The end of TYKA.

 

More than six years ago I took over the development of F1RST2 where I performed the client development and Timon the website development and server administration. Steve (dude) did a remarkable job creating the F1RST2 client for F1 Challenge and many of its superb mods and we were privileged to continue his project as he went to work on the game GTR2. Quickly rebranded as F1RST3 with some interface updates and rFactor support we kicked off another era. No more tiny grids and lag problems with 4+ drivers. With Cash as main league admin and sometimes some others such as Timon, (Sean) Edwards, MaxMotus (Stuart Mosely) or NMansell (James Bennett) we ran many great leagues.

With a brand new server, which we could afford thanks to the loans of Sean Edwards and Ricardo Costello (the latter even changed his loan into a donation!), we were off to a great start. But this wasn’t enough as there were many limitations to the F1RST system. It wasn’t built for dedicated races, it was hard to develop new features for its custom user interface and it would be better to start from scratch than to try and expand it.

At that point I started work on Tyka. Luckily as a student I had some ‘spare’ time to get development work done. Almost two years later, with me in the meantime graduated and working at the university, Tyka’s first version was finally ready for release. The leagues weren’t implemented yet, some features were missing, but after so much work it felt great to see it put to good use. Reponses of the community were fantastic and it was really motivating to continue progress on the tool.

Between the start of Tyka’s development and its release however, Timon had decided to quit the admin team. This left me as the only developer in charge of not only implementing Tyka but also tasks such as the website development, the database administration, the finanances and the maintenance of the server. Thankfully with Cash and Veldt as overall admins we could continue to deliver full support for the client.

The next development step was to implement the leagues. As a first league we would have the Porsche Supercup (http://tyka.net/leagues/psc/) at the end of 2008. I estimated the work at three months which included an entirely new league system and a new website. Although we had to postpone the first race for a few weeks, thanks to many long evenings (going to bed at 3AM and getting up at 8AM again for work became a daily pattern) I managed to get everything up and running. Depite quite a few bugs in the first few races the league was a big success.

It’s needless to say that this pretty much wore me out. It was an incredible amount of work and I have still no idea how I managed to pull it off. Actually, I do… I spent most of my nights and weekends working instead of sleeping or going out. I even left my girlfriend (now wife) her birthday party earlier to work through the night to ensure the next morning’s race session would work properly. (It didn’t.)

Still, I think that when you’re passionate enough you quite easily overcome any obstacle, making the impossible possible. And here it comes… after so many years and at least three of those insane development sprints I have simply lost my passion. At this moment I’m tired and not even the least bit motivated any more to continue working on Tyka. My heart just isn’t in it any more.

Besides the development of the client, there are so many things that are required to keep everything running. Although Cash and Veldt are always doing amazing work on all other things, such as running the leagues, writing the news, marshaling disputes, setting up qualifying sessions when I forget, running the league races when I’m not there, etc, there are also numerous tasks which I’m in charge of. Server maintenance, database updates, website development, admin panel development, membership administration, financial administration, league mods, track selection, league qualifying and race sessions, internal tools, support… With Cash recently being out I was also trying to keep up with the league news and league disputes but luckily Veldt has been performing those tasks recently.

Tyka is a HUGE project. And quite frankly, it has become too much for me. When it’s no longer driven by passion, fun and motivation it doesn’t feel like a hobby any more, it feels like a second job. The only reward is satisfaction from the work you do, as everything that has ever been done for Tyka has been done on a voluntary basis in our spare time. When that satisfaction ends it can only mean one thing…

Since I have started Tyka as a student, I now find myself married, having a busy job and recently serious health issues. I have given Tyka my full dedication for many years, but at some point it has to end. And regretfully that time has come.

This decision hasn’t come out of the blue. Cash has unofficially quit Tyka at the beginning of the year due to personal reasons. He has been a league admin ever since we first raced together in LRT, back in the days of Relay and F1 Racing Championship (F1RC). Even after some 11 years (!) he still managed to find motivation to continue this demanding job. With Cash no longer around – although we are still often in contact and the best of friends – the pressure on Veldt and me only increases. It certainly isn’t easy running something as huge as Tyka. It easily becomes a burden due to all the work.

Apart from some heated discussions and nitpicking over the rules, the community is usually fantastic fun and provides a lot of support. I have lots and lots of great memories of these past years – both on track and off track – and so while I am relieved to put the project to a halt it also saddens me.

Besides the personal reasons, some other causes have also come up which pretty much prevent us from continuing without a major cash injection. Tyka has always been surviving on a minor budget. As you know our server is getting old and should really be replaced with a modern model. While I initially wanted to invest my own money into it, I decided against it. The server is also hosted in a place (I can’t mention but thanks to a very kind person) for free which allowed us to keep Tyka going. Unfortunately it can’t stay there any more. So with an outdated server, no place/funds to host it and no motivation to start work on getting rFactor 2 to work in Tyka, there isn’t really a future.

The plan is to shut down the server and the forum completely by the end of the year. The domain of tyka.net and f1rst3.com will stay in our possession and all of the tools and source code remain our property. If there would be any serious bids to take over Tyka and all of its assets I will definitely consider it.

So there we are. Quite a story and the end of a huge chapter for me, and hopefully some of you as well.

We are going to finish the F1 season and plan one or two events to have Tyka go out with a bang.

I want to thank the whole community for these many great years. Tons of people have given their support and been active in some way for Tyka. However, I explicitly want to express a huge thanks to a few of you. In no particular order:

Steve ‘Dude’ for letting us continue his work on F1RST2
Bryan and Neela for their huge donations to Tyka
Cash for his 10+ years of being an overall and league admin
Ricardo Costello for his huge donation to Tyka
Stewart for his excellent screenshots for the news
Patrick Wartenberg for the superb Tyka logo
Veldt for his many years as overall and league admin
Biggetje for his huge donations to Tyka
Timon for his work as overall admin
Sean Edwards for his support and Spa invitations for the Tyka admins

Thanks for all the great years!

Best regards,
Edward – Tygernoot – van Rijn.