Concerning Hokku Wellington

I am sure some of you have noticed, but compared to when the project was started, I have gone through a fair number of artists. I've had three different background artists, two interface artists and two character and event artists. One of these was Hokku Wellington, or just Hook as I referred to him as.

Almost all of the character and event art that has been in used for the game was drawn by him. Most of it was just quick sample sketches or conceptual design ideas, but almost all of it was still good enough to be used directly in the game. At least from my point of view. I think the only completed art I managed to get was the characters of Vage and Astoh, as well as three event images.

One of the reasons I make this post is because I've changed from Hook to a new artist. The new guy is Mattoon and you can find him @MattoonVArtist on X (formerly known as Twitter). While I am very happy with the art he's been making for me ever since we started working together, I did not actually want to change the artist at all. But after more than a year of complete silence from Hook, I eventually gave in and started looking for someone to replace him. It took me roughly three months to find Mattoon and now we are where we are. This happened back in March this year and Mattoon has been working diligently with us ever since.

Now, another reason, the main one I guess you could say, for why I'm making this post is that I heard a very saddening rumor roughly a month ago. While browsing social media, I came across an old post from someone claiming to know Hook in real life and this friend of his claimed that Hook tragically passed away in a car accident in late December, 2023. I spent the past month trying to confirm this, but since I don't have any means of communications to him outside of his private e-mail and various social media accounts, I didn't find anything and got no answers. But it would explain the unusually long lack of communication from him.

After some internal conversation with my team, it has been decided that where at all possible, we will keep the rough sketches and conceptual designs made by Hook, as a form of tribute to him, and only slightly polish it if needed. We will also end the game shortly after where his art ends. We of course still plan on finishing the intended story for the game, but the rest of it will be released as The Ruins of Vagastia 2 (title is subject to change).

Even though we are cutting the product earlier than intended, I still expect there to be somewhere around 20-25 hours worth of playtime contained in this game, so it should still serve as an enjoyable experience in and off itself. We have also modified the ending to make it work regardless of whether you play the sequel or not.

And that was that, thank you for taking the time to read the post and I hope you will still keep supporting the game, even though it has been slightly changed from how it started.

//Eiliya, Lead Planner and Developer