Nightdive Studios, SNEG, Ziggurat, Piko Interactive and others rereleasing classic games

[A horse of course]

The only complaint I have about Thief II is that Viktoria isn't my WIFE!!

 

[Riskbreaker]

^There's plenty more trees in the forest.

 

[LESS T_T]

SSI strategy games rereleases on Steam. These games were previously rereleased on GOG by GOG itself, but Steam release is by SNEG, the publisher behind rereleases of Siege of Avalon, Witchaven, Blade of Darkness.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Well, one of those Gold missions was meant to be set in some sort of undead-infested catacombs, evoking T1. Plus that specific mission was to be placed between the two Gervaisius' Estate missions. So basically if that one mission was to be added in, it would take care of two common complaints about Thief 2 in one strike.

In my dreamscape, the added level to Thief 2 Gold would be a mix of "Waking the Dead" and "Fallen Hammers" as described in that Thief 2 Gold-wiki link. Garrett is sent by Viktoria to a remote Hammerite outpost which served as an engineering academy, as one of Viktoria's Pagan lieutentants successfully acquires the Book of Ash and intends to use it to fight the Mechanists. If successful, that would be all the Mechanists need to publicly declare Open Season on the Pagans, and could conduct their massacre publicly, and that's a big No No. That lieutenant is not very knowledgable in magic, but (s)he has heard stories of that tome being used successfully in one location - namely, that remote Hammerite outpost, so they've taken it there for their ritual. But something dreadful happened there a few years back and while the place is shut down and sealed, the Hammerites still saw a reason to keep a squad of armed Hammers guarding it to keep people away.

• What happened there to make the Hammers shut it down, and yet keep an eye on it?
• With the Hammers at their weakest during the Metal Age, are those guards still around?
• Who would bring a tome of necromancy to an engineering school?
• Why was Karras enrolled at that location at precisely that time?
• Is the necromantic horror summoned forth by the book still at that site?

I think these bullet-points paint a good enough picture of what a successful extra 'spooky' mission to Thief 2 would contain; a unique insight into just how insane Karras truly is.

 

[Semiurge]

The only complaint I have about Thief II is that Viktoria isn't my WIFE!!

Caught your eye, did she...

 

[LESS T_T]

Huh, I kinda missed this, but Wade Rosen, CEO of Ziggurat is now CEO of new Atari. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...s-up-separate-gaming-and-blockchain-divisions

He's part of this year's restructuring that they shut down free-to-play mobile games, scrap casino business, and split blockchain thing out of gaming division. He's leading Atari's new focus towards premium PC and console games.

Also a video interview from February as CEO of Ziggurat.

 

[LESS T_T]

(7:20) Heh, they secured source code of Darklands, with intention of doing something with it. It's from the tape mentioned here.
(19:00) He tried to secure Tactic Ogre, and of course, it didn't work out. He's not give up yet, though.

 

[A horse of course]

(7:20) Heh, they secured source code of Darklands, with intention of doing something with it. It's from the tape mentioned here.
(19:00) He tried to secure Tactic Ogre, and of course, it didn't work out. He's not give up yet, though.

You should tag Tweed about the Darklands remaster, he was thinking of doing a new video on it to replace his old one.

I can't do it because he's ignoring me as a form of attention-seeking.

 

[LESS T_T]

Okay I guess?

Tweed Ed urged me to let you know that Darklands remaster/enhanced/whatever might or might not be happening.

 

[Black]

Guys, I'll help.
Tweed

 

[Tweed]

Holy shit, I really hope they don't fuck that up.

 

[Razor]

Well, one of those Gold missions was meant to be set in some sort of undead-infested catacombs, evoking T1. Plus that specific mission was to be placed between the two Gervaisius' Estate missions. So basically if that one mission was to be added in, it would take care of two common complaints about Thief 2 in one strike.

Isnt Thief 2 source lost officially?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Well, one of those Gold missions was meant to be set in some sort of undead-infested catacombs, evoking T1. Plus that specific mission was to be placed between the two Gervaisius' Estate missions. So basically if that one mission was to be added in, it would take care of two common complaints about Thief 2 in one strike.

Isnt Thief 2 source lost officially?

"Officially"? Yes.

In any other form? No. The NewDark-patches came about because much of the source code was recovered from a Sega Dreamcast-bundle sale that happened to contain much of the code for the Dark Engine.

And that's before we factor in that Nightdive Studios, in their efforts to modernize System Shock 2, have pretty much reverse-engineered the Dark Engine in its entirety.

So odds are good that Taffer-habits are only gonna get better in the coming years.

 

[SharkClub]

I don't know. I think Kaiser and NightDive are just talking big about that thing in particular. One of the biggest draws of the dark engine is its use of lighting, but if we look at how Kaiser's PowerSlave console version port turned out you can clearly see the butchering of the lighting and atmosphere in the official trailer for it alone. I have a feeling SS2EE when they finally show more than some stray 3D models is going to suffer from some similar issues.

 

[Riskbreaker]

Eh, it needn't be so.
The problem with Powerslave's lighting is the switch to new dynamic lighting.
With Thief, I'd imagine they'd just carry over the original prebaked lightmaps et al rather than implementing real-time dynamic lighting which would mean redoing all the missions from the grounds up, the result being more a remake or reimagining than a port/rerelease.

 

[Bad Sector]

The problem with Powerslave's lighting is the switch to new dynamic lighting.

The main issue IMO is that there is less contrast in the KEX version. If they increase the contrast a bit, it will look closer to the 90s versions.

 

[Riskbreaker]

The problem with Powerslave's lighting is the switch to new dynamic lighting.

The main issue IMO is that there is less contrast in the KEX version. If they increase the contrast a bit, it will look closer to the 90s versions.

I don't think so. Have you seen the comparison screens Kaiser posted on twitter? If it was just that, you could fix it via contrast slider.

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/game/bloodrayne_betrayal_fresh_bites?as=1649904300

 

[A horse of course]

new voice acting by Laura Bailey and Troy Baker

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

I got Betrayal for a spare change during some sales, but I couldn't finish it. One of the most rage inducing platformers I've tried. The Terminal cuts for the original duology were given to those, who already purchased them earlier. Meh.

 

[Bad Sector]

I don't think so. Have you seen the comparison screens Kaiser posted on twitter? If it was just that, you could fix it via contrast slider.

No, have a link? I only saw the release trailer where it looked the main issue was about contrast.

 

[LESS T_T]

Ziggurat is starting to rerelease RPG titles from Softdisk catalog.

Legends of Murder Collection, collection of fantasy murder mystery RPG/adventure series.

And yet another Phillips FMV thing. Zombie Dinos from Planet Zeltoid:

 

[LESS T_T]

Ziggurat still has military sims to rerelease.

 

[Infinitron]

Time flies when you're playing games! This month Ziggurat celebrates 2 years of retro games, remasters, and even a few all-new titles!

Thank you to all our fans who have supported us, we love being part of such a passionate and engaged gaming community. We can't wait to see where we'll be in another year!

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/news/interview_michael_devine_from_ziggurat_games?as=1649904300

INTERVIEW: MICHAEL DEVINE FROM ZIGGURAT GAMES

Many classic games that were revived by Ziggurat Games have already found their way to GOG.COM, giving us the opportunity to revisit them or discover them for the first time. We had the opportunity to ask a few questions to Michael Devine, SVP of business development at ZIggurat, to learn more about the company’s interesting past and plans for the future.

GOG.COM: Ziggurat Games has been around for 2 years, yet it has already made a name for itself in the video game market. Can you tell us how it all began? How did a passion for classic games become the cornerstone of the company?

Michael Devine: Our founder, Wade Rosen grew up an avid gamer and fell in love with games for their ability to bring us into magical and imaginative spaces. Despite his many successful businesses, he always wanted to return to games and share his love for the classics. It was from that inspiration and passion that Ziggurat began.

Not content to let classic games sit in the vaults of history, Ziggurat brought together an incredibly talented and committed team to resurrect classic game titles and give them the life and rebirth they deserve. In just two years, our small team has worked with development partners around the world to publish over 100 titles on PC and consoles.

We still connect with that original passion for games, bringing these games back to life as enhanced, HD, reimagined, and even brand new forms from the archives of video game history. It truly is an honor for our entire team to be a part of this work.

Each classic game that we release on GOG.COM that was revived by Ziggurat Games is quite popular among our users. How do you choose the classics that will be re-released next? Can you shed a little light on the whole process?

Our team starts the process by diving into our game library of currently unavailable or neglected content. Many of our IP’s come from now defunct game studios, but where possible, we try to work with original developers to resurrect and enhance their original games.

We investigate the history of the games, find what’s unique, and work to make them ready for new and old audiences alike. We aim to have something for everyone in our catalog, so we jump at the chance to work on games that are a little quirky, unexpected, or of historical importance.

Which video games do you consider the company’s biggest success? Were there any titles that sparked more interest than you anticipated at first?

Certainly there are quite a few. Krush, Kill and Destroy, Advent Rising, even smaller titles like World Championship Boxing really exceeded our expectations. But it was the Bloodrayne series that has been in a category all by itself. We were blown away at the response to the re-releases and upgrades given to Rayne and her franchise. We truly want to honor Rayne and her place in the history of video games, while also modernizing her for contemporary audiences. The opportunity to work with Terminal Reality and WayForward has been so rewarding and has helped forge partnerships that we hope will continue long into the future.

I would also say another big success for us has been reaching our two year anniversary with the milestone of over 114 published games – with 65 just released in the last year. We are a small team here at Ziggurat and most of us can’t believe that number! We have such an amazing team and to work alongside such a high caliber committed group makes it exciting to go to work each day.

Spoiler

Now for a more personal question – what is your favorite classic game that you can play over and over and why?

It’s really hard for me to separate the games from the people and companies that made them after 30 years in this business.

For me, Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is an almost perfect Turn-Based Strategy Game, but it’s also my sentimental favorite, as I thought the folks at New World Computing were among the best, nicest, and most talented developers I’ve ever met. Also, I’ve been playing HMM3 on and off for almost 25 years.

Can you tell our users what they can expect from Ziggurat Games in the upcoming months? Which games should they get excited for?

A Boy and His Blob is back and it is a really exciting release for us. The Nintendo Switch version is coming out this week and it’s just the beginning of a number of announcements about this wonderfully innovative, inclusive magical world.

We are also extremely happy to be working with Limited Run Games. They have been such a great partner in helping us bring Retro and Classic games back to life, and can’t wait to tell gamers about even more physical releases of classic games in the coming months.