Judas - narrative FPS set on a disintegrating starship from Ken Levine's Ghost Story Games

[Ash]

"Someone was always being 'sand in the gears', a phrase Levine used a few times to describe his time at Looking Glass, when he battled designer and programmer egos.

what exactly are programmer egos? wouldn't that be a good thing for a videogame? it payed off in Thief didn't it? Thief also had pretty good design...

Designer and programmer egos are of those with good design sense and principles/integrity not wanting shit design, it seems. One can safely assume this given that System Shock 2 is incredible and Bioshock a piece of sellout trash (even by console standards).

 

[I ASK INANE QUESTIONS]

Well, since we are bashing Ken, here's your threadly reminder

 

[Roguey]

Haha Morgoth here pretending that Bioshock Infinite didn't bomb and Take 2 didn't give Levine a golden parachute because he's a celebrity.

Totally his decision to have hundreds of people suddenly find themselves unemployed.

 

[Edward The Mediocre]

I have no faith in this game nor it's company, when the game is released i will pirate to see if it is good and if it is I will buy it of a cd key site because that shit is cheaper than steam.

 

[Astral Rag]

Well, if we are bashing Ken, here's your threadly reminder

 

[Major_Blackhart]

So why do people continually give this guy a chance?

 

[Morgoth]

So why do people continually give this guy a chance?

Cuz he's still better than 99% of all the other hacks out there?

 

[ciox]

Well, if we are bashing Ken, here's your threadly reminder

Ken threw his former self under the bus, saying he was angsty and making excessively difficult games because of it, same way the team that had worked on it threw SS2 under the bus for having a "Windows 95" interface. Things change.

Interesting to see in that magazine article that they always had plans for some kind of machine that "hacks" the creatures in the level in some way, that's what inspired the security panels in SS2 and later evolved to their lofty plans for the pressure stations and environment-changing machines for Bioshock, but then we never saw another such machine from them again after SS2, all the advanced plans went to the rubbish bin.

 

[fantadomat]

Haha Morgoth here pretending that Bioshock Infinite didn't bomb and Take 2 didn't give Levine a golden parachute because he's a celebrity.

Totally his decision to have hundreds of people suddenly find themselves unemployed.

Did it really fopped? I remember having massive marketing push,every parasite on youtube was making videos about how great the game is. Still i never played the game,first thing that i would have done is to throw shit at the nigger. Was it even ok?

 

[Morgoth]

Who's talking about Infinite, Rogey? The first Bioshock was a massive success. That horrible, horrible dumbed down console shooter.

 

[Roguey]

Who's talking about Infinite, Rogey? The first Bioshock was a massive success. That horrible, horrible dumbed down console shooter.

Irrational faltered because Ken was tired of the strains of AAA development and wanted to move on, not because Take 2 thought the studio was doomed due to sub-par (?) sales. Back in the Xbox 360 era, you didn't have many options in terms of funding and distribution. But then came around Steam, Kickstarter, the resurgence of smaller hardcore games, and Ken jumped at the opportunity.

Ironically, he's still under the patronage of Take 2, but he got what he wanted anyway.

Did it really fopped? I remember having massive marketing push,every parasite on youtube was making videos about how great the game is.

Yes. It sold millions, and got the critical acclaim, but it wasn't able to recoup its massive budget (Ken Levine kept throwing away a lot of high quality art assets because they didn't fit his vision, it was in development for much too long for what it ended up being).

 

[ciox]

high quality art assets because they didn't fit his vision

 

[fantadomat]

Who's talking about Infinite, Rogey? The first Bioshock was a massive success. That horrible, horrible dumbed down console shooter.

Irrational faltered because Ken was tired of the strains of AAA development and wanted to move on, not because Take 2 thought the studio was doomed due to sub-par (?) sales. Back in the Xbox 360 era, you didn't have many options in terms of funding and distribution. But then came around Steam, Kickstarter, the resurgence of smaller hardcore games, and Ken jumped at the opportunity.

Ironically, he's still under the patronage of Take 2, but he got what he wanted anyway.

Did it really fopped? I remember having massive marketing push,every parasite on youtube was making videos about how great the game is.

Yes. It sold millions, and got the critical acclaim, but it wasn't able to recoup its massive budget (Ken Levine kept throwing away a lot of high quality art assets because they didn't fit his vision, it was in development for much too long for what it ended up being).

I take it a lot of money went in the marketing. From what i remember it had a lot of push,and that was one of the reasons that i didn't play the game. Also a whole game around escort quest.... nah.

 

[Ash]

"We need to demolish the old to make way for the new."

I agree. Demolish Ken Levine.

Seriously now, why the fuck are so many old school devs so ready to throw away the superior ideals/principles/concepts they established years ago? Look what it gets us: Bioshock, Thiaf, Dishonored, Underworld Ascendant (low blow, since it isn't out yet). The best modern Immersive Sim is Prey, which not coincidentally is most-like the older games (though still misses the mark by a longshot).

This is industry-wide though. Decline, decline everywhere.

PS. Levine is my secret fanboy crush. I despise whatever the fuck BioSepticShock is, but it doesn't override his lead on System Shock 2. Sure does test my respect for him though.

 

[Morgoth]

Yeah Ken yeah!

 

[Mastermind]

Yeah I'm sure the people behind "wait a minute that card" will make something that requires brainpower to play.

Bitching about the difficulty of a "puzzle" in the intro scene of a game without any puzzles is a pretty good idiot indicator, it was one of Levine's better trolls.

 

[ciox]

Yeah I'm sure the people behind "wait a minute that card" will make something that requires brainpower to play.

Bitching about the difficulty of a "puzzle" in the intro scene of a game without any puzzles is a pretty good idiot indicator, it was one of Levine's better trolls.

That interaction is just what you're naturally left with when a game doesn't have any inventory or any controls for examining the things you've picked up, the game has to show you the note with the hint when you need it. I don't see anyone being trolled.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

I just wish he'd go back to something like Freedom Force again. I couldn't give a shit about his highfalutin storytelling aspirations, and now seems to be peak time for a superhero game.

 

[LESS T_T]

https://boards.greenhouse.io/taketwo/jobs/1661839

The Narrative Scripter works closely with the Narrative team. In this role, you will be helping to organize, implement and maintain voice assets and related content for the current project. Additionally, you will be expected to script narrative events in game, participate in narrative design meetings, and provide feedback on the overall narrative design of the game.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work across disciplines to support and improve every phase of the voice asset pipeline.
• Design and implement rules and conditions for triggering narrative content in game.
• Implementation & scripting of various narrative beats.
• Provide objective design feedback on narrative documentation.

I guess the game is in the stage of actively doing voice recording?

Also from a posting for Senior Gameplay Systems Designer, "highly systemic game", "highly dynamic, non-scripted FPS encounters": https://boards.greenhouse.io/taketwo/jobs/1500826

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for an experienced systems designer to help build the best possible gameplay experience for our next project. You have a strong understanding of global balance, gameplay pacing and level design and keep a holistic view of how it all fits together in moment to moment gameplay. You have a strong ability to deconstruct high level gameplay systems, breaking them down into specific technical details, features and tasks as well as possess the technical acumen to dive in and hook it all up in a highly systemic game.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work directly with Creative Director Ken Levine on design, prototyping and fostering of game systems and balance in highly dynamic, non-scripted FPS encounters.
• Implement and balance gameplay features from initial design to final polish, working with team members across disciplines where needed.
• Author, revise and provide feedback on internal design documentation, including feature specifications and implementation guides.
• Collaborate with the design team to incorporate systems into level gameplay and maintain overall balance between multiple gameplay systems.
• Continually iterate, balance and tune features and gameplay based on feedback from design leads, QA and playtesting.

 

[LESS T_T]

Oh right, also this: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheyennemorrin/

Associate Designer (Narrative R&D)
Company Name Ghost Story Games
Dates Employed Feb 2017 – Present
Employment Duration 2 yrs 4 mos

Designing and writing all content for AI combat VO system (containing 30+ distinct behavioral states and 1500+ multi-faction dialogue lines)

Writing and scripting dynamic narrative encounters for an unannounced AAA FPS title

Designing/implementing story flow, player-driven character/faction arcs, and replayable quests

Providing story bibles, timelines, character profiles and VO scripts for team wide content updates and recording sessions

 

[conan_edw]

Weren't they saying they are going for a smaller more repayable experience and that infinite burnt him out?

 

[Morgoth]

Ken's amazing genius doesn't allow for small stuff, even if he tried!

 

[Venser]

2 years later and nothing to show?

 

[Morgoth]

2 years later and nothing to show?

"Gut Ding braucht Weile"
-Ken Levine, Jewish Wunderkind

 

[LESS T_T]

This project supposed to take a long time to experiment and research new things (namely "Narrative Lego"), well, for better or worse.