We have lost a member of the TDM development team

[Epifire]

It really is true then, I'm so sad to hear the news. Grayman was always very open to working/advising with big and strange gameplay features I was throwing around. He was skilled in his craft but never placed himself over anyone else, and struck me as a very humble man. Be it the case, I am glad to have worked with him for the time that I did. He was always great to collaborate with and was very direct with any kind of models he needed from me. His presence will most certainly be missed here.

[zergrush]

I see a lot of talk with regards to Grayman's unfinished missions. Perhaps it would be best to let the dust settle before taking any decisions. I feel that in these circumstances proper respects must be given, and that a certain time period must be honored before any attempts of assessing his legacy.

So for now my suggestion is: let's give it a month and reserve this thread for those who wish to pay respects to a beloved member of the TDM community. There's plenty of time to figure what to do with any content left behind.

[Cecil of Cynope]

On 5/21/2021 at 6:41 PM, grayson said:

Hi this is Graymans son

My father was a poet, a painter, a writer, and a giant nerd. He studied nuclear physics, aerospace engineering, and AI. But all he really wanted to do was play video games. He recently lost a very long war with Cancer.

I present you my sincere condolences for your father's passing, and I wish you all a lot of courage through this very sad moments.

If it can help, I suggest you the reading of the book "The Light Beyond" by Dr Raymond Moody, the researcher that coined the term "Near-Death Experience" by studying thousands of testimonies on this subject:

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Beyond-Raymond-Moody/dp/0553278134

The people I advice to read this book usually say they found it very helpful, I hope it will help you and your family like it did help me.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Cecil of Cynope
layout

[DeTeEff]

So sad to hear these bad news

I didn't have much contact with him more than via some random scripting questions through the forums, but he always seemed to be a humble man that had worked with a lot of editors and games through the years.

I hope he did have a good time in his last days without pain and may he now roam the Builders House, frobbing what he can!  

[bwyan]

I am a newcomer in this community, but I just wanted to pay my respects.

Grayman is largely responsible for my own forthcomming venture into creating mission for TDM and I am a big admirer of his work.

[STiFU]

21 hours ago, zergrush said:

I see a lot of talk with regards to Grayman's unfinished missions. Perhaps it would be best to let the dust settle before taking any decisions. I feel that in these circumstances proper respects must be given, and that a certain time period must be honored before any attempts of assessing his legacy.

So for now my suggestion is: let's give it a month and reserve this thread for those who wish to pay respects to a beloved member of the TDM community. There's plenty of time to figure what to do with any content left behind.

We had an internal discussion about this issue and we find that grayman very clearly stated that he did not wish for his pending FMs to be released, see quotes posted by stgatilov above. It would have been very easy for him to ask any other teammember to finish up his mission in case the cancer (which he was always talking openly about) took over. But he didn't ask anyone!! His words and actions leave no room for interpretation: He did not want his FMs to be release when he is gone!

So, the team decided to honor his will. We will not be releasing his unfinished work in any way. Of course, Grayson, being his legitimate heir, may do with the missions as he deems right.

[Zerg Rush]

I find this a wise decision, although I think it does not exclude a mission in his honor, as grayman has also done with Sir Taffsalots sword, another member who died some time ago. Mission that by the way, I played yesterday.

[MirceaKitsune]

8 minutes ago, Zerg Rush said:

I find this a wise decision, although I think it does not exclude a mission in his honor, as grayman has also done with Sir Taffsalots sword, another member who died some time ago. Mission that by the way, I played yesterday.

Oh wow, he died too? I think I briefly saw or heard about Sir Taffsalot years ago, though it was around when I first found TDM in 2014 I believe. And I actually played that FM too, the name at least I surely remember... now I understand what it was about. Hopefully it's not weird but I'd like to imagine they met where they went, and among other things discussed TDM and what they created with it while on this Earth... maybe that they'll even know where it goes from here on.

But yeah: Definitely make at least one FM in his name. Something great and of quality, definitely well deserved

[Zerg Rush]

Sir Taffsalods Sword isn't a big mission, it's a good Mansion ride with a lot of guards, well done and not so easy, due that the guards and also the personal are in alert, when you rob anything in the Mansion, which make pretty difficult to get all the loot, not so for having a lot of secrets.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Zerg Rush

[Xolvix]

Damn, I remember hearing about Sir Taffsalot's story a while ago as well and how grayman made a mission in his honour. This sucks.

Edited May 25, 2021 by Xolvix

[Taquito.]

Passing by to pay my respects to Grayman. May his soul rest in peace and strength to his loved ones. It's sad but his memory lives on here in the Forums and in his creations.

[SeriousToni]

Oh man, I sometimes wrote PMs with Graymanover the past years and he never made a secret out of his health situation, but still this feels like it happened all of a sudden.

Last year we talked a bit about his current situation and how it felt almost like a race for him to finish the final missions. Gladly I took the opportunity to thank him personally for all of his work in the past years. This isn't meant as a selfish statement, but as a reminder to not only criticise but also praise the people you admire. Often absence of feedback is taken as good feedback, but I think we all should take at least a little more time in general in encouraging and praising the good things people did. Our community is a very positive example, I have to say.

He really was an outstanding man, almost a grandfather for me, I will miss him dearly... My condolences to his son and his family...

[Dosh]

Rest in peace sir.

I am still relatively new here to this community, but I am reading people's words here. He sounds like a great man, I wish I could've been around earlier to meet him. My deepest condolences to his family, the mod team and the community here.

 

Edit: To honour his passing, I will download and play all of his FMs.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Dosh

[Obsttorte]

May he rest in piece. Condolences to his friends and family.

He has definetely been a column for this community and the mod and a helpful and kind person throughout. I can't tell how much I have learnt from him, especially in my beginnings, and I bet I am not the only one. May he and his work be an idol for us.

 

[AluminumHaste]

How in the hell did I miss this thread?!?!?!

Now I feel even more awful. I knew he wasn't doing well, the few times we talked about it in PMs, he seemed very resigned to whatever happened. He never complained about it, always seemed to push on with his projects.

At least he isn't suffering anymore.

[AluminumHaste]

On 5/21/2021 at 12:41 PM, grayson said:

My dad has a little plaque you all sent him hanging on the wall next to handprints from his grandchildren. Whenever my children would call him he'd talk to them about "his boring video game stuff" according to my 8 year old... who never really understood why Grayman didn't like Pokemon as much as he did

I had that plaque made for him and a few other team members for their massive contributions over the years. He sent me a PM thanking me for it, and I could tell from his response that he really did appreciate it.

I'm so very glad that he kept it all these years, that makes me feel a little better, he really did deserve so much more.

Same goes to the rest of you that got those plaques, I hope you know you are appreciated, even when discussions turned negative or heated.

 

EDIT: Found it

[New Horizon]

11 hours ago, AluminumHaste said:

I had that plaque made for him and a few other team members for their massive contributions over the years. He sent me a PM thanking me for it, and I could tell from his response that he really did appreciate it.

I'm so very glad that he kept it all these years, that makes me feel a little better, he really did deserve so much more.

Same goes to the rest of you that got those plaques, I hope you know you are appreciated, even when discussions turned negative or heated.

 

EDIT: Found it

My plaque hangs proudly next to my computer.

[Bienie]

16 hours ago, AluminumHaste said:

How in the hell did I miss this thread?!?!?!

Same here. I've only visited the forums fleetingly of late, but I'm sorry I missed this bit of sad news.

Grayman's missions, specifically the early William Steele missions were so amazing to me when I first played them, that it inspired me to try my hand at mapping. Without that experience my own catalogue of missions might never have existed either, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Additionally, I echo the sentiment that he was always a kind and helpful fellow, truly a great asset to the Dark Mod community.

R.I.P. Grayman, you absolute legend!

[Geep]

In the upcoming "Stolen Heart" FM, there is a character, Coach, who is patiently, and with encouragement, guiding an acolyte in how to be a better singer and a better person. I will be renaming him "Coach grayman", and dedicating this FM to grayman's memory.

[br4zil]

I am mostly a ttlg guy and sadly a bit distant to the Dark Mod forums here, but i have played a lot of The Dark Mod FMs, grayman's FMs gave me antecipation as i knew they would be awesome even before i booted them up (i loved his initial William Steele missions and got me hooked).

Hearing of his passing is such a sad thing, but his memory will live on forever to all of us here due to his Dark Mod legacy.

My condolences to @grayson and family. 

[gokudo]

Absolutely gutted to hear this. I loved playing his missions and they helped restore my faith in gaming. My condolences to the family.

[Jedi_Wannabe]

Taff it all. Not what one expects to hear when returning from a semi hiatus

He was undoubtedly a pillar of this community and consistently set the standard. His art gives me goosebumps when I played WS, and he raised the bar with each installment. Please find solace in the fact no one around here will forget him anytime soon, his work and his legacy will live on.

Watching Jack Farmer’s tribute brought a tear to my eye and typing this even now I get choked up. Living in Apex a mere stones’ throw from Raleigh (20 min drive, I go there on business at least once a week) I always hoped to grab a cup of joe or a pint and sit down and pick his brain about TDM. I never got around to even broaching the subject as this past year had been so crazy and I’m still a newbie here.

TDM owes a lot to that man, thank you for stopping by @grayson he will be missed. Much love to you and your family.

[Kurshok]

I'm sorry to hear this. It's always sad to lose someone.

[JackFarmer]

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, Boy Lag has started playing through all of the WS missions and is currently playing WS 3.

 

I think Boy Lag found the right words to describe the situation.

[Heuli]

i didn't know grayman personally, i think he was a good and helpful person. he made my life sweeter with his William Steele series which I will never forget. I hope someone finishes their William Steele series as a souvenir Rest in peace grayman