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Scott Miller On Making Max Payne A Success

Posted by simoniker on from the it's-a-blast dept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to 3D Realms founder Scott Miller's weblog entry discussing the reasons why Max Payne "was purposely positioned for success right from the start" . Although Miller, the man overseeing the ever-delayed Duke Nukem Forever, has now sold his share of Max Payne's IP to Take Two/Rockstar, he discusses specifics, including the choice of name ("A perfect name will convey something about the product... have good word-play possibilities for press and news headlines... and have a good short-hand version"), the hook ("The attribute Max owns is 'bullet-time,' like Volvo owns the word 'safety' and McDonalds owns 'fast'") and controversy ("Max Payne had a little, though it didn't get as much press as we thought it might.") He also reveals 3D Realms is "currently working with another developer, with a very similar relationship that we had with Remedy, to create another hit series (or so we hope!)" - an announcement is due in 2004.

9 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Foresight by Tom7 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Next time tell us how successful your product will be before it goes to market, and then we'll see how good your predictive powers are!

    Oh, wait, every company does this with every product.

  2. DK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "3D Realms is "currently working with another developer, with a very similar relationship that we had with Remedy, to create another hit series (or so we hope!)" - an announcement is due in 2004."

    that sounds too early for Duke Nukem Forever

  3. Ownage by wynterwynd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "The attribute Max owns is 'bullet-time,' like Volvo owns the word 'safety' and McDonalds owns 'fast'"

    Um, well actually I (and quite a few other people I imagine) associate 'bullet-time' with The Matrix. Max Payne just happened to use similar effects in the game, capitalizing on the slo-mo hype following the movie. I'm not 100% sure if my timeline is correct but I remember there being parallels to the movie effect when the game came out. Oh I'll grant that's the big hook of the game. That and metaphors that drag out long enough to make Raymond Chandler develop a nervous tic. But to say MP 'owns' bullet-time is a bit presumptuous.

    --
    "Not all who wander are lost" -- JRR Tolkien
    1. Re:Ownage by actor_au · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They own the trademark for the expression Bullet Time. Thats why in Enter the Matrix(May all who worked on it burn in hell) called slow-mo sequences Focus, because they couldn't buy the rights from Remedy to use thw expression Bullet time.

      --
      Read Errant Story.
    2. Re:Ownage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They own the trademark for the expression Bullet Time

      I was about to call bullshit, but I looked it up for myself and you're right.

      However, the name "bullet time" for slow motion has been associated with The Matrix since the year of it's release - 1999. If you watch the "Making Of" (which is on the DVD, and, I believe, first aired on HBO in 1999), that is exacly what the slow motion effect is called.

      It is interesting to note that Apogee filed a trademark on the term (twice) in May 2001. And then Warner Brothers did the same (multiple times) in August 2003.

      Based on date of usage, the term should belong to Warner - especially since they originally wanted to do "Enter The Matrix" way back in 1999 (they approached Dave Perry of Shiny Entertainment but he originally turned them down).

      I'm not quite sure what grudge you have against Shiny. Even though ETM wasn't the best game ever - what do you expect for a 100% mainstream title that has to tie in with three movies?

      Apogee are the leeches here (may all the lawyers who work there burn in hell). I find it hard to believe that they would have slow-mo sequences in Max Payne 1 if it weren't for The Matrix. Fortunately the effect has now been overused to death - hence MP2 being ridiculed for feeling like nothing more than an expensive expansion pack to the original MP1.

    3. Re:Ownage by gl4ss · · Score: 3, Informative

      remedy had demoed the effect(of slowing down the time) prior to matrix movie came(mp had been in development for quite some time by then, first publicly demoed as part of final reality in 1997 or so at the assembly, a demoparty held in finland). sure, matrix might have had something to do why it was a success and people could instantly like it, but not on it being there (and of course one 3dmark has a scene that is very matrix like). all afaik/iirc, the year might be off by 1 but i heard prior to the matrix movies about the features(of the engine, such as being able to freeze time and see the bullets mid air) from some friends who had happened to seen some private screenings.

      though, who they really 'own it to' must be woo(the matrix boys own it to him as well.. though he again might own it to somebody else i'm not sure where his ideas came from).

      .

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    4. Re:Ownage by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 2, Informative

      Based on date of usage, the term should belong to Warner - especially since they originally wanted to do "Enter The Matrix" way back in 1999 (they approached Dave Perry of Shiny Entertainment but he originally turned them down).

      You seem to be forgetting that the original Max Payne was in development longer than the original Unreal, or about half as long as DNF. Most of the people following the game saw 'bullet time' demos long before the Matrix was in theaters.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
  4. And worth every penny. by El_Smack · · Score: 3, Funny


    This is why Scott Miller is making the big dough. You or I would take a game we made and position it for failure, or mediocrity at best. Scott is that one guy in a million who would position his game for success. And he did it right from the start, too.

    Just another feather in the cap of the man who keeps Duke Nukem For(When)ever on task and on budget.

    --


    There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
  5. Miller is my Idol by Omega037 · · Score: 2

    Scott Miller has always been someone I idolized since I was a young child. It started with a game he wrote himself, Kingdom of Kroz, which used ascii characters for graphics but was tons of fun. He later went on to make sequels to this hit game. Also, he used an idea revolutionary to software distribution called shareware. Each of the many games that came from Apogee(what later became 3D Realms) were sent out on disk or put on a BBS completely free with no requirement to purchase the software. However, only the first episode was on these disks. To get the remaining episodes, hint book, and many other fun goodies cost you either 5, 10,or 15 dollars. I bought many of these games because they were so much fun(and piracy wasn't as rampant back then). Games like Commander Keen, Raptor, and Wolfenstien 3D are just a few of the great games Apogee helped develop and distribute. Now, whenever I see Miller's name, it reminds me of the good old days when graphics and sound were a distant consideration compared to how fun the game was.