M.U.G.E.N: Past, Present and Future

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first post on our developer blog!

There are many questions out there regarding M.U.G.E.N; some have been posed to us directly, while others come from various forums, including our own. We'd like to take this opportunity to address some of them.

Past

What does M.U.G.E.N stand for?

We no longer can recall, really. However, I can tell you how to pronounce it: it's "moo-gen" where the "ge" in "gen" is like "get".

Where does the name Elecbyte originate?

It was something we came up with when we were much younger.

Did you quit over the leak of WinMugen beta?

No, not at all. Our lives took us in different directions for some time.

Were you responsible for the F.A.Q. at elecbyte.com?

Yes.

What drove you to return to the scene after so long? Why was there no contact in the meantime?

We wanted to continue working on the the engine. We did have contact; we put up a temporary site until we had time to work on the project.

Present

How do you feel towards the 'hacks' and 'patches' the community developed?

Those are a clear signal to us that our users really wanted to see new features in M.U.G.E.N.

How do you feel towards M.U.G.E.N clone projects?

The fact that other talented people are working on similar projects validates the idea behind M.U.G.E.N; therefore, continuing to develop such projects is the right direction for us.

Would you welcome developers from the community to work with you?

Not at this time, but we'd be glad to say hello to our fellow developers.

What are you expecting from the community?

We expect to hear feedback about what does and does not work with the engine, features people would like to see. We would like to see people share their character designs and game development for all to enjoy.

Have you been following the communities' developments all these years? Are there any projects you like in particular?

Most of the team stayed in touch as much as possible over the years when we could afford the time. Each of us has our own preferences, but full original games are always impressive. Tatsu's Babel Sword, an action shooting game with innovative design and very polished feel, is one amazing example of how one can push the engine beyond its limits. Seeing projects like this motivates us, and we hope to help facilitate the creation of a lot more innovative content that everyone can enjoy.

Are you planning to accept donations?

We're coming up with ways for the community to show its support, but we certainly appreciate the sentiment. You can always show your support by being an active community member and helping out your fellow fans.

Who comprises the new team? Can you tell us more about each of you?

To address that, we've set up this developer blog where you'll learn more about each of us over time.

Future

What are your plans for new features?

We're concentrating on bug fixes and stability for 1.0, and we'll look at adding small features for a release after.

Are you planning to add an 'encryption' system to protect the content of creators?

We think everyone will appreciate it if we prioritize our time working on improvements for engine and the community. Ideology aside, DRM is technology that takes a lot of effort to build and usually requires much less to break.

Will you release or sell the source of M.U.G.E.N?

Not in the near future. However, M.U.G.E.N is open-spec, so people are free to make projects that can load assets in M.U.G.E.N's formats.

Are you planning to sell the license of M.U.G.E.N to a major company?

At this time our plans are to focus on building features.

The F.A.Q. that was previously on the site said that you planned to make one last version of M.U.G.E.N before making a new version that would not be backwards-compatible. Is that true?

Unfortunately, the F.A.Q. was not worded very well. We have ideas about the direction we want to take with our projects, but nothing is set in stone. To address the concern, we can assure you that we'd never ask people to abandon the last ten years of work, regardless of what we work on next. We are interested in the community's input, which is why we've created these forums.

Are you planning to port M.U.G.E.N to other platforms?

If there's sufficient demand, we'll consider it. However, our current goal is a stable release, followed by new features.

- Elecbyte Team