[Shawneth]

I was looking around online, and was curious to know where all of the classic mappers went. My biggest question is what happened to Roch? There are fan sites dedicated to him, but no actual information of where he's at. I'm sure there are others that aren't coming to mind, but it's been bugging me for years.

[brullov]

I am still waiting for a new map by Gambini

[Micky C]

According to CGS, Pascal Rouaurd is in France, but they haven't been able to contact him either. A fair few of the old mappers have simply put Duke behind them in their life and would rather be left alone. Others like Mike Von Skellington are still contactable by email and are generally happy to respond.

As to why mappers leave, well you have to admit mapping for a 20 year old game is a pretty tenuous hobby by its very nature. You can't expect people to maintain such a unique and unrelatable pass time forever. Something like a sport would be a lot more social.
Some people gradually lose interest, others get too busy and simply don't have the time, and others might have had a traumatic life experience such as a close friend or relative dying which puts things in perspective and makes them re-evaluate their priorities.

[MetHy]

oporix, on 13 November 2016 - 12:24 PM, said:

My biggest question is what happened to Roch? There are fan sites dedicated to him, but no actual information of where he's at.

Mapper's name is Pascal Rouaud. Roch is actually his nephew's name. Actually I used to talk with him over MSN more than a decade ago and he showed me a WIP map of his, which IIRc was already 500+ sectors, but I don't think he ever finished it, or if he did he didn't release it. The map had the same mapping mentality as his uncle's but with a different style.

Rouaud quit mapping around that time over a 'scandal' on how other mappers tend to 'rip him off'. Looking back at it I think he needed a reason to stop mapping, and Roch9 (or rather Roch_SC2 which I think was the plan) was never started.

[Shawneth]

MetHy, on 14 November 2016 - 05:46 AM, said:

Mapper's name is Pascal Rouaud. Roch is actually his nephew's name. Actually I used to talk with him over MSN more than a decade ago and he showed me a WIP map of his, which IIRc was already 500+ sectors, but I don't think he ever finished it, or if he did he didn't release it. The map had the same mapping mentality as his uncle's but with a different style.

Rouaud quit mapping around that time over a 'scandal' on how other mappers tend to 'rip him off'. Looking back at it I think he needed a reason to stop mapping, and Roch9 (or rather Roch_SC2 which I think was the plan) was never started.

Thanks for that explanation, it's good to know that he didn't just suddenly disappear into the void.

[Jblade]

The simplest answer is that most of them moved on; for some this is a hobby that was there to kill time and express some creativity when you're younger but gets swiftly dropped for other pursuits. Other people like myself will always have this in the background, as a more permenant outlet of creativity. I've known lots of good mappers who have left for good and whilst it's a shame, it's also part and parcel of the modding hobbing (especially for a very niche section of it) But there's still new stuff being produced so the cycle will hopefully continue for the forseable future.