Game News Grimoire delayed. For one final time?

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Cleveland Mark Blakemore; Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar

Grimoire has been delayed... again. Some call him a charlatan, others criticise him for being a long-running fraud (at least one person we know called him a Nazi this one time), while true-believers refer to him as a messiah - struggling bravely to complete the greatest RPG ever known.

Cleveland Mark Blakemore, Developer of Grimoire​

Whatever your take on Cleveland Mark Blakemore is, there's no denying that Grimoire must be the longest in-development RPG in the entire history of the RPG industry. Started in around 1995, Grimoire was Cleve's personal take on the Wizardy series (a series which like many RPG series before it and since, kind of went to shit. You can read the full history of the series' developers, Sir-Tech - Cleve himself provides some input).

The game's system requirements reflect the by-gone era of the project's start date:

386SX Motherboard or better (Pentium 90 or better recommended)
DOS / Win 95 / NT / OS-2 / Macintosh PowerPC, 8 megs minimum, 16 megs recommended
VESA Compatible Video Card
Sound Card
Microsoft Mouse (A mouse? I think I've got one of those.)
30 megs Hard Drive Space

"Some computers may require Sci-Tech's Disk Doctor or the UniVBE drivers to assure VESA compatibility. A chipset specific mode will be available but it may not run on all cards out there. The default is VESA support, but the user will be able to configure it to run on direct video calls to the video card BIOS if his chipset is supported. This can result in speed and performance similar to Direct X or X-mode. Grimoire in chipset specific mode can attain frame rates of 24 fps on a 486. Pretty good for a pixel perfect SVGA game."​

Grimoire has been in development for so long, it's game-play style not only went out of fashion, it's gone full circle and become retro. All the while apparently being "almost near completion", as Cleve was "just working on the last 1%".

Grimoire's development history is older than the Codex itself (we were only founded in 2002). But here's a brief glimpse into its history from our own archives:

July, 2004: Already maligned as vapourware (before Duke Nukem Forever was even conceived), now defunct RPG site RPG Dot has a preview of Grimoire stating the game (which began development "a few years" after 1991) "is nearly finished" after "many stops, starts and re-starts".

September, 2004: Just a few months later, "With a few more months of scheduled testing and balancing before its release, the final product should please (and silence) all of those who said the game would never be released".

June, 2005: "world wide release of the game scheduled for October of THIS YEAR!!"

August, 2009: After years of silence, the game's website is updated from "Coming July 2009" to "Coming Fall 2009".

March, 2010: And then it was 31st March.

July, 2010: And then Fall again...

May, 2011: "I can actually finish this monster before this year is over."

October, 2012: Cleve finally realises that he should be asking for money. Despite raising $10k USD of its IndieGoGo campaigns entirely unrealistic $250,000 USD goal, we still fail to see the release of a complete game despite the campaign having, in capital letters:

COMPLETION NOT SUBJECT TO FUNDING!! THIS GAME WILL SHIP IN MAY 2013 WITH OR WITHOUT ENHANCEMENT!! A PLEDGE HERE WILL BE FULFILLED. THIS CAMPAIGN IS NOT A FUNDING FOR COMPLETION, IT IS A FUNDING FOR ENHANCEMENT!!! COMPLETION IS GUARANTEED HERE! SEE VIDEO FOR DETAILS.​

October, 2012: "scheduled for released in May 2013".

February, 2013: We make another IndieGoGo campaign, raising another $6,000 (why stop when you're on to a winning formula).

April, 2013: "Remember at the stroke of midnight, May 31st 2013 if I do not have the pledges in transit I must commit hari-kiri in the most painful and disturbing public fashion".

January, 2014: "There will be a third campaign on Indiegogo", "The NEW DATE FOR RELEASE IS MAY 31st, 2014. Sorry we missed the first one but it was because we had to add extra special helpings of incline, win and excellence to make it worth the wait."​

It's no surprise then, to learn that the game has been delayed yet again. This time, Cleve posts:

Going to release the enhanced and properly debugged super demo shortly which reflects the completed state of the game and run an IndieGoGo campaign for 30 days while testing and implementing any remaining pledges. This is in response to popular demand by at least a hundred people complaining the campaign ended before they had a chance to pledge.

Mean what I say about this third campaign. You will always be able to buy the game digital download but the manual, hint book and map will only go to pledges. Forever. Once that door shuts at the end of the third campaign those materials will become mythical artifacts like Faberge Eggs and Holy Relics of the Cross. They will never be available anywhere else.

After the third campaign ends … the game will be released, first for download by all pledges on some provider and thereafter by anyone. The manual, hint guide, map and CD ROMs will ship a little while afterwards.​

After 19 years, will this really be the third and final IndieGoGo Campaign for Grimoire? Have we truly reached the last 30 days before the game's full release is upon us?

Hah! Yeah right.

 

[sea]

You can do it, Cleve!

 

[Kane]

 

[Konjad]

What a turn of events! This was totally unexpected.

 

[Pantalones]

I don't know what the little brit subhumans are complaining about anyway, all they are doing is wailing inside their stables and waking up the other animals inside the barn because they are grieving about their masters making human jigsaw puzzles out of the dead remains of their children. All the countries involved in the european union have been moving towards this chop-n-shop-by-default for the bodies of their domesticated livestock for some time. After surrendering their arms, their freedom of speech and every right they have in the name of "security," a brit subhuman has long since lost any right to even grieve over his own children. He has surrendered his rights in the interest of "more security," and like the Renaissance genius Ben Franklin pointed out, any anal savaging that follows is exactly what the pitiful little BBC watching sunken-chested girly-boy Brits had coming. You're a stupid people, doomed to learn lessons from the past history of mankind the hard way and your tortured screams of unspeakable horror are like music to my ears because at least you are learning something however useless it may be to you at this point.

Remember, in the New World Order, nobody will sell you a permit to scream.

Stop your bleating, go back to your dingy little flats and plop down in your narrow tiny living rooms on rented government space and watch your interesting and engaging BBC shows on various aspects of multicultural progress in your society. Like the main character in "Brazil," the only place you can truly escape to is inside your own mind, so strive for insanity every waking moment and a flight into a pleasant fantasy world where Harry Tuttle descends on his rappelling wire with his freedom fighters (in the fantasy, Harry didn't surrender his guns like you did) and rescues you from the hideously evil all-powerful government. But forget about your kids because in Britain they were destined for dogfood the second they lost a pulse. Being an American I tend to regard those who approve of arms confiscation as mere animals and far less than human so I can't really sympathize with you.

What were you thinking of trying to reproduce yourselves, anyway? Children are for humans with a future and you have none. Please stop carrying out these dry natural rituals with no significance to barnyard property like yourself. "No sex please, we're British!" I don't think I could even GET an erection for a British girl, the shriveled-up little socialist slaves put me off that much. Liz Hurley makes me feel ill to look at, a dried-up pencil-thin socialist photo op? Yuck, she is disgusting like all British women. They're horrid lanky, stringy horses (dole diets) with atypical bad British teeth. How about you go and have a nice thick vanilla milkshake you friggin' commie hags.

- Cleve Blakemore (racist), Jan 31st 2001

I hate people who are racist towards europe.

But I believe in Cleve.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

But when it's Vault Dweller or Brian Fargo who does it, who made games that don't even have one twenieth of Grimoire's sheer size and complexity, it's you go my good man! Please please please take more time to make sure it is polished!

It makes me sick, just admit that you want to use Cleve as a whipping boy because he's a black sheep.

 

[Broseph]

June, 2005: "world wide release of the game scheduled for October of THIS YEAR!!"

 

[GlutenBurger]

But when it's Vault Dweller or Brian Fargo who does it, who made games that don't even have one twenieth of Grimoire's sheer size and complexity, it's you go my good man! Please please please take more time to make sure it is polished!

It makes me sick, just admit that you want to use Cleve as a whipping boy because he's a black sheep.

The newspost was a touching tribute to a time-honoured tradition. Your rebellious sneering punk response is what's sickening. Without the touchstone of ritual to ground us, civilisation is lost to anti-establishment ruffians and Communism.

 

[Niektory]

We can always count on DU to bring us the freshest non-news!

 

[Eyeball]

Trolling assholes is a lot more fun if it takes even a modicum of effort.

 

[HiddenX]

Which game was/is/will be longer in development?

Newcomer or Grimoire

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

But when it's Vault Dweller or Brian Fargo who does it, who made games that don't even have one twenieth of Grimoire's sheer size and complexity, it's you go my good man! Please please please take more time to make sure it is polished!

It makes me sick, just admit that you want to use Cleve as a whipping boy because he's a black sheep.

Strangely appropriate seeing HHR constantly play the devil's advocate on this issue.

 

[Whitewolf]

I thougth that Grimore was coming out in Q4 2014 http://www.moddb.com/games/grimoire

Spoiler

 

[Metro]

I predict at least two more Indie GoGo campaigns.

 

[Scroo]

After the third campaign ends … the game will be released, first for download by all pledges on some provider and thereafter by anyone. The manual, hint guide, map and CD ROMs will ship a little while afterwards.

I like this. It's like Cleve is basically saying 'Whatever you do, DON'T PLEDGE FOR PHYSICAL REWARDS. You don't expect me to actually do them, right?'.

Such honesty.

 

[iZerw]

I'll give at least 100$ to the third Indiegogo campaign if Cleve will release a new super demo today. If not I'll pre-order a collectors edition of D:OS instead.

 

[commie]

Hey, it's like that thing Commie was saying!

But when it's Vault Dweller or Brian Fargo who does it, who made games that don't even have one twenieth of Grimoire's sheer size and complexity, it's you go my good man! Please please please take more time to make sure it is polished!

It makes me sick, just admit that you want to use Cleve as a whipping boy because he's a black sheep.

Fuck off...the operative word is 'MADE'. Cleve hasn't made shit, just released a retextured internal demo that he stole when he was fired from Sir-tech all those years ago. He made shit.

 

[kaizoku]

Cut him some slack, guys.



He suffers from chronic procrastination.

 

[evdk]

Fuck off...the operative word is 'MADE'. Cleve hasn't made shit, just released a retextured internal demo that he stole when he was fired from Sir-tech all those years ago. He made shit.

Oh, won't you feels tupid for writing this when the game is released any minute now. ANY MINUTE.

Spoiler

It's never getting released, is it?

 

[Admiral jimbob]

But when it's Vault Dweller or Brian Fargo who does it, who made games that don't even have one twenieth of Grimoire's sheer size and complexity, it's you go my good man! Please please please take more time to make sure it is polished!

It makes me sick, just admit that you want to use Cleve as a whipping boy because he's a black sheep.

19 years

 

[m_s0]

Wouldn't it be easier to just sticky a post about Grimoire being delayed and unsticky it when it comes out?

 

[Tzaero]

Less than an hour to midnight.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Wait so the turbofeminist himself hates Cleve? I may buy two copies and give them away if Grimoire ever gets released just for that.

 

[felipepepe]

Still 10:30 AM here, don't know why you guys are so inpatient.

 

[Drowed]

 

[Taluntain]

First game ever to have a remake out before the original.