014: Russ's Departure, Dead Island & Your Questions
This week, Russ talks about his announcement of leaving The Escapist. We also discuss the "joke" in Dead Island's code and we answer your submitted questions and comments.
Oh Shadowrun, I cry for thee. Though it's a little out of place to seem to be including it in the list with Crimson Skies and Mechwarrior. I get that they're all FASA properties but the context of the discussion was how they were changed (for the worse or the better depending on perspective) when created for the consoles. Shadowrun didn't exist on the PC at all and it's console appearances were both quite amazing.. until MS screwed it the hell up.
Oh Shadowrun, I cry for thee. Though it's a little out of place to seem to be including it in the list with Crimson Skies and Mechwarrior. I get that they're all FASA properties but the context of the discussion was how they were changed (for the worse or the better depending on perspective) when created for the consoles. Shadowrun didn't exist on the PC at all and it's console appearances were both quite amazing.. until MS screwed it the hell up.
I think you missed a step in there, about how the change heavily divorced the games not only from previous titles but also the feel and concepts of their tabletop origins (their real tabletop origins, too, not that Clix bullshit).
For example, take open vehicle design and customisation out of Mechwarrior/Battletech or Crimson Skies and you've taken out a feature of the games people would spend as much time as they would actually playing. Not to mention in the older titles vehicle performance operated on the same gradients/rules as the tabletop games, where everything was a trade off of advantages.
Same sort of thing applies to Shadowrun... the core of the tabletop game is, of course, doing runs/pulling capers/etc, not... whatever the fuck MS were trying to achieve with that abortion they shat out. I mean, hell, Deus Ex (pick any one from the franchise) is way closer to what Shadowrun was about than that shit. Give the player character pointy ears and the ability to shoot lightning out their arse and it'd be perfect.
I mean, how can ANYONE fuck up core concepts of 'I drives the stompy robot', 'I flies the crazy plane' and 'I does the hi-tech capers'? Crimson Skies, especially... how can you fuck up "BE A SKY PIRATE!"?
For everyone confused/surprised about Russ's departure, click here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/editors_note/9107-Goodbye-is-Still-Goodbye] and learn more.
Congrats on tackling the EC thing, Russ. Took some guts to even try field that one.
Married. SO MUCH MAKES SENSE NOW! Pet references! One having met the other's family members! It's like the door to a truth has been opened! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?
That same confused obliviousness happened to me where I work. Was rather annoyed that two of our three managers (one my direct boss) had the same day off because that is invariably the day we need managerial authority for something. Spent a month being annoyed and then I saw them in on said day off with their kid and was suddenly glad I kept my annoyance to myself.
That's a story I never mentioned until a new clerk gave me a better story. She completely misread the signs, mistook 'em for siblings, and happened to mention it right after they'd discussed their child, who was ill that day. (The clerk was neither clever, nor attentive, nor possessed of good timing.) Seeing your boss's "Did you just accuse me of fucking my sister?" face is a rare moment to cherish forever, especially if it's not directed at you.
Other lesson I learned: If you have married superiors, don't tell your matchmaking friends or relatives where you work. They will one day see the opposite-sex member of the couple and decide you were meant to be together. Always.
Dead Island... it's sad that as someone who knows several coders, I've seen far worse sins make it to production. Reading the Doom source code was... interesting. Had one incident that was downright scary; I was hired to assist a coder and didn't meet him during the process. My first interaction with him was looking over his code and seeing a psychotic episode contained in a comment block. Conspiracy theory, delusions, word salad... and that's all I'm saying about that bit of freelance work.
My favorite was a second-hand story, though, probably because as a second-hand story I wasn't affected. A tooltip. No one would see it unless they right-clicked on a really obvious button and chose "What's this?" (Think Windows 95 when context-sensitive help was the new thing.) And it said something like "This button does just what it says, you idiot." Guess what happened when the program was out for sale?
There's a reason a LOT of shops have a rule for code, comments, and case notes: If you wouldn't want it on the front page of the Times tomorrow, don't type it.
My, all the praise for the new Deus Ex. I might have to break down and buy a AAA game for once instead of an indie.
I like these podcasts but if I could make a suggestion that would make me a lot more likely to watch them all the way through...
Put little markers in the video description that say like "From 0:00 to 5:36 we talk about X, then from 5:36 to 13:39 we talk about Y, then from 13:39 to 18:01 we talk about Z."
This is what makes ALL podcasts so hit-and-miss for me. There are always a lot of things I have no interest in and then things that I do have interest in, and podcasts always go from topic to topic to topic loosely. Like, I don't care about Dead Island but I see that you guys are going to talk about Assassin's Creed at some point in the podcast, as an example.
I like these podcasts but if I could make a suggestion that would make me a lot more likely to watch them all the way through...
Put little markers in the video description that say like "From 0:00 to 5:36 we talk about X, then from 5:36 to 13:39 we talk about Y, then from 13:39 to 18:01 we talk about Z."
This is what makes ALL podcasts so hit-and-miss for me. There are always a lot of things I have no interest in and then things that I do have interest in, and podcasts always go from topic to topic to topic loosely. Like, I don't care about Dead Island but I see that you guys are going to talk about Assassin's Creed at some point in the podcast, as an example.
Ack, an hour and a half of podcast. I hope I remember everything I wanted to comment on.
- Russ & Susan are married‽
- Apparently Ridley was written as a male, complete with nude hyper-sleep scenes and homosexual undertones with another crew member (if you believe Cracked)
- I too own P.N.03. Never was much good at it.
Bye Russ, come back once in a while and freak us out with a crazy overgrown beard.
-HOLY HECK!!!- Russ, you're a friggen badass~! Your response to the letter~! That's probably the first time I've cheered a recording on~!!! xD
The podcasts are easily my favourite part of the site. Hearing an open dialogue on games as an important part of life is something I almost exclusively get from you guys. Thank you very much.
You will be missed Russ, thank you for making the site what it is. : ) Congratulations on the promotion Steve~!
Interesting to hear your different angles from Deus Ex.
I choose to let the guy go because I thought it might give me a tactical edge.
Send the enemy's own hounds against him.
Also, right before the music comes in the first time, at 37.23... am I getting this right?
Steve: I brought my lube.
Susan: Ooohh, excelent.
Also Susan, short shorts and a tank-top in the jungle, BAD idea. Loads of mosquitos, ticks, huge ants and not to mention sharp vegetation. It's a very bad idea to wear things like that.
My favourite game female character, Jade from Beyond Good and Evil.
It is (hence the track 'hell march' playing during the break)! It's one of Russ's favourite games and he played Kane in an episode of doomsday arcade a while back... ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/doomsday-arcade/1364-Episode-23 - around 1:50 mark)
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