Dark Nation has gone to a better place....

Sad day. Very sad.

It would be cool if a little tribute to him could be embedded in the Zelda Classic game. I know that seems kind of dumb, but you know, whatever. It's something. DN was an awesome dude.

That's a great idea. I completely agree.

I agree with Beldaran. Something needs to be placed in ZC regarding this. He poured so much time into this project, it's only right.

May he rest in peace. It saddens me to hear that such a great person has passed away. I'm so sorry about his familly' loss. It must be hard to lose someone so awesome 😞.
My prays goes out to his family. I hope that Greg is in a much better place. He deserves it.

Anthony wrote:I agree with Beldaran. Something needs to be placed in ZC regarding this. He poured so much time into this project, it's only right.

I will miss him more as a friend than a ZC developer. It makes me wish I'd kept in touch with him more. You never know when it is someone's time.

I am in agreement with the rest that there should be a tribute for him in Zelda Classic.

Maybe we could all contribute a little bit to a quest where there is some cool music playing and you just walk through a straight dungeon and each room has a little message with a memory of Dark Nation or something nice that someone said about him, and the "boss" is just a message that says how awesome he was and how we are thankful he worked so much on ZC.

Then the quest would be packaged with ZC by default.

I don't know. That might be easier than making changes to the binary.

It's unfortunate that I'm to let you guys know that Dark Nation passed away on December 13th. His wife CiCi passed this message along to our Facebook group earlier this evening:

Hi all....I am Greg Phillips wife....you know him by Darknation or DN....I just want to let you all know that Greg pass away on December 13 because of congestive heart failure, kidney failure and pneumonia....
http://www.beggsfuneralhome.net/sitemaker/sites/beggsf0/obit.cgi?user=843558Phillips

Greg meant a lot to all of us here and elsewhere as well. This is pretty terrible news and I can't imagine how CiCi is handling this.
I will be accepting donations to help her out through PayPal and will be mailing her the check. If you'd like to help her out, send a payment to ebay (at) armageddongames.net - I would prefer if you gifted it, as it will not deduct fees then and we can get as much money as possible to her.
I will collect through January 31st, and then send the check out. Let's show CiCi how much DN meant to us all.

Any fond memories anyone would like to share? He was a pretty awesome guy who I know always put his wife before anything else upon still finding time to squeeze in programming and community stuff.

This a very sad day indeed. :frown-new: Dark Nation was the main developer after Phantom Menace left the team, and now, with Dark Nation gone forever out of our lives, the question is, who's going to take over as the main developer?
Either way, may he forever be remembered for all the features and such that he (and many other current and former developers) had brought to ZC over years, and most importantly, may Zelda Classic live on forever in his memory.

Rest in peace, to a staple of the forums for the past decade.

I was shocked to see this. While I haven't kept up with what is going on around here I had never heard that he had gotten ill or anything like that. It's terrible to lose such a nice person so young. I only talked to him very much a few times probably a decade ago, and maybe briefly from time to time after that. I did get the impression that his wife was very important to him.

😞 😞 I'm at a loss for words right now. I didn't know him personally but he was a great person on these forums and a huge contributor to ZC. He was too young to die. May he rest in peace.

How old was Darknation? When was he born? I ask because it would help immensely in setting up a memorial to him.

I came back on here to pay my respect. It's still hard to believe he is gone and will be truly missed.....

I don't know his exact DOB but he was 36 this year.

I am saddened by this news. He was a big name in ZC, and it was always a pleasure to see him post in the forums. He will be missed.

I extend my deepest condolences to CiCi and the rest of Greg's family. I only hope that their knowing how many lives he touched will offer them some form of comfort.

Greg Phillips greatly enjoyed his privacy and was not one to stand in the limelight. The unfortunate consequence of this was that not many got to know the man behind the code.
I want to let you know that Dark Nation is likely the smartest person I've ever had the privilege of coming in contact with. In spite of his intellect, talents and achievements, he always had the strength of character to remain humble in the face of an adoring community of thousands who deeply respected him not only for his work but because of the good person he was.
I will always fondly remember the times that Dark Nation and I conversed on AOL Instant Messenger and collaborated on ideas and beta testing for Zelda Classic.

Dark Nation's true legacy lies not merely within the Zelda Classic product, but within the very friendships we share among this community. This extends even to those among us who may have had little or no prior involvement with the product, for his work was the bedrock for the stage that allowed us to come together and form the friendships that we have and to experience positive moments that we will forever cherish.

Well, I guess I am drinking to you tonight, Greg. It's said that I finally learn your real name this way. I knew you very briefly but when I did I considered you a close friend. Godspeed.

It would be really cool to add a splash screen to ZC and dedicate 2.5 to him.

Wow... I can't believe it. I decide to check on the forums on a whim, and this sad news awaits me. It's truly unfortunate to lose someone with so much of their life ahead of them. Witnessing him taking up ZC from PM and taking it to new heights, those were exciting times. I remember one day finding out that he was also a Jazz Jackrabbit fan, and so we ended up played a bit of JJ2 together one night, which was the only time I really got to talk to him on a personal level. Every other time involved beta testing and ZC. Greg, Dark Nation... you will be deeply missed.

DN was one of my fav guys here. Its truly sad to hear that he's gone now. My condolonces to his wife and family.

Agreed, Glenn. It was an absolute pleasure to interact with him, and I have no doubt in the slightest that anyone and everyone who ever had the honor of knowing him in person feels the same way. Copy-paste from the AGN Facebook group, but still.

There are good people, and there are GOOD PEOPLE. Greg is above and beyond any such possibility for description.

Created a memorial for him in Dreams of Yesterday. Touching music.

I never met him, but he must have been an amazing person to talked to and I'm sad I never got to chance to meet him. May he rest in peace, my thoughts and prayers to Cici and family.

It's awful to hear this news. DN was a major contributor here and I am thankful for all the hard work he put in to make ZC what it has become today. My condolences to his wife, family, and all in the ZC community who had the opportunity to know him personally. He will be missed greatly.

I only knew DN from seeing his posts on here over the last decade, and that he was the definitive driving force that made ZC what it is today.

He dedicated effort beyond measure for the enjoyment and benefit of not only this community, but several others created in the years gone by. It absolutely is heartbreaking that such a kind man had to be taken from us. Rest in peace, my good sir.

Damn this is truly saddening news. I never was involved in the coding or development aspect of this site/zc but I had quite a few encounters with him throughout the years. Many fond memories of late nights in agn-irc with him and other old school members.

I haven't been here in years and was never really involved with ZC, but just wanted to offer my condolences after receiving the e-mail. He was always a central part of the AGN experience.

It's a damn shame. DN was an awesome guy.

Fausch wrote:It's a damn shame. DN was an awesome guy.

Like most I was a bit shocked to read this, I'll be back says so in my signature, saddens me that it is for this reason.
My condolences to Cici, and the family, may he rest in peace.

If anyone does not have PayPal and wants to help out, send me a message and I'll get you an address to send a check or money order.