrthas

    Oh, as for inconvenience: I can’t speak for anyone else, but I bought the dvd ’cause it was a way to support you a little. The dvd was just a bonus. So, no inconvenience here!

  4. StHubi

    That is really sad news, but I can fully understand your situation. My job also gives me a lot of free time for a few weeks and after that I am out of the country for months. I am really looking forward to your future work! Keep up the good job, you have done so far.

  5. N00b_Saib0t

    I think every one of us would have loved to do the work you did it we had the time, so I doubt anyone will judge you negatively for not being able to keep it up. Good luck with the new job, and thanks for all the entertainment we get from your videos.

  6. Snatcher

    Congratulations on the job sir. I hope we can still see some material from you, you have definitely become my favorite combo maestro in the past few years!

  7. Maj Post author

    For what it’s worth, i never would’ve gotten this far with the SF4 TACV series if it wasn’t for the DVD. Without the pressing goal of finishing the DVD, i probably would’ve stopped around episode 11 at the latest. In fact, chances are i never would’ve created ComboVid.com either.

    That means it wasn’t all for nothing, right?

  8. Maj Post author

    Everyone’s pre-orders should be refunded as of five minutes ago (plus however long paypal’s processing takes). I was careful to triple-check everything, but please let me know if i’ve forgotten anyone.

    Thank you all once again for your support. I’m sorry it didn’t work out and it’s unfortunate that it seems so close to being finished. In reality, the DVD was considerably further from completion than the character count suggests.

  9. PimpWilly

    I feel bad as you refunded more than I had paid in the first place. You said it was to cover fees but it seems really sucky that you are having to take that hit in the first place : ( Like it was said above, I had bought the DVD to support you more than it was for having the actual DVD in the first place, and if the money I had sent helped get some of the TACV done that that was already a reward in and of itself since I got to see them!

    Anyhow, congrats on getting a job in Game Design, I’ve had high hopes of breaking into the industry for programming after college when all the interviews I went through ended up in rejection because I had not enough experience. Tough gig to break into, so hopefully you end up making some kick ass games and let us know about them

  10. Rufus

    PimpWilly :
    I feel bad as you refunded more than I had paid in the first place. You said it was to cover fees but it seems really sucky that you are having to take that hit in the first place : ( Like it was said above, I had bought the DVD to support you more than it was for having the actual DVD in the first place, and if the money I had sent helped get some of the TACV done that that was already a reward in and of itself since I got to see them!

    Been said twice already, but I feel the same way.

  11. phoenix

    That’s fantastic new Maj! Congratulations with your new job!

    Out of curiosity, are you able to illuminate at all what kind of work you’re doing in game development?

    As for the combo DVD, I think you left a great testament of some of the coolest tool assisted fighting game combos ever finished or not. Something to be proud of.

  12. Maj Post author

    PimpWilly, Rufus: Please don’t worry about it; things turned out alright for me. Anyway i wanted to find out if it was possible to make money making combovids and the answer was no. I’m fine with that, and a few bucks one way or the other wouldn’t change anything. I’m back to “never having made a dime from the FGC” and honestly i’m happy with that.

    phoenix: Formally, i believe my current job title is Junior Combat Designer at SuperBot Entertainment. I’m basically starting at the bottom and seeing how far i can get. I can’t talk about the game at all, but it would be pointless anyway until there’s something to show, like screenshots or a trailer or whatever. And that’ll be a while.

  13. Maj Post author

    Guess everyone’s too polite to ask why i couldn’t just finish the damn thing two months ago instead of working on other projects like SF? Balrog and random screenshots. I’ll break it down anyway.

    Let’s say each episode takes me three weeks to produce. (That’s an optimistic estimate on my current schedule but let’s roll with it.)

    Seth and Guile make up two episodes. Then revising old characters for a batch of new tech combos would take at least as long as two episodes. On top of that, i had two original bonus videos in mind.

    Next i’d have to re-export (and sometimes re-edit) old combovids to bring them up to high-res and remove mainstream music soundtracks. Finally, i’d have to design and compile the DVD itself. I haven’t got the sligest idea how to do any of that, so i’d have to learn from scratch. Let’s say this process takes another three weeks.

    Add it all up, and we’re looking at 21 weeks minimum. That’s like, February at the earliest? Assuming no other project deadlines come up in the meantime.

    That’s why i didn’t make a push to finish Seth and Guile. Being two characters away was nowhere near the finish line.

  14. Maj Post author

    Haha the game’s not designed by me. It’s designed by far more experienced people than me. I’m just helping out in whatever minor ways a rookie can help. Hopefully it turns into something you guys would want to play.

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