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[Visualante2]

I wish the post was a joke post but it isn't. You think the "they cancelled our game when it was 99% complete" bullshit was genuine? It was a pity seeking move.

I didn't buy into much of what was said after Free Radical collapsed, like I said two sides to every story. But I think we've got two extreme accounts here.

I question Mr. X's appraisal of the game when they can't go and see how it's doing before pulling the plug in the same way that I question Free Radical's appraisal of their own management skills.

I think LucasArts probably made short sighted decision and now they're trying to justify it by exaggerating the circumstances behind the veil of anonymity. 75% sounds done enough to me to just finish the game and push it out the door. We see enough of that shit in gaming as it is, right or wrong.

Taking money from one project to pay for another is much, much more common than you might think. One of the biggest games of 2009 was a product of exactly this. Developers do it because they think they can get away with it. Occasionally, they do.

If the game was 75% (at worst) complete, it's natural that some of the artists would move onto Time Splitters while the rest of the team finish up the game also. Free Radical was allegedly one of the more responsible employers in the UK game business, one of the first game studios to pay overtime I read. They didn't seem to do massive hiring and firing waves either.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

David Doak is sat somewhere playing Facility by himself and crying over his ninth glass of scotch this evening

I just imagine him walking around calmly in the middle of firefights, attempting to strike up a conversation as bullets whiz past and random office furniture explodes.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Damn Free Radical dun goofed.

 

[GalacticGravy]

A real shame. I was a big fan of Battlefront 1 and 2. Would have been a lot of fun to play with friends on 360.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I knew it. Knew that 99% is bullshit. No way is anyone tossing away 99% done game.

 

[ElFly]

To be fair, it's common with small independent developers living project to project.

I guess this explains why so many small devs die after one failed project.

 

[RedSwirl]

This is the reason for the downfall of B-tier developers this generation, it is not that they lack good ideas, it simply that they are unable to structure the development involving large teams of specialist and long development times. This added with the fact that one mismanaged AAA-project is enough to sink a developer explains why so many have gone under.

But can you really blame each individual developer for that? I mean, A LOT of great dev houses went down this gen. I still think it's also partly a problem of how much production costs ballooned.

What was wrong with Haze? I remember playing the demo (first FPS besides OG Turok for n64) with my brother and we had fun. We only played it once though. Wasn't it supposed to be some Halo killer? lol

Well there you go. That's over a decade of advancements in the genre that you missed.

 

[NoSkillz187]

Damn Free Radical, probably shouldn't bullshit for sympathy. I still love you for Timesplitters though.

LMAO.HAHAHAh!!

 

[Neuromancer]

Ouch rough stuff. I believe it though. Free Radical really fell of a cliff at some point. I mean they made one of the best games of all history (TimeSplitters 2).

Also,

@ Arthur Gies

 

[diffusionx]

Absolutely disgusting. I expected more from the developers of Timesplitter.

Why? TS was a last gen series with last grn budgets and pipelines. It was obvious FR had a ton of trouble with Haze, this doesn't surprise me at all.

This generation of hardware has exposed a lot of inefficient companies and FRD sounds like one. I dont think The bulk of FRD was deceitful or dishonest, they just couldn't figure out how to make it work this generation. This doesn't surprise me.

But can you really blame each individual developer for that? I mean, A LOT of great dev houses went down this gen. I still think it's also partly a problem of how much production costs ballooned.

Right, the inability to deal with those production costs led to those companies' failures. For example, FRD's decision to write a new engine from scratch for Haze cost them tons of resources and helped doom both the game and company. Maybe they could get away with it on PS2 but this wasn't the PS2.

 

[Visualante2]

Speaking of mediocre.. wonder if Mr. X worked on this one. LucasArts of 2007/8 could do no wrong. Don't forget about that Indy game that never went anywhere.

 

[Waaghals]

Ouch rough stuff. I believe it though. Free Radical really fell of a cliff at some point. I mean they made one of the best games of all history (TimeSplitters 2).

Also,

@ Arthur Gies

I generally agree with this, though I have only played Goldeneye, perfect dark Conker and TS2 and 3.

 

[Clay Davis]

Speaking of mediocre.. wonder if Mr. X worked on this one. LucasArts of 2007/8 could do no wrong. Don't forget about that Indy game that never went anywhere.

what was wrong with this? I thought it was good, the terrain deforming mechanics were well done, it's a shame no other developer has attempted to do the same in their game.

 

[TUROK]

Speaking of mediocre.. wonder if Mr. X worked on this one. LucasArts of 2007/8 could do no wrong. Don't forget about that Indy game that never went anywhere.

I liked Fracture. It was pretty average, but fun.

 

[Aquamarine]

Why? TS was a last gen series with last grn budgets and pipelines. It was obvious FR had a ton of trouble with Haze, this doesn't surprise me at all.

This generation of hardware has exposed a lot of inefficient companies and FRD sounds like one. I dont think The bulk of FRD was deceitful or dishonest, they just couldn't figure out how to make it work this generation. This doesn't surprise me.

I just thought they had more potential, that's all. I assumed the console generation shift would be no problem for them. Haze's mediocrity was certainly of my biggest surprises this gen, and this (biased) explanation explains part of the story.

 

[DocSeuss]

Devil's advocate time:

First, that 99% was very likely just hyperbole, and not meant to be taken literally. His point was that it was very far along. For those of you saying "that video didn't look 99% complete," you don't know when that video was from. I doubt it was from the last available build of the game.

Second, Haze was said to be an Xbox 360 and PC game, and the reason it failed was that it didn't work well on the PS3, which Ubisoft had apparently switched on Free Radical without their knowledge or consent.

Third, Lucasarts has a history of making really, really stupid decisions when it comes to games they cancel/rush/etc. See KOTOR 2. Free Radical, on the flip side, only made one bad game, which has been explained by Ubisoft screwing them over.

Fourth: the Free Radical guys didn't really say that much. This guy has said a lot. People tend to listen to the guy who offers more detail than the guy who offers less. My guess is that the truth is probably more favorable to Free Radical than what this anonymous person is saying, but by how much, I can't be sure.

I generally agree with this, though I have only played Goldeneye, perfect dark Conker and TS2 and 3.

You should play Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. It is one of the best games. I have basically been playing it and nothing else for the past two weeks.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Second, Haze was said to be an Xbox 360 and PC game, and the reason it failed was that it didn't work well on the PS3, which Ubisoft had apparently switched on Free Radical without their knowledge or consent.

Haze was a PS3, 360 and PC game from the day that it was officially announced

Free Radical is creating Haze "from the ground up" for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. In addition to advanced visuals and physics, the game will offer multiple online modes, including co-op play.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/05/10/e3-2006-ubisoft-enters-a-haze

 

[Clay Davis]

I liked Fracture. It was pretty average, but fun.

well said. the terrain deforming was well done I thought and elevated the game from averageness to 'good'.

I would love to see a new game using the mechanic.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Just read about the cancellation of this project.
Wow.
Bad move, Miyamoto.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Every time this comes up, you've had ex (and current) LucasArts and Free radical employees post on GAF saying it wasn't close to done & that the situation was far from as one-sided as ex-FR management said...

.

 

[DocSeuss]

Haze was a PS3, 360 and PC game from the day that it was officially announced



http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/05/10/e3-2006-ubisoft-enters-a-haze

iirc, that was speculation on IGN's part.

 

[dragonflys545]

HOLY SHIT!!!

 

[heyf00L]

Wow, Free Radical really was the true RARE successor.

 

[Jafku]

I'm ashamed in that in the beginning PS3 days i bought into the Haze hype. It looked so cool in the trailers . Battlefront was one of my favorite series both on PS2 and PSP

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Sounds like a typical day in the industry.

 

[U2NUMB]

Sounds like Free Radical was seriously lacking talent in the engine department. Anyone know if they every hired anyone for this generation of consoles?

 

[ScreenSplitter]

This is just all really, really sad. No winners here. Two pissed off parties, and no Battlefront III.

 

[SolidSnakex]

iirc, that was speculation on IGN's part.

From the E3 06 press release

Developed by Free Radical, creators of the critically-acclaimed TimeSplitters® series, HAZE is scheduled for an early 2007 release for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system*, Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and will also be available on Windows® PC DVD-ROM. Ubisoft will showcase HAZE at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), May 10–12, at Booth #924 in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99586

 

[Cornbread78]

damn, that's all I can say to this. My gaming clan started back on Battlefront1.... Would love to have gotten this on PS3.

 

[firehawk12]

Silicon Knights 2.0 lol

 

[CamHostage]

I'm waiting for Free Radical to respond. They're trying to rebuild themselves now and get TS4 off the ground, and this is the last thing they need out there right now.

As much as I like having stories from behind the curtains of game making to come out (and not just the juicy stories, I'm fascinated by tales told in post-mortems or at California Extreme about the challenges faced in making games,) the response Free Radical should have right now is not words but a game. Make something awesome and put it behind you. This 99% talk and now this "bullshit" response is interesting for a historian (the truth likely lies somewhere in between, though as much as I admire FR's technical ability, I get the feeling that they have a shitshovel in the closet,) but at the end of the day, there is no SW Battlefront III to play.

 

[shinobi602]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99586

Lol it actually looked good in those screens.

Oh boy.

 

[DjRoomba]

Ouch rough stuff. I believe it though. Free Radical really fell of a cliff at some point. I mean they made one of the best games of all history (TimeSplitters 2).

Also,

@ Arthur Gies

Well thats just factually wrong and unfair.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

I'm kinda surprised the game was in a pretty bad state, the leaked footage of it looked quite good. I really hope we get a new Battlefront game next-gen.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

I'm waiting for Free Radical to respond. They're trying to rebuild themselves now and get TS4 off the ground, and this is the last thing they need out there right now.

Hah are they bullshit. All they're doing is dangling Timesplitters HD in the faces of long suffering fans whilst they fight off the inevitability that they will just be the Crysis multiplayer devs for all eternity.

 

[Grisby]

Damn, guy opened up Free Radical.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Well thats just factually wrong and unfair.

his opinion can't be "factually wrong"

 

[DocSeuss]

From the E3 06 press release



http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99586

Alright, neat.

 

[mr_nothin]

Publishers making devs look bad again? OMGz!
Not that I dont doubt that this could have happened though but seriously....

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

This reads a lot like the kind of letters engineers write when architects try to throw them under the bus to look better to clients.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

dayyuuuuuuuumm

my poor free radical

 

[NeoUltima]

About what I expected.

 

[Nightstick11]

Normally, when I envision the industry, I imagine the developer to be an artistic unique snow-flake flower who is trying to create his/her vision, when the fat-cat publisher chomping on a cigar and a burrito storms in a loud, obnoxious voice demanding the snow-flake add "eXtreme!!!" to the title, shoe-horn in online support, and change the main characters into "cool" images.

Here, the "fat-cat publisher" seems to be a K-Mart-clothes wearing dad who runs a general goods store trying to feed and clothe his kids, and his only employee is a lazy, truant pothead who takes breaks every 10 minutes to go down the alley in the back of the shop to take a puff.

 

[Aquamarine]

Normally, when I envision the industry, I imagine the developer to be an artistic unique snow-flake flower who is trying to create his/her vision, when the fat-cat publisher chomping on a cigar and a burrito storms in a loud, obnoxious voice demanding the snow-flake add "eXtreme!!!" to the title, shoe-horn in online support, and change the main characters into "cool" images.

Here, the "fat-cat publisher" seems to be a K-Mart-clothes wearing dad who runs a general goods store trying to feed and clothe his kids, and his only employee is a lazy, truant pothead who takes breaks every 10 minutes to go down the alley in the back of the shop to take a puff.

It must have made Lucasarts very uncomfortable. They wanted Battlefront 3 just as much as anybody...Battlefront 1 and 2 were MASSIVE successes. No matter how stupid people claim Lucasarts to be, they're not going to turn away from massive piles of cash. It must be really frustrating for Lucasarts to be nearly in 2013 with still no legitimate Battlefront 3.

 

[Dabanton]

Ouch rough stuff. I believe it though. Free Radical really fell of a cliff at some point. I mean they made one of the best games of all history (TimeSplitters 2).

Also,

@ Arthur Gies

Free Radical have not done much of note this gen. But Rare delivered two of my fave games this gen games with substance and style. Nuts and Bolts and Viva Piñata.

 

[DjRoomba]

I generally agree with this, though I have only played Goldeneye, perfect dark Conker and TS2 and 3.

Goldeneye is deeper than most current FPS, (and invented alot of fps mechanics) and Conkers just a genuinely fine game. So i do not agree. Saying these games had no substance is highly inaccurate. Arthur Gies is just trolling

 

[Rickenslacker]

Ouch rough stuff. I believe it though. Free Radical really fell of a cliff at some point. I mean they made one of the best games of all history (TimeSplitters 2).

Also,

@ Arthur Gies

Compared to Perfect Dark I really didn't think TS held up. Sure, it had quantity in wacky characters but the core of it felt very light and floaty. Enemies felt spongy, combat never really matched what came before it. In TS2 specifically, pistols were really slow and there was a surprising amount of invincibility after you spawned. I'll have to revisit it one of these days as I'm just going by a 7 year old memory at this point, but I do remember thinking that TS2 was alright when I was playing it at the time, only to be disappointed once I popped in PD and realized how much better it was instead.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Okay, let's not get crazy. It's very possible they went off the rails. It's not plausible that TimeSplitters 2 is now retroactively bad. It's still one of the most fun FPS's I've had the fortune to play.

 

[kamspy]

Wow, so HAZE didn't turn out to be a Halo-killer

alright, this made me nostalgia.

 

[Reagan's BR]

Great. Now start over and give it to use next gen along with KOTOR 3.