Planet Descent
Community => Mess Hall => Topic started by: NUMBERZero on August 02, 2009, 07:15:24 PM
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1. New update for the DSi
SO! Nin10DOH is coming out with a new update smetime in the fall that allows you to send pics to Facebook. Big w00t. But here's the real kicker. The devil is in the details. They are making it even harder to play pirated or homebrew games. Big N's going to cause Big Trouble for DScent. There still may be a work around, but it sounds to be a small window.
2. Get Interplay to make DScent themselves
Sadly, this idea maybe rubbing out our homebrewers, but this could also help save Interplay's ass in it's revenew. I'm sure they have a copy of the game lying around somewhere. All they need to do is to find some way to put everything into the game card and make efficient controls. No need to take the time to come up with story or concept. They can take that extra time to advertise the game waaaay better than before. Oh, and considering how powerful the DS is (better than the ROOM SIZED computers used during the moon missions), I'd bet they can fit in the cutcenes from the PlayStation version! A choice between Redbook and the (IMO) awsome MIDI would be nice!
My controls idea:
D-pad up: forward
left: slide left
(and you get the picture with that)
Touch Screen: Has the a mini-map and it controls the ship. Touch buttons for weapon select. Touch button to drop proxmine.
Left trigger: Primaries
Right trigger (pinkey can do this if you are right handed): Secondaries
:D
BTW, this was all done on my DSi. :P
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That's not a bad idea, since it's already been ported to the DS is shouldn't be too big an investment... Unless Nintendo demands a big licensing fee.
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I don't see Interplay going for it, tho, for some reason. :-\
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I have to agree with Scyphi here. Interplay hasn't exactly made many smart choices in the past, and as far as i'm concerned, they're going to run out of the Fallout Franchise money pretty soon.
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Only one guy could work on this and have it done in a month or so with their special tools. If an average Joe without any development team can port D1 onto the DS, a big company with all of their staff can. This could cost them very little.
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Logic for Interplay runs in the exact opposite manner than you suggest, tho. If it doesn't spend huge amounts of money, they're not interested. C'mon, since when has Interplay ever been a well managed business? :P
If you really think the idea will fly, tho, then ya better act upon it. Send a letter to Interplay and suggest it or something like that. :)
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It's an idea, but knowing the marketing skills of Interplay, it probably won't take place.
Reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon once...
"I'm thinking of inventing an underwater barbecue." -Dilbert
"Does it have to work underwater?" -Marketing
"What's innovative about an ordinary barbecue?" -Dilbert
"Actually, does it have to be a barbecue?" -Marketing
"IT'S AN UNDERWATER BARBECUE!!!" -Dilbert
:P
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Do you have an article or blog entry to back this? I'm skeptical if you don't have something to back it.
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Well with Interplay now being sued by Bethesda(sp?) it's probably a moot point anyway.
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The update:
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/35249/DSi-update-cripples-flash-cards (http://www.mcvuk.com/news/35249/DSi-update-cripples-flash-cards)
The game:
http://blog.dev-scene.com/kayvenm/ (http://blog.dev-scene.com/kayvenm/)
The video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaQREwTvCIY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaQREwTvCIY) (This is back in 07 so the update was not present at the time)
The company (duh :P):
http://www.interplay.com/ (http://www.interplay.com/) (we all know Interplay so you don't really need to click this link ;))
The bad news:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217290.html?tag=recent_news;title;1 (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6217290.html?tag=recent_news;title;1)
So yeah. WillyP's right. :'(
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Why is Bethesda suing Interplay? I thought Interplay sold the rights to Fallout.
Edit: Oh, I see. Heh, Bethesda is basically saying Interplay screwed them over.
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And they did. Bethesda listed all the reasons they're suing them, and you can't doubt that Interplay blew it. Again. Dang it, Interplay...next time don't blow it until after you make our D4! :P
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I don't think that Interplay will pull out of their pit of problems enough to take off again.
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You and me both, Zantor. :(
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I tend to agree, but then, they are already, what something like 12 million in the hole already? So what's another few mil on top of that? And how much could they be netting from Fallout now anyway? Still, now they can't take the promise of an mmorpg to the bank. That could be more of a setback than any financial repercussions from the lawsuit.
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A few million is still a few million, WillyP, a few million more that they have to pay off. It's probably that kind of thinking that landed Interplay in bankruptcy in the first place. If Interplay plans to stay afloat, they gotta stay ontop of their debts, not let them build up.
And we all know how good they are at that. >:(
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Huzzah to mismanagement, which I think is what got this whole debt snowball running in the first place.
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I'd like to clarify that Interplay is not being sued for any monetary damages by Bethesda, simply a wholesale retraction of rights, which seems very reasonable on Bethesda's part. The article was mentioning exactly how much money they were in debt at the time of that writing - the lawsuit will not add anything but court costs to that amount.
Despite this, the total amount of raised money was $16,000, which is hardly anything in comparison to their debts. To their credit, they aren't taking investor money and paying debts with it (a common practice of failing companies), but they still violated the rights to the Fallout franchise, which legally is Bethesda's now (no matter how much Interplay wants to complain that it's their game). I imagine that 16,000 will quickly be paid back, and Interplay will fade to black soon.
However, this begs the question: what will interplay do with the rights to Descent again?
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I beg another question: Is this on topic? :P
And I beg to answer: The Descent rights will probably go back to square 1 before Interplay made its comeback. Or Bethesda will try to buy those rights.
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I seriously doubt Bethesda wants those rights, but if they did, oh hecks to the yeah they'd do Descent up right. Probably more right than Interplay. ;)
Sorry, yeah, it did go a little off-topic, but it still kinda flows from your original suggestion. After all, we can't discuss the former without discussing the latter here. ;D
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I'd like to clarify that Interplay is not being sued for any monetary damages by Bethesda
Actually, as much as I hate to say it, that's incorrect. Gamespot slipped up. If you look at the article now, they added a little update at the end that corrects the error. Bethesda isn't seeking any specific monetary amount punitive damages, however, they do have the attorney fees that Interplay will have to compensate, and Bethesda is demanding that Interplay surrender to them all monetary gain they got from their attempted and unauthorized sales of Fallout, as well as other "unspecified" damages.
You can check the link again for more details.
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I stand corrected. Thanks. ;)
You heard the man. We're doomed. ::)
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So Interplay tried to screw Bethesda over, which was a foolish mistake on Interplay's part, and Bethesda is suing them. Lovely. Now, Interplay is trying to get themselves out of their debt hole with game rights trade, which isn't working very well. I don't think Descent would work well on the DS. It's so complex. The touch screen can take the place of some buttons, but you still have obstacles to overcome, and not easy ones.
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"Obsticles to overcome"
Like?
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"Obsticles to overcome"
Like?
Like multiple controls at once. For example: Moving forward + moving up + moving left + turning right + rolling right + firing primary + firing secondary.
It's similar to the problems playing the Descent games on PlayStation. You can do almost everything you need to, but there just aren't quite enough controls.
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I agree, it's hard enough to play the games that were originally intended for the DS, what with having to press all these buttons as well as using the stylus on the touch screen, and holding the game at the same time!
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Sounds like people who play 4DoF games trying to learn Descent. You will get used to the controls just like those 4DoF'ers do when they put their minds to Descent. I play smoothly with a PS controller when playing Descent on the Playstation (which should be harder considering that you don't have analog stick control). Set up the controls just right and you have it. I have it on the Playstation.
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Of course, there is also yet another issue that you haven't considered, NumberZero.
Suppose nobody wants to play Descent on the DS?
I certainly don't, I'll stick with the PC it was intended for, and WillyP and Foil have indicated that they wouldn't. And others have voiced the opinion that they think this wouldn't work well, hinting that they might not want to play it either.
Granted, it might draw in newbies who are fans of the DS, but I can use your own words against you on that (no offense). Those DS players are used to the 4DoF style of games, not Descent's unique 360DoF, something that was never intended for to begin with. Trying to play this game on a console that wasn't designed for it would probably make most of those newbies get fed up with the complexity of the controls and give up, regardless of the fact if the controls can be properly mimicked or not. In fact, the original Descent for the PC faced that same problem. More players than would be ideal just couldn't handle the complexity of the controls and eventually just got fed up. And even if you don't, it can take a very long time to master those controls. It has taken me many years to get the degree of control of this game that I have now, and even that's far from perfect. I still have much that I could learn.
In short, I don't think Descent on the DS will fly, at least, not from a marketing standpoint.
And anyway, your idea can't come about anyway, as Interplay is no position to do it right at this moment, and whether or not they even have the rights to do it is, even now, in doubt.
Sorry to put a damper on your day. :(
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I play smoothly with a PS controller when playing Descent on the Playstation (which should be harder considering that you don't have analog stick control). Set up the controls just right and you have it. I have it on the Playstation.
I have both Descent PS games as well, and have played through them both.
Your configuration may be good, but there just aren't enough controls to allow you to do everything at once, especially for Descent:Maximum. With a regular PS controller, there is just no way to have a config which allows for every combination of four thrusts (trichording + afterburning), two firing controls (primary + secondary), three axes of rotation (turning + rolling), with enough left for things like flares and weapon switching.
The lack of independent controls would be even worse on the DS.
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Note: This isn't to say working on an official DS Descent port wouldn't be worthwhile. I'm just pointing out that there are control/config limitations, as Zantor said.
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Some good points, Scy, but even though I would not play Descent (or any other game, for that matter) on the DS, I know my kids would, and against other D>DS players they would probably have fun and do well. Against players using a PC, (joystick, mouse, keyboard, whatever) they would be owned. Although, I don't even know if the D>DS port can connect to a regular server, I can't even get them connected to our wifi net. :o
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Nowher's an interesting glimpse into the direction games are going for the DS:
GameLife Your Source for Gaming News Since 20XX
Why Tokyo Crowds Can’t Stop Playing Dragon Quest IX (http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/09/dragon-quest-ix-2/)
lol... imagine this format for Descent: You're walking down the street, or sitting in McD's and your DS is in your pocket... Suddenly you hear Guide-Bot (who's a pretty cool and very useful feature in this fantasy;)) alerting you to an approaching Pyro that is issuing a challenge! You whip out your DS, accept the challenge and kick some butt! You win the match and collect a few bits of booty, which are persistent across games in this scenario. Another Pyro approaches and wants to do some trading. He's got the super upgraded mega after burner... very rare... so you swap him 5 mega missiles and a few shield orbs, well you had extra anyway.
Now that might do it!
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XD
Wwwoooooooooowwwww! That's a bit crazy for an idea for Descent. I think it'd ruin Descent's dark atmosphere (it's kind of hard to explain exactly why, but I have this feeling that it would)
But it's a good funny idea none the less. I'll 1 up you for that!
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Ugh, Descent as a RPG? :-X I just can't picture it.
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NO NO not RPG! Just some elements like keeping powerups and trading them. And mainly I was referring to the method of finding players, which has nothing to do with RPG! And it wouldn't change the atmosphere. There could be an element of risk to trading, your opponent could turn and attack anyway. OK?
I am not talking about copying Dragon Quest, with 6DOF.
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I prefer to put a hole in bots, reach in, and grab all of thier weapons.
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I still can't picture it, WillyP. :P
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I know what WillyP is getting at. It's a great idea, but I don't think it would take off.
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eh... prolly not.
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Yes, I do, whether you think so or not.
You are thinking of adding features from DQ9 to a Descent DS game. What you are thinking of is being able to trade various items found in various mines/levels in the game, with a small economical element to it. You are also thinking of adding a feature where you are alerted when another DS Descenter is around and you two can duke it out in a quick match. Am I right?
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I get it, and the latter idea sounds good, but I still can't see it catching on, either.
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You are right... unfortunately so is Scy...
The future of Descent is in the hands of it's fans, I think that's about it. Maybe one of us will get lucky and win the lottery and buy out the rights to all of Descent. Then donate it to and open source project. Won't be me. I'm not lucky enough.
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Dont be sad guys.. ill be making a 6DOF/RPG/RTS/FPS level set for flight back someday.. ;) :P
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Hey Zero, drop your nasty little DS and go get a PSP :P
Cause I'm jamming on some PSP Descent right now!
Seriously, go get one. Homebrew support/capabilities are outstanding. We've even got Windows 95 running on it too.
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I don't get any game system unless they have a bunch of Flagship titles on them. I'm still waiting for the PS3 to come out with something like Ace Combat 7. The PSP has Ace Combat X, but that's it. Nothing else that I like.
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Oh, so that's what makes some consoles more popular than others; the fact that they support all the already famous game franchises. :P
Doesn't hurt to try something new every now and then, Zero. ;)
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I don't get any game system unless they have a bunch of Flagship titles on them. I'm still waiting for the PS3 to come out with something like Ace Combat 7. The PSP has Ace Combat X, but that's it. Nothing else that I like.
The thing is, were already getting DS games to run on it too. Its a work in progress, slowly but surely.
Hell, while your waiting, you could just jam on some last gen pokemon :P