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How NOT to make a game
How NOT to make a game
| Name: | Tom Bampton |  |
|---|---|---|
| Date Posted: | Jun 11, 2007 | |
| Rating: |  Not Rated | |
| Public: | YES | |
| Comments: | YES | |
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| Profile Page: | View profile page for Tom Bampton |
Blog post
In a previous .plan I ranted about Need for Speed: Most Wanted. At the time, I vowed never to play that game again. I also vowed never to buy another game from that franchise. Now, over a year later, I have stuck to that and will continue to. Another not quite so deliberate side effect is that I haven't bought any other EA game since, and likely won't do. How much of that is me being pissed off with the game and how much is me being pissed off with EA's output in general is another question entirely, but I suspect that both play a part.
Anyway, this blog is not about NFS or EA. It's about Test Drive Unlimited, Atari (publisher) and Eden Games (developer).
Today I stuck the game into my 360 to burn about a bit, only to be met by a complete lack of hardcore mode and the game thinking I don't have 6 achievements that I blatantly do. Yep, it fucked up my save. This by itself was enough to send me ballistic, but is not the end of the story.
After calming down (which took a flagrant disregard for the continued sim-life of anything that moved in Crackdown and resulted in me accidentally getting the Rampage achievement, which I thought was extremely apt timing), I figured that re-doing 6 achievements was not as bad as redoing the entire game. So, I took a deep breath, stuck the disk in the drive, and sat down to be bored shitless re-doing things I have already done and don't want to do again.
Then the game popped up a message saying something along the lines of "You're playing with an old save. Please don't do it again, or we'll restrict online play." The only reason I was trying to play with an old save was because the game fucked up both my current save and it's automatic backup. So, now I have a choice: don't play online, which sucks balls, or redo the entire game again, which sucks even more balls.
Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Atari and Eden Games to my "never play, reccomend friends never play, and tell everybody on the Internet how much they suck" list. Thanks guys, you have really made my day.
Whilst this is mostly a rant, we are all game developers here and there is one important thing to take away from this: Piss off your customers, and they will piss on you. And that is going to hurt an indie far, far more than EA or Atari.
Anyway, this blog is not about NFS or EA. It's about Test Drive Unlimited, Atari (publisher) and Eden Games (developer).
Today I stuck the game into my 360 to burn about a bit, only to be met by a complete lack of hardcore mode and the game thinking I don't have 6 achievements that I blatantly do. Yep, it fucked up my save. This by itself was enough to send me ballistic, but is not the end of the story.
After calming down (which took a flagrant disregard for the continued sim-life of anything that moved in Crackdown and resulted in me accidentally getting the Rampage achievement, which I thought was extremely apt timing), I figured that re-doing 6 achievements was not as bad as redoing the entire game. So, I took a deep breath, stuck the disk in the drive, and sat down to be bored shitless re-doing things I have already done and don't want to do again.
Then the game popped up a message saying something along the lines of "You're playing with an old save. Please don't do it again, or we'll restrict online play." The only reason I was trying to play with an old save was because the game fucked up both my current save and it's automatic backup. So, now I have a choice: don't play online, which sucks balls, or redo the entire game again, which sucks even more balls.
Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Atari and Eden Games to my "never play, reccomend friends never play, and tell everybody on the Internet how much they suck" list. Thanks guys, you have really made my day.
Whilst this is mostly a rant, we are all game developers here and there is one important thing to take away from this: Piss off your customers, and they will piss on you. And that is going to hurt an indie far, far more than EA or Atari.
Recent Blog Posts
| List: | 08/20/07 - GID23 and NPC Editor 07/25/07 - Fun with Lua 06/11/07 - How NOT to make a game 11/18/06 - Thinking Outside the Box 11/03/06 - Alive and Ticking: Now with exploding ants 10/28/06 - Fun with zips 10/02/06 - Alive and Ticking gets to Beta .... err, almost. (Warning: Screenshot Heavy) 09/08/06 - Internal Name Operator |
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Submit your own resources!| Anton Bursch (Jun 11, 2007 at 02:33 GMT) |
In sports nobody would tolerate a ref who made you start the game over because the score board glitched. That would result in a dead ref.
I hope you use GameFly and didn't waste $60. At least you wouldn't have to own a game you'll never play again. ~$20 a month to try out games has saved me a lot of money and at least when the game sucks I don't feel out more than a wait until I get another game that sucks.
Edited on Jun 11, 2007 02:35 GMT
| Tim Heldna (Jun 11, 2007 at 03:51 GMT) |
| Matt Huston (Jun 11, 2007 at 08:36 GMT) |
It is made by Image Space Inc. who used to make the F1 200x (until 2002 I believe) and Nascar Thunder games for EA before striking it out on their own and releasing rFactor in late 2005.
Also, if you want to race with the pro's, this is the place to do it. Several Nascar and Champ Car drivers run in leagues in rFactor.
Edited on Jun 11, 2007 08:39 GMT
| DodongoXP (Jun 11, 2007 at 14:00 GMT) |
i think they are stuck in 1996-97 just with better graphics...
all new racing games i have tried have impressive similarities with late 90's playstation 1 racing games...
with the same sucky car physics.. where you can steer at u turns at 200 km/h or brake at max speed without consequences..or you collide with an object and you just stop... instead or bouncing or damaging
the only one that is somewhat decent.. is richard burns rally.. i like this game.. is challenging but lacks on some points
i will try rfactor to try it out :)
Cheers!
| John Rockefeller (Jun 11, 2007 at 14:31 GMT) |
I sold my Xbox 360 and unsubscribed about a month after buying this game.
| Blake Lowry (Jun 12, 2007 at 04:48 GMT) |
@Tom: You still wouldnt buy a Need for Speed game even if they made a new Hot Pursuit!!? :O
Try DiRT, PGR3, or even Forza 2 (if you like sims).. they're pretty cool :)
| Kevin Erkelenz (Jun 12, 2007 at 05:04 GMT) |
| Jason Swearingen (Jun 13, 2007 at 00:29 GMT) |
i dont know if you share your save games, but this might make you think twice about it.
Edited on Jun 13, 2007 00:29 GMT
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