PC
Pages: 1 2
Artists and Engineers vs. Beancounters and MBAs: The Saga
By Arclayn on January 17th, 2010 under General, Mac, PC, Technology,Cross posted to Arclayn's Livejournal.
I present an epic tale of conflict and sorrow where great men and women do battle against their misguided rulers for freedom and principles!
Sounds like a cheesy pitch to promote the latest RPG, eh? Hehehe... read on.
A buddy of mine who lives in California USA was recently telling me about a new game called Torchlight, which is made in the tradition of Diablo. For me, this is intriguing as the Diablo series has been and continues to be (despite its ancientness) the best hack-and-slash video games ever. What's even more intriguing is that this new game is made by "ex-Blizzard employees". As the Diablo series was created by Blizzard's subsidiary studio, Blizzard North, that note caught my attention.
A few weeks later, I download a demo of Torchlight just to see if it lives up to all the fuss. The short and simple is: no it doesn't. Before I move on, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: Torchlight is a decent game, despite my upcoming scathing summary. That scathe starts out noting Torchlight's complete lack of originality. Torchlight would be borderline plagiarism of the Diablo series if not for the key fact that the development team is largely comprised of people who did work for Blizzard North, and thusly had created Diablo! Despite the developers' best recycling efforts, the game is lacking a few things. It lacks originality (can't stress this enough!), it lacks multiplayer, it lacks some polish, and except for veteran voice actress Lani Minella -- it lacks good voice acting. Torchlight is very lacking in comparison to what placed the Diablo series at the pinnacle of awesomeness. But with all its flaws, Torchlight is not a bad game. It is not awesome, but it is competent. I suspect that Torchlight's mere competent outcome was held back by lack of project funding and time, not lack of talent. I'll get back to this soon.
But this epic tale or cheesy pitch isn't really about Torchlight. Rather, Torchlight intrigued me to read about where this story has its beginnings -- the "ex-Blizzard" employees. Seems at around the year 2003, key people within Blizzard North (a subsidiary studio of Blizzard Entertainment) had a difference of opinion with the beancounters and MBA stiff-suits within Blizzard's parent company, Vivendi.
The nature of this disagreement eludes me, but it is clear that the differences were significant and the two parties couldn't find enough common ground in whatever the dispute was. My significant other suspects it was some labor contract dispute. I suspect the disagreement stems from the philosophical differences and cultural divide common between workers and business managers in the USA. Or perhaps both. Regardless, that is all speculation. What is not speculation is that many people who were key to Blizzard's success resigned and went different ways.
At my time providing IT tech support at a General Electric manufacturing plant, one thing I observed about American business culture is that the stiff-suit managers often fail to understand that workers are the lifeblood of the company. No workers equals no product. No product equals no business. It is a pretty simple concept, really. In the case of Blizzard, that paradigm gets even worse as video game developers (the workers) are highly educated and talented people. They are visual artists, musicians, writers, mathematicians, computer scientists and engineers, etc. These are not your "warm-body" work-drones. No no! Video game developers are a unique and rare breed! Angering this kind of workforce is a potentially bad idea!
I have read that the numerous resignations forced the cancellation of a "Blizzard North kind of game" and the closure of the entire Blizzard North studio. Here we have proof of what I just said: "No workers equals no product. No product equals no business." Therefore, Blizzard North becomes defunct. But where did all those people go?
Some of the people who left Blizzard North wound up forming ArenaNet and created a new game called Guild Wars. My buddy in California played this game for some time, but I felt the game amounted to very shiny rubbish. Technologically speaking, the game was marvelous. As for game design, I had no use for it. It is a clear case that "shiny" alone does not make a good game. Despite my negative opinion, Guild Wars became a popular phenomenon known for large scale multiplayer play without subscription fees. Seems today, though, that most of the bluster surrounding Guild Wars has died off, and although a Guild Wars sequel was announced two years ago... it is still missing in action.
I list Bill Roper among my most favorite video game developers ever. He is the man responsible for the success of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo, and he was among the "key people" who left Blizzard North. After leaving Blizzard North, Mr. Roper founded Flagship Studios and created Hellgate London. I haven't played Hellgate so I cannot comment on how good or bad the game is. I have read that Hellgate has a metacritic average of 70%. That's not great, but that's not bad. Unfortunately, Hellgate ended up a commercial failure and as a result, Flagship Studios dissolved and the Hellgate intellectual property now lies in the hands of Korean game publisher, Hanbitsoft.
These days, Mr. Roper works for Cryptic Studios. He is overseeing the production of Champions Online, an upcoming MMO game based on the Champions paper-and-pencil hobby game. Supposedly, Bill Roper loved playing Champions as a child, so in the end he winds up doing what is likely a really nice job for him. Kudos!
And now we come to Torchlight's origins. Other "key people" who left Blizzard North helped to found Runic Games. Runic Games is also, in part, a studio built upon the ashes of Flagship Studios, although without Bill Roper. Runic Games was founded in 2008, and a year later they published Torchlight. A single year is pretty quick development time! And considering that Torchlight is a decent game, it says something about the talent of these developers: They know what they are doing. Given more time and funding, I expect that Torchlight would have climbed to the summit of Mount Awesome. However, considering the development tools they used, it becomes obvious that funding and time were not on their side.
Torchlight is built on a kludge variety of free-and-open-source technologes (OGRE 3D and CEGUI) and inexpensively licensed technologies (Particle Universe and FMOD). Certainly this selection of tools is not state-of-the-art like Unreal Engine 3 or Blizzard's own custom in-house development suite. The end result is a lightweight game that would have been very impressive maybe four or five years ago. However, for what Runic Games had, Torchlight does play slick and smooth and the visuals are good enough. To start with something substantially less and still come out with something competent is the work of true talent, and Torchlight is existing proof, when one looks deep down, that these guys have talent.
As for Blizzard Entertainment, the loss of Blizzard North means they are lacking many of the original talents that made them awesome in the first place. I can't say, but I want to think that the stiff-suits in Vivendi learned something from this experience as they had a lot of talented and experienced people to replace in order to keep Blizzard Entertainment successful. Afterall, game developers can't be plucked from a tree. Even so, Blizzard's main office managed to keep their momentum in the realm of awesome. Since the collapse of Blizzard North, World of Warcraft became an instant success the following year. Plus, Blizzard now has two more games on the horizon: Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. Despite not being backed by the original talents, both games still look like they will be outstanding when they go gold!
For the fans who love Blizzard games (such as myself), things are looking up. For Bill Roper, things were shaky for a while but it looks to me that he's got a good gig now. I hope that Torchlight, despite its complete lack of originality, does well enough so that Runic Games can properly fund a real project and show the world just how good they really are. And finally, time will tell if this cheesy, epic tale has a happy ending for all.
Arclayn MoonSword
3 comments | Read More...
An Effectively Massive RPG
By Arclayn on December 5th, 2009 under RPG, X360, PC,
Being an American, I do not know how well this game was received in Europe. But in America, I do know that Mass Effect was the centerpiece of a gargantuan hoax that was shamefully propogated by a major news outlet. After that, the PC release became embroiled in a very real controversy involving Digital Rights Management that was exceptionally harsh and unfair to paying customers. It's all very sad, doubly so as this game is amazing!
First and foremost, Mass Effect is an action RPG, but it is unlike any RPG normally seen in the console mainstream. Indeed, Bioware, Mass Effect's creators, got their start making games (and software game engines!) for the PC. Bioware's first foray into console game development is with MDK2 for the Sega Dreamcast and Playstation 2, but it won't be until the publication of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on the original Xbox that Bioware shall truly break ground in console video games.
Anyone who has played Knights of the Old Republic or Jade Empire should already be familiar at how very different Bioware's presentation style really is. Those who have been following Bioware since its early days making PC games (like myself) have seen this style evolve brilliantly over 10+ years, having started with Baldur's Gate back in 1998!
As an RPG, the first question expected would be, "Is the story any good?" Absolutely, the story is excellent. Mass Effect is a space opera with all the requisites: space, spaceships, extra-terrestial worlds, lots of aliens (and not all of them hostile!), warfare, and even some intergalactic politics. As with any RPG, Mass Effect is driven by its story. Aside from being really well written, Mass Effect also tries to explain its pseudo-scientific elements in enough detail to be "believable", but not too much to confuse players. This game is deep and detailed, although what truly sets this game apart is how the story is presented.
For starters, you have the option to custom-create the protagonist, who is a space marine simply named "Commander Shepard". Shepard is completely customizable... gender, military specialty, background, and you can even customize his/her face! Facial customization is quite complex as just about every facial feature can be altered. As no two protagonists need to be anything alike, this gives the player a stronger sense of being in the game. Among those who choose to customize their protagonist, each player's "Commander Shepard" is their very own. The others who wish to jump right in can instead select a "pre-generated" John Shepard or Jane Shepard.
The concept may sound intimidating to the Square-Enix initiated, but it is this dymanic of being able to choose that sets Mass Effect (and most other Bioware RPGs) apart from the crowd! Understand that there are really no right or wrong answers. For starters, Shepard's responses allow him/her to grow as a character. Will Shepard become a cool-headed professional, or will Shepard become the kind of tough and hardened marine that even scares the grim reaper? To choose the path of paragon or renegade is entirely up the the player, and they are not mutually exclusive attitudes! There is no real good and evil here, so every marine is likely to achieve at least a dash of one trait, even while favoring the other.
Aside from character growth, some of Commander Shepard's choices will have consequences that affect the story. Keep in mind, again, there are no right or wrong choices, but some of Shepard's choices can have far reaching ramifications. So far reaching, they extend beyond one game and into two! Keep your old save games, so sayeth Casey Hudson (project director)! The choices made in the first game can be ported to affect the story of Mass Effect 2! Obviously, you don't have to have an old savegame to play Mass Effect 2, but I expect that having them could possibly alter the game compared to "generating" a new Commander Shepard. Talk about potential replay value!
Mass Effect is available on Xbox360 and the PC. The PC version has a questionable license agreement involving an oppressive digital rights management policy, but it also has gameplay improvements over its older Xbox360 brother. Even still, the Xbox360 version doesn't come with any special strings attached, and as such is the version I recommend most.
Last I read, Mass Effect 2 is slated for an early 2010 release on Xbox360 and PC under the Electronic Arts brand. I have no idea how that release date relates to gamers in Europe, though. Hopefully, it'll be a simultaneous international release.
Arclayn MoonSword
13 comments | Read More...
Will Kill, Can't Swim
By Tania on October 25th, 2009 under X360, PS3, PC, Action/Adventure,I’ve always been wary of action games, because I tend to think too much before acting, and was concerned that my reflexes wouldn’t be up to the task. However, as time went by, the “you won’t know until you try” credo grew on me, and I decided to expand my game collection with new genres. One of my friends pointed out that “you can’t own an Xbox 360 and not have played Assassin’s Creed”. Since the premise of the game already intrigued me, that finalized my decision.
The overall impression is a very favourable one. But I must say that both the storyline and characters left me with mixed feelings. Incarnating a skilled assassin during the Third Crusade plainly and simply rocks. Altair is undoubtedly one of the biggest highlights of the game. Maybe it’s just because I’m female—and therefore, you guessed it, find him scrumptiously shady—, but he really did the trick for me. The sleek moves, the sneakiness, the arrogance, the taciturnity, the beauty and symbolism of the name…heck, even the missing finger. There’s just one problem: why can’t a professional assassin swim? Seems a bit absurd to me…especially since I’m really not agile when it comes to hopping across poles and jetties, which resulted in my drowning poor Altair a countless number of times. But that’s just about his only drawback. However, since Altair isn’t the “real” hero of the game, that leaves us with Desmond, Altair’s descendent in modern times, as the main protagonist. And he has the charisma of a wet sock. Seriously, apart from the odd sarcastic quip, there isn’t a single interesting thing about him. And, yes, I know he’s supposed to look identical to Altair, but personality does go a long way, even for a fictional character, because Desmond feels like a complete doofus.
It’s pretty much the same issue with the storyline: the Medieval conspiracy works very well, and some of the assassinations are truly memorable. Garnier de Naplouse, the Hospitaller leader (second or third target, depending on the player’s choice), springs to mind: very convincingly unsettling, and the setting for his episode was well-nigh perfect. On top of all that, I like the sonorities of his name…My own weird tastes, I know. Moving right along, had they decided to make the Medieval part of the story stand on its own, I’m sure it would’ve worked just fine. The modern-day part just feels tacked on and uninteresting. Perhaps because it features Desmond. Perhaps because it’s simply innately boring.
Combat was my biggest dread in this game, for a good reason. The stealthy stuff, such as creeping up on an unsuspecting victim and swiftly sticking a knife in their back, came naturally enough. But open combat took some genuine work. I’m sure that it’s nothing too complicated for people who are used to this type of game, but I really had to give my reflexes a good shake to get used to the blocking and dodging. The beginning of the game had me spewing my guts quite a few times, which isn’t very impressive for a master assassin, as I’m sure you’ll concur. But it did progressively get better, I came to appreciate the various types of available weapons, and my swashbuckling skills were much more suited to Altair’s style by the end. Speaking of style, I must really commend the fluidity of the battle movements. When controlled correctly in open combat, Altair looks like he’s performing some sort of deadly dance…*drool*
The sandbox aspect of the game does its job well. It’s pretty fun to be able to clamber up just about anything (Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem was a definite highlight), break pots and dive into haystacks. Scaling minarets and belfries to get an overview of the area and then swallow-diving off them is particularly impressive, especially for someone who’s afraid of heights, like me…The leap from the cross of the cathedral of Acre, which is the highest building in the game, was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced.
Other positive aspects include graphics and localization. The former are beautiful, luminous and lush (well, as lush as Medieval Palestine can be), and the latter impressed me quite a bit. Historical accuracy may have been doctored a bit—most of the assassination targets were real historical figures, but they weren’t quite as…colourful as in the game—, but the linguistics are masterful. Ubisoft is a Canadian company, so I guess it stands to reason that their French would be good, but it still felt weird to finally hear a proper French accent in an Anglo-Saxon game. Even random soldiers who spoke entirely in French (“Je vais t’étriper!”) were perfectly fluent. Same for the German, as far as I could tell. I can’t vouch for the Arabic, but it sounded genuine enough. The only thing that could’ve made it better would’ve been if Altair himself had an accent. But it’s just a minor nitpick.
However, there are more problems to mitigate the positive points a little. First of all, the beggar women who plague every city are the devil incarnate (“I’m poor and sick and hungry!”); if you don’t know what I mean, play the game, and you soon will. Secondly, a lot of people complain about the game’s repetitiveness, and while I found each assassination episode to be interesting enough to make up for the fact that you essentially had to do the same thing every time, I can understand how it can seem tedious. There are also quite a few glitches (think random NPCs in gravity-defying positions on rooftops), which give the game a bit of an unpolished feel. The music is adequate, but nothing more. And the ending is just bad. I understand that they wanted to tie it in with the upcoming Assassin’s Creed II, but it was probably a little excessive. It’s like the game didn’t end at all.
Nevertheless, in spite of these various issues, I’m still looking forward to the next installment in the series. Roaming across Renaissance Venice is going to be a blast. Even if it seems like Desmorond will be back, and that Ezio (not sure I like that name) looks a tad more gimmicky than Altair (experimental gun prototype? really? well, at least I hope he knows how to swim). But I ain’t gonna complain before I sample the goods.
9 comments | Read More...
A grab bag of thoughts
By Arclayn on September 15th, 2009 under General, RPG, X360, PS3, Mac, PC, Online,Cross Posted to Arclayn's Livejournal.
I have not posted in some time, and I am not inspired to discuss any one topic in length. So today, I offer a bunch of unrelated thoughts...
Recently, the Dungeons and Dragons official MMO was relaunched as a free to play game in North America. Those in Europe, who still have to purchase subscriptions, are not missing much. I sampled the game for a few hours and concluded it is quite terrible. Why is my elf swinging a rapier like a baton? Why doesn't the dungeon master actually say something other than what is already obvious? Oh I can go on and on about what's wrong with this game, but I'd rather not. Did the guys at Turbine get anything right? The writing is good, which is a rarity among free to play MMO games. The 3D modelling and textures are good too, when not animated (q.v. rapier/baton reference). Beyond that, not much else. The boys and girls at Turbine could take more than a few lessons from Bioware and Blizzard.
The wine project is an attempt to create a work environment within Linux/Unix that can run Windows software, including DirectX video games! While wine is not perfect, it is improving over time. I recently learned that this project is (supposedly) now working well with Mac OS X Leopard (that's Mac OS v10.5 for the Mac-uninitiated).
The notes on WineHQ's wiki regarding Macs are quite ambiguous. It doesn't help that there isn't a distributed binary for Mac, which means you have to download the source code and build it yourself. That is certainly NOT a task for just anyone, even someone who is "computer saavy". Even IT specialists (like myself) cringe at this prospect. All is not lost, however. Macports does make the build, install, and management process a bit easier, but you still have to be comfortable with the Terminal bash shell. You also need to read the online documentation very carefully.
I'm really looking forward to Dragon Age: Origins. Bioware is to Western style RPGs as Square-Enix is to Japanese style RPGs: Win and awesome! Last May, Bioware announced that they won't be using Securom with Dragon Age! I guess Electronic Arts (Bioware's owner/publisher) did learn a thing or three about how to properly treat a paying customer!
Arclayn MoonSword
1 comment | Read More...
Kil'jaeden Finds This Offering... Inadequate
By Arclayn on July 12th, 2009 under PC,
Are you scared yet? You ought to be, for the demonlord Kil'jaeden disapproves. He is not featured in the World of Warcraft promotion of Peggle. What's worse, his subordinate, Illidan Stormrage, got his own level! What does a demonlord have to do to get recognition around here? Annihilate Azeroth? Well, that hadn't gone so well in the past. Some demonlord... Pffft!
Point thy sword over yonder to get a free download of 10 original levels of Peggle for the PC. While your there, let the Peggle gods know that intarwebs overlord Joshie also disapproves of this offering for there is no Mac version! Afterall, the original Peggle, Peggle Nights and all four Warcraft games have Mac versions... Boo! Phail!
But what is Peggle? Pure video game addictive bliss!
Arclayn
No comments | Read More...
Have you ever taken a hellhound out for a walk?
By Arclayn on July 2nd, 2009 under RPG, PC, Online,I know of many people who are resistant to playing Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games, due mostly to monthly subscription fees. One pays 40 to 50 gil at the store for the game client, and then another 8 - 15 gil per month to be able to play. The gil can add up quick.
Unfortunately, the subscription fees are a necessary evil to support MMO games. Yes, they do make the game more profitable, but without some kind of recurring finance model, the game would go under. Guaranteed! MMO games are dynamic, and through their life they will undergo a metamorphic evolution that will keep an entire game development team busy for years after the game originally went gold. Those codemonkeys, pencil-slingers, and database overlords do want a gilcheck each week. Then there are the costs associated with running an MMO game's service, which far outweigh the costs of other types of online game services.
But how-about I tell you of a MMO game that is free to play? Take a look at Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online for the PC! < /End very bad shameless plug >
Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online (SMTIO from here on) is based on a long series of strategy games and RPGs made by Atlus. You may have heard of Persona or Digital Devil Saga. They are all related.
Yes, SMTIO is free... on the basic level. The game client is free to download, and there are NO subscription fees! The game is instead financed through an optional micropayment system. Basically, you spend your hard won gil to get "AP" (Aeria Points). Then you may spend your AP on additional content for the game. However, it is still optional as you are not forced into buying anything extra. I do have to say, though, that some of the extra content is pretty damn cool. Never-the-less, I haven't spent a single gil and don't intend to.
I expect that this micropayment system is less reliable to earn funds than recurring subscription fees, because the game is far from perfect. The user interface is clumsy and primitive, the camera control is aggravating, the graphics are bland (but not bad), the script is infected with a bad case of Engrish, and the service gets a bit laggy on the weekends. So, why would anyone want to play? Well, it's free, the music is good, it's free, there are some very interesting gameplay mechanics, it's free, I love my little "leader pixie" demon, it's free, I really, really want a fire-breathing tiger, and did I mention that it's free?
The game is played out through several "Acts" to tell the story about a dystopia future, taking place in Tokyo, in which supernatural demons have returned to wreak havoc. Don't read too deeply into this. The development crew is in Japan, and the word "demon" has a very different connotation in Japan than it does in America and Europe. These are not the soul sucking, flesh ripping, acid drooling demons inspired by "Hell" horror movies. Instead, these demons are inspired by myths and legends from Japan's history and also that of the celts and germanics, among others. These demons include fairies, mythic spirits, elementals, powerful beasts, etc.
The player is a "Demon Buster", a specialist in negotiating with and eliminating the supernatural. The negotiating part owes to Pokemon in that the player can convince a demon to become an ally. However, unlike Pokemon, demon busters fight alongside their demons to work as a team! There are many kinds of demon busters that can be built through attributes, skills, and equipment, although there are three basic types recognized: melee combatant, gunfighter, and spellcaster. Creating hybrids is very possible, and really the only "wrong" way to build up a demon buster is to try to acquire every skill, as that is impossible.
As many ways as there are to build up a demon buster, there is an even larger variety of demons to negotiate into an ally. Some are strong, some are fast, some are magically powerful, and others are adept at multiple traits. There exist 129 in all. Demons can also be "fused" into other demon types at the "Cathedral of Shadows", so you can take two demons that have fallen behind in development or otherwise are underperforming in battle and create a whole new demon, usually of higher level. The dymanic of character building and the relationship with demon allies is what makes this game so intriguing. The world environment depicted is intriguing, as well.
Since it is free and doesn't totally suck, SMTIO is worth a look. All you have to lose is free time. Plus, if you find that you don't like the game, the publisher (Aeria Games) has several other "free" MMOs to try out. Just a word of caution: As "MMO" does stand for "Massively Multiplayer Online", you will find these kinds of games far more enjoyable if you make some friends or bring a friend or two along. Hey! It's "free" for them too!
Arclayn
2 comments | Read More...
Pages: 1 2
