[Video] Don't always blame the publisher!

[Montoya]

Turns out that the publisher for Wingman's game might not be completely in the wrong here...

 

[Ammorn]

First!

 

[JackAvalon]

Honestly, the Parallax guys should have made a Freespace 3. Can't say for certain but I would like to believe it would have been more successful than Overload.

If you havent played Freespace 1 or 2, it's on Steam and is a fantastic set of games.

 

[GrumpyCat]

Whelp, thats a wrap. You dun goofed.

 

[thanatos73]

Descent and Freespace are what I cut my space sim teeth on.

And I'm sure there is still more to this story. As there is to all these games.

 

[Sraika]

since you published this video can we blame you tho

 

[Deroth]

Looks like Overload has mostly good reviews too (the worst I've seen so far is it only targets nostalgia players, not the broader marketplace.) Since it looks like Descent Underground is targeting the exact same demographic it would have a very steep climb to 'success'.

 

[Montoya]

Underground is targeting the exact same demographic

That is the biggest challenge IMO.

The people they want to market to are already playing the game, and its a really small market.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Thank you, Glorious Leader!

And thank you for taking the time to look a little deeper and substantiate rather then speculate. Next time do it before making the video!

One thing the Decent guys have that Overload didn't is the Decent name. Have they built a game that can bring that name in to the 21st century, or have they just remade Decent in a modern engine? We may never know...

 

[CosmicTrader]

And thank you for taking the time to look a little deeper and substantiate rather then speculate. Next time do it before making the video!

My fault entirely. I posted the info/links to Montoya.
I thought he would be interested. I did not know he would make a video.

I wasn't particularly interested in WHY they failed - just the fact they they DID fail.....
Thanks Glorious Leader anyway for the reason why...

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

My fault entirely. I posted the info/links to Montoya.
I thought he would be interested. I did not know he would make a video.

Do not blame yourself, sir, I should be thanking you for providing the tools for the Glorious Leader to make some wonderful videos for us, so many thanks to you

And Montoya should not blame himself either, it's not like anyone never speculated about stuff on Youtube before The real plus point here was the second video which showed the courageous and talented Montoya is restless when seeking the full story and was not afraid to stand up and issue an amendment and retraction to the original story. Good news all round I'd say

 

[Radegast74]

So, I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating...and we may never get a chance to see what Wingman & Descendant Studios was putting together...but I don't think that Overload being there doesn't mean there isn't room for 2 games. What would likely be the difference would be *marketing* & *advertising* which is not an insignificant consideration.

Saying that "there isn't room for 2 games" is kind of like saying CR should have given up, after Elite Dangerous was released...

All I know is, if I start a video game company, the #2 person I'm hiring is a lawyer, and the #3 person I'm hiring is a marketing person...sad to think some of the least important people are the actual programmers, but that is the world we are living in today. Now, GET OFF MY LAWN! but first read this:

Classic FPS Descent to be rebooted by Star Citizen alums

Descent Underground prequel hopes to bring upside down crazy action to modern players.

arstechnica.com

Although the last official game in the Descent franchise was released back in 1999, publisher Interplay still owns the IP rights. In fact, Peterson originally set out to make a 6-DoF shooter in the style of Descent without actually being a branded Descent game. "We were making a game that was called 'Ships That Fight Underground,' or STFU—it was a working title!—and we got approached by one of our fans that was a shareholder at Interplay and said, 'Would you guys like to do Descent?'" This led to a series of meetings with Herve Caen, CEO of Interplay, which then resulted in an official licensing agreement to use the name and be part of the franchise.

"He liked the pedigree we were bringing," said Peterson about the talk with Caen. "I think he had a few other people try to reboot it, but they weren’t doing it to the AAA level. When you’re going to reboot something you really need to take it to the next generation or else you’re just doing the same game, and that won’t really work."

The entire set of gameplay ideas Peterson and his team had dreamed up—ideas that were patterned after Descent anyway when they were still making "STFU"—thus were promoted into officialdom when the project went from "a game in the style of Descent" to "a Descent game."

Peterson also said that Descendent has been in contact with the original Descent developers from Parallax Software (which split in 1997 into two separate studios, Volition and Outrage; Outrage was shuttered in 2004 and Volition was recently rescued from the ashes of THQ by Koch Media). For now, the original developers remain uninvolved with Descendent’s efforts, but Peterson remains open to the idea of working with them, along with other developers who have worked on Descent reboots in the past few years.

 

[August]

One thing the Decent guys have that Overload didn't is the Decent name.

Outside of old bastards, such as ourselves, I wouldn’t bet that Descent has a lot of brand recognition. If the game can’t stand on its own and succeed it probably won’t.

 

[8rawler]

Now we need to talk CIG into adding ship sized tunnels and caverns into the PU.....

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Outside of old bastards, such as ourselves, I wouldn’t bet that Descent has a lot of brand recognition. If the game can’t stand on its own and succeed it probably won’t.

I see where you are coming from, but Star Command made it back onto the shelves in the form of 'Star Control Origins' before the whole legal thing got it pulled off again and the IP returned to the dust it breifly arose from... It wasn't a terrible game, had a lot of character.

EDIT - Blimey I've just checked there is actually an expansion for it! I thought the whole legal thing buried it dead.

It makes me wonder who owns the name "Decent" and if that's part of the issue? If the publisher shelled out hundreds of thousands for that, even if it just sits in the drawer I'm not sure if they would let it go for free...? Just speculation from me, I don't think we'll get much info in that regard.