FOSS gamedev and creative worlds

Hi everyone,

Today, March 24th 2016, we learned that Maciej "RealBadAngel" Kasatkin, aged 43, has died due to complications from an earlier event, that happened 4 weeks ago. He is survived by his girlfriend, Katarzyna, and his relatives in Wloclawek, Poland.

Maciej was born on the same day as his life buddy Mati, in the same house on the same day. They grew up hacking computers early on, and Maciej made his hobby his profession, as have I, and so many of us who grew up in that time frame.

In the past 4 months I've come to know RealBadAngel as best as some of you have known him for some years, and had the pleasure to see him code unapologetically. He was, in my opinion, not a brilliant programmer, nor was his code the prettiest. But what stood him out above all else, was that he didn't apologize for his code. It's been a pleasure to see that Maciej has torn down some of the barriers and made a lasting impression upon the Minetest community.

So for Maciej, I'd like to ask everyone to code, unapologetically.

We are unfortunately not in direct contact with Maciej's direct family and friends. If you'd like to convey a message to his friends or family, please contact me in a PM or on IRC.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt67YSdScz8&index=14&list=PL0q7atYslWifTuX60rtCaocQiYUSdtZJP


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PS: Please send me a private message through the forum system, or contact me on IRC.

I knew Maciej (RealBadAngel) for almost 2 years and he was not only a developer for me, but also a friend with whom I had good laughs and various conversations about life. Several other people were intimately friend with him in the community.

When I heard say yesterday that he lost his memory and do not recognize anyone, I was shocked and teary-eyed to lose the person that I knew and the generous contributor he was.

I warmly thank sofar for this initiative. If each of you in the community felt sympathy and gratitude toward RealBadAngel, you have the occasion to turn that in act of solidarity. Or at least leaving a message of support here.

Maciej was very active in the development before this tragedy. He gave us some wonderful gifts into the source code that people will enjoy for 0.4.14. I suggest this release should be officially dedicated to him.

Maciej, we will never forget you and pray for a miracle.

I'm very sad to learn that, I do not intimately know RealBadAngel but
‎I greatly respect his work.
‎I sincerely hope he will heal and ‎I hope he will return soon.

I am so sad to hear this news. Terribly. It reminds us of how life is so fragile and so important. How RBA touched our community and make things so much better is beyond the scope of my understanding, I can only fathom. We daily experience his touch when we play our minetest, the contributions made this such an amasing game. I would like to see tribute to RBA for 4.14 release as well.

My prayers and thoughts to him and his family for a recovery.

Thank you RBA for everything you did, it will always be appreciated.

He will be in my prayers, as will his friends and family.

I would also like to see 0.4.14 be dedicated to him.

Welp. I guess hoping for the best is all most of us can do.

If there is no recovery, I will miss the brain function of this bastard no matter how many fights I had with him. Or maybe exactly because of those fights.

I'm hoping for the best and If someday he goes to this topic, that will be wonderful.

remembering the fights
I hope that spirit is still in there - somewhere

and fights

I followed and enjoyed what he did from the distance. This message hit me.
I wish him, his family and friends the best, strenght to stand this time and hope, that he will recover.

The Minetest community has lost one of its main contributors, leaving its open pull requests and unfinished projects – that's one thing…

… but he is, above all (as jp says), a person, with its friends, family…

I've never been very close to him, so I can't say personally what I think, all that I could say has been said, but I understand that some people in this community consider him as a friend, and reciprocally. And that's why it's that tragic for the community.

Just remember one month before, when BlockMen announced he was leaving Minetest. In terms of game development, the consequences are strictly the same: he leaves the community from one day to the next, with its unfinished projects and all the stuff. And the reaction of the community was like "that's sad", "you've made great mods", and quickly the main concern was only about the future of his projects. But today it's different. We can see some people really moved, not just saying "that's sad" as they would have said "hello". So, in spite of all the quarrels that may have happened,
this community does have a soul.
Do never forget that, and,
DO NEVER FORGET RBA

This really is so sad. People, especially in these kind of communities come and go. We may from time to time wonder were they have ended up. Or what they are up to these days. But it isn't like that this time. Such a waste.
I never knew him on a personal level, and I doubt he really knew anything of me other then a helpful comment thrown in my general direction from time to time. But I always was paying attention to him and what he was up to. His work was always interesting to me, even if was controversial at times whether or not it was a good fit for this project. Politics aside... my heart goes out to him and his loved ones. And I will remain hopeful.

Godspeed RBA

Thank you for the headsup sofar. I can only echo what everyone else has said. The trouble with working on the internet is that if someone goes off-line, we may never know what happened. Miracles do happen, but it sounds like that is all any of us can hope for in whatever way that is meaningful to us individually.

man what a tragic situation, I can only imagine what its like for him and his family right now.

I didnt know him on a personal level but like a lot of people in this community his talent was obvious and I respect that enough
to ignore the couple times he bitched me out for being a jackass and appreciate the few times he complimented my efforts.

my heart goes out to him and his loved ones and I hope he recovers quickly.

My condolences to the family and friends. It is my fervent hope that he has a quick recovery, and maybe rediscovers Minetest later, maybe not as a developer, but at least as community member/player who enjoys the game.

Funny... If he ever does comes back to the game, he will really get to see just how much his work affected Minetest.

A quick handmade creation for RBA:

=>>-=-=--=---=----=-----==| >>--<3---> |==-----=----=---=--=-=-<<=







Get well soon! ;)

wishing him and his family the best, I know to well how horrible and heartbreaking such events are.

Of all the developers on the project, it was his works which I most looked forward to.

I hope he get well soon, It's rly sad hear that he are a great mind here in the community :/ I wish the best for him.

AnxiousInfusion wrote:Of all the developers on the project, it was his works which I most looked forward to.

That make a lot of us. :-(

What was written will now be, and remembered always as we play.

Rest in peace, Maciej. And keep an eye on us from where you are currently...

Goodbye RealBadAngel, you were a very skilled developer, but much more than that, you were a friend. I will miss you, we will miss you.

Good bye, Maciej.
:-(

Rest in peace, our great master of graphic magic. :(

My wife and kids have been asking me if I have heard any news about his status. Sad news indeed.

Goodbye Maciej. You've left your marks all over this community. You can't be forgotten.

I've updated the topic message. Thanks everyone for your support. I know Mati (his best friend) will convey the sentiment to RBA's girlfriend.

.: Rest in peace :.
Thank you for all your help to make minetest better (especially for fixing those horrible texture tear, wield mesh, blinking water bugs I begged you about, for introducing that awesome tone mapping effect, VBO that I use by default and many other things you did).
You will be missed :(

I wasn't going to reply here because the situation seemed to be better...
Now I know it wasn't like that.
Rest in peace, RBA.

I wish the best for his family and friends, RIP RBA.