The Game's Development Story Discussion

[ikarop]

Fixing one thing made several completely different other things fail and compounding the issue, because of all the different coding mess, every time something was tried.

You just described game development in its entirety. I've been QA testing for games for a while now and unfortunately this case with most games. Some games are less broken than others but it happens constantly. Whether the powers that be are willing to spend more time/money or have the will to fix these things is an entirely different matter.

[Elicas]

Fixing one thing made several completely different other things fail and compounding the issue, because of all the different coding mess, every time something was tried.

You just described game development in its entirety. I've been QA testing for games for a while now and unfortunately this case with most games. Some games are less broken than others but it happens constantly. Whether the powers that be are willing to spend more time/money or have the will to fix these things is an entirely different matter.

All software development. I've never worked on games, but worked in an office that did backend system coding. Just having one programmer off for a day could snarl up the whole office, and out projects were nowhere near as big as this.

[Xenomorphine]

Extensively, though. If this person is to be believed, it was meant to have been a lot more extreme than on other projects.

[Xhan]

It was more extreme than most.

And yes the onus of failure is highest on GBX both subjectively and objectively.

GBX made the decision to change the entire feel of the game from action-tactical control and GBX came up with the ridiculous story along with the two BSG writers who helped Neumann codify his fangasm premise into what we see now. GBX also failed to get Red Ring properly implemented across all platforms within alloted specs.

TG also made, as we see, spectacularly mediocre content. Look at a video of section8 gameplay and then look at A:CM which is supposed to be the greatest licensed game ever made. Weapons and anims are pretty familiar, no? They're also not up to AAA quality by any stretch of the imagination, and neither are any of the levels.

SEGA knew full well what they were getting, on several versions, so the innocent SEGA angle is also a lie. Though in fairness they were expecting at the end what we were expecting, they just knew it would suck a lot earlier. SEGA didn't even want the damned license to begin with, so them funneling what they did into it is rather surprising.

[newbeing]

SEGA didn't even want the damned license to begin with, so them funneling what they did into it is rather surprising.

Are you referring to when they previously wanted to cancel A:CM or was Sega really against obtaining the Alien license in the first place?

Sega is certainly to blame for a few reasons, mainly for not keeping on top of Gearbox and then meddling with the game's aesthetics.

With much of the story still unheard I do wonder if Sega had a bigger part in this. Just looking at their track record over the past decade shows that they've mismanaged a lot of projects, including their own IPs.

It just seems strange to me, and I have no doubt it's due partially to my own gullibility and partial ignorance of the situation, that Gearbox would push production of ALIENS, a billion dollar franchise, in favor of a new IP like Borderlands and an almost forgotten IP like Duke Nukem.  It just seems like ALIENS would, at the time, be a safe bet for the company if they could pull it off.

GBX does deserve a good portion of the blame, especially if these stories being leaked are true, but part of me knows that a publisher that both meddles too much, and isn't sure what it wants, can completely cripple a game. Mix in a studio like FOX, which apparently has no clue how to direct one if it's more successful franchises and you have a really shitty situation on your hands.

On a side note: I would love to get my hands on the script written by the BSG guys.

[Xhan]

The guy that bought the IP to use in the first place was fired later Newbs, and him buying Aliens was one of the reasons he was fired. So as a company, no they really didn't want it, and yeah SoA/E's track record is pretty horrendous over the last twenty years, ESPECIALLY concerning licensed products.

As for the second canceling, you were on the forums when Sharky reported SEGA wanted to cancel the project due to gross mismanagement.

[YutaniDitch]

The guy that bought the IP to use in the first place was fired later Newbs, and him buying Aliens was one of the reasons he was fired. So as a company, no they really didn't want it, and yeah SoA/E's track record is pretty horrendous over the last twenty years, ESPECIALLY concerning licensed products.

As for the second canceling, you were on the forums when Sharky reported SEGA wanted to cancel the project due to gross mismanagement.

Xhan, I am sorry, but your 'SEGA didn't want the license in the first place' is bollux to me...! Frst of all, why make three games then?! not one, not two, THREE (for now)! Also, the ALIENS franchise is an automatic gold mine, assuming they do a relatively OK job with it... Even a regular game like AVP, not formidable but not sucky-sucky, gave them some good money! It has it's fanbase! SO, why would they hire Rebellion, the creator of the acclaimed first AVP game?! Why would they invest SO MUCH money in it and keep postponing it and therefore losing even more money?! Why?!

SO, I am not buying that at all, Xhan! NOw, I am buying the whole 'SEGA knew it was crap and still they sold it'! Of course they would! I ask you this: after spending all that money, wasting it for 6 YEARS, a timeframe in which you could develop 3 CRYSIS games  , would you just waste all that money and time and resources for nothing, shelving the game yeat again or wasting two more years perfecting what they knew was a turd regardless...?! NO, I don't think so! They cut their losses (they should have done it earlier, the first time around, and after year 3, Sega should have just sacked Gearbox ( I am sure the contract had a deadline for producing the game) I mean, a CRYSIS game takes about 2 years to develop, so after year 3, it would be clear to me that Gearbox had more than they could chew, and ought to have been sacked on the spot! TimeGate was the patsy for Gearbox to put blame in, but they knew that outsourcing it was a bad idea, far worse when you outsource to newbies such an important AAA game! SEGA's only fault was a) hiring Gearbox in the first place; b) letting Gearbox geta away with it by year 3; c) not pulling the plug definitively the first time around... I am sure us, fans, would wait as long as we could (we had an AVP game in between to at least appease our lust for our fave monsters...  And in 2009, hire a full-proof dev like Crytek, Ubisoft Montreal or any other AAA-level dev, to deliver an ALIENS sequel in game form worthy of the movie... So, by 2011, just one year after we got the AVP game, we would have had a great game, especially since it was going to be canon in the Alien franchise, wich means, more reason to have a AAA dev company at the helm of this project... Rebellion could have done it... I think that AVP failed story-wise because they had to make three stories intertwine, and that is always tricky and messy... WIth only one storyline to focus on, I am sure Rebellion would have made a great job... Of course, it would mean pushing the Aliens game two more years, which we would have right about the same time we got this piece of crap... UNless Rebellion would hire more people and they would be able to develop BOTH games... but nah, I think they would be holding too many balls in the air by then...

I think MOnolith could also do it in conjonction with Rebellion, for instance... Monolith would take care of the story and Rebellion would take care of making sure the story was playable and enjoyable... I mean, what has MOnolith been doing lately? For those who just tuned in, Monolith was the developer of AVP 2...

So, there ya go, Xhan... SEGA just made poor choices and was naive to believe Gearbox wasn't just shining her out of her money... I am sure SEGA is going to, either sue Gearbox or, better yet, make sure no other software house wil ever hire her! Hehehe I would love that...

[Xhan]

They were legally contracted for three games, and the BoD whom now hold court over SEGA want nothing to do with the franchise.

That's not a supposition.

Secondly Monolith did the same thing Gearbox did and used money and tech developed for AvP2 to finance NOLF2, that's also not supposition.

Monolith isn't even around anymore except as a tech and tool house for Warner Brothers Games.

[YutaniDitch]

They were legally contracted for three games, and the BoD whom now hold court over SEGA want nothing to do with the franchise.

That's not a supposition.

Secondly Monolith did the samr thing Gearbox did and used money and tech developed for AvP2 to finance NOLF2, that's also not supposition.

Monolith isn't even around anymore except as a tech and tool house for Warner Brothers Games.

Xhan, BoD? Who's that?

Actually, I wouldn't blame SEGA or any other company not wanting to have anything to do with ALIENS... This franchise has become a curse to anyone who touched it! FOX made a mess of it, so did the devs, the publishers...! So, if they were indeed obligated to do just 3 games and if they are just wanting to get rid of it, I doubt the next Alien game will be any good as well! That is actually no good prognosis, if you're correct there, Xhan!

Regarding Monolith, this is actually good news... I just wrote on another thread that FOX should just sell the Alien rights altogether to Warner or any other movie company! 

[RagingDragon]

Board of Directors, homie, jeeze!

Xhan.. are you telling us that AvP 2 could've been better than it already was? That what you're saying?

The Aliens curse, man. IT'S A CURSE I TELL YOU!

[chupacabras acheronsis]

Aliens make corporations turn evil.

that's pretty meta.

[WinterActual]

http://pixelsmashers.com/wordpress/?p=18167 

[YutaniDitch]

Yeah, I REEEEEEEALLLY believe they will come clean and tell us EXACTLY WTF happened...! 


About the patches, if there is ever any relevant one, that is, I doubt it very much! This truly required an 8GB patch, AKA another game entirely! If they are willing to do that, and with the feedback they have had by now, I am sure they would do something more substantial than what came to pass! But of course, that won't be happening... SO yeah, an apology will not redeem their derelict posture at all! And they waited what, A WHOLE MONTH to issue a statement of apology... Uau! That amounts for what in GEARBOX YEARS?! HAHAHA

[chupacabras acheronsis]

my favorite part, the damage control.

[RagingDragon]

An apology would blow my skirt up, and I would scurry back to the multiplayer with my belly full of butterflies, giggling like a little girl.

But seriously, hope it's true. It also means they can maybe bring back some of the players with patches, strong DLC, and a few good months support.

Wait, ... wait I think I'm insane.