Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Game environments

Here we go with some more set and prop pieces from "Space Chimps" -the game.









I could discuss a lot of the frustration of working at the company that made this game and the process (more of a lack-of really), but really, what's the point? I'm no longer there, and that's a good thing. It had the potential to be a fun game, despite being a movie tie-in, but due to numerous factors the least of which were a producer who had no idea what he was doing or how to manage people; a game designer whose sole experience was 20 years playing games (that's  right, not making them, just playing them- it's like claiming to be an expert on making movies because you've watched them all your life); and a boss who would chime in once every three months with some random off-the-cuff suggestion that was largely irrelevant, I'm suprised it's getting as reasonable a rating as what it is.
For a game that was originally pitched as a non-fighting platformer, it seriously travelled quite far down the path of becoming a combat game. Combat mechanics for example, when not working were not abandoned, discussions were had in which bigger weapons were suggested. The KISS theory was obviously never heard here.
I once likened the making of this game to rocking up at a film set ready to shoot, you've hired the actors and crew, got all the equipment, but have no script.

2 comments:

Maritze said...

Hey Richard! Realy like those two colour bg's up there. The rocky one is really cool!

Kristi said...

So, did this game ever get released? Given that the movie sank like a stone, the game never had a chance of doing brilliantly... a shame, after all your work and frustration. I hope that future games (at other studios, by the sound) work out better for you.