Interplay Back?

Lehm · Post by **Lehm** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:33 pm

Interplay updated it's webpage for the first time in forever. I'm trying not to get to hopeful for what that might mean, especially with whats in the image.

http://www.interplay.com/

Wings · Post by **Wings** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:03 pm

I wish... maybe they are. Who knows?

TechPro · Post by **TechPro** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:03 pm

Notice the Descent like shield orb in the upper left of their graphic?

\"Coming Soon\" ay? Well, guess they still gotta try to make a buck (if only one).

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:19 pm

Interplay has been dead for years, they just haven't caught on to it yet. A real revival at this stage is unlikely.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 11:52 pm

Out grandchildren pmight see another Descent Sequel.

Someone forgot to nail the coffin. >_> Krom! I thought you were in charge of that. .. you WERE in Egypt after all. They had lots of coffins there.

Gekko71 · Post by **Gekko71** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:11 am

I'm not going to get my hopes up either ...but they are featuring the games they stated earlier they were interested in reviving.

(I got the Earthworm Jim, D4 and MDK references, but what were the other two out of curiosity?)

Aus-RED-5 · Post by **Aus-RED-5** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:24 am

Among the projects Interplay has said it wants to develop are sequels to Earthworm Jim, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Descent, and MDK, provided it can find the financing.

Source

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:29 am

If it means a new Descent, who knows they could make one before the other D like projects in the works.

d3jake · Post by **d3jake** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:18 pm

Untill I see the release date of a demo, I'm not going to believe it. Would it be nice? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. If you really want a new Descent game, learn C++ and head on over to the Open Descent Foundation's web site and help our work.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:15 pm

I'm currently putting a bit more stock in Diedel's effort.

Spidey · Post by **Spidey** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:44 pm

Keep dreaming.

EDIT: Wait, you call that an update?

snoopy · Post by **snoopy** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:57 pm

Aus-RED-5 wrote:
Among the projects Interplay has said it wants to develop are sequels to Earthworm Jim, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Descent, and MDK, provided it can find the financing.
Source

Give me bunches of money, and I'll make a new Descent-like game for you. I might even be able to make it feature my new awesome smelloputer effect, including smoke and an awesome burning smell. (It may have negative effects on your hardware, though.)

Money! · Post by **Money!** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:05 pm

Looks like a whole lotta nothing to me.

DarkHorse · Post by **DarkHorse** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:15 am

Aus-RED-5 wrote:provided it can find the financing.

which it can't.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:28 am

d3jake wrote:Untill I see the release date of a demo, I'm not going to believe it. Would it be nice? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. If you really want a new Descent game, learn C++ and head on over to the Open Descent Foundation's web site and help our work.

Helping with D2X-XL would be more promising. It has at least an IT pro as project leader.

MetalBeast · Post by **MetalBeast** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:03 am

Diedel wrote:
d3jake wrote:Untill I see the release date of a demo, I'm not going to believe it. Would it be nice? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. If you really want a new Descent game, learn C++ and head on over to the Open Descent Foundation's web site and help our work.
Helping with D2X-XL would be more promising. It has at least an IT pro as project leader.

What happens to people, who help d2x-xl, I can write some things about it and I'm not alone

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:29 am

5 4 3 2 ...

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:13 am

No flames in here.

EDIT: oops, wrong topic, thanks MB.

Ok back on topic. I just want a new Descent game. ASAP.

MetalBeast · Post by **MetalBeast** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:47 am

@CDN_Merlin, no problem

@topic, just find a C coder who is able to bring descent like gameplay over Q3 Engine and you will have new game in 1 or 2 years

Dakatsu · Post by **Dakatsu** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:25 pm

You all are forgetting that they have other games besides Descent IV, so they may try to create a new Earthworm Jim or something...

Although they better make a Descent IV!

[]V[]essenjah · Post by **[]V[]essenjah** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:10 pm

Yep, Earthworm Jim or MDK considering that Bioware is now gone.

I'd like to see MDK over EJ though.

d3jake · Post by **d3jake** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:29 pm

Diedel wrote:
d3jake wrote:Untill I see the release date of a demo, I'm not going to believe it. Would it be nice? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. If you really want a new Descent game, learn C++ and head on over to the Open Descent Foundation's web site and help our work.
Helping with D2X-XL would be more promising. It has at least an IT pro as project leader.

If someone wants to choose your project, that's fine, if they decide to join ours, that's fine. I would only suggest that said person see as much as they can about each side before choosing one, whichever it may be.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:38 pm

The reason I have doubts about OpenDescent is that they seem to be trying to start from scratch, and might lack sufficient expertise to do it. Would be happy to be proven wrong though.

Spidey · Post by **Spidey** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:44 pm

I don’t know…I think the entire problem might be that 6DOF games are too much for most people.

WillyP · Post by **WillyP** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:42 pm

Maybe they should start with an existing, open source game like SauerBraten(sp?).

Lehm · Post by **Lehm** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:55 pm

d3jake wrote:Untill I see the release date of a demo, I'm not going to believe it. Would it be nice? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. If you really want a new Descent game, learn C++ and head on over to the Open Descent Foundation's web site and help our work.

Wouldn't Interplay shut something like this down? If indeed they are trying to produce a new retail game, I can't imagine they'd allow a freeware project compete against it. Nothing against you guys, but that's the reality of the corperate world. I'd be expecting an e-mail from them.

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:17 pm

a guy from Interplay who worked on Die By The Sword (DBTS), became an employee of Essential Reality and worked on their P5 Glove product. I often chatted with him, heard some neat stories (supposedly they integrated some VR system with Die By The Sword first-person for Disneyworld as a VR attraction for their patrons).

I was testing out various beta stuff for him, and after some bugging he gave me an alpha version of an alpha release P5 version of DBTS (based on the full version). I asked if it was ok if i distributed it online, and he said yeah he doubts Interplay would even care. This was the full game btw.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:07 pm

Lehm wrote:
d3jake wrote:Untill I see the release date of a demo, I'm not going to believe it. Would it be nice? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not. If you really want a new Descent game, learn C++ and head on over to the Open Descent Foundation's web site and help our work.
Wouldn't Interplay shut something like this down? If indeed they are trying to produce a new retail game, I can't imagine they'd allow a freeware project compete against it. Nothing against you guys, but that's the reality of the corperate world. I'd be expecting an e-mail from them.

It was Interplay that released the D1 and D2 source code, even they can't stop this project. It is legal open source free software, nobody can shut them down by force.

Wishmaster · Post by **Wishmaster** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:52 am

Besides that, they know that the only people who are really interested in the ODF are the same people who would drool and run to stores on day 1 if they released another commercial Descent.

The Lion · Post by **The Lion** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:55 am

The only issue would be the Descent trademark, which is why the game
isn't going to be called OpenDescent.

So... there are several projects now which intend to develop a new 6DoF
from scratch: GeoCore, currently being kept alive by psion; OpenDescent,
progressing very slowly through its design phase; and you probably haven't
heard about it, but there are plans from one of the Forsaken players to create
some sort of 6DoF engine/framework to base new 6DoF games upon.

Each of these projects is currently in a rather bad condition, lacking either
manpower, coordination, experience/expertise, determination, or some
combination of them (time and money would just translate into those).
Trying to somehow merge any of the projects would inevitably result in
conflicts causing them to split up again. And I bet Interplay is still reluctant
to invest in a Descent 4 after what happened with Forsaken and Descent 3.

There are several projects which are actually getting work done, but their
purpose is different: Into Cerberon, adding 6DoF to Doom 3; DXX-Rebirth,
which aims to keep alive the original Descent 1 and 2; D2X-XL, which is
just that, Descent 2 XXL; and possibly others (is Omega Wing still alive?).
These obviously can't be merged either.

Still, I think our best bet is to somehow get together the people who want to
build a new 6DoF from scratch, by finding project leaders everyone is willing
to work with and establishing a shared communication channel. I strongly
recommend that such a project be open sourced so as to increase its survival
chance and allow everyone to contribute. It should help the 6DoF community
to grow again by promoting the genre and attracting new players as well as
former Descent / Forsaken players.

If it works, it will pave the way for additional projects (including commercial
ones) to get going. In particular, it will encourage Interplay to put funds into
development of a Descent 4 by proving that enough people are interested.

Alternatively, we can continue to keep alive the original Descent series (and
Forsaken) for as long as possible and hope for one of the existing projects
(or a new one) to succeed.

Your thoughts on this...

d3jake · Post by **d3jake** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:48 pm

Wishmaster wrote:Besides that, they know that the only people who are really interested in the ODF are the same people who would drool and run to stores on day 1 if they released another commercial Descent.

Assumptions are funny things. Its stupid to run out to get a game first thing after it releases before others buy it first, and tell you whether or not it's worth buying. Even if it is a new Descent, there's no guarantee that it will be any good, and not just a company throwing it our the door to make a profit.

WillyP · Post by **WillyP** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:02 pm

I'd buy it.

Red_5 · Post by **Red_5** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:05 pm

Given today's gaming hardware, Descent IV would be indescribably amazing. I mean, the games developed for PS3 barely tap into its potential as is, and if Interplay pulled this off, they might have a slice of a chance of taking over Halo. I mean, I'd play it over Halo any day, if they did a good job.

The shield orb gives hope...

Gekko71 · Post by **Gekko71** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:08 am

The Lion wrote:The only issue would be the Descent trademark, which is why the game
isn't going to be called OpenDescent.

So... there are several projects now which intend to develop a new 6DoF
from scratch: GeoCore, currently being kept alive by psion; OpenDescent,
progressing very slowly through its design phase; and you probably haven't
heard about it, but there are plans from one of the Forsaken players to create
some sort of 6DoF engine/framework to base new 6DoF games upon.

Each of these projects is currently in a rather bad condition, lacking either
manpower, coordination, experience/expertise, determination, or some
combination of them (time and money would just translate into those).
Trying to somehow merge any of the projects would inevitably result in
conflicts causing them to split up again. And I bet Interplay is still reluctant
to invest in a Descent 4 after what happened with Forsaken and Descent 3.

There are several projects which are actually getting work done, but their
purpose is different: Into Cerberon, adding 6DoF to Doom 3; DXX-Rebirth,
which aims to keep alive the original Descent 1 and 2; D2X-XL, which is
just that, Descent 2 XXL; and possibly others (is Omega Wing still alive?).
These obviously can't be merged either.

Still, I think our best bet is to somehow get together the people who want to
build a new 6DoF from scratch, by finding project leaders everyone is willing
to work with and establishing a shared communication channel. I strongly
recommend that such a project be open sourced so as to increase its survival
chance and allow everyone to contribute. It should help the 6DoF community
to grow again by promoting the genre and attracting new players as well as
former Descent / Forsaken players.

If it works, it will pave the way for additional projects (including commercial
ones) to get going. In particular, it will encourage Interplay to put funds into
development of a Descent 4 by proving that enough people are interested.

Alternatively, we can continue to keep alive the original Descent series (and
Forsaken) for as long as possible and hope for one of the existing projects
(or a new one) to succeed.

Your thoughts on this...

Personally I can't see open source being the answer from a number of viewpoints.

Obviously from a commercial standpoint (IE attracting investment funds) there's no incentive in open source: You can't own the product outright, your can't protect your IP (either the code itself or the storyline and characters), you can't license the IP for profit, retailers can't guarantee a regular supply of product or decent after-sales support, ... all in all there's simply too many negatives.

Secondly, open source software is not always everything its cracked-up to be. Don't get me wrong - there's many great programs around that work brilliantly that were created through open source development ...but they still pale in comparison to most of their their commercial counterparts in terms of market share. (Off the top of my head I can't think of a single open source game that can compete with even the more humble commerical products available.)

I want a new, great 6DOF game to play as much as everyone else here - but the answer to me lies in convincing a commercial game developer / financier that there is sufficient demand to warrant building and marketing such a game.

At the end of the day, this is a much easier and quicker task than building a new 6DOF game from scratch with volunteer labour, diluted ownership and no development budget.

d3jake wrote:
Wishmaster wrote:Besides that, they know that the only people who are really interested in the ODF are the same people who would drool and run to stores on day 1 if they released another commercial Descent.
Assumptions are funny things. Its stupid to run out to get a game first thing after it releases before others buy it first, and tell you whether or not it's worth buying. Even if it is a new Descent, there's no guarantee that it will be any good, and not just a company throwing it our the door to make a profit.

I agree with you D3jake, it makes little sense for consumers to buy a game on such a basis ...but they still do it en masse.

I also think you'll find that increasingly, nothing is 'thrown out the door' anymore, and any business that does so is making a major mistake ...at least when it comes to next-gen games that is. It seems to me that the economics of this kind of business model no longer adds up the way it used to.

For example, the development cost and timeframe for creating these games is now too unwieldy to make such opportunitstic / short-term decisions (We're talking 4 to 5 year development timelines in some cases for a decent game - that's medium term business planning in anyone's language).

Additionally, the potential for damage to a game manufacturer's brand in making a sucky game is getting too big. Very few game manufacturers are totally private entities anymore and their share prices can rise and fall dramatically with a great / lousy release. If they have a heavily-geared finance model (as many listed entities do) a falling share price puts them in a very precarious position, so they can't really afford for a game to fail.

This is ultimately both good news and bad news for us all.

Yes we are still going to see sucky games made and yes, there are still going to be businesses that release bad product while chasing a quick buck ...but the incidence of these behaviours is IMHO going to fall.

Just as the era of backyard game develpment / one-man mods is going the way of the dodo, hastily cobbled together / opportunistic game development has probably also done it's dash as well. The former is probably a tragedy, but the latter is definitely a blessing.

Spidey · Post by **Spidey** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:13 pm

Keep dreaming….Descent was a fluke…never going to happen again.

See now it would be cool if I was wrong.

DigiJo · Post by **DigiJo** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 2:43 pm

i doubt it that we will ever see a good new descent 4.

money rules the world, and if a professional gamestudio ever decides to make a new descent, it will be made to please the massmarket for maximum profit.
that means fantastic grafics and sound, extreme stupid gameplay with the complexity of tictactoe, very simple mousecontrol, a learningcurve that fits the attentionspan of todays customers (>5 minutes) and all the other attributes of todays chartbreaker games.

the result of such an effort wont please a single real descenter. and you know what? gameindustry wouldnt even care, cause we are just to few who enjoy a realy good and complex, hard to learn game like descent 1,2,3. sorry folks, no cookies for us. not now and not in the future.

goznik · Post by **goznik** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 2:47 pm

Spidey wrote:Keep dreaming….Descent was a fluke…never going to happen again.

See now it would be cool if I was wrong.

When did the descent community become so hopeless and bitter?

TIGERassault · Post by **TIGERassault** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 3:03 pm

On a related note, I still can't see why the control problem couldn't be easily solved with the Wii. All movement abilities (aside from afterburner) could be attributed to the Wii's motion control. Move the Mote forward to accelerate, backwards to reverse, up/down/left/right to bank, and rotate it to aim. Et voila, easy 3-axis movement without the press of a button.

Spidey · Post by **Spidey** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 3:48 pm

goznik wrote:
Spidey wrote:Keep dreaming….Descent was a fluke…never going to happen again.

See now it would be cool if I was wrong.
When did the descent community become so hopeless and bitter?

When someone gives false hope every few months or so…

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 3:56 pm

False hope? There was never any hope at all, Interplay is just using Descent and other titles in yet another desperate attempt to grab the interest of investors. I doubt there is any intention to actually develop another Descent at all.

Interplay Back?

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