Game News Bad News: Chaos Chronicles development on hold due to legal trouble with bitComposer

[VonVentrue]

Chaos Chronicles is easily one of the most promising projects to have been announced in years, shutting it down would be a disaster.
Don't you dare, bitComposer.

 

[mikaelis]

Where is everybody getting the info that the game is/was 95% complete? The last thing I saw was a video that showed people running around empty maps and somebody casting the fireball spell about five times. I'd like to see more, so I can get mad about it being cancelled or postponed indefinitely.

Devs were pretty open about the development for the last year or so. They scheduled the date for second quarter of 2013. Even if it was a mess bug-wise, all systems, story and so on were in. Unless it was all lies.

 

[Burning Bridges]

In fact it's so sad that it's funny.

But tbh I never really believed in it anyway.

 

[mikaelis]

In fact it's so sad that it's funny.

But tbh I never really believed in it anyway.

Hehe, I remember shortly after it was announced here (more than halfway finished according to devs), someone was asking "where was a hook in that". Guess we finally found it...

 

[Burning Bridges]

Where is everybody getting the info that the game is/was 95% complete? The last thing I saw was a video that showed people running around empty maps and somebody casting the fireball spell about five times. I'd like to see more, so I can get mad about it being cancelled or postponed indefinitely.

Devs were pretty open about the development for the last year or so. They scheduled the date for second quarter of 2013. Even if it was a mess bug-wise, all systems, story and so on were in. Unless it was all lies.

Probably no one lies. There are just different degrees of "finished". Normally the amount of works spikes in the last 5% of any programming job, even in small projects. I have no experience with projects as big as an RPG, but it must be a tremendous amount of work until everything works. Under normal circumstances, if 95% of the work was completed it means there is another 90% still to do.

Coreplay will know, and bitcomposer will know, so in any event completion of the game would be still some time out. But if work really stopped in January, it normally means many people have left, introducing new people costs additional time and money, and it could be the end already.

 

[Burning Bridges]

In fact it's so sad that it's funny.

But tbh I never really believed in it anyway.

Hehe, I remember shortly after it was announced here (more than halfway finished according to devs), someone was asking "where was a hook in that". Guess we finally found it...

Of course, there had to be some snag, such a great game from a major publisher, tthe undertakers of Jagged Aliance even, with an official forum on rpgcodex, it just couldn't be true.

 

[Burning Bridges]

because developers don't know how to handle deadlines. They need publishers meddling in development. Right?

Fixed for unfortunate truth.

You see, a developer is interested in procrastinating for as long as possible. You are getting funded for as long as you work on the game; once the game is out, the prospects get much bleaker, from a stress of having to tread the new uncharted territory to plain old layoffs of excess staff. For a grunt in the field, it is the process which makes his living, not the result. And while few (if any) employers are as nefarious as to procrastinate intentionally in order to cheat the publisher out of more checks, everyone has a subconscious desire to delay and prolong the development, which impacts productivity and indeed causes delays.

Meanwhile, every project eventually comes to a point where any further expenses go beyond even the most optimistic sales estimations. That is the point where a publisher usually pulls the plug.

This is not exclusive to publisher-funded model. An owner of independent studio might be desperate to have the game finally out and recoup his expenses, but still his staff wants the monthly checks keep coming in more so than finishing the game. Ditto with kickstarter, we have already seen the first "dear kickstarter, thank you for backing, but we have already run out of your money, so kindly fund us the second time" campaigns, and I predict nearly every KS project will eventually end up like that.

tl;dr: monthly salaries and release-oriented economics are a troublesome match.

From this information it may be that bitcomposer gave only a modest sum to complete the game, and Coreplay was anticipating more because bitcomposer would be under constraint to salvage their investment. But that's not how these guys tick. I remember what a previous boss told me about meetings with venture capitalists. They took our CEO into a room filled with pcs, printers and other office equipment. "This is what happens to you when you run out of money. We can give you 1 million now, but don't expect we will give you a second and third million later, because we wont."

This is not the type of game bitcomposer would normally want to produce. It could have been an experiment as in "we can take a small risk with these guys and give them some money", which failed.

 

[Horus]

Why don't they use pre-order system for quick cash grab? It would definitely work if they manage to get it on steam and just add couple of pre-order bonuses like extra characters,weapons...

 

[Stabwound]

Hasn't a pc version of Dark Souls been released thanks to a petition?

It all started when one of the employees of the company basically posted something on a forum like "hey, wink wink, nudge nudge, an online petition might change our minds " so it's hard not to think that they played it out like a publicity stunt.

Anyway, this news is fucking tragic. We're really going to have to wait to see how this unfolds, because as shitty as everyone likes to call bitcomposer, this really could be a case of incompetent devs not meeting deadlines. They talk a lot, but they really don't have much to show for the work they've done.

There's also the fact that this began before the kickstarter craze, and now that it's no longer a unique butterfly, they might be more wary about it.

All in all, I get the feeling that the game is not nearly as far completed as they like to admit. I still want it badly, though.

 

[tuluse]

From this information it may be that bitcomposer gave only a modest sum to complete the game, and Coreplay was anticipating more because bitcomposer would be under constraint to salvage their investment. But that's not how these guys tick. I remember what a previous boss told me about meetings with venture capitalists. They took our CEO into a room filled with pcs, printers and other office equipment. "This is what happens to you when you run out of money. We can give you 1 million now, but don't expect we will give you a second and third million later, because we wont."

This is not the type of game bitcomposer would normally want to produce. It could have been an experiment as in "we can take a small risk with these guys and give them some money", which failed.

If that was the case, why would they file an injunction to stop making the game? Wouldn't they be fine with Coreplay working on the game to eventually get to a finished point?

 

[Cynic]

Maybe shitcomposer pulled funds as soon as they found out where the forums were hosted...

 

[villain of the story]

At least, provided with bavarian funding (that has to be repaid with the first sales) we don't need to create embarrassing videos on Kickstarter. And we don't put the risk of development to all those faithful RPG fellows out there, especially the last point let me sleep better at night.

Maybe now they will make embarrassing videos, begging for money?

 

[A user named cat]

So bitCompost will throw money into majestic Citizen Kanes like The Rockin Dead, Giana Sisters and various generic strategy games but not this? Great company.

 

[Koschey]

Blech, I was really looking forward to CC. Hopefully the problem - whatever it is - gets sorted out.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Maybe shitcomposer pulled funds as soon as they found out where the forums were hosted...

This may actually a part of the truth. I found it totally bizarre when they created their forum here. It's possible that bitcomposer was completely flabbergasted too, and that it was the dumbest thing ever done by a publisher-dependent developer in years.

 

[mondblut]

RPG Codex. We Kill Dreams.

 

[Gakkone]

Our own dreams at that.

 

[spectre]

So, this is the point where I come out of the woodwork and say, yeah, shitcomposer, I told you so.

 

[sser]

While I was looking forward to Chaos Chronicles, it's totally possible that the developers just didn't complete the game in a way they had projected it to the publishers or there's some other bullshit going down. BitComposer's proclivity for publishing a multitude of shitgames has me scratching my head as to why they'd think of abandoning a turn-based RPG when the water-level for that exact genre is very quickly rising. I'd imagine a publisher with little regard for quality would sooner shit a crap title onto the gravy train than just abandon it altogether.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Maybe it's a good game that would ruin their image of shitcomposer? Brand image and all that...

 

[ikarinokami]

I'm guessing this is left over trust issues from JA BIA. It would not suprise me in the least, if bitcomposer hired new devs to finish the project.

 

[Indranys]

Any new infos guys??
Where's Hobgoblin?
Dammit we need some clarifications ASAP!
It's just a minor setback right? They'll eventually release it right?
Fuck these uncertainties is killing me!
Damn this game hyped me up like Bethesda worshipers to 11.11.11!
I like almost everything they showed us. I love the arts, the sprites, even the color schemes!
They can kill my pet birdie, mutilate my cat and shit.
But by Todd Howard's butt, I won't let them rape my dream like this!

 

[toro]

They are in silenzio stampa. Shitty situation.

 

[Frusciante]

So... Kickstarter incoming?

 

[Stabwound]

This may actually a part of the truth. I found it totally bizarre when they created their forum here. It's possible that bitcomposer was completely flabbergasted too, and that it was the dumbest thing ever done by a publisher-dependent developer in years.

I too found that very odd, but I don't see how it would be relevant. Sure, everyone here shits on bitcomposer here, but I doubt it has anything to do with the current situation.

I still have no idea why they didn't run their own forums, though. It even makes the Codex seem a little tacky.