By Moris Go To PostDeadSpace was a great franchise, shame that their vision wasn't seen to fruition.
I'm probably one of the few people that liked media spinoffs more than the games itself :lol:
I'm up to the point where it clears that working with Disney's Lucasfilm means rodblocks and micromanaging at every turn. Makes sense for the lack of Star Wars games that currently exist.
Some sad stuff in the article, mandating that the game has to hit +90 metacritic is ridiculous, hope the employees can find a better place to work for.
By Dark PhaZe Go To PostWhy is my first thought that its news about EvilLore selling Neogaf.I bet you Statham, Stinkles, and Penello are working on an offer as we speak. They're just trying to get Spencer and Hyrb on board.
Every EA studio suffers from the monetary success of FIFA's UT and Battlefield. Can't stray far off from the formula. At least other studios or creative industries still make efforts to pretend creatives are behind the wheel at most turns. Jeff Gerstmann was right when he said EA is reaching bottom tier in terms of identity outside of those 2 flagship IPs.
Funny, they started with an open world game. That got cancelled for a linear single player one. That got cancelled and EA Vancouver is doing the open world game.
It's so disappointing to hear about all this, I'm really eager for a new single player focused Star Wars games, but they keep running into problems. Battlefront II's single player will have to do for now I guess.
By RATHasReturned Go To PostI'm up to the point where it clears that working with Disney's Lucasfilm means rodblocks and micromanaging at every turn. Makes sense for the lack of Star Wars games that currently exist.Everyone’s pinning it all on EA, but this is what I’m thinking. Since Disney bought Lucasfilm, 4 out of 5 Star Wars movies have run into some kind of behind the scenes conflict, usually with the directors.
The overarching theme of this article is basically that they were hamstrung by being located in the nice part of San Francisco and EA had but only one Montreal to spare.
At Naughty Dog, Hennig had always worked in tandem with a second director whose job was to manage gameplay. On the brilliant Uncharted 2, that role was filled by Bruce Straley. According to three people familiar with the situation, Hennig said she didn’t feel like she had anyone who could fill that role on Ragtag. As a result, sources said, Hennig took control of every aspect of the project, from story to gameplay to level design. “Amy is amazing with story, tone, a lot of stuff,” said one person who worked on the team. “But she’s not a level designer, so if you’re a gameplay person, you would not be as into Amy controlling everything. Whereas if you’re a story person, you’d be like, ‘Sure, man, lead the way.’”interesting bit.
At least three former Visceral employees told me they left the studio because they felt frustrated by Hennig’s direction. Said another person who worked with Hennig: “Amy’s phenomenally smart, fiercely smart, talented, incredibly good at cutscenes. But she was balanced by other talented individuals at Naughty Dog… This was a team she hadn’t worked with before. I felt like she didn’t really trust us.”
Yeah, I can't really see Hennig going the AAA route anymore. Where could she land? Acti's got enough worries and Ubi's heavily international. She might have to go indie.
incredibly well written article.
that whole story reminds me of the development of mass effect andromeda though
that whole story reminds me of the development of mass effect andromeda though
By recon_zero Go To PostJason is the best thing to happen to KotakuDude has been doing some amazing investigative work. By far my favorite gaming journalist in the field and it's not even close.
Man that all sounds like a nightmare. I hope that is nowhere near typical of how game development is and every part of that was an anomaly.
By Grimsat Go To PostSome sad stuff in the article, mandating that the game has to hit +90 metacritic is ridiculous, hope the employees can find a better place to work for.Yeah, that's an absolutely ridiculous thing to mandate. Like, how does anyone control that?
“She was giving these massive presentations on the story, themes,” said one person who worked on Ragtag. “EA executives are like, ‘FIFA Ultimate Team makes a billion dollars a year.’ Where’s your version of that?”What the fuck lol
You might not even have noticed the way Dodger touched that door, but for Visceral, that simple animation was months in the making. They spent hours and hours of development time just working on the way in which Dodger would touch the door. This was a frustrating experience for some members of the team, who felt like they didn’t have enough core features in place to be spending so much time on a demo. That demo may have looked good, but people who worked on it said you couldn’t play very much. “Dodger couldn’t even shoot his gun and we’re fine-tuning where his hand placement needed to be,” said one Ragtag developer. “We don’t have a single environment for Dodger to exist in… How do you build a system if you don’t know what your average area is gonna be?”
Ragtag: Door Touching Simulator
By Fawfulator Go To PostEveryone’s pinning it all on EA, but this is what I’m thinking. Since Disney bought Lucasfilm, 4 out of 5 Star Wars movies have run into some kind of behind the scenes conflict, usually with the directors.No, Lucas Arts/Lucasfilm have always been this heavy-handed when it comes to having their IP represented in video games.
By Rmagnus Go To PostOutsource it to P* make it like DMC with light saber and force powers.Too late, it’s now an open world lootbox simulator.
By Kibner Go To PostNo, Lucas Arts/Lucasfilm have always been this heavy-handed when it comes to having their IP represented in video games.Really? I didn’t know this. I do vaguely remember that George suggested some weird stuff for Force Unleashed (Darth Talon and Darth Maul are friends! A hundred and something years apart!), but I kind of assumed they gave a wider leash just based on the sheer breadth of games that were coming out. But then, I was in elementary school during the last big boom of Star Wars games, so I wasn’t exactly keeping up with behind the scenes info in the industry.
By Fawfulator Go To PostReally? I didn’t know this. I do vaguely remember that George suggested some weird stuff for Force Unleashed (Darth Talon and Darth Maul are friends! A hundred and something years apart!), but I kind of assumed they gave a wider leash just based on the sheer breadth of games that were coming out. But then, I was in elementary school during the last big boom of Star Wars games, so I wasn’t exactly keeping up with behind the scenes info in the industry.I know for Star Wars Galaxies, every bit of lore and art had to be approved.
they talk about that in the article
Another red flag was Star Wars—or, more specifically, the fact that Star Wars was owned by a different company. Visceral staff say that the creative cabal at Star Wars owner Lucasfilm treated them well, giving them flexibility and freedom, but one of the drawbacks to working with another company’s franchise was that they had to get approval for everything.
On an Uncharted game, for example, one of Nathan Drake’s costumes might go through a few rounds of iteration at Naughty Dog, then be finalized in a week. “With Star Wars you could be talking months—potentially years,” said one Visceral staffer. “Oh, would Dodger really look like this? What would his weapon look like? Potentially years of that. Would he carry this? Would that really work in the Star Wars universe? With Uncharted, they can build any world they come up with, because it’s their world. With Star Wars you have to have that back and forth… People think, ‘Oh it must be so cool to work on Star Wars.’ It actually kind of sucks.”
Another red flag was Star Wars—or, more specifically, the fact that Star Wars was owned by a different company. Visceral staff say that the creative cabal at Star Wars owner Lucasfilm treated them well, giving them flexibility and freedom, but one of the drawbacks to working with another company’s franchise was that they had to get approval for everything.
On an Uncharted game, for example, one of Nathan Drake’s costumes might go through a few rounds of iteration at Naughty Dog, then be finalized in a week. “With Star Wars you could be talking months—potentially years,” said one Visceral staffer. “Oh, would Dodger really look like this? What would his weapon look like? Potentially years of that. Would he carry this? Would that really work in the Star Wars universe? With Uncharted, they can build any world they come up with, because it’s their world. With Star Wars you have to have that back and forth… People think, ‘Oh it must be so cool to work on Star Wars.’ It actually kind of sucks.”
By Fawfulator Go To PostReally? I didn’t know this. I do vaguely remember that George suggested some weird stuff for Force Unleashed (Darth Talon and Darth Maul are friends! A hundred and something years apart!), but I kind of assumed they gave a wider leash just based on the sheer breadth of games that were coming out. But then, I was in elementary school during the last big boom of Star Wars games, so I wasn’t exactly keeping up with behind the scenes info in the industry.
It's because in LF there is only one interpretation of the Star Wars universe. Lucasfilms'.
Seeing Wolfenstein 2 "only" average an 89 on Metacritic makes the revelation in that article that EA demanded a 90 minimum even crazier.
By reilo Go To PostWhat the fuck lolSounds to me like the project was doomed from the get go. All the poetic waxing about themes and how a character touches a door isn't going to make for a compelling game. Honestly having something playable seems much more important ...
Ragtag: Door Touching Simulator
Eh the more I read about this, the less I can blame EA for the decision. Still sad about it, but I understand.