Andrew Hussie Explained

Andrew Hussie
Birth Date:25 August 1979
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Temple University
Occupation:Author and artist
Notable Works:MS Paint Adventures

Andrew Hussie (born August 25, 1979) is an American author and artist. He is best known as the creator of Homestuck, a multimedia webcomic presented in the style of a text-based graphical adventure game, as well as other works in a similar style that were hosted on his website MS Paint Adventures.

Career

Early works

Andrew Hussie began posting Jailbreak in 2006. This was posted on a discussion forum and took the appearance of a text-based graphical adventure game. Hussie would post simple drawings with text, and other forum users suggesting commands for the game that Hussie would quickly respond to with a rapidly drawn image.[1] In 2007, Hussie created the website MS Paint Adventures to host his comics;[2] its first three works were Jailbreak, Bard Quest, and Problem Sleuth.[3] Problem Sleuth would run for over 1,600 pages produced over one year, and during this time Hussie was creating up to 10 pages a day.

Homestuck

See main article: Homestuck. Hussie produced the multimedia webcomic Homestuck, which started in April 2009 and ended in April 2016.[4] It tells the story of a group of four kids who play a computer game called Sburb and inadvertently cause the end of the world. Homestuck included images, text, Flash animations, and interactive elements. Homestuck, like Hussie's previous works, started with reader-submitted commands for the characters to follow, but Hussie moved away from this style because, he said, the fan input method had grown "too unwieldy and made it difficult... to tell a coherent story." While Hussie now controlled the main plot of the story and the characters' actions, he said that he still "visit[ed] fan blogs and forums" to figure out small things to add into Homestuck.[5] [6]

Initially, Hussie updated Homestuck regularly, usually about three times a week. However, there were often long gaps between updates, including a pause of over a year starting in 2013, and another long pause starting in 2015. At one point, Hussie described working on Homestuck as less like a full-time job and more like an "all-encompassing lifestyle," saying that the time he spends on the work occupied something just short of all of his waking hours.[7]

Vice noted that Homestuck was "wildly popular during its seven-year run"; as of 2011 it was receiving an average of 600,000 unique visitors each day and as of 2015 it was receiving upwards of 1 million unique visitors a day. Hussie said, "The bigger the fandom got, the more controversial everything was... Practically everything that happened was a serious point of contention—a reason to argue, discuss, to generate pages and pages of heated dissertation on what everything means, and why certain things are good or bad. All of this was supposed to be part of the experience. It was part of the cat-and-mouse game between the author and reader."

By the end of its run, the entire work contained over 800,000 words across at least 8,000 pages.[8] [9] Fans contributed to the final work in a number of ways, including producing all of the music. Over a hundred musicians and artists contributed to the final work, with Hussie commissioning artists for important updates. By 2011 there were eight albums of Homestuck music.

Vice magazine noted that Homestuck "became infamous for its sprawling, overly complicated, semi-improvised, deeply self-referential plot, driven partly by reader input and speculation, as well as the incredible and sometimes terrifying vigor of its fandom." PBS's Ideas Channel compared Homestuck to Ulysses because of the complex and densely worded storytelling the series often utilizes.[10] [11]

Sequels and spinoffs of Homestuck

The Homestuck Epilogues was a text-only work released in April 2019. It consisted of 190,000 words in a nonlinear novel that was co-written by Hussie and four other creators; Cephied_Variable, ctset, Lalo Hunt, and Aysha U. Farah.[12] [13]

A sequel to Homestuck, titled Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon, began in late 2019. While the story was outlined by Hussie, it was to be written by a team of writers.[14] [15] According to its website, it was updated regularly for about a year "until it was paused indefinitely", with the rest of the comic to be released when it was completed.[16]

A videogame based on Homestuck, called Hiveswap, was first announced in 2012 and raised over $US2.4 million through a Kickstarter.[17] Initially, its release date was given as 2014,[18] but had a troubled development, including switching from 3D to 2D years after development started.[19] It was later broken up into four episodes: the first episode of Hiveswap was released in 2017[20] and its second episode was released in 2020.[21] A second sister series, titled Hauntswitch, is also planned to have four parts. Two other videogames were based on Homestuck, Hiveswap Friendsim and Pesterquest.

Hussie has been a managing member of What Pumpkin, LLC.[22] According to What Pumpkin's website, Hussie officially left What Pumpkin in early 2020 to work on projects unrelated to Homestuck. According to the notice, Hussie still retains ownership of the Homestuck intellectual property, but has discontinued all creative involvement in any future Homestuck projects.[23]

Other works

Hussie produced a visual novel called Psycholonials. It was first announced in December 2020,[24] and its final episode was released in April 2021. Hussie has described it as a commentary on American politics and on his perception of uncomfortable cult-like atmosphere surrounding the Homestuck fandom.[25]

Personal life

Andrew Hussie was born on August 25, 1979.[26] [27] Hussie graduated from Temple University[28] with a degree in computer science.[29] [30] He has said that he has "moved well over fifty times".[31] As of 2010 he was living in western Massachusetts.[32]

Works

Videos
Webcomics by Andrew Hussie
Published books
Video game projects

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Baio . Andy . September 11, 2011 . Arcade Improv: Humans Pretending to Be Videogames . June 24, 2021 . Kotaku . en-us.
  2. Web site: 2019-10-27. A Homestuck Sequel Webcomic Officially Launches. 2022-01-29. CBR. en-US.
  3. Web site: Min . Lilian . February 24, 2015 . A Story That Could Only Be Told Online . June 25, 2021 . The Atlantic . en.
  4. Rigney . Ryan . September 6, 2012 . What the Heck Is Homestuck, And How'd It Get $750K on Kickstarter? . en-US . Wired . June 24, 2021 . 1059-1028.
  5. News: Faircloth . Kelly . October 3, 2012 . Stuck on Homestuck: How Andrew Hussie Turned a Tumblr Craze Into a Teenage Empire . en . The New York Observer . https://web.archive.org/web/20121005192003/http://betabeat.com/2012/10/tumblr-andrew-hussie-homestuck-kickstarter-game-adventure-text-teens-young-adult . October 5, 2012 . Betabeat.
  6. News: Katz . Mara . October 19, 2019 . When MS Paint ruled the fandom world: An innovative webcomic, 10 years later . en-US . Ars Technica . Condé Nast . February 18, 2021.
  7. Web site: Funk . John . October 15, 2012 . Land of memes and trolls: The epic and ridiculous self-aware world of Homestuck . June 25, 2021 . Polygon . en.
  8. News: Cavna . Michael . Michael Cavna . October 29, 2018 . 'Homestuck' creator explains how his webcomic became a phenomenon . en-US . The Washington Post . limited . .
  9. News: Trolinger . Madeleine . September 27, 2019 . What is 'Homestuck?' . en . University Wire . The Bradley Scout . Peoria, IL . registration . February 13, 2021 . .
  10. Web site: Orsini . Lauren . The most popular, epic webcomic you've never heard of . October 1, 2012 . Geek Out blog . CNN . en . July 22, 2013 . January 18, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180118075455/http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/01/the-most-popular-epic-webcomic-youve-never-heard-of/ . dead .
  11. Web site: Orsini . Lauren . Is Homestuck the Ulysses of the Internet? . September 6, 2012 . The Daily Dot . en.
  12. Web site: Lutz . Michael . May 16, 2019 . How 'Homestuck' Defined What It Means to Be a Fan Online . June 24, 2021 . www.vice.com . en.
  13. Web site: Lee . Julia . April 22, 2019 . Homestuck updated with two epilogues three years after series ends . June 24, 2021 . Polygon . en.
  14. Web site: Homestuck returns with Homestuck^2, a canon continuation of the infamous webcomic . Lee . Julia . October 25, 2019 . Polygon . en . February 18, 2020.
  15. Web site: Lee . Julia . April 22, 2019 . Homestuck updated with two epilogues three years after series ends . June 25, 2021 . Polygon . en.
  16. Web site: > What is Homestuck^2? . June 24, 2021 . Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210626035747/https://homestuck2.com/about . Jun 26, 2021 .
  17. Web site: Curtis . Tom . October 4, 2012 . Homestuck becomes the third highest funded game on Kickstarter . June 24, 2021 . Gamasutra . en . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210624210841/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/178865/Homestuck_becomes_the_third_highest_funded_game_on_Kickstarter.php#.UG4JX01fBwk . June 24, 2021 .
  18. Web site: Matulef . Jeffrey . August 29, 2017 . After five years the Homestuck game finally has a release date . June 25, 2021 . Eurogamer . en . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210625034040/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-29-after-five-years-the-homestuck-game-hiveswap-finally-has-a-release-date . June 25, 2021 .
  19. Web site: July 24, 2017 . The Rocky Journey of Hiveswap's Development . J . Bergin . June 25, 2021 . Cultured Vultures . en-US.
  20. Web site: HIVESWAP: ACT 1 . June 25, 2021 . Steam . en.
  21. Web site: HIVESWAP: ACT 2 debuts on Steam with a discount . Nov 27, 2020 . June 24, 2021 . Linux Game News . Tumblr .
  22. Florida Department of State Division of Corporations, document #L09000051040, dated May 27, 2009
  23. Web site: HIVESWAP by What Pumpkin Games . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210424143644/https://whatpumpkin.com/ . April 24, 2021 . June 20, 2021 . HIVESWAP by What Pumpkin Games . en.
  24. Web site: Lee . Julia . December 21, 2020 . Andrew Hussie is working on a game that isn't Homestuck-related . June 25, 2021 . Polygon . en.
  25. Web site: Diaz . Ana . November 11, 2021 . Andrew Hussie, the reluctant cult leader, on life after Homestuck . November 20, 2021 . Polygon . en .
  26. Web site: Hussie . Andrew . August 26, 2007 . Y-Day was my B-Day. . https://web.archive.org/web/20070902225834/http://www.andrewhussie.com/ . September 2, 2007 . Andrew's Blog.
  27. Web site: Hussie . Andrew . February 21, 2009 . Andrew's Blog: If you drew a comic called Super Frog at age 11 .
  28. Web site: MSPA Formspring Archives . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160805184424/https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40585720/Combined_Formspring_Web_Aug-28-2011.htm#andrewhussie234585235 . August 5, 2016 . June 13, 2016.
  29. Web site: MSPA Formspring Archives . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160805184424/https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40585720/Combined_Formspring_Web_Aug-28-2011.htm#andrewhussie256952378 . August 5, 2016 . June 13, 2016.
  30. Web site: Faircloth . Kelly . October 3, 2012 . Stuck on Homestuck: How Andrew Hussie Turned a Tumblr Craze Into a Teenage Empire . https://web.archive.org/web/20121005192003/http://betabeat.com/2012/10/tumblr-andrew-hussie-homestuck-kickstarter-game-adventure-text-teens-young-adult . October 5, 2012 . The New York Observer.
  31. Book: Hussie, Andrew . Homestuck. Book 5. Part 2. Act 5. Act 2. Part 1 . 2019 . 978-1-4215-9943-4 . San Francisco, CA . 404 . 1121658980.
  32. Andrew Hussie . andrewhussie . 26057436429 . September 30, 2010 . Moving announcement . October 25, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195438/https://twitter.com/andrewhussie/status/26057436429 . March 4, 2016 . dead.
  33. Web site: D'Orazio . Dante . May 23, 2015 . Star Trek fan gives William Riker the hilarious, strange TV show he deserves . June 25, 2021 . The Verge . en.
  34. Web site: Homestuck Adventure Game . Kickstarter . August 30, 2013.
  35. Web site: Introducing Namco High . ShiftyLook . August 30, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130828111311/http://www.shiftylook.com/news/post/introducing-namco-high . August 28, 2013.

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