Developers who took risks to improve Gaming

[Abhay]

Those who had the balls to challenge and defy gaming conventions in breaking the mould, taking risks to offer a game that is different?

My pick - Daniel Vavra ( and his team ) for the amazing Mafia City of Lost Heaven.
Here's what made the game different ( not only for its time ) from other open world games.
- The level of authenticity across the game, be the attention to details in the environment, the weapons, the cars and the way they unlock at certain points in time as you progress, the police behavior asking for a traffic ticket, the music, the design of the radar on top in the shape of the side mirror that captures the vintage look of the time, the speedometer, the very classy menu screen, including the realistic driving mechanics, etc. helped a great deal to give the sense of that time and place to escape from the modern antics for immersing the players completely into the classic experience.
- No day/night cycle. Instead each mission has its own unique background score, weather and time of the day that makes the missions a lot atmospheric and memorable.
- Separate Free Ride mode to enhance the story mode experience with a linear narrative that keeps you hooked to Tommy's story without much pointless side distractions
- Aspects of realism found in the game like vehicles running out of fuel, losing bullets on reload, including enemies that run away when lose ammo rather than keep on shooting infinitely, etc.
There're a couple of more things I might have missed to point out but I'm sure people realize how unique this game was for its time, and in my opinion, a lot better than GTA III as well, which got more mainstream attention than this game. In fact, Rockstar has copied a lot of missions and ideas from Mafia City of Lost Heaven in their 3D GTA's, including GTA IV which has many glaring similarities.
Even to this day, Mafia 1 stands out a very different game that I don't find any other game similar in experience, and even surpass in certain ways, what Vavra and his team has achieved.

Please mention your picks for developers ( and their unique games ) that fits perfectly for the topic and explain in brief what makes it so special over other games and/or similar category of games.

 

[Great Deceiver]

The first two Thief games, by Looking Glass Studios.

These games single-handedly defined stealth gameplay and, to this day, there has not been anything even remotely on the same level. The level and sound design are superb, AI is decent, artistic direction is great, even the story is pretty nice and unobtrusive and I usually don't give two shits about stories in videogames.

Thief 1 will be 20 years old in 2 years. That it hasn't been surpassed or even come close to being matched is somewhat depressing.

 

[Jaesun]

Richard Garriot - NPC Schedules in Ultima VII

 

[Mustawd]

Richard Garriot - NPC Schedules in Ultima VII

As mentioned about this section, it also applies to this topic, please name only the developers for games that aren't CRPG , MMORPG, Strategy or Adventure. Naming games that do not relate to 'specific category' of genre but plays as a 'hybrid game' is FINE.

You done goofed Jaesun.

 

[Abhay]

I'm not willing to keep it exclusive to specific category / genre anymore, and have edited the OP to remove the note, seeing as this seems right so that members can freely talk about the developers otherwise it completely misses the point of the topic.
Nice to have the responses so far. I'd like to see more names being shared and find out their contributions in bringing something new and provide innovative/creative gaming experiences.

 

[Rahdulan]

The first two Thief games, by Looking Glass Studios.

I'd extend it to pretty much their entire career in some form, ranging from Thief, System Shock and Ultima Underworld with their respective sequels. And, of course, nowadays criminally forgotten Terra Nova. There's so much influence in those games on the entire industry it's difficult to grasp it properly.

 

[Ash]

Thief broke the mold? Yeah, no. There were 3D stealth games before Thief. Ultima Underworld or System Shock, now those were breakthrough games.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

*cracks open the Book of Games Made in the 1980s*

...

Where do you want me to begin?


Maybe it would be quicker to count the devs that played it safe by releasing the same stuff over and over again?

Guess who pops up first?

Richard Garriott.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Thief broke the mold? Yeah, no. There were 3D stealth games before Thief. Ultima Underworld or System Shock, now those were breakthrough games.

Oh, really? Which 3d stealth games were there before Thief? If you're going to say Tenchu or Metal Gear Solid I'll just have to laugh, sorry.

 

[Alienman]

Bohemia with Operation Flashpoint. Open world military simulator with tons with vehicles and weapons that also came with a fantastic in-game editor for making missions. Dynamic AI, real-time weather, day and night cycles. It even had a fun campaign and excellent multiplayer. And the expansion let you play as the "bad guys".

 

[racofer]

Bethesda: turned games into absolute shit so that shitty tier games feel good in comparison, e.g., anything from Obshitian.

 

[octavius]

*cracks open the Book of Games Made in the 1980s*

...

Where do you want me to begin?


Maybe it would be quicker to count the devs that played it safe by releasing the same stuff over and over again?

Guess who pops up first?

Richard Garriott.

That's rather unfair.
Unlike Wizardry, Might&Magic and the Gold Box games the Ultima games evolved for each game.
But then of course the before mentioned games were already much bette than Ultima to start with...

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Ultima 1-3 are just iterations of Akalabeth with minor differences and improvements. The evolution of Ultima doesn't start until Ultima 4. That's what I'm referring to, Garriott pops up first in a chronological order.

Wizardry at least tried radically different concepts, like starting at the bottom of the dungeon as the antagonist. Sir-Tech devs were not afraid to take risks back then.

Might & Magic is also another series that played it safe...pretty much throughout the entire series. One can argue that people are playing the same game over and over again in slightly different settings with consistently improved game engines thrown in - but then again, why stop digging when you've hit gold?

But back in the (early) 1980s there were very few rules and guidelines about gaming genres, but most importantly there was little to no history - the line drawn by the previous guy was pretty easy to spot, and it wasn't that hard to cross it and draw your own line. The trick was to make your line last long enough for people to notice it in the first place. Combine that with the absence of marketing execs and suits calling the shots, and pretty much every idea for a game had a chance to become reality - and most often they did. Political Correctness was irrelevant, logic and reason were irrelevant, sexism was irrelevant. If you wanted to make a game where you play a phallic symbol moving back and forth to bounce a ball around so that it can smash blocks, the 1980s had you covered. If you wanted a game where the fox turned the tables on the hunters, the 1980 are here to turn your head. If you wanted a game where you play a drunkard who's only trying to clean up the mess from last night's party so that he can go back to sleep...guess which decade has the answer?

 

[pippin]

Garriot took a lot of risks with the Ultima series, at least between 4 and 7. I'd dare to say everything people thinks of when they talk about rpgs was done by an Ultima game first. Yeah it's easy to laugh at Garriot for his antics and everything but he was a true visionary, and one of the few people who saw games as a field to try new ideas, to go beyond the simple idea of "game". I mean, Ultima 4 is still groundbreaking to this day. There's dungeons and everything, but what leads the game is your behavior, your moral standing, and how you interact with the people living in a world. In a way, Ultima is still more interactive than any vr bullshit will ever be. I'm just thankful I was born in an age where Ultima games were still being made, even if they were the bad ones.8 is still my favorite flawed gem, up there with Alpha Protocol.

re: Thief, the game was actually quite popular when it came out. Way more than Fallout, for instance. The first game got into the cover of many mags and the second did it too. Thief was seen as a landmark by everyone, both fans and critics, and everyone was hopeful of what gaming would become after Thief. In fact, people were afraid the Thief engine would be too small to contain the greatness System Shock 2 promised.

 

[Dev_Anj]

Thief broke the mold? Yeah, no. There were 3D stealth games before Thief. Ultima Underworld or System Shock, now those were breakthrough games.

Eh, it's true that it came out after Metal Gear Solid and Tenchu, but it was still a pioneer of stealth games, because it took a perspective normally used for shooters, and utilized it for sneaking. That, and the light and sound system was unique for its time, especially how it was used for providing stealth mechanics. In fact I would say till date no stealth game has come close to having a sound system as good as Thief. Metal Gear Solid on the other hand was basically an isometric stealth puzzle game and Tenchu was a mix of stealth and platforming, though the design suggests a focus on platforming.

 

[Ash]

I don't disagree and it did tread new ground, I just think it didn't break ground like Ultima Underworld and System Shock did before it. If we're mentioning LG games in the context of this thread, those are the go-to ones. That someone jumps straight to Thief prompts the assumption that they are unaware of what those other games did.

 

[Edward The Mediocre]

Lionheart Studios, having the balls to stop making bad games by stopping making games entirely.

 

[Astral Rag]

Todd Howard for bringing the Fallout brand into the new millennium.

 

[Cadmus]

reported the thread for being a fag thread with the word "gaming" in the title

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

From Software

King's Field -- first full-3D RPG. I'm pretty sure that King's Field to RPGs is like Doom to shootahs, and both feel like attempts to combine dungeon crawling with some new stuff (gridless RT combat in 3D space).

Also:
King's Field 2 -- first full-3D RPG without loading screens.
Sword of Moonlingt -- first 3D RPG Maker.
Echo Night -- one of the first full-3D adventure games, unless I'm mistaken.

Micro Cabin/Arrowsoft

Carmine -- first dungeon crawler with polygonal 3D graphics and a very advanced combat system (sadly, it's unpolished as fuck).

 

[Great Deceiver]

From Software

King's Field -- first full-3D RPG. I'm pretty sure that King's Field to RPGs is like Doom to shootahs, and both feel like attempts to combine dungeon crawling with some new stuff (gridless RT combat in 3D space).

I'm a pretty big King's Field fan and I think it's From's best series but come on, what about Ultima Underworld? Maybe you meant 3D in a strictly polygonal sense (as in Ultima Underworld uses sprites as well), but...

In any case, I think UU is King's Field's most obvious inspiration.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

From Software

King's Field -- first full-3D RPG. I'm pretty sure that King's Field to RPGs is like Doom to shootahs, and both feel like attempts to combine dungeon crawling with some new stuff (gridless RT combat in 3D space).

I'm a pretty big King's Field fan and I think it's From's best series but come on, what about Ultima Underworld? Maybe you meant 3D in a strictly polygonal sense (as in Ultima Underworld uses sprites as well), but...

In any case, I think UU is King's Field's most obvious inspiration.

Yeah, I meant strictly polygonal stuff, and I gotta agree on UU and KF comparison. Ultima Underworld games are very good, but for some reason I keep forgetting about them even if they suck me in the moment I run them.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Cavia / Access Games / Yoko Taro

Difficult themes. Weird, repugnant characters. Ubertrolling. Torturing player purposely with insane amount of grinding and fetch quests laughting of it straight in da face plus completely unpredictable gameplay changes from action RPG through Diablo clone through Resident Evil rip-off through shmup through rythm game through text-based boss battle.
And pretty original concept of New Game+ when you are not forced to finish everything from the scratch and can replay only those events that are different from the ones from previous playthrough.

Drakengard 1/ 3 / Nier are something more than just games, they're like post-modern experience, fresh and fascinating.