'Outsider' Cancelled, or not cancelled?

[drew]

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3681 ... -cancelled

Difficult to read between the lines here. However, of interest to us because it was the project infront of a potential Elite 4.

"We have had to change priorities because of requirements on other unannounced projects," Braben told RPS, implying that development on The Outsider had ceased in favor of more promising ventures.

Whether this is good, bad or indifferent for Elite 4 is difficult to tell. Gut instinct tells me that it's another nail in the coffin. Appears that Frontier Developments isn't able to bring anything unique and original to market effectively.

Cheers,

Drew.

[Rxke]

the comments are... pretty acrimonious

[DaddyHoggy]

I think the ex-staff comments say a whole lot more about the internals of Frontier than the article itself - ignoring the understandable bias - it would seem that there's not much team spirit between teams or management, not enough money and not enough commitment.

I'd buy E4 tomorrow even if the reviews said it was a pile of poo - it didn't stop me buying Frontier and that was bug ridden and as dull as a dull thing with a degree in dullness from Dull University.

(of course I'd still only play Oolite, but I'd buy E4 as a thank-you for making Elite in the first place - I'd call it a charitable donation...)

[ClymAngus]

the comments are... pretty acrimonious

Yeah, when ex-team members aren't afraid to slag off your company in the online press. Then that doesn't say much for Frontiers ability to make good on the "f**k us well f**k your career" threat. If programmers have no respect for the company or the product then attracting fresh talent (and keeping it) is going to be insanely difficult.

Add to that the competition that are already up and running with some kick ass code, monthly subscribers and visuals that quite frankly set the standards in the space genre. Oh and don't forget the online community that got so bored waiting for the game that they made it themselves, more over they crossed it with little big planet so ANYONE with half a brain (Most of us have a LOT more but in principle; mad copy and paste skillz might suffice) could conceivably get in on the act.

This is not an up hill struggle that many game designing companies would take on lightly. The chances of Frontier producing E4 just took another dip. On the bright side they might sell the rights to recoup some cash.

[aegidian]

... more over they crossed it with little big planet ...

LBP was in development just as I was getting burned out on Oolite, and I know a couple of the folks at Media Molecule, so it's conceivable LBP took some inspiration from Oolite.

[drew]

[ Oh and don't forget the online community that got so bored waiting for the game that they made it themselves,

Abso-bloody-lutely!

Cheers,

Drew.

[Killer Wolf]

i've never understood Braben/the company. they had a hardcore following of one of the most iconic/loved games and instead of working on a sequel they ditched it all to make stuff like rollercoaster tycoon :-/
the animated dogs and stuff they demo'd looked really cool, so christ knows how good stuff would look w/ today's capabilities, but to be honest, even if they announced it i don't think i could work up any enthusiasm about it.

[Gimi]

i've never understood Braben/the company. they had a hardcore following of one of the most iconic/loved games and instead of working on a sequel they ditched it all to make stuff like rollercoaster tycoon :-/
the animated dogs and stuff they demo'd looked really cool, so christ knows how good stuff would look w/ today's capabilities, but to be honest, even if they announced it i don't think i could work up any enthusiasm about it.

Probably comes down to financing and DB's wish to finance the development of Elite IV in-house. (Ref the FFE/Gametek disaster)

[JD]

I wonder whether it's like try to catch lightning in a bottle. With Elite, they had a truly original idea and they did a remarkable job of implementing it (especially when you consider the limitations of the hardware). I know that "ahead of its time" is an overused term, but I think that was really true of Elite back then.

Could they ever hope to repeat that? I reckon anything short of full-blown virtual reality on a 286 PC was going to be viewed as an anticlimax, and the longer any follow-up takes to develop, the harder it is to see how it would stand out from the crowd.

[ClymAngus]

I wonder whether it's like try to catch lightning in a bottle. With Elite, they had a truly original idea and they did a remarkable job of implementing it (especially when you consider the limitations of the hardware). I know that "ahead of its time" is an overused term, but I think that was really true of Elite back then.

Could they ever hope to repeat that? I reckon anything short of full-blown virtual reality on a 286 PC was going to be viewed as an anticlimax, and the longer any follow-up takes to develop, the harder it is to see how it would stand out from the crowd.

Well you see I have a hind sight 20-20 idea about this. Off the back of Elite I would have gone straight to Games workshop and cut a deal. Hell Elite arguably was based on the "Traveller" franchise anyway (not enough to be a copyright issue). That would have put Frontier in pole position to exploit the table top to computer market. With a creative powerhouse like GW behind them they could draw on a multitude of in house and associated talent. More over they could have kept the whole thing nicely UK and well supported.

Further down the line Frontier would have had the money and the dedicated manpower to do a good MMORPG Traveller game, which if it was based on the game would STILL blow the nuts off EVE.

As they say hind sight 20-20.

[Fatleaf]

Well you see I have a hind sight 20-20 idea about this. Off the back of Elite I would have gone straight to Games workshop and cut a deal...As they say hind sight 20-20.

But if that happened then what would the chances of Oolite ever existing?

[drew]

Plenty of 'fan-modable' games have come and gone. My favourite (Homeworld) had a very active mod scene for a while. You could get star trek, battlestar galactica mods for it, ship reskins, new missions. A putative Elite sequel in that kind of context might have grabbed quite a few of us...

Cheers,

Drew.

[ClymAngus]

Oooo pretty camera moves.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_D0Fh7u2j8

Really tempted to get it now! Must resist the camera tilty space battle goodness!

[DaddyHoggy]

Plenty of 'fan-modable' games have come and gone. My favourite (Homeworld) had a very active mod scene for a while. You could get star trek, battlestar galactica mods for it, ship reskins, new missions. A putative Elite sequel in that kind of context might have grabbed quite a few of us...

Cheers,

Drew.

Problem with those mods is that they required effectively a reinstall of the game with the mod applied as it affected the base level code - I did love the BSG though... oh happy days!

[Commander McLane]

The Escape Velocity series was/is also quite modable and had a considerable fanbase. For the player it worked the same way as in Oolite: download mod, drag in mod-folder, restart game.