The Game's Development Story Discussion

Started by Salt The Fries, Feb 08, 2013, 08:18:47 PM

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The Game's Development Story Discussion (Read 99,965 times)

Salt The Fries

Salt The Fries

So I just came up with an idea that they put a lot of thought and effort into creating all these different locales (talking about the ones that were shown as conceptual pieces of artwork a couple of years ago) but they were eventually forced to scrap it altogether and they had a strict deadline to meet so they just put whatever they could in a haphazard fashion without as much love as they originally wanted when they were in full control and opted for an "auteur" vision. That could justify every single mishap that hitherto happened in the development of the latest, final build...Do you think that was the case?


They just put a lot of time doing story-boarding and pre-production, and SEGA scrapped EVERYTHING so they have to cling to a last-resort effort and basically recycle the material from movies...And of course they didn't have too much time to do that...

Predaker

They built the game from the ground up and they are trying to cater to the widest audience possible. I don't think their vision for A:CM was compromised by some sort of nefarious meddling by SEGA halfway through development, forcing them to start over from scratch.

Ash 937

Ash 937

#2
I think that GBX was well-intentioned and that, to some extent, we should feel fortunate that we got a game at all.

While I don't think that GBX had a strict deadline to meet since the game was pushed back countless times since its announcement, I do  think that, much like Alien3, they scrapped some pretty interesting ideas for the sake of familiarity and, separately, for what they believed "the fans would want."

The game appears to play it safe on one hand while pushing the boundaries of the universe on another.  I'd be more willing to accept the new xeno varieties if they emerged out of other settings on different planets inhabited by different creatures (earth-based or not).  But the fact that they are using places we already know and manipulating things with hap-hazard rationales for all the new stuff suggests a half-assed approach to the whole game rather than the dedicated assurances we've got over and over again from GBX about "authenticity."

I still don't see how this game is suppose to make Alien3 better, either.

Who knows, they might've caved in from pressure from FOX or just got too caught up with other projects to see their original vision of A:CM all the way through. 

ShadowPred

I don't believe Gearbox was forced to scrap some things, if that were true, they would not be mouthing off about how detailed and correct everything is.

OpenMaw

Quote from: ShadowPred on Feb 08, 2013, 08:34:34 PM
I don't believe Gearbox was forced to scrap some things, if that were true, they would not be mouthing off about how detailed and correct everything is.

That, and as others have said with regards to any pressures... This game missed it's curtain call by about what? 2? 3 years now? (Forgetting the PS2 version, which really is a wholly different game beyond the base concepts.)


It's simple. Gearbox overlooked somethings, and made some choices gameplay wise that are suspect. A lot of the issues can actually be traced to the conceptual stage more than anything. I mean, the game does have some pretty nice assets. Things look good in the broad sense. Like the movie. There were some comparison shots a few years ago locations between the game and the movie. So that's all good. So like, the Alien warrior as an example. It looks pretty close to the Winston version of the suit. Probably the closest we've had in the games ever. The problem is in the concept of the way the warrior is treated as opposition. It's dumb, doesn't react fast enough, and it's general size is really quite small. It does not feel as imposing or threatening as it did within the movie. All of that is conceptual, and can frankly can be changed relatively easily. Scale the aliens up, maybe 10%. Speed up their reaction time a bit. Add in acid/additional acid damage.

Oh, and Gearbox really needs to look at FEAR for an example on how to do really good damage decals for walls. Take those kind of decals and use them for the acid damage effects. That would be really fantastic.

Ash 937

Quote from: Predaker on Feb 08, 2013, 08:33:51 PM
I think the comments about making Alien3 a better movie are mostly centered around the man wearing a hood in the story trailer.

The great fan debate about Alien3 never really circulated around the death of Hicks...that is accepted by anyone that accepts Alien3.  The debate was about how the egg got on the Sulaco.  If GBX wanted to make Alien3 better, that's the only thing they needed to address.

Quote from: ShadowPred on Feb 08, 2013, 08:34:34 PM
I don't believe Gearbox was forced to scrap some things, if that were true, they would not be mouthing off about how detailed and correct everything is.

You might be right but how would we know for sure?  If they were always going to make money based on the franchise alone, maybe that was a good-enough reason to get lazy with their concept.  Or maybe FOX got involved and screwed things up or maybe SEGA wanted to see a profit asap and forced them to rush the project. 

I have a feeling that we can debate all of these things to no end much like we have debated the production shortcomings of Alien3 since 1992. Haha.

ShadowPred

Quote from: Ash 937 on Feb 08, 2013, 08:41:49 PM
Quote from: Predaker on Feb 08, 2013, 08:33:51 PM
I think the comments about making Alien3 a better movie are mostly centered around the man wearing a hood in the story trailer.

The great fan debate about Alien3 never really circulated around the death of Hicks...that is accepted by anyone that accepts Alien3.  The debate was about how the egg got on the Sulaco.  If GBX wanted to make Alien3 better, that's the only thing they needed to address.

Quote from: ShadowPred on Feb 08, 2013, 08:34:34 PM
I don't believe Gearbox was forced to scrap some things, if that were true, they would not be mouthing off about how detailed and correct everything is.

You might be right but how would we know for sure?  If they were always going to make money based on the franchise alone, maybe that was a good-enough reason to get lazy with their concept.  Or maybe FOX got involved and screwed things up or maybe SEGA wanted to see a profit asap and forced them to rush the project. 

I have a feeling that we can debate all of these things to no end much like we have debated the production shortcomings of Alien3 since 1992. Haha.



I just find it hard to believe that they would still continue to talk about the accuracy of the game when( if the situation of Gearbox being messed around with by the higher ups is true) they obviously know that it's all a lie.

Elicas

I get the feeling this turned out the way it did due to DNF fever. Originally DNF stalled, again and again, due to the original creators aying "This would be so cool!" and adding anything and everything to the game, including 4+ engine changes. I get the impression Randy P got to put everything he wanted into the game, with no-one there to slap him upside the head and say "Dude, that's not f**king cool at all".

The buggyness, glitchyness and general feeling of being unfinished, I'd attribute to SEGA/Fox. With the game finally in a playable state, I imagine the last quarter of development to be rushed as hell just to get it out the door and start to see a return on investment.

szkoki

szkoki

#8
i cant imagine how could they put together such a game like this in 3+ years while AVP2010 was pretty decent and was delivered in one year or one and half

GBX fu*cked this up, admit it...heads will fall....has to  fall, Pitchford's or someone's at Sega who choosed GBX, i hope it will fail and does not get the profit with they would be proud so next time Sega consider multiple times whos gonna hire for an alien game

Xenomorphine

Nobody at gearbox is leaking complaints about the game's development. As already said, it kept getting pushed back.

This is simply how they wanted it to be. Look at the video which got released a couple of years ago. The same kind of basic game mechanics are there. There's no evidence that it was some kind of brilliant artistic masterpiece before Sega somehow took it apart.

It is what it is. Unless evidence to the contrary ever arises, it's also largely what it was intended to be.

JustaGrunt

Well, I would like to share something that may be relevant in this thread.  I'm not sure if you all remember or not, but a powerpoint presentation was leaked by one of the game's designers, which expressed a handful of things that he would have done differently, if given the time.

If you remember, one of the things he would do all over again with the game is just start from scratch and re-skin the Left for Dead video game.  I think there's a lot we can take away from that statement, but one of the main take-aways is that there were compromises that had to be made and all signs suggest that a deadline by Sega is what led them to deliver what many consider to be a "broken," buggy, glitchy product. 

szkoki

u guys r talking about this deadline thing like GBX would had only 1 year to make a game....how long has been this game under development? deadline my ass...lazy work as shit, sure every cancelled release date results  even worse graphics but cmon....who cares about the graphics? no one would if it would be a decent, creative, bug-free game

ShadowPred

Quote from: Robness Monster on Feb 08, 2013, 11:52:08 PM
Well, I would like to share something that may be relevant in this thread.  I'm not sure if you all remember or not, but a powerpoint presentation was leaked by one of the game's designers, which expressed a handful of things that he would have done differently, if given the time.


Can you find a link for this?


Quote from: Robness Monster on Feb 08, 2013, 11:52:08 PM


If you remember, one of the things he would do all over again with the game is just start from scratch and re-skin the Left for Dead video game.


That sounds f**king desperate if all he wanted to do is just simply make a mod of L4D into a 60 dollar game.


Xenomorphine

Quote from: Robness Monster on Feb 08, 2013, 11:52:08 PM
Well, I would like to share something that may be relevant in this thread.  I'm not sure if you all remember or not, but a powerpoint presentation was leaked by one of the game's designers, which expressed a handful of things that he would have done differently, if given the time.

Do you have a link? I don't think I ever saw this.

QuoteIf you remember, one of the things he would do all over again with the game is just start from scratch and re-skin the Left for Dead video game.

Well, that's effectively what they already did, so, I doubt literally doing so would have changed much. Made it cheaper, maybe (to make and purchase).

HybridNewborn

Quote from: ShadowPred on Feb 09, 2013, 12:01:09 AM
That sounds f**king desperate if all he wanted to do is just simply make a mod of L4D into a 60 dollar game.

I'm going to be realistic and admit I'd probably still get it if they just straight up advertised it as a total conversion mod. I'd probably have more faith in it, knowing it has a solid gameplay foundation behind it, actually.

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