Dev Team Changes: The Departure of Lazy Jayke

So I've put this off for awhile because I'm never good at these kinds of things...

So back in October 2017, I started this project solo, but over the past few years, the team has grown. Lazy Jayke started out as a game fan and made an animation for me as a way of saying thanks for the game. I've said it numerous times that supporting projects like this doesn't have to be financial. There's a million ways of expressing the impact of the game on you and Lazy Jayke found one of my favorite ways to date. In time, that animation touched me in such a way that it became the main menu animation that you see in game now. I still remember watching it for the first time. I probably watched it for an hour, bottom jaw dangling open. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have an emotional reaction. 

Over the past year, he's significantly enhanced the game through further animations. The panning animated camera shots are all his as well as the text message animations that were incorporated later in the game. He also has a knack for creating items from scratch that really helped with the realism later in the story. That bag of chips that Mikhail was eating in the car was something that he made. In the late night swim scene, the balled up trunks that Zack throws at Braden was a custom Jayke job. The entire beach environment was custom made, including the shower prop where Zack and Braden share some heartfelt moments after the frisbee accident was all created by Lazy Jayke specifically for Straight!?.  He also built the exterior dorm building from scratch as well as everything you saw happen in the final animated conclusion of Chapter 8 (no spoilers). 

One thing that I've made it clear to anyone who joins the team is that real life and their own ambitions will always take a priority over the game. Blayke summarized the story as "my passion" one time and this is very much true--the other devs are companions in this journey for me and I'm truly blessed to have them at my side. The friendship and the contribution of Lazy Jayke to this game has been invaluable to me on a personal level and I think to everyone who has played it. Some of the most viscerally heart-breaking moments and some of the funniest have been touched by his hand. 

So with heavy heart,  I'll officially announce that Lazy Jayke is leaving the team to continue to work on his own endeavors and family obligations.  I wish him the best and hope that he continues to stay involved in the project as a spectator and return once again to just being a "fan." If all goes according to plan, we may stumble across Jayke one last time in the next update.

Gotta do a brotha justice...

Love ya, man. And thanks for the memories.

-Aaryn