Company News George Ziets abandons Bethesda, Alex Brandon leaves Obsidian

[hiver]

I guess they figured he would tear their testicles off with bear hands if they showed him any of their "design" ideas.

 

[Forest Dweller]

This worries me. How bad is Bethesda's next game going to be if a guy would rather go back to making Neverwinter Nights expansion packs and Bourne knock-offs - while being paid less?!

First off we don't know what Obsidian's future projects are. Second, what Bethesda is working on now is TESV.

 

[Mister Arkham]

It's cool that Zeits is back, but at the same time I"m a little sad. An Alex Brandon score on the Aliens RPG would be awesome.

Edit: That game is still in production, no?

 

[catfood]

Damn shame about Brandon leaving, he is my favorite videogame music composer. He wrote music for a lot of Epic's games such as the Unreal games and Jazz Jack Rabbit 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD6QbntbYPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4z6elrc ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUG-W-PtgcY

 

[Bluebottle]

This worries me. How bad is Bethesda's next game going to be if a guy would rather go back to making Neverwinter Nights expansion packs and Bourne knock-offs - while being paid less?!

First off we don't know what Obsidian's future projects are. Second, what Bethesda is working on now is TESV.

I heard he'd gone to work for Zenimax Online, rather than Bethesda. Different studio, different offices, same owners. He'd probably have been working on TES Online, rather than TESV.

 

[fastpunk]

I heard he'd gone to work for Zenimax Online, rather than Bethesda. Different studio, different offices, same owners. He'd probably have been working on TES Online, rather than TESV.

That's what I've also heard: Zenimax Online, not Bethesda.

Well, I'm glad he's back. Nuff said, the man's a pretty awesome designer, as highlighted by Mask of the Betrayer, but also by the interviews he did with Vince over at ITSF.

As for Brandon leaving, well, that sucks big time. His music for MotB and SoZ was awesome, and like someone mentioned already, he could have done some pretty awesome stuff for the Alien RPG. Slightly related to this, I heard BT was working on the AP soundtrack (dubstep yo! ), so I guess they found a solid replacement for Brandon on that one.

 

[Bluebottle]

BT as in Brian Transeau*? That's a bit of a weird development.


*Thanks wikipedia

 

[Wyrmlord]

Obsidian losing Alex Brandon? The man who composed this?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN65aD7HqBk

They have lost an enormous talent.

 

[fastpunk]

BT as in Brian Transeau*? That's a bit of a weird development.


*Thanks wikipedia

Yeah, that's him. The guy produced a lot of music, from mainstream to less popular stuff. I remember his '99 album, Movement in Still Life, quite fondly. He covered a lot of genres and dubstep is something new for him as far as I know. Anyway, this is where I got the news from:

http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?showtopic=51243

Scroll down to Pop's second post. Also, some guy names Jason Graves is also working on the thing, as evidenced by funcroc's post on page 2 of the same thread.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

This worries me. How bad is Bethesda's next game going to be if a guy would rather go back to making Neverwinter Nights expansion packs and Bourne knock-offs - while being paid less?!

We don't know what Obsidian has planned for the future, but I doubt there'll be any more expansions after the next one. As for Alpha Protocol, yes it does look bad but lets wait until it comes out before we pass judgement. Don't forget Obsidian are also making an Aliens game.... that's worth getting excited about.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Obsidian losing Alex Brandon? The man who composed this?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN65aD7HqBk

They have lost an enormous talent.

You're being sarcastic, right? That track sounds like shit.

 

[DraQ]

Listen to Unreal soundtrack.

 

[Ander Vinz]

Ziets kinda sound like Zayats. Good to know he's back making real games, not mumorpugers.
Some kind of harmony is on the rise.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Obsidian losing Alex Brandon? The man who composed this?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN65aD7HqBk

They have lost an enormous talent.

You're being sarcastic, right? That track sounds like shit.

It's ambient music. It's supposed to be used together with a videogame. Not listened to in itself.

If you have ever seen that Area 51 level in Deus Ex, you would know. The kind of giant underground bunker where the darkest secrets of the American government lie.

It takes alot of thinking to conceive the right kind of music for a particular atmosphere, place, and situation in a game.

 

[DraQ]

... (forum/connection fail)

 

[bonch]

Obsidian losing Alex Brandon? The man who composed this?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN65aD7HqBk

They have lost an enormous talent.

You're being sarcastic, right? That track sounds like shit.

Not only is it awesome, so is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHQZNNajxOk

 

[Prosthetic Brain]

This worries me. How bad is Bethesda's next game going to be if a guy would rather go back to making Neverwinter Nights expansion packs and Bourne knock-offs - while being paid less?!

We don't know what Obsidian has planned for the future, but I doubt there'll be any more expansions after the next one. As for Alpha Protocol, yes it does look bad but lets wait until it comes out before we pass judgement. Don't forget Obsidian are also making an Aliens game.... that's worth getting excited about.

I'm not excited about it. It's a game based off an 80's movie. And it's not "just set in the same universe" like Knights of the Old Republic was. They're going to bring Ripley back. So, at best, it will be a sorry adaptation of the Aliens movies with some skill checks thrown in there (Alien attacks from the roof! Dodge skill not high enough! Reload?).

Weaver: “They wanted me to do Ripley and I said, Well you have Ripley killing aliens but also sick people and other marines! And every other word out of my mouth was a curse word,"

I was a bit skeptical of the last part, but then I remembered the super spy RPG and figured Obsidian would continue to take the "Hey guys! We're cool! We're cool too!" route and include lots o' swearin' an' tits (Might as well continue to ride off the Biowarian coattails. Mass Effect 2... Aliens RPG... same thing, but the latter will most certainly be buggier and unfinished.)

Obsidian has artistic talent, but why do they keep throwing it away? And why can't they hire some decent programmers?

KOTOR 2 - Imitation of Bioware's space opera with less "oomph!" and coherency.
NWN 2 + Expansions - Imitation of Bioware's god awful RPG based on the most pointless, convoluted, and boring roleplaying system ever brought over to the PC. I didn't play any of the expansions but the engine behind the whole thing was so horrible I can't bring myself to go through it again. Clunky, ugly, difficult to move around, needlessly convoluted menus, disgusting dialog system when dealing with people who don't have "voices", gut-wrenching combat... and the list goes on.
Alpha Protocol - Knocking off Bourne, Bond, and all the rest, but not in a parody or stylistic way (see the superior No One Lives Forever). Also seemingly trying to rip off all the other RPG "innovations" that have plagued us recently.
Aliens RPG - Based off a series of movies in the 80's about shooting aliens, and apparently containing a bunch of returning characters. It's being spearheaded by Sega, who's recent flagship game was about an anthropomorphic hedgehog talking to people and occasionally turning into a werewolf with stretchy arms. Given the license, and especially Sega, there's no reason to believe this will be anything but the movie in game form with some skill checks.

Even their "original, non-sequel" titles are not original. They're knock offs, and my point still stands. How bad is Bethesda's next game (Or ZeniMax, who cares?) going to be if someone is willing to go back to that for less money? I guess Obsidian must have some really great office parties.

 

[Forest Dweller]

I was a bit skeptical of the last part, but then I remembered the super spy RPG and figured Obsidian would continue to take the "Hey guys! We're cool! We're cool too!" route and include lots o' swearin' an' tits (Might as well continue to ride off the Biowarian coattails.

Lol Bioware games have lots of swearing and tits.

KOTOR 2 - Evolution of Bioware's space opera with better story and writing and more maturity all around.

Fixed

 

[Prosthetic Brain]

Lol Bioware games have lots of swearing and tits.

Tits were a referece to the Mass Effect shoulder nudity, and swearing is a poor mans attempt to be cool - like collar grabbing.

KOTOR 2 - I hate Bioware so I'm going to defend this game with a fiery passion.

Fixed

Fixed again

 

[Mister Arkham]

I'm not excited about it. It's a game based off an 80's movie. And it's not "just set in the same universe" like Knights of the Old Republic was. They're going to bring Ripley back. So, at best, it will be a sorry adaptation of the Aliens movies with some skill checks thrown in there (Alien attacks from the roof! Dodge skill not high enough! Reload?).

Weaver: “They wanted me to do Ripley and I said, Well you have Ripley killing aliens but also sick people and other marines! And every other word out of my mouth was a curse word,"

I was a bit skeptical of the last part, but then I remembered the super spy RPG and figured Obsidian would continue to take the "Hey guys! We're cool! We're cool too!" route and include lots o' swearin' an' tits (Might as well continue to ride off the Biowarian coattails. Mass Effect 2... Aliens RPG... same thing, but the latter will most certainly be buggier and unfinished.)

That quote from Weaver seems to regard the Aliens FPS that Gearbox is making for he 360 and PS3. It's completely separate from the Obsidian project, which is (as I've been made to understand) a squad-based tactical RPG more akin to the JA series. It just happens to be set in the world that was established in the first two films. Gearbox's game is an expanded retelling of the second film. (which is some truly ridiculous shit to do)

More than anything, I'm hoping that they nail the look and feel of the setting, which is part of what has kept me so engaged by the early Alien films for so many years. Given that it's a setting that I like and a game format that I like I"m quite looking forward to it, 80's movie or no.

Hopefully they'll touch on some of the stuff from William Gibson's rejected Alien 3 script. That could be neat to see realized in at least one format.

 

[Prosthetic Brain]

There's two Alien games in production? Are they just reviving the franchise for the hell of it or is another movie going to be unleashed upon us as well?

 

[Davaris]

There's two Alien games in production? Are they just reviving the franchise for the hell of it or is another movie going to be unleashed upon us as well?

I could really go for a strategy game where you control the Weyland-Yutani company and its operatives over hundreds of years, but I expect those two new games will involve the first person view point and gunz.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Tits were a referece to the Mass Effect shoulder nudity...

New rule: shoulders=tits

and swearing is a poor mans attempt to be cool - like collar grabbing.

So the GTAs were trying to be cool? Fallout 1 and 2? Bloodlines?

KOTOR 2 - I hate Bioware so I'm going to defend this game with a fiery passion.

Fixed

Fixed again

You're saying that you said that, not me. Fail.

 

[Prosthetic Brain]

Tits were a referece to the Mass Effect shoulder nudity...

New rule: shoulders=tits

It seems you miss all the "OMG NUDITY!" hype over Mass Effect's sexy CGI shoulders.

and swearing is a poor mans attempt to be cool - like collar grabbing.

So the GTAs were trying to be cool? Fallout 1 and 2? Bloodlines?

Obsessive swearing, or swearing just for the hell of it and making a note of the face that you swore. So, yes, like GTA.

KOTOR 2 - I hate Bioware so I'm going to defend this game with a fiery passion.

Fixed

Fixed again

You're saying that you said that, not me. Fail.

I'm saying that you're saying that since you fixed the quote, and so I fixed it to better represent what your opinion is, which you tried to force on me by originally fixing my quote to represent your twisted viewpoint. Fail? Maybe on your part.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Tits were a referece to the Mass Effect shoulder nudity...

New rule: shoulders=tits

It seems you miss all the "OMG NUDITY!" hype over Mass Effect's sexy CGI shoulders.

Hype that was seriously overblown.

KOTOR 2 - I hate Bioware so I'm going to defend this game with a fiery passion.

Fixed

Fixed again

You're saying that you said that, not me. Fail.

I'm saying that you're saying that since you fixed the quote, and so I fixed it to better represent what your opinion is, which you tried to force on me by originally fixing my quote to represent your twisted viewpoint. Fail? Maybe on your part.

And saying that Kotor 2 was a superior game certainly means that I hate Bioware.