Vapourware Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen - Chaos Chronicles reborn and dead again

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

I am not sure what is your point here exactly, but let me remind you of the Baldur’s Gate which was quite a thought out venture with relatively big investments primarily aiming to make a revenue, and the managing team of three.

I didn't do much research into Baldur's Gate's development specifically, so I can't really say. But I'm sure there are exceptions out there where, if I had to guess, the vision for what the product should be is so clear-cut and concise, and there appears to be collaborating sides of development that do more than just their part of the bargain. Baldur's Gate could have been one of these exceptions.

But the point I'm trying to make here is that with so many people and different factors involved (especially legal ones,) it's easy to see why projects like OP fail. Can't imagine having the patience to do all of that tedious management shit only to find out at the very end that at best, the game never comes out, or even worse, everyone was so busy with the overhead that none of us remembered to ask if the game was actually fun or not.

 

[Desiderius]

Let Dunbar's Number be your guide, then divide by the level of autism of the staff involved.

 

[Alienman]

Microprose isn't around anymore, so look how that turned out.

Just want to point out that Microprose is back under different leadership.

From their wiki:

In 2019, the MicroProse brand (then owned by Cybergun) was purchased and revived by David Lagettie, one of the makers of TitanIM open world military simulation software. Lagettie was a former developer for Bohemia Interactive at their Australian studios before starting his own company to create video game simulations to be used by military groups. Lagettie had been a fan of the original MicroProse games growing up, and as he saw the games transition ownership and eventually disappear, he started investigating the fate of Microprose around 2005. When possible, he began buying whatever IP from Microprose he could, including the name and original logo trademarks, allowing him to establish the new Microprose as a games publisher by 2019. Lagettie's acquisitions drew the attention of Stealey, who subsequently inquired to Lagettie about his plans and leading to Stealey to join Lagettie in an unofficial manner in the new Microprose.

And it looks like they are getting back to their roots with games like Urban Strife being published. X-com like game, except you fight zombies instead of aliens.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Microprose isn't around anymore, so look how that turned out.

They were bought for 70M$ in 1998, that's how it turned out and they developed or published so many classics.
What a shit legacy indeed, nobody not looking up to Microprose legacy should be in the video game industry, they achieved everything there is to achieve, they made a lot of money while releasing good to amazing games...

What are the alternatives? Indie half-baked games or AAA shitshows?

 

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

Microprose isn't around anymore, so look how that turned out.

They were bought for 70M$ in 1998, that's how it turned out and they developed or published so many classics.
What a shit legacy indeed, nobody not looking up to Microprose legacy should be in the video game industry, they achieved everything there is to achieve, they made a lot of money while releasing good to amazing games...

What are the alternatives? Indie half-baked games or AAA shitshows?

Hey, nobody's saying anyone isn't looking up to Microprose. I suppose this really boils down to a question about companies, or business in general, though: What is the purpose of a company, namely a video game company? To shit out products, hopefully quality products, right? But there's more to it than that. Maybe it's the vision, the overall vision of the future that matters. Maybe there's a grand goal to achieve, or better defined as, to maintain.

If I run a video game company, I wouldn't just be focused on pumping 3 - 5 good games and calling it quits and letting the company get bought up or go under. But life happens. People move on. Developers have to feed their families, and so on. But look at companies like Nintendo. They already have a successor in case Miyamoto leaves, and Iwata himself before his death if I recall was said to have had his salary cut just to keep the company afloat in it's worst moments. Perhaps there was some grand strategy to this, I don't know, and I won't pretend to understand the black magic fuckery that is finance and management at times, but I do like to think Iwata shares a vision of seeing the company go on to impact people's lives.

Someday not far from now, kids are going to grow up and have games they wanna shitpost and be contrarians about, on the codex. Today it's Skyrim we're ragging on, but tomorrow it might be Fallout: San Francisco that kiddos grow up with. You could say it's a company's "responsibility" or "calling" or "purpose" to be the reason why countless artists, devs, etc, grow up with good shit. But that's just me and I'm drunk.

 

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

Microprose isn't around anymore, so look how that turned out.

Just want to point out that Microprose is back under different leadership.

From their wiki:

In 2019, the MicroProse brand (then owned by Cybergun) was purchased and revived by David Lagettie, one of the makers of TitanIM open world military simulation software. Lagettie was a former developer for Bohemia Interactive at their Australian studios before starting his own company to create video game simulations to be used by military groups. Lagettie had been a fan of the original MicroProse games growing up, and as he saw the games transition ownership and eventually disappear, he started investigating the fate of Microprose around 2005. When possible, he began buying whatever IP from Microprose he could, including the name and original logo trademarks, allowing him to establish the new Microprose as a games publisher by 2019. Lagettie's acquisitions drew the attention of Stealey, who subsequently inquired to Lagettie about his plans and leading to Stealey to join Lagettie in an unofficial manner in the new Microprose.

And it looks like they are getting back to their roots with games like Urban Strife being published. X-com like game, except you fight zombies instead of aliens.

Holy shit I've seen this before, and I'm sort of interested. I really love Dead State Reanimated and thought it was wasted abandoned potential, so seeing this is just making me hope they fulfill that potential instead.
Didn't know Microprose is back either, I would probably make a whole quip about how it's the people in a company that make it what is, but I'm just glad to see they're back. My example from earlier still stands though. I can still name plenty off the top of my head. Vicarious Visions, Rare, Interplay, Obsidian... it's the people, man. The people make it what it is.

 

[Alienman]

Apparently one guy is back in limited-capacity (whatever that means) too, the Stealey guy as mentioned, so I guess it retain some of the original people... in a way

Been a long thread going for Urban Strife here on Codex. With one of the devs posting regularly. I loved Dead State, by yeah, it could be improved on many fronts, I'm hoping this game is it.

 

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

Apparently one guy is back in limited-capacity (whatever that means) too, the Stealey guy as mentioned, so I guess it retain some of the original people... in a way

Been a long thread going for Urban Strife here on Codex. With one of the devs posting regularly. I loved Dead State, by yeah, it could be improved on many fronts, I'm hoping this game is it.

IIRC, Phoenix Point was made by the big daddy of XCOM himself. But it turned out shit, so that's got me scratching my head figuring that out.

 

[Alienman]

Bit of an oddity that game. In the end I liked it, but the development was filled with questionable decisions. The gameplay isn't all that great, but I thought the dystopian Lovecraftian setting made up for it, I liked the narrative.

 

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

Bit of an oddity that game. In the end I liked it, but the development was filled with questionable decisions. The gameplay isn't all that great, but I thought the dystopian Lovecraftian setting made up for it, I liked the narrative.

For me, XCOM's setting is really what set it apart. It made the mechanics and difficulty compliment it seamlessly, it was also really cool in general to do it all in the style of 90's paranoia about UFO's and the common fears surrounding it. Plus they had an ex Marvel-artist doing the artwork and opening, and that really set the tone for me. I actually think Phoenix Point is lacking in that respect. I'm not even really sure what I'm looking at it when I look at Phoenix Point, it simply doesn't look inspired to me. But alternatively, look at XCOM 2, and better yet, put the tactical legacy ost dlc as the soundtrack and it's got what Phoenix Point doesn't have: Passion and style

 

[PrettyDeadman]

why dont they threated with a court or sue the guy responsible for 50% of the game? I am pretty sure intentional sabotage of an enterprise by one of the owner will make that person liable for damages or smh.

 

[Alienman]

For me, XCOM's setting is really what set it apart. It made the mechanics and difficulty compliment it seamlessly, it was also really cool in general to do it all in the style of 90's paranoia about UFO's and the common fears surrounding it. Plus they had an ex Marvel-artist doing the artwork and opening, and that really set the tone for me. I actually think Phoenix Point is lacking in that respect. I'm not even really sure what I'm looking at it when I look at Phoenix Point, it simply doesn't look inspired to me. But alternatively, look at XCOM 2, and better yet, put the tactical legacy ost dlc as the soundtrack and it's got what Phoenix Point doesn't have: Passion and style

Probably not, I think it's a product to maximize on whatever fad what was popular at the time. Example, the game went from ragtag bunch of soldiers to Halo looking guys etc. I was really sold on the narrative though, the extra reading material that was released, and the ingame lore and such is really well done I think. But man, I do still feel it could have been so much better in a lot of ways, especially now when it was leaked how much money they got from EPIC. Not saying throwing money at problem would solve anything, but they weren't starved financially at least and could have made a dream game if Gollop really wanted.

 

[baud]

why dont they threated with a court or sue the guy responsible for 50% of the game? I am pretty sure intentional sabotage of an enterprise by one of the owner will make that person liable for damages or smh.

opening a court case is expensive and it look like they're already out of money. And even then it's not sure they'd win against the co-owner

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Not to mention that this is just a typical "project management scapegoat" story.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Just want to point out that Microprose is back under different leadership.

And it looks like they are getting back to their roots with games like Urban Strife being published. X-com like game, except you fight zombies instead of aliens.

Just like you said, different leadership and probably different team as well so they didn't achieve anything yet.
Sure, backing Urban Strife seems like a great move and the game is appealing but it's not released yet so we don't know how it'll turn out.

As far as i'm concerned, new Microprose is just like NuXCOM or NuFallout, they're just using a famous name.
Let's see if they can live up to it...

c u in da ballpit ashren
You lost me at Nintendo, seriously...
But if you like X-COM and Dead State, you can't be that bad.

 

[Jenkem]

they should just do another kickstarter

simps would pay

 

[NJClaw]

why dont they threated with a court or sue the guy responsible for 50% of the game? I am pretty sure intentional sabotage of an enterprise by one of the owner will make that person liable for damages or smh.

Because the entire story is just a giant pile of shit that only serves the purpose of placating "fans".

The first game failed because "the publisher was a meanie and a bully".

Now this one failed because "the other owner is a meanie and a bully".

It's all bullshit. The first one failed because they didn't meet their deadlines, the publisher had nothing to do with it. For Realms Beyond there's probably a similar explanation, but "it's not our fault, guys, seriously, it's all on the bad guys!" allows them not to take responsibility, so that they won't look bad when their next kickstarter launches.

 

[Tigranes]

People think filing lawsuits is so cheap, quick, and easy, for people whose entire project is spiralling, right

(Not that I fully believe the above story, either.)

 

[LESS T_T]

This probably doesn't mean much but RB is mentioned in today's press release about Asian release of Gamedec, as part of RPG catalog of the local publisher.

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pres..._cyberpunk_RPG__Gamedec__to_Asian_Markets.php

"Whisper Games is in a strong position as a publisher, with titles like Disco Elysium or Realms Beyond under their wings. With their commitment, they will help us reach a whole new audience - we are confident that with their resources and publishing channels, together we can successfully bring Gamedec to Asian markets."

This Chinese publisher had RB in their catalog (as they provide Chinese localization) way before things have gone, eh, bleak, so this is not quite a life sign.

 

[Aemar]

http://www.whisperinteractive.com/#f2
http://www.whisperinteractive.com/#f3

Both the game and the company are mentioned on their site. No further info though.

 

[LESS T_T]

http://www.whisperinteractive.com/#f2
http://www.whisperinteractive.com/#f3

Both the game and the company are mentioned on their site. No further info though.

Yeah, if you look it up through Wayback Machines, it's been there for a few years.

 

[MrBuzzKill]

Can I get an informative TL;DR on this? what happened? I was hoping to see a demo of it on the Steam RPG festival thing.

 

[Abu Antar]

Can I get an informative TL;DR on this? what happened? I was hoping to see a demo of it on the Steam RPG festival thing.

1. They fucked up.
2. The project is dead.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Can I get an informative TL;DR on this? what happened? I was hoping to see a demo of it on the Steam RPG festival thing.

 

[Transfiguring Roar]

They didn't get enough money from kickstarter, mismanaged the money somewhat, almost made a deal with a publisher, but then one of the owners of Ceres games didn't agree to the deal, and the deal fell through. Since then, the owner who rejected the deal has gone silent, and the other owner and one of the guys who worked on the game are waiting for Ceres to declare bankruptcy so they can pick everything up for cheap. They also have a (imo optimistic) plan to create shorter modules to try and get some money together.

That's more or less it.

Consider this game a vampire in its coffin...