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[The Rare Canceled Game Art Thread]

N

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Shiggy said:
Woah, I thought he wanted to stop for now! Are there even any other GBA betas aparts from the early DKP one left now?
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Well he's releasing a new GBA beta every two weeks until the end of the year, so that only leaves one beta left to release in 2011...

After a while, he plans on releasing non GBA betas in 2012.
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
These GBA releases are cool and all, but...

1tnOq.jpg


1RVyn.jpg


Someone wake me when a BK beta or Project Dream is released.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
There's not much of a story behind the actual project, apart from the obvious "it was cancelled". Up until that point, I remember development happening fairly smoothly and quickly.

Unfortunately, I cannot take any credit for the voxel engine (that was the amazing talent of Rob and his scary self-modifying code). The bits I do remember working on clearly were the frontend, object handling & collisions, and the HUD system.

The frontend wasn't as ambitious as Diddy Kong Pilot's (with its FMV & rotating light beam), but what I tried all along was to make the menu system as slick and flowing as possible. I remember even cutting down the size of the save file, so that the "saving" message was only displayed for the minimum allowed time. This frontend was then shoehorned into DKP for the final Banjo Pilot, since we knew exactly how the progress through our own game worked.

The object collisions all used vertical cylinders, which are extremely cheap on non-floating point hardware. I also kept a multiplexed sorted list, where it would sort all the objects (I think by X position) forwards on 1 update, then backwards on the other, doing one-way compares & swaps as necessary. This meant each object would only check against the adjacent one or two in the list, and stop as soon as it reached one that it wasn't touching. Every cycle counted!

The HUD needed to display large sprites, for which we basically did not have the remaining VRAM. So at Trevor's suggestion, he & I came up with a solution that divided the screen into 3 regions: upper (position & time), middle (message/icon to turn around + map) and lower (current item + lap counter), and rotated the sprite data in memory on 3 specific scanlines. This effectively gave the full quota of sprite memory allocated for the HUD, to each of the 3 regions.

The feedback from people who tried the game was that it looked a lot prettier, but still wasn't an enjoyable game to play. Perhaps that influenced the cancellation? One of the reasons we heard when it was cancelled was the low framerate, especially with multiple racers. However, considering the framerates of some of the N64 (and later Xbox 360) games, there are likely to have been other reasons behind the decision.
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http://www.rarewarecentral.com/banjo-pilot-voxel
 
I

IOnEI Falcon

Member
For anyone that hasn't seen the canned response from Nintendo about GE, someone posted it recently on the xbox.com forums.

Hello,

Thanks for writing. As you may know, In order to diversify our portfolio of developers and projects, we sold our controlling interest in Rare, Ltd. to Microsoft back in 2002. While Nintendo's great franchise characters such as Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Star Fox remain exclusive to Nintendo systems, Rare retains the rights to franchises and characters they created, including "Killer Instinct," "Perfect Dark," "Conker," and "Banjo-Kazooie." For this reason, games featuring these franchises and characters will likely remain exclusive to a Microsoft platform now and for the foreseeable future.

That said, there hasn't been any announcements for the type of games you described to be released in North America. More importantly, we do not have any information that tells us this game will or won’t be announced, but I will pass along your comments to the departments which make those decisions.

We often hear from excited fans asking if a particular game is going to be announced. I don’t want to dampen any excitement you feel about these games, but I want to make it clear that until Nintendo makes an official announcement of a particular game there is nothing we have to share about it—regardless of any rumors you may have heard or announcements from Nintendo subsidiaries elsewhere in the world.

If or when we do make an official announcement about any of these games, we will share all the exciting details on our website (www.nintendo.com). Until that happens, we appreciate your patience and ask that you continue checking the website.

Sincerely,

Gabby Allen
Nintendo of America Inc.
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N

[Nintex]

Member
IOnEI Falcon said:
For anyone that hasn't seen the canned response from Nintendo about GE, someone posted it recently on the xbox.com forums.
Click to expand...

They removed the 'jab' that used to be in all Nintendo's Rare related e-mails. They always dug up some snide remark about how Rare just wasn't worth it for them anymore and how they sucked because MS bought them.
 
H

HocusPocus

Member
The fact that the employees at Rare want to blame Microsoft for their own creative failings is astounding. No other company that had their output for the past 6 years would be left standing. They just really couldn't pull it together this entire generation. Perfect Dark Zero is a perfect example. Game lived only on name alone. There was nothing in that game creatively at all. Talk about a bankrupt company. Microsoft did the only thing they could with them. Have them crank out creatively bankrupt games, which is what they are really only able to do. Kinect Sports sold more games this entire generation for a Rare game by a mile.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
HocusPocus said:
The fact that the employees at Rare want to blame Microsoft for their own creative failings is astounding. No other company that had their output for the past 6 years would be left standing. They just really couldn't pull it together this entire generation. Perfect Dark Zero is a perfect example. Game lived only on name alone. There was nothing in that game creatively at all. Talk about a bankrupt company. Microsoft did the only thing they could with them. Have them crank out creatively bankrupt games, which is what they are really only able to do. Kinect Sports sold more games this entire generation for a Rare game by a mile.
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Most blame Rare/MGS management, for good reason. Just take a look at how far along some ideas were and then completely scrapped. For a start, think about Kameo, PDZ, Diddy Kong Pilot, or Banjo-Pilot.

And no, Diddy Kong Racing DS sold more than Kinect Sports, I believe ;)
 
G

Garcia el Gringo

Member
Shiggy said:
They did a new card for this year. One where Scott actually addresses fans' concerns.

http://www.abload.de/img/christmasscottuwq0w.jpg
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Dammit, Henson.

I see that Rare put the real one up right around the time I posted about missing the Christmas card. Pretty telling that they didn't feel like shoehorning any of their mascots in it. I understand that they're on a Kinect Sports kick, but wow. You'd think they'd at least hide a Jiggy in there or something. :(
 
S

Shiggy

Member
Garcia el Gringo said:
Dammit, Henson.

I see that Rare put the real one up right around the time I posted about missing the Christmas card. Pretty telling that they didn't feel like shoehorning any of their mascots in it. I understand that they're on a Kinect Sports kick, but wow. You'd think they'd at least hide a Jiggy in there or something. :(
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They do not care about those characters anymore, they are doing Kinect stuff and thus don't need their old mascots. :/
 
G

Garcia el Gringo

Member
Shiggy said:
They do not care about those characters anymore, they are doing Kinect stuff and thus don't need their old mascots. :/
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It's really such a waste. I think some of those old mascots would still work today. Instead we're stuck with Avatars and Kinect minigame collections. I guess it's hopeless now that most of the old talent has been gutted from Rare. Even if a miracle happened and MS declared that the 360's successor is going to be a core console for a few years until they price drop it and introduce motion controls, Rare wouldn't be able to make a Banjo/Kameo/Pinata game again unless they got the art team back and such.

But realistically, the Kinect successor will be mandatory with the next Xbox on day one and it will need Sports, Sports, Sports and Avatars. I miss when MS was trying hard to win over the core with the OG Xbox and the 360. Fucking Project Natal. It was the year that Project Natal was announced that I could feel Microsoft's output and deals with 3rd parties really drying up. It was such a great time for gamers when MS was funding Mistwalker, publishing core games like Mass Effect and releasing some Piñata. Now the 360 is just the Halo, Gears, Fable and multiplatform game box.
 
S

Sydle

Member
Shiggy said:
They did a new card for this year. One where Scott actually addresses fans' concerns.

christmasscottuwq0w.jpg
Click to expand...

Is this real? Would be incredibly awesome.

And I agree that Rare has no one to blame but Rare for their failings. Lack of direction and focus hurt them. Took too long to develop games.
 
O

Oxx

Member
I remember feeling like Rare was taking too long to develop games back in the N64 era, but with hindsight, they got through quite a lot of stuff.

It was kinda downhill after that, though.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
It looks like none of Bjorn's wishes can be fulfilled by Santa this year:

Bjorn Toft Madsen said:
My wish-list: Awesome senior hires to join us, a bright future for our new engine, more awesome for Rare and a happy New Year!
Click to expand...
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Just to prevent this thread from becoming 70% Siggy, I bring you new info. Well, it's something.

Principal Rendering Engineer
Role Purpose

Following on from the success of ‘Kinect Sports’ and its recent sequel ‘Kinect Sports: Season Two’, Rare is continuing to push the boundaries of the Kinect hardware with our exciting new project. We’re looking for an experienced and passionate rendering engineer to join us on this journey.

Based at our custom built Twycross site, this role will involve you working initially within the New Technology engineering team to produce a cutting edge extensible rendering solution that satisfies art direction, art implementation, pipeline, content design and business requirements.

Team/Department Mission

• Develop early technology prototypes to prove feasibility of concepts.
• Deliver advanced software in a format consumable by larger engineering group.
• Work with partners in and outside of Microsoft Studios to push shared direction and avoid duplication of research efforts.
• Provide technology intelligence to Rare’s senior leadership team.

Key Accountabilities

• Understand, assess and be capable of implementing real-time rendering techniques made possible by DirectX 11.
• Identify and evaluate non-interactive rendering trends and our opportunities to move these into the interactive domain in our future titles.
• Implement the above in conjunction with other senior engine architects within the context of an evolving engine.
• Communicate effectively with art vision holders, taking or suggesting direction as required.
• Enable the technical artists to achieve the vision generated by non-interactive pre-visualisation.
• Understand and streamline the activities performed in content-authoring tools that are required in order to generate input data for our rendering runtime.
• Work with our content pipeline and build specialists to optimise the preparation of input data required by our rendering runtime.
• Mentor junior engineers

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential Experience

• Previous rendering experience on at least one released AAA title in the current console generation or for high-spec PCs.
• Technical/Functional Skills
• Excellent C++ architecture, programming and debugging skills using modern C++.
• Excellent math skills, particularly 3D math.
• Strong understanding of the non-interactive rendering research space.
• Strong understanding of the interactive rendering space.
• Knowledge of C#, Mel Script or Python.
• Knowledge of Maya and Z-Brush.
• Understanding of UML and multiplatform development.
• Ability to complete tasks in a timely manner, achieving compromises with other disciplines as required to hit deadlines.
• Very strong problem-solving skills - ability to think outside the box.

Personal Attributes/Interpersonal Skills

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Outgoing and pro-active personality who thrives on working with non-engineers.
• Self-motivated with a drive for excellence.

Qualifications

BSc, BEng, or MS in Computer Science or equivalent.
Click to expand...
 
C

Celine

Member
Many months ago I found an image about a PS1 game called Popcorn that apparently was never released.
Recently I discovered a connection with Rare...

http://www.unseen64.net/2011/07/21/popcorn-psx-cancelled/

eighth-wonder-edge60.jpg


From Wiki:
Prior to these events, Rare had already publicly lost staff from other teams. In 1997, a small number of these employees (Oliver Davies, Oliver Norton, Steve Patrick, Jeff Stafford, Christopher Gage, and Adrian Smith) left and formed a new studio to be known as Eighth Wonder.
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"We approached Sony because we viewed them as the market leader and we want to develop a series of market leading products," Eighth Wonder game designer Oliver Davies told European trade magazine CTW. "We regard PlayStation as being the most versatile of the next-generation consoles."

Eh eh seems the Nintendo curse struck again.
 
D

Dug

Banned
FateBreaker said:
I'm confused. He still works at Rare...?
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App developer, illustrator, animator and videogame dinosaur. Quite literally living the dream whilst making great stuff at the Appy Factory that is Nosy Crow.
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nope.

https://twitter.com/#!/edmundree

EDIT:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ed-bryan/4/b6/26b

Current
Head of Apps Development: Creative at Nosy Crow Ltd
Past
Art Director at Rare Ltd (Microsoft Games Studio)
Lead Artist at Rare Ltd
Senior Artist at Rare Ltd
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