Company News Herve Caen finally packs it in - Interplay IPs to be sold off

[commie]

I actually enjoyed DtoU (to my shame?). Only problem was the bizarre choice of engine.Game itself was solid in content and mechanics. Had it been done using say the Might and Magic 6 engine or something, I think it would have been well received.Not an eternal classic for the ages, but a decent first person dungeon crawler.

As for Conquest of the New World, I ended up playing that a lot more than 'rivals' like Colonization. It seemed to have a better balance of exploring,building,trading and combat than others and didn't feel as tedious as micromanaging jobs in Colonization for example.Also preferred the 'Chess' combat to the stack on stack of Sids game.

 

[Fairfax]

I actually enjoyed DtoU (to my shame?). Only problem was the bizarre choice of engine.Game itself was solid in content and mechanics. Had it been done using say the Might and Magic 6 engine or something, I think it would have been well received.Not an eternal classic for the ages, but a decent first person dungeon crawler.

Technical issues aside, which are pretty bad, it's actually fun if you know what to expect. The engine and the development issues turned put it in a bizarre position: it was a game trying to be ahead of its time while being held back by its own tech.
People often forget that DTU was the first of its genre to have full 3D characters, which is why it looked so ugly even at the time (maybe not the first, felipepe can correct me if I'm wrong). Battlespire, M&M6, Return to Krondor, all similar games from the same period that used sprites/2D backgrounds. Even M&M7, which came out 13 months after DTU, still used sprites.

I'm not defending those decisions, however. Other dungeon crawlers proved that taking the transition to 3D slowly was the better approach. The problem is that the game is rarely judged for its actual content. The reviews out there, including "retro" ones, stick to trashing the game for its technical failures. That was perfectly valid at the time, but what's the point of trashing a 1997 dungeon crawler for its graphics and bugs? The game's soundtrack is great (although short), yet nobody ever mentions that.
I watched the first few minutes of a retro DTU review on YouTube, and one of the guy's complaints was that you can be attacked in the Inn right off the bat.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Did Heineman even finish her Battle Chess remake, or is it still in unplayable broken vaporware of a mess, abandoned after years in Early Access?

 

[Infinitron]

Did Heineman even finish her Battle Chess remake, or is it still in unplayable broken vaporware of a mess, abandoned after years in Early Access?

It actually went out of Early Access in December last year. Couldn't tell you if it's actually finished, though.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Did Heineman even finish her Battle Chess remake, or is it still in unplayable broken vaporware of a mess, abandoned after years in Early Access?

It actually went out of Early Access in December last year. Couldn't tell you if it's actually finished, though.

Judging by Steam forums, it's still broken, and Burger basically took the money and run. So yeah.

 

[aweigh]

they could send herve to debtor's prison.

 

[Illuvatard]

Hmm. How hard is it to make a battlechess game? Seems like it should not be hard. I mean it might be hard to make the best AI ever but no one expects that from battlechess.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Hmm. How hard is it to make a battlechess game? Seems like it should not be hard. I mean it might be hard to make the best AI ever but no one expects that from battlechess.

They didn't make the AI for it at all. It uses the same chess engine as the original Battle Chess. Which should tell you how much effort went into the entire game.

 

[Illuvatard]

Well, that's really shit. I thought that Burger Bill was better than that.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Well, that's really shit. I thought that Burger Bill was better than that.

Yeah, and while nobody expects Battle Chess engine to beat grandmasters, 1980-era chess engines were absolute garbage. I was beating that engine on my Amiga when I was 10, and even now as a grown ass man, I'm nowhere near good enough to be at even lowest tier of pro level.

So basically, the game doesn't even work, and even if it did work, it can't play chess for shit.

Never meet your heroes and all that.

 

[Don Peste]

Isn't Chris Taylor still working at Interplay? Is there any hope left for him?

 

[Black]

You mean Chris "I once said I'd only comment on Fallout 3 if I had nice things to say about it. " motherfucking Taylor?

 

[Bubbles]

Isn't Chris Taylor still working at Interplay? Is there any hope left for him?

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ty-lords-of-the-eastern-reach-car/description

 

[Don Peste]

Oh, thanks, I forgot about that somehow.

This is from the Interplay Forum, a month before the sale announcement:

InterplayChris » Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:25 pm
We can't comment on games until they have been announced.
I'm working on a project that I certainly hope will be published.

Maybe this is a different person?

 

[FeelTheRads]

I think he was or still is working there? I don't know. Infinitron knows more apparently since he liked to trololol about it.

At some point I talked with him a bit on boardgamegeek regarding Fallout: Warfare, but of course not about personal details.

Anyway, if only about that Fallout 3 comment and he's a true bro.

 

[Infinitron]

Pretty sure that's him. Interesting.

 

[Don Peste]

I think he was or still is working there? I don't know. Infinitron knows more apparently since he liked to trololol about it.

At some point I talked with him a bit on boardgamegeek regarding Fallout: Warfare, but of course not about personal details.

Anyway, if only about that Fallout 3 comment and he's a true bro.

Pretty sure that's him. Interesting.

Great! Who will be doing the interview?

 

[FeelTheRads]

He also has some small company that does board/war games which also helped design that Pathfinder game for Obsidian, no?

 

[Infinitron]

He also has some small company that does board/war games which also helped design that Pathfinder game for Obsidian, no?

I don't think he had anything to do with Pathfinder. He did a Pillars of Eternity physical card game: http://zeroradiusgames.com/

 

[FeelTheRads]

Ah, right, I was confused.

Edit: Meh, a Thunderstone clone which in itself is basically a clone of Dominion.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

People often forget that DTU was the first of its genre to have full 3D characters, which is why it looked so ugly even at the time (maybe not the first, felipepe can correct me if I'm wrong).

King's Field already had that in 1994.

 

[Ninjerk]

I think he was or still is working there? I don't know. Infinitron knows more apparently since he liked to trololol about it.

At some point I talked with him a bit on boardgamegeek regarding Fallout: Warfare, but of course not about personal details.

Anyway, if only about that Fallout 3 comment and he's a true bro.

Pretty sure that's him. Interesting.

Great! Who will be doing the interview?

Jedi Master Radek ?

 

[Infinitron]

He's probably not going to talk (or at least, say anything interesting) until Herve and Eric have sold the IPs. Wouldn't want to hurt their value. But it's something to keep in mind.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Hey i would even make a sequel: Barbarian III with decapitation and more Bikini Girls.

Ahem, that lady is called Maria Whittaker.

Accidentally, my pvp healer in GW is named after her.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

They didn't make the AI for it at all. It uses the same chess engine as the original Battle Chess. Which should tell you how much effort went into the entire game.

There are dozens chess engines out there. I would be surprised if licensing one of them would be that expensive, especially if one chooses one of the weaker ones.

Jedi Master Radek ?

Would be fun, but we barely know if he is doing anything. Although some Falllout themed interview would be cool.