Slashdot Mirror
Black & White Goes Gold
jaredcat writes "According to bwcenter.com and an article on ZDNet's GameSpot, Peter Molyneux's eagerly awaited Black & White has finally gone gold and will be shipping in North America on 3/27/01. I know what I'll be doing for spring break..." I just read that ZDNet article linked above - the ASPCA will be protesting this game, mark my words.
OTOH, perhaps "properly" means that you, personally, must make a choice that has some cost to you, rather than being given a lazy way out of the dilemma.
FWIW.
Player: Someone set us up the game.
How about adding a form for a $5 microsoft stock option to the black box, when you have bought the stock, you will get your game serial ;-)
Hello, I'm The Kid. I run a Black & White site called "The Citadel". As of right now, we are having server issues, but will soon be relaunching @ http://www.thecitadel.net. Now that the obligatory plug is out of the way, here's the skinny on Black & White. The following is the Newbie Guide to Black & White from thecitadel.net. It's a tad dated, but I did a once-over and freshened it up a bit. Enjoy.
Welcome to the First Edition of the Newbie's Guide to Black & White. This text is a compilation of information that those whom do not know much about Black & White tend to ask. Information has been culled from many sources to put this together, most notably the Lionhead web site and the Black & White discussion board. Please note that this is NOT an official text. None of what is posted here is written in stone; Lionhead could change it at any moment.
What is 'Black & White'? 'Black & White' is a game created by Lionhead Studios. It tends to defy genres, casting you in the role of a powerful sorcerer looking over a land of primitive tribes. You derive the power you need to cast your spells from the lifeforce generated by the tribes' villagers.
Therefore, one portion of the game is impressing (either through fear or adoration) the tribes sufficiently so that they construct a sort of monument in their village. Generally, the monument is a totem or tower of some sort. By raising and lowering the totem, you tell the villagers how many of them you want to have worshipping you (and thereby giving you power) and how hard they should worship. Of course, if you overwork your followers, they will begin to die off from exhaustion and starvation, as the more villagers are worshipping you, the fewer are off gathering food, building houses, having children, etc.
Another portion of the game is trying to screw the other sorcerers in the land. You're not alone in Eden, as this land is called, and the other sorcerers will eventually begin trying to take your hard-won villagers from you. You can fight back with powerful spells, either blasting them and their villagers to smithereens or attempting to peacefully win over their villagers, thereby starving them of their power.
The third portion of the game is that of mentor. Once you begin gaining in power, you can select any of the myriad beasts you see prowling the landscape to be your own pet Titan. You will magically enhance the creature, causing it to grow to gargantuan proportions, towering meters above the land and the villagers. But the beast comes to you stupid; you must teach him what to do and what not to do. This is done simply through slapping him when you want to discourage his behaviour and stroking him when you want to encourage his behaviour. The Titans are supposedly remarkably trainable. In one report, Peter Molyneux trained a pet ape to throw stones as a weapon. Your pet Titan will also learn the spells that you cast and use them itself as it sees fit. Teach it Fireball and it can go level villages if it likes. Teach it Create Food and it can feed your villagers for you.
This description just begins to scratch the complex surface of Black & White. You'll have to play it for yourself to really experience it.
Who made it? Black & White was first conceptualized by Peter Molyneux. It was produced by Molyneux's new company, Lionhead Studios.
Dungeon keeper in 1 hour? Forgive me if i think your sense of time is a tad off. It wasn't a difficult game by any means, but i think it's a physical impossibility to beat the entire game in an hour. The levels just can't be played that fast without cheats.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
Many people don't really consider having some fun to be wasteful. As long as you're not spending your life in a game all the time (Evercrack and UO come to mind) then it's no big deal. Can't work all the time.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
The difference being that with the server version you are also buying the necessary license to allow (more than 5?) users to connect to the server legally.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
It wasn't so long ago that the term "FMV" associated with any game automatically meant it sucked. I don't recall a single decent FMV game... ever.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
That's odd. They seem happy to sell "workstation" and "server" copies of identical software at radically different price points.
my first thought was of the invention of the babel fish:
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed at the next zebra crossing.
jebus, I miss douglas adams
--
I remember some time ago (e3) there was a /. article speculating b&w going os. Molyneux was quoted at thecitidal.net (by RP) that ....
/. comments are there to read.
"The first thing is my ambition to make the whole of Black & White, the AI engine, the 3D engine, the physics engine, open-source. Then anybody can download and use that stuff. To use it in a commercial product, you have to pay us a royalty, but, you know, absolutely free for enthusiasts to use."
couldn't get to the citidal link but the
peterrenshaw ~ Another Scrappy Startup
Do you mean Populous, one of Molyneaux's earlier 'God games'?
"don't fall into the fallacy of believing that Perl can solve social problems. Maybe Perl 6 can, but that's a ways off"
That's marketing for you...
"What's all this dull, lifeless product information doing on this website? Screw that crap, we've got a game to sell! And to sell we need a cool tune! And a splashy graphic! And a button to buy the game, of course!"
Am I the only one who remembers the gaming industry being a better place before the bloodsucking leeches with marketing degrees came along?
Grumble...
Moof!
AMEN from the highest fucking rooftops, especially about Sierra. They pissed off a whooooooooole lot of us Babylon 5 fans. I was actually going to *buy* that game, and I'm the kind of cheapskate bastard that the SPA hates.
Stilproject satisfies all those requirements, except for stories involving the Slashdot staff.
EA have a simple strategy when it comes to games - I know because they told me it up front when we talked to them about publishing our game.
Basically, they're interested in two types of games:
* Games produced by developers with a track record of a number of hit games.
* Sequels.
That's it. They weren't interested otherwise, and told us so.
From some points of view, it's not a good strategy, and from others it is.
I'm only repeating this here because they didn't seem to be all that coy about it.
Tim
Hi there! :-)
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
precisely.
:)
i wasted a lot of time on populous, and i don't really see the need to repeat that at this time in my life...
guess i'll be passing this one by.
cheers.
Peter
Any suggestions on where to order it online?
Outpost.com has been my first instinct for a year or two now. But when I went to their site to pre-order B&W, I noticed that they no longer offer their trademark free overnight shipping on all purchases. You now need to spend over a $100 to get the free shipping. Still a good deal, but not enough to make me automatically buy this at Outpost.
Hmm. I can't even double check this since their site seems to be down. At least from where I am.
It is interesting, because we knew all along that they would drop their free overnight shipping policy. They were losing money on every purchase. I imagine they were betting on customer loyality to keep their sales up.
I would have been loyal -- but there was no dislaimer anywhere in the shopping process that said that the shipping would cost money. It was only after I was reading the final receipt that I noticed that suddenly $12.50 was being tacked on to my purchases to cover overnight delivery. I came very close to hitting submit and paying a total $70 for B&W at Outpost. This upset me, and now I'm looking elsewhere.
Now the site is back up. There slogan is still "Free Delivery. Overnight". Of course, that is now only for orders over $100.
ZDNet's Gamespot did a great set of previews on B&W. Start here:
Black & White
The links to the individual articles:
Black & White--Day Two: Hands-On, Part One
Black & White--Day Three: Hands-On, Part Two
Black & White--Day Four: The Creatures
...still lamenting the death of Gamecenter. I used to only buy games that got a 8, 9, or 10 from Gamecenter...
Every voice asking to have it ported adds to the developers case.
--
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I work in the industry.
We're at least 10-15 years away from photorealism, quite possibly more. If you look at what the GeForce 3 can do in the XBOX, it's at least one thousand times short on polygons to let us render in real time the kinds of models that would be convincingly realistic. On the PC you're even worse off because of the bus interface.
Likewise, there are things we could do to improve realism that would take a thousand times the memory, and the kind of AI and physics that would help to convince you that you were looking at something alive could easily chew up that many more general purpose cpu cycles.
So if we manage to double computing power every year for 10 years we should be there. But I wouldn't bet on it for 15.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
honestly though, there needs to be more moderation tags, both positive and negative, as the comment above would read much better as +1 Weird.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
You also get to raise an animal to become your servant. The way you treat the animal and what you teach it will determine how it grows. Oh, and after you pick the animal that you want it grows to be Godzilla size, so it's a bit more than your average animal.
The best thing to do is go to one of the fansites, the one that i visit is liongames.com. The game has been really hyped up, but from the screenshots and previews i've read it seems to live up to it, guess we'll all find out in a couple of weeks.
Since your UID is smaller than mine, I can only conclude that you're trolling. -s20451 (410424)
"Back in my day, we only had 4 colors! And we were *grateful*!"
-Cranky Kong, from _Donkey Kong Country_
Part of the Second American Revolution!
I guess you signed the petition first and copied the link only afterwards? ;-)
i . Otherwise you'll sign the petition as Brian Kimmel, of Wichita, KS 67203, United States.
The correct direct link would be http://www.tuxgames.com/petitions/viewpetition.cg
Or, as suggested, go to http://www.tuxgames.com/ and click on from there (there's a lot more of petitions going!).
I doubt, therefore I may be.
Especially the Ultima Series.
Up through Ultima 7, the games were great. Then EA bought them out.. And what happens?
U8 is no longer a roleplaying game, its an arcade game. Ultima Online is released with only a cosmetic similarity to the game and the concept behind the game series. Funny how a company can take a game series with a rich and powerful virtuous theme and turn it into an online game that becomes the exact opposite.
And Ultima Ascention. Don't even talk to me about how badly they screwed THAT up.
Origin had what it needed. A steadily growing loyal fanbase. People who knew how to design and tell a story through an interactive game environment. And most importantly, a strong leader who had been with the project since the inception.
And now, that fanbase has been decimated, storytelling is overrated as long as the game has the best 3D graphics available today, and of course, the leader has quit after the company he guided for two decades is destroyed because someone upstairs thought that it was best to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
And whatever happened with Sierra? I remember saving up my money as a kid and begging my parents to drive me to the computer store so I could buy a new game released by this company.
Even after a new interface was introduced, the games didn't lose their spirit.
But thats all gone now too. Perhaps they weren't making enough money. I don't know. Storytelling doesn't take a lot of money. It doesn't require a team of hundreds of programmers. It doesn't require movie studio equipment and it doesn't require blockbuster movie budgets.
What it requires is a well organized team, a leader with the appropriate vision, creative people who have something to contribute, and artists who can say more with less. Once upon a time, we couldn't render 100fps realtime 3D in 32 bit color. So we had to make up in story what we couldn't convey in realism. But it was certainly more fun back then.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
Maxis and Peter Molyneux. A creative company and a creative genius. Think about it, Sim City, Sim City 2k, Sim City 3k, The Sims and Populous. That's quite a list of titles. I have lost countless hours in these games. Not sure about Black and White but it looks like it might find a niche.
EA has made some smart moves in nabbing up these smaller game companies (Maxis, Origin, etc.). Let's hope they do the right thing and let them keep doing what they do best without micromanaging them. Too many games have been screwed by the big corporation stepping in.
I still steam about Meridian 59 being destroyed by 3D0.
Execute? [Y/N] _
I bought a Logitech iFeel mouse after reading about support in this game, and not there doesn't seem to be a single mention on the main page or any of the fan sites... is it time to return my mouse?
I remember the Black & White website being a lot more informative, with screenshots and a game description.
Now it's got this weird celtic/native picture, and a bunch of guys chanting like it's a frat party and they're chugging beer... what gives?
I don't even want to think what that gnome is doing under the screen...
Someone had to say this right? Get linux, don't use windows.
Before developers make linux games (instead of porting..) they'll have to see that it's viable to. Many linux games are ports, done later, of Windows games. MacOS seems to have more attention than Linux when it comes to games.
Linux won't be a popular game platform until it's a popular desktop platform. Talk about a niche of a niche of a niche market.
B&W is coming out on the PSX as well so it's not quite a Windows only game.
Petition isnt needed. The authors have stated they are interested in getting it ported, it's just a matter of a deal being worked out with someone.
treke
I'd read that at one point that they were going to have two versions of the game: a black box and a white box. The white box would be $5 more, which went to charity.
Loved the idea, but I've heard nothing about it since. Anyone able to confirm or deny this plan of action?
Taken from www.eurogamer.net:
One interesting aspect of this which sadly didn't make the final cut was the idea of selling two versions of the game at different prices. "Originally we wanted to do a black box which was two pounds cheaper than the white box, and the white box you paid more but that went directly to charity. It's a really nice story - we'd actually arranged to set up all these webcams in African villages, so that people could watch the money from Black & White building buildings. And there was another plan after that, where either you got a voucher to send off money to charity or a Mexican lottery ticket in the black box. But again, you can understand retail - doing anything special like that is just not fun for them. It is a bit of a hassle to stock two different price points [for the same game]."
So unfortunately not. Pity, I agree it was a marjorly cool idea, but probably would be an administrative nightmare....
Kind of a waste of news if we don't slashdot the petition and get to play the game ;-)
I don't know if anyone remembers this but there was a weird game of collecting followers back in the DOS days, and it had to do with possessing a Buddha statue.
The message on the other side of this sig is false.
It was called Shogun. You literally went around making promises to make certain people disappear or make them your friends to get followers and you had to find the guy had the Buddha. I was 10 years old when I played it. That's all I remember.
The message on the other side of this sig is false.
well the whole idea is that the game is about good vs evil. that's why the white box (ie, the "good" box) has money donated to charity, while the back box (ie the "evil" box) donates nothing. sure it's a gimmick, but at least it's a thoughtful gimmick :)
but really, if they wanted to do it properly both would be the same price, but the white sales would still put $5 towards a charity whereas the black ones would just be an extra $5 in their pockets :)
- j
Another anti-marriage game. I wonder how I'll be able to justify this one.
Where have all the good game makers gone?
I think they went to Valve! Although, I'm not too sure about the new TFC models.
--Steve
Instead of just one of them being the same price?
Maybe we're just more efficient, in that we don't have to waste time looking up words like passtime and wasteful. But then, obviously you don't do that either.
I see your post got modded down, too. Why anyone would go to all the effort of spending a moderator point to mark you off-topic is beyond me. Like I said, people take this site too seriously.
------
Actually, only three people after the +1 bonus.
------
Don't you just hate it when people brag about something they're supposed to do?
I just read that ZDNet article linked above...
You're a Slashdot editor. You're supposed to read the god damn article! God damn editors bragging about something they're supposed to do!
:-)
------
I meant i dumped the game after one hour and at the cost of a lot of disappointment.
Molyneux's games are always higly awaited for their originality and often really bad on the playability area.
I've already read reviews wich says about B&W:
"this games, as a game is boring, but it's because it's not a game, it's a masterpiece of originality which you can't drop, not knowing why"
well too me it looks bad. I've already been there,seen that and felt the pain.
I will not buy the game until I've tried it really (it means: NOT a demo) because I'd really like the game to be good.
Also they were really talking about a linux version.
I was not trolling, just tired, it was 6am here and had no sleep.
now i'm back to 13 and I have to kill someone for that...8-{
RA2 is a helluva lot better then Tiberian Sun. If RA2 *DOES* suck (I dissagree, but anyway) then it certianlydoesn't deserve to bite in all caps.
----
ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
B&W is also one incredibly complicated game. In the PC Zone review of the game they hinted that this may lead to deluge of bugs being found. All that AI and so many different paths through the game means that testing won't find every flaw. On the other hand, I heard that extensive testing was one of the reasons for the delay in the release of the game.
If it's called "Black and White" why are the screenshots in full color? Don't the game developers remember that some of us still have grayscale, greenscale, or amberscale monitors?
All your hallucinogen are belong to us.
Will I retire or break 10K?
There was an article a while back (I've lost it now, but you could try Liongames.com) where Peter Molyneux talked about this. Apparently they had to scrap the idea because it would have been too difficult to retailers to manage the product at two different price points. It's a bit of a shame really, as it would have been good to see how it worked out.
Then again, there's nothing stopping you sending $5 to a charity of your choice when you buy the game.
"Basically Black and White is a God game. You are a God and your power is based on the amount of people who believe in you. What you do with your power is entirely up to you. You can be Good, Evil, or any combination in between."
Arent all their games like this? I think it really is time they did a new game, rather than Yet Another Populous?!
You seem to discount that maybe 134k has simply been out of touch with virtuality for a few months, because of real-world work, and this was a much faster way to get a clue than actually doing any digging. Laziness has its place.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
and give me a clue what Black and White is all about, and why the ASPCA will hate it?
The web site certainly didn't seem too informative, or perhaps it's flash movie lasted longer than my attention span.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
buy linux games instead please, or we'll be stuck with windows forever.
________
In Baulders Gate it caused the scripts to freeze and you to get stuck and have to reload.
Doh, that is NOT a good thing.
I want to be able to at least have the CHOICE to join the dark side. WTF is with the bad guys always trying to kill me relentlessly? Shit, sure I may be the "Chosen One" but for a few quid I'll be more then willing to give up my holy noble task and join the bad guys. And what is more, I want to be able to KEEP PLAYING after I have become an evil dude! Unlike Fallout where joining the mutants causes a negative ending right away!! Heck. I was hoping to turn into some sort of mutant creature and keep playing like that. I wanted to infiltrate the Knights of Steel (or whatever their names where) and start killing them off. I actualy AGREED with the Mutants in Fallout, err, and yet I was penalized for that. Doh.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
The american civl liberties union? The people who faught the the CDA? I don't seem them trying ot ban anything anytime soon.
Rate me on Picture-rate.com
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
--
Interesting - this game (with its two boxes - black and white) is already released over here in Ireland. I saw it last week in the local EB.
I really am surprised that this sort of hype gets to the wise and all knowing slashdot people! Come on Moleux (sorry wrong spelling I bet) is a geinus hyper. I mean I was looking forward to Dungeon Keeper when it was coming. Alsorts of neat ideas and the game was just another C&C clone. Someone in a rather trustworthy paper said that B&W might be good, but don't expect too much.
Well they can address the cheats as they come out (which is the way it usually has to be done) or they can try to do all sorts of elaborate checks of data validity to slow down any would-be cheaters.
For example, Counterstrike 1.1 just came out and addresses most of the cheats. Many will probably come back, but some will most likely not be possible anymore. Also, Valve fixed the speed cheat that had been plaguing all of the halflife community with a server patch.
Of course all this won't stop people, since there will always be people who want to cheat and ruin the game for others and there will always be those who have the skills to make that possible (whether or not that is their actual intent).
The idea was nixed because retailers were balking at having the same game with two different prices. Too bad, since that was a really cool idea. ... why? Because there are people out there who will buy them both. ;p
As far as I know, though, it will be shipping in the black and white boxes, but at the same pricepoint (like Starcraft's Terran, Zerg, and Protoss boxes)
Oh well, I've got my copy preordered from EB and I really don't care what color box it is... I just plan on playing a right evil bastard of a God =)
Stores didn't want to deal with the price differenes? Easy answer! The Black Box (evil) comes with a 5 dollar mail in rebate. Then, THEY can play good or evil and decide which rebates to honor! The White box has that 5 dollars to to charities. (guy who has been ripped off on too many mail in rebates)
Peter stated almost a year ago that he would really like to opensource the game. Slashdot covered the story here. Granted, it would be really cool if he did this, but I worry that massive cheating will destroy any fun to be had with the online play
Time for some tasty Shiner Bock!
Peter Molyneux was the creator of populous so it's no suprise.
- Toby
Hmmm. So if a small company comes out with a game, it's good. If a EA comes out with the identical game it's bad? All of those "bad" games you mentioned are nearly identical to the ones that come before. No points for originality, but how are they bad?
Hey, they are (currently) better than Eidos. How many TR games are there?
And EA never takes a risk? How about B&W, Sims, Majestic?
So basically, this is populous on 'roids.
-- Good judgement comes with experience. -- Experience comes with bad judgement.
the ASPCA will be protesting this game, mark my words
Do you mean the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animations?
I find this comment especially interesting, given that my first take on the fact that "Black and White" has gone gold is more a kudos to the people responsible for advertising and hyping the game, rather than a credit to the game itself.
Hell, look at the people who went nuts trying to get tickets to Phantom Menance, only to find themselves subjected to a few hours of Jar-Jar Binks.
I certainly hope I'm wrong and that there're a lot of very happy gamers out there, but I can easily imagine both very good and very bad games that fit within the hype and details I've heard about "Black & White". (And I mean that in a qualitative sense, not a moral one, so no jokes about the very bad game being the one that ships in the black box.)
So in general, I just find it hard to get excited about a game that hasn't been released, yet. It's too easy to get burned and you really don't gain anything from the anticipation (unless you like sitting around going, "Let's see: If I save an extra 4 percent of my income, I should be able to buy the necessary extra top-of-the-line 3D cards and monitors to support the rumored Quake 5 360-degree continual view feature.").
I think more importantly, who's going to slap a Tiger about in B&W (which it lets you do) and then think "Hey, I think I'll do that in real life". I think the ASPCA would, for once, be more worried about the person than the animal in that case...
Heh, sadly true I guess. Now that those kind of people have tired of attacking Mortal Kombat or Carmageddon I guess they need some kind of new victim to waste their energy and time attacking.
what is the ASPCA and why will it have a cry? if i guess correctly its the American Society of Protection to Cruelty to Animals?
:-).. just like creatures ;p
I dont get why they will go sick over it though.,. its not like we go around kiling the animals, we use them
stuff
Hmm.. im wondering.. with the massive growth in online games recently, we have seen a huge increase in the number of cheats made (hacks).. There are hunderds of cheats for the most popular game Counter-Strike around, as well as lots of possible cheats for Diablo 2.
But, this game will probably be extremerly volnerable. Reading through the material, it seems that the game is played both on the net, and on your single pc.. where you actually play the SAME game.. for example, you login, you train your critter, destroy a few villages etc.. then, you log off the net, and you can continue to train your critter and get your villagers to worship you.. You then log back on, and you still have your newly trained critter and lots of worshiping power that you got when you were offline...
So... it seems it would be quite easy to hack.. someone could simply create a hack that gives your critter the ultimate strength and intellegience and makes all your peasents love you...
what means do the game writers have to stop this? none that i can think of....
stuff
There is nothing wasteful about entertainment in proper amounts. Life is about being happy and if you aren't happy then you've got your priorities all screwed up and need to re-evaluate.
That's pretty funny if you're a pathetic weakling sack of human waste that finds picking on helpless animals funny.
If there's anyone out there like that : KILL YOURSELF. Save someone a bullet.
I think the publisher decided against it. I can kinda see that being sort of a problem though, if some racial sensitive people took that the wrong way...
Secondly, the reason you see polygons (which I'll assume to mean "pointy edges") is that, surprise surprise, they have to target the game at the midrange PC, not the high-performance polygon pushers. Not everyone has a GeForce2 Ultra that can render a gazillion polygons, they have to target the average schmo with a P3-500 and a standard 16-meg D3D video card if they wanna make any money.
That said, there's plenty of full-motion video games out there. They were really big on the Sega CD, in its heyday. But then everyone realized they sucked. Sewer Shark, anyone?
No that would defeat the purpose of the gimmick! The point is that you must choose between giving to charity or saving money. If you choose to save $5 you get the black, or evil box. If you choose to donate $5 you get the white, or good box. If they were both the same price, it would be an easy decision.
Yeah, EA bought some really good game developers (Maxis, Bullfrog, Origin, etc), but have you noticed that all the good guys left after the development house they founded got bought by EA? Peter Molyneux from Bullfrog left to found Lionhead, some other ex-bullfroggies founded Mucky Feet, Origin is by far not what it used to be, the Roberts brothers (who did Wing Commander, Privateer etc for Origin) now work for Microsoft, Garriott (founder of Origin and creator of Ultima) quit...
The list of new small development houses spawned by geniuses leaving their recently-bought-out-by-publishing-giant teams is quite long.
Also, have you noticed that EA tends to treat the firms it acquired like its sports division, i.e. producing sequels again and again?
Bullfrog under Molyneux produced a lot of different, original games (think Theme park, Syndicate, Popoulus, Dungeon Keeper). Now, what have they been doing since the acquisition by EA? an uninspired sequel to Theme Park, an uninspired sequel to Dungeon Keeper,...
I'm not saying that EA is evil; due to EAs publishing power probably a lot more people play stuff like Dungeon Keeper now, but, well, Bullfrog, Origin etc on their own focused on making cool,innovative games; EA focuses on making money from good, but quite unimaginative games.
That's a good strategy, business-wise, but the gaming world has gotten a bit duller.
an electric guitar is a great stress redirector: it pisses off my neighbours but relaxes me sooo fine...
I don't think so; they haven't complained before. They didn't complain when Quake had you shooting and blowing up rottweilers or when Wolfenstein had you gunning down German shepherds. How will this be any different from those?
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
Good point. With that in mind, I wonder how Serious Sam will fare with the ASPCA.
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
I'd read that at one point that they were going to have two versions of the game: a black box and a white box. The white box would be $5 more, which went to charity.
Loved the idea, but I've heard nothing about it since. Anyone able to confirm or deny this plan of action?
---
Found in a comment tag on the bwgame.com main page:
<!--
Yes, its offical and its true.
Finally, after over 3 years of development, Black & White has gone gold.
And we all here at Lionhead Studios are proud and happy that we finally did it.
A big Thank You to everybody who supported us over the last 3 years.
So in a few weeks you can finally play Black & White and we
hope that you're going to enjoy it as much as we enjoyed
developing it.
Drop us a message if you want: gonegold@bwgame.com
"Why do you fear time, my good old friend?"
"At the same moment where Time is responsible for the most amazing smile,
somewhere else it covers a face with anger and sadness.
Time is Good and Evil, Black & White."
-->
But wouldn't populus be prior art? Either that, or I'm sure you could find some (relevant) erotic stories that go back a long ways on the net...
I don't see any reason for the ASPCA to complain. I mean really, who here believes that the game Black and White would entice youngins around the world to commit cruelty to animals? Since when is enslaving the soul of a wild beast and feeding it with pure magic until it grows in a pathetic attempt to escape the confines and restrictions of it's natural body considered "cruelty". It's doing them a favor really. What mouse or bunny rabbit wouldn't want to tower over it's former predators, crushing them into a bloody pulp under it's hideously enlarged paws? No cruelty that I can see.
Thank you for the serious reply to my serious question. I see my desire for a truly realistic game will have to wait a while, but at least I have an idea now. Appreciate it.
________________
________________
Private Essayist
Yes, I meant the latter. Didn't mean to imply I thought Black & White was a Quake clone itself, though when I re-read my post I can see how it sounded that way.
Secondly, the reason you see polygons (which I'll assume to mean "pointy edges") is that, surprise surprise, they have to target the game at the midrange PC, not the high-performance polygon pushers. Not everyone has a GeForce2 Ultra that can render a gazillion polygons, they have to target the average schmo with a P3-500 and a standard 16-meg D3D video card if they wanna make any money. That said, there's plenty of full-motion video games out there. They were really big on the Sega CD, in its heyday. But then everyone realized they sucked. Sewer Shark, anyone?
I see that some of the other replies in this thread got hung up on my use of the phrase "full motion video." I do not mean it in the sense that it has been used in the industry, to the point that FMV has gotten a bad name. What I do mean is what you intuited -- no "pointy edges." I want a landscape that looks like a landscape, not a computer-generated landscape, no matter how fast you move in the game. Every time I see a game that promises fantastic graphics, I check it out and inevitably say to myself, "Uh, no, it still looks like computer-generated blocks of graphics, not real life."
Another respondant, who works in the industry, says that my goal is years off. Fair enough, though disappointing. Thanks for responding.
________________
________________
Private Essayist
Actually, no. I want both. The gameplay of many games is excellent. I was hoping that the graphics could keep pace as well in short order. Apparently not.
________________
________________
Private Essayist
I checked out the article on Black and White and I saw the same old lousy graphics that every Quake clone has had. That is, it isn't even close to photorealistic -- too many polygons visible. Can anyone with knowledge of the industry tell me when we can expect games with good graphics? I want it too look like full-motion video, not a game.
________________
________________
Private Essayist
no text. Damn, I should really use Preview a bit more often. ;-)
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
EA ruins every company they get. Westwood ruled (Dune II, C&C). Oh look, EA buys Westwood, damn, now it BITES (C&C:RA2). Bullfrog was brilliant(Populous, Dungeon Keeper). Oh look, EA buys Bullfrog, now it SUCKS (DK2).
I'm only hoping Lionhead can get off one great game before EA ruins it as well, with its lowest common denominator marketing style. B&W is the only comp game I intend to spend any money on this year... I was thinking on WC III, but after Blizz's recent actions and the suckiness of D2, I'm done with Blizzard. Not to mention WC III appears to be heading the wrong way (away from massive tactical epic warfare, towards small parties of warriors necessitated by each one being rendered like a Q3a bot). id's DOOM III is all set to be the biggest joke of a game in years. So it looks like we're all riding on Peter Molyneaux to strike creative gold again, either that or the Miller brothers can come out of the woodwork with another Myst clone. Other than that, I see very little of interest on offer this year.
Yawn...
Where have all the good game makers gone?
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
"I don't see any reason for the ASPCA to complain. I mean really, who here believes that the game Black and White would entice youngins around the world to commit cruelty to animals?"
...the same people who think digital images of fake child porn will entice pedophiles and thus should be illegal.
Oh, you meant that rhetorically? Either way, expect to see the game banned in places if the ACLU ever takes a look at it.
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
It's a new god sim, but everyone expects god sims from Molyneaux, that's his expertise... what makes B&W unique is your CHOICE.
In Populous, you were sometimes vengeful, but usually just power-oriented. Not really good or evil.
In the Dungeon Keeper games, you were very clearly focussed on pure, diabolical Evil. All the way.
B&W is cool because you can choose which path to walk... Good, Evil, or really anything in between as far as I've been able to figure out. This alone should more than double the replay value, as you take tactics in Good and see how they work in Evil. IE., how effective might a certain grand strategy be when applied by force and terror, or with caring and peace? Fascinating, Captain.
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
"No points for originality, but how are they bad?"
Heheh, answered your own question.
What EA does is buy a little company that has made one or two creative games, then strings them along for as long as making unimaginative hack sequels remains profitable. EA *never* takes a risk on an "untested" game idea that isn't sure to sell like hotcakes; you will never see anything imaginative or new out of them. At EA, the marketing guys are in firm control of the game development guys, and it shows.
And I for one am VERY tired of same-old, same-old. My comp. game collection has grown to the range of over 70 titles. It will take something new and/or imaginative to make me open my wallet for a whole 50 bucks. I'm certainly not paying 50 bucks for a slick EA clone of a game I already have. C&C:RA2, DK2, and Diablo 2 (though EA doesn't own Blizz yet) were all so terrible, it's completely turned me off sequels.
It's up to the Peter Molyneux's and Sid Meiers of the world to think up something NEW for us. We need a creative mind, unhindered by questions of whether a game is a tried and tested big seller, to come up with something worth playing. Instead we have John Romero sitting back and brainstorming: Gamers want remakes! Nope, sorry, John. Go away.
-Kasreyn
P.S. If you don't think C&C:RA2 bites hard enough to bite in allcaps, play through the single player campaigns and watch the cut movies. Then watch them again. Keep a barf bag close at hand.
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
Slashdot carries articles on games ever so often that I am curios to know as to whether gaming on the net is so popular. Do the software guys actually have the time and inclinationation towards such a wastefull past time? Or is it only the slash Crowd who seem to have a lot of spare time like me.
There's always sufficient, but not always at the right place nor for the right folks.
I mean you get to play GOD! how cool is that? It gives me a chill thinking about the movie thirtenth floor and these type games.
"Black and White Goes Gold"
Bah, humbug! Color has already gone multi platinum baby. Remember CD's like the classic "RGB Rock"? Hello?
Better the ASPCA than those deran9ed Scientologist. Better yet, who's gonna search for the patent on the role-playing of god and sue?
360 degrees of Karma
For someone who has never heard of this game, providing a link to "www.bwgame.com" will give absolutely no information. You see a pathetic flash animation of the game logo and are presented with a "order" button. Wow. Talk about advertising. Now I really don't want to get this because simply, I don't even know what the hell it is.
While at University in Leeds, Uk. Someone told me that the God of computer games was doing an 1hr talk in Leeds all about his work and his development of new games including black and white. Well when I got down there, the place was totaly packed. The booking agent was saying it had never been so busy in its history. Around 2000 people packed in...Peter started talking about the early concpets of game play and the games he loved playing. But everyone was so excited about the new game he was starting called black and white. (This was 3 years ago). He told everyone that this would set the new standard of gaming and he would even give people their money back if they were not satisfied with the final release. So all this waiting and waiting will definatly be worth it I am sure. ALL go and buy it..