• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Outcast to be revived by original authors

subversus said:
they need plenty of money to do that, KS won't help much.
Click to expand...

On one hand, you can see what the Open Outcast guys have been doing for free, given even a small amount of dedicated funding and resources I could see them making a decent game, even if it doesn't match the scale of the original.

But something like Star Citizen funding would be ideal, for the niceties like getting the original voice actor back and larger zones. In the end, I can't see a publisher wanting to fund this, except maybe Paradox or other European ones like Deep Silver.
 
I remember the EDGE cover, complete with slip-on case.

tumblr_mcwr58QUgl1rkrwaco1_1280.png
tumblr_mcwr58QUgl1rkrwaco2_1280.jpg
Click to expand...
 
I remember it chugging along at like 20fps on my meager old Compaq PC with me loving every minute of it.

Something about that game and its world seemed magical at the time.
 
Huh, interesting. I loved Outcast on release, even if my computer could barely run it at the time.

Still one of the MOST amazing OSTs ever created for a video game. That alone has this on my radar.
 
Backfoggen said:
Voxels

That's all I'm going to say
Click to expand...

Worth noting the "voxel" engine, in both Outcast and many so-called voxel games at the time like Comanche, is not an actual voxel engine but a heightmap raycaster. It didn't do any of the nifty things actual voxels are useful for and has the same limitations as any heightmap system (ie no overhangs), it's the raycaster part that was interesting.
 
Outcast remake in Crysis Wars engine:

http://www.openoutcast.org/wp/

Download: http://www.openoutcast.org/wp/downloads/

LotY-Oasis02.jpg
Click to expand...

LotY-Oasis01.jpg
Click to expand...

But what I found interesting about the original was the unique scale and world design + size for the time. In order for a new Outcast to be anywhere near equally as impressive, it has to have at least several times the world size of the original - it has to be considerably bigger than any open world character controlled games released so far, since that's what made the original so impressive (Huge, openish world 3D game with 3rd person perspective.). A third person action/RPG game set on the world map of the game Fuel would fit the bill.

So, I don't think it's likely that it'll be as impressive. It's just not really feasible, unless they get a 100 person team and 100$ million dollars and get to work for several years, or if they use procedural technology, but since it seems to be very hard to make an interesting 3D game with a procedural world map, I don't think developers are big fans of using that. They might try, or it might be their intention, but it's likely they'll have to scale back and make it more focused on a story or whatever.
 
This came out of the blue and I am also super excited about this news. Outcast is one of my all-time favourite games. Also, they need to keep at least Cutter Slade in, and the "cultural" aspects of the world, and the humour.
 
One of the best games I ever played...revolutionary for the times.

Super cinematic (opening scene was fantastic, with protagonists names in 16:9), voxels, water with ripples, blur and bump mapping, a FANTASTIC crowd simulation that felt real...nice story, awesome music, everyone dubbed...

Thrilled to see what they can come out with...the market is really different now.

I still remember drooling over the Outcast 2 screenshots.
 
The soundtrack remains one of my favourites. I loved the fact you could switch between first and third person in this game as well. The world in this game felt trully intriguing.
 
On a related note, here's what Yves Grolet wrote on the Open Outcast forum after this announce.

Yves Grolet said:
Hi Guys,

This is Yves Grolet, one of the original author of Outcast. As you saw, we rencently purshased the right for Outcast.

We wanted to tell you that we value a lot your community and your work on OpenOutcast.
We want to clarify that, as long as you don't make any profit out of it, there are no problem for us that you continue to develop OpenOutcast. Actualy, we like a lot what you are doing.

Cordially,
-- Yves
Click to expand...

Source: http://www.openoutcast.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3122
 
SparkTR said:
Hell no, I remember people thought it looked like crap compared to other games that used GPU acceleration.
Click to expand...

I meant largely in terms of the kind of specs required. I remember my then-high-end 500Mhz P3/128MB RAM machine struggling with it.
 
Yesterday installed my gog version and downloaded the unofficial hd patch. Still looks beautiful after 14 years and man the music..the music <3.

And here is a photo of my original box with everything intact! :D Yeah a very unique game indeed. One game magazine here in the netherlands had me reading articles of this game for a long time PC Gameplay. Also the manual..goddamn i miss those. Everything is in there,the races,animals,bio's etc etc. Even a language guide. Such a shame that this game not sold well at all back in the day and still got amazing scores. But this one of the first games using a actual symphony orcestra. That made it even more special and different then all the house music in other games. Oh damn just found out disc 2 has the music on it! Putting it on my hdd!

wp_000069e3svp.jpg


wp_000070uvs8r.jpg


wp_000072tmsfi.jpg
Click to expand...
 
The new studio/team is called 'Daoka' and they've been working on a game for two years already.

http://daoka.be

'Daoka' is very a Outcast-like name...

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/31/outcast-devs-form-daoka-will-build-new-games-in-series/

Belgian games industry veterans reveal their new studio.

Gosselies, Belgium, August 1, 2013 &#8211; Games industry veterans reveal "Daoka", their new development studio located in Belgium.

The new studio is the fusion of AMA Studios S.A. and former key people from Appeal S.A., the Belgian development house that created Outcast.

Daoka will soon reveal an exciting new project that the studio has been working on over the last two years, due to release in the near future on next gen console. Our new studio will also work on games related to the Outcast franchise. The rights to this much loved IP have recently been purchased by the games original authors who now continue to work and collaborate with us at Daoka.

Our studio is a worker cooperative and is run democratically. This creates ideal conditions for creative individuals to thrive and contributes toward our common goal : delivering great games that are fun for players!
Click to expand...
 
I really hope they hire some "human-walking-animation-specialist" this time around. The originals walking animation for the protagonist looked amazingly bad - like he pooped himself.
 
WOW!

Didn't see this thread back in 2013, but man this is awesome. Loved Outcast back at the time. Why did the game even bomb?

Didn't even know there was a GOG version of it. Man..

m360 said:
The german news site Gamona reports that a Remake of Outcast is on it's way. As source they quote Franck Sauer … one on the devs of the original Outcast and Co-Founder of the new studio Daoka.



http://www.gamona.de/games/outcast,...ortierung-des-pc-klassikers:news,2409019.html
Click to expand...
I'll buy the GOG version for now but will see if this really comes true.
 
I was so hyped for something new from the team and world of outcast. I still remember losing hours on my PC with outcast. Then I read this :-

blah de blah said:
due to release in the near future on next gen console.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me as if they are not releasing it on the PC which seems to be a tad bit odd when you consider it is PC gamers that have kept the candle burning all these years.
 
CharmingCharlie said:
I was so hyped for something new from the team and world of outcast. I still remember losing hours on my PC with outcast. Then I read this :-



Sounds to me as if they are not releasing it on the PC which seems to be a tad bit odd when you consider it is PC gamers that have kept the candle burning all these years.
Click to expand...

That new Franck interview seems to hint that PC is the target and PSN and Xbox Live latter if possible.
 
CharmingCharlie said:
I was so hyped for something new from the team and world of outcast. I still remember losing hours on my PC with outcast. Then I read this :-



Sounds to me as if they are not releasing it on the PC which seems to be a tad bit odd when you consider it is PC gamers that have kept the candle burning all these years.
Click to expand...

That German article makes it sound like PC and next-gen through XBL/PSN digital channels
 
A Remake to check the audience and perception. Sounds about right. I'm in! I really love Outcast and am remind of this fact every day when I pass the collectors edition box in my shelf.

The funniest thing is the dance after the end of the game. The Song is playable in a CD Player as well :)
Let's celebrate this awesome news with this dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkwdYo_c2sE
 
Umm...wow. This game was pretty much overlooked, but the tech was so outlandish that it was shocking. It was a brilliant idea to use a voxel engine to get around the 3D hardware limitations of the period and create a really lush open world. I never played enough of the game to form a valid opinion of it though; it was pretty slow on my PC.

Outcast vs Outlast...this is gonna get confusing.
 
Nokterian said:
Yesterday installed my gog version and downloaded the unofficial hd patch. Still looks beautiful after 14 years and man the music..the music <3.

And here is a photo of my original box with everything intact! :D Yeah a very unique game indeed. One game magazine here in the netherlands had me reading articles of this game for a long time PC Gameplay. Also the manual..goddamn i miss those. Everything is in there,the races,animals,bio's etc etc. Even a language guide. Such a shame that this game not sold well at all back in the day and still got amazing scores. But this one of the first games using a actual symphony orcestra. That made it even more special and different then all the house music in other games. Oh damn just found out disc 2 has the music on it! Putting it on my hdd!
Click to expand...

Haha, I still have the box and stuff, too :) Few games that actually made it through all the years together with me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GOG is getting acquired by its original co-founder, Michał Kiciński
2
99
2K
genesisblock replied
Tomb Raider - PS1 Original vs. Cancelled Core Design PSP Remake | Side by Side
Retro Trailer Platform 
33
576
CamHostage replied
  • Locked
Demon's Souls - PS3 Original vs. PS5 Remake (Synced Gameplay) | Side by Side
Retro Trailer Platform 
9
269
Mod of War replied
  • Locked
Seamus Blackley, original Xbox console designer: 'Xbox will be sunsetted with new CEO'
1
258
Kururu replied
[Gamesradar] Xbox will be "sunsetted" under new CEO, original co-founder Seamus Blackley expects
6 7 8 9 10
452
3K
Dorfdad replied
Top Bottom