3D Realms’ CEO Scott Miller Talks.

Tamer17

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On the recent podcast of Next-Gen.Biz Scott Miller talks about bunch of stuff.
Quoting: "3D Realms’ CEO Scott Miller joins us for a revealing discussion on the nature of Prey 2, Duke Nukem Forever’s likely arrival date and why he doesn’t much like Steam or episodic gaming"

Link.

Listening now.
 
Ha, he's still going on about DNF, maybe he should hang himself now.
 
I got to the comments about Steam. They are stupid and have no base in reality.
 
I'll listen to the cast when I get home. What did he have to say about DNF?
 
"we're almost done ..should be released this decade, unless we go through with plans to start from scratch on a new engine ...people really like us and cant wait for this game to be released ..and it will be released ..right after Stalker"
 
Finished.

His comments that Steam won't be successful because it's branded with Valve and companies won't take their games to Steam is completely wrong and unfounded. The past week showed us otherwise , and more 3rd party big name games are coming. So is about the the conflict of Valve putting a rival FPS on steam. Clearly , this has not been an issue with Sin , Dark Messiah and the recent COD games.

About episodic , previous episodes can be be updated with the newer gfx of newer episodes. The whole thing of playing the episodes together and it being wierd to see the diff. gfx doesn't make sense to me. Ep2 , for the naked eye doesn't look to advance gfx wise from Ep1 , and certainly doesn't make Ep1 look bad.
I can't see myself getting off because of gfx quality change , in fact, it would be cool once all the Eps out to play them and witness the change in gfx quality.

The rumor he heard about Valve and Ritual being unhappy about the sale figures of the first episode - Well , could be. Valve mentioned more than once that after all the Eps are out they will sit down and evaluate.
 
I got to the comments about Steam. They are stupid and have no base in reality.

Pretty much. He doesn't have much of a clue, really. Considering, as you've said, a bunch of developers have jumped on Steam within the last week, so his comments are looking pretty stupid.
I mean, Episodic content is new, Valve are going into new territory, it was never going to start off with a truly solid grounding. Ritual are disappointed? Doesn't surprise me - Sin Episodes was pathetic.

Valve is trying to do something new, rather than what 3D Realms are doing. Someone has to start the whole thing off, and at the moment that's Valve. The way I'm seeing it is 3D Realms holding their horses until online distribution/Episodic content is in full swing before they take any risks. If that’s the case, and it most certainly looks it, they can just shut the **** up and go sit in the corner before they make any bullshit unfounded comments.
 
Valve ought to spin Steam off as separate company anyway.
 
His comments that Steam won't be successful because it's branded with Valve and companies won't take their games to Steam is completely wrong and unfounded. The past week showed us otherwise , and more 3rd party big name games are coming. So is about the the conflict of Valve putting a rival FPS on steam. Clearly , this has not been an issue with Sin , Dark Messiah and the recent COD games.
He's tallking about the big boys, like his company and Epic. They're never going to go with Steam.

The rumor he heard about Valve and Ritual being unhappy about the sale figures of the first episode - Well , could be. Valve mentioned more than once that after all the Eps are out they will sit down and evaluate.
I think he's right about that. He says there isn't as much anticipation of episodes being released, compared to full games. They're treated like expansion packs instead of proper games, and I have to agree. I haven't bought Ep1.

The next HL-based game I buy will have to be called Half-life 3, or have some major gameplay/graphic enhancements for me to buy it.

Valve is trying to do something new, rather than what 3D Realms are doing. Someone has to start the whole thing off, and at the moment that's Valve. The way I'm seeing it is 3D Realms holding their horses until online distribution/Episodic content is in full swing before they take any risks. If that’s the case, and it most certainly looks it, they can just shut the **** up and go sit in the corner before they make any bullshit unfounded comments.
I don't think they're holding their horses, since he was talking about Trident (sp?). But that fell through because of pricing.
 
HL2 Episode 1 had both gameplay and graphic enhancements, as will Episode 2. I seriously doubt that Episode 1 sold poorly. I can imagine Ritual being unhappy about sales of Emergence because, frankly, it was utter dogshit. Episode 1 received almost as much press attention (online and printed) as HL2 itself did, so I don't think too many people were treating it as an expansion pack.
 
"He's tallking about the big boys, like his company and Epic. They're never going to go with Steam."

Ubisoft and Activision are not big enough? Sid's games aren't big?
The reason he gave for 3D Realms not going with Steam are just stupid and doesn't have anything to do with big or small companies.
If Epic or 3D Realms go digital it will be because they will want the pride and glory of having there own system.

"Valve ought to spin Steam off as separate company anyway"

Why is that?
 
The next HL-based game I buy will have to be called Half-life 3, or have some major gameplay/graphic enhancements for me to buy it.

You are looking at it the wrong way. The Episodes are there primarily because of gameplay. The gameplay in Episode 1 is leaps and bounds ahead of pretty much every shooter on the market, as they release feedback is garnered and taken on board for the next release.

Sure, it is tricky, but it works. You are getting smaller games, but good games, in a small time span. I find it difficult to pinpoint the problem about this approach when people raise complaints about this. It's cheap, it's very, very good and you aren't waiting a long time.

And there's a problem?
 
You are looking at it the wrong way. The Episodes are there primarily because of gameplay. The gameplay in Episode 1 is leaps and bounds ahead of pretty much every shooter on the market, as they release feedback is garnered and taken on board for the next release.

Sure, it is tricky, but it works. You are getting smaller games, but good games, in a small time span. I find it difficult to pinpoint the problem about this approach when people raise complaints about this. It's cheap, it's very, very good and you aren't waiting a long time.

And there's a problem?

Yes with HL2 you got a brand new game, brand new world, brand new engine, , online multiplayer,and you could expect a shitload of mods.
With Ep you pretty much literally got a high quality mappack that lasted 1/3 of hl2, and yet still cost 20,- which is not 1/3 of 50,-, and the gameplay is 2 years old allready, it has hardly anything new over hl2. While if they made a whole game like hl3 it would probably have been a lot more original.
Episodes are noth worth the bang for your buck, the time between them is to long to appreciate a good cliffhanger, episodic content is simply inferior to whole games in every possible way.
 
Valve ought to spin Steam off as separate company anyway.
Truth.

Admittedly, I don't think we'll be seeing Id shooters on STEAM soon because they are closer competitors than say, CoD.
 
"Valve ought to spin Steam off as separate company anyway"

Why is that?

Because it would mean that Valve wouldn't have to deal with the everyday running of it and just get on with making games.
 
Yes with HL2 you got a brand new game, brand new world, brand new engine, , online multiplayer,and you could expect a shitload of mods.
With Ep you pretty much literally got a high quality mappack that lasted 1/3 of hl2, and yet still cost 20,- which is not 1/3 of 50,-, and the gameplay is 2 years old allready, it has hardly anything new over hl2. While if they made a whole game like hl3 it would probably have been a lot more original.
Episodes are noth worth the bang for your buck, the time between them is to long to appreciate a good cliffhanger, episodic content is simply inferior to whole games in every possible way.

The man speaks the truth.
 
I've yet to finish episode 1 ..despite having it for a few months ..I'm at the part where you need to have your flashlight on at all times ..just seemed kinda gimicky
 
Yes with HL2 you got a brand new game, brand new world, brand new engine, , online multiplayer,and you could expect a shitload of mods.
With Ep you pretty much literally got a high quality mappack that lasted 1/3 of hl2, and yet still cost 20,- which is not 1/3 of 50,-, and the gameplay is 2 years old allready, it has hardly anything new over hl2.

No, it isn't leaps and bound ahead of HL2, but it's pretty much ahead of every other game. The idea is for people to play things in smaller gaps, without having to wait. It is simply bringing content to players faster. You can take more risks with gameplay, gather feedback and construct the next piece based on reactions - all in a smaller time period. HL3 will come eventually, at the moment were getting something and were getting it sooner.

So you are basically pissing into the wind.

I've yet to finish episode 1 ..despite having it for a few months ..I'm at the part where you need to have your flashlight on at all times ..just seemed kinda gimicky

Flares.
 
The Steam guys from Valve are having a pod cast next week, I'm looking forward to it.
 
I seriously doubt that Scott Miller lives in the same Universe as us.

Is he the John Romero of the 21st Century?
 
No, it isn't leaps and bound ahead of HL2, but it's pretty much ahead of every other game. The idea is for people to play things in smaller gaps, without having to wait. It is simply bringing content to players faster. You can take more risks with gameplay, gather feedback and construct the next piece based on reactions - all in a smaller time period. HL3 will come eventually, at the moment were getting something and were getting it sooner.

So you are basically pissing into the wind.

No, he has a good point. Some people like complete, cohesive stories instead of a series of snippets strung together by cliffhangers. That's just a matter of opinion, and is purely open to debate.

What's not a matter of opinion is that the length/price ratio for the HL series has taken a significant hit with Episodes. They may remedy this with Ep2 by packing in a bunch of other stuff with it, but the fact remains that per hour of gameplay Ep1 cost a good chunk more than HL2 or HL1.

There are advantages, such as being able to respond to feedback and fine tune the game, but in mine and many others opinion ... that just doesn't make up for it. Especially because when I think of great HL moments ... 90% of those come from HL2 where they didn't have this luxury.
 
About Valve being unsatisfied with sales for Ep1, that is completely false. In an interview on gamespy I think, one of Valve's team members clearly stated that it was a "critical and commercial success"
 
No, it isn't leaps and bound ahead of HL2, but it's pretty much ahead of every other game.

You're kidding me right? Its the same exact gameplay as playing through the last couple levels of HL2. Yeah, one new enemy that runs at you with a grenade. A couple new puzzles. Woo. Alright. Valve just revolutionized the FPS genre. It's fun the first time or so, but don't make it into something its not.

Concerning Scott Miller, I agree with his statements on episodic content. I don't like it much either. I like full on games, not 4 hour map packs. I don't like being treated with cliffhanger after cliffhanger. One's good. Three is overdoing it. But, his statements with Steam are wrong. Steam is gaining ground fast and is proving to be incredibly popular with indie developers and some of the big wigs. I'm sure it'll go far.
 
You're kidding me right? Its the same exact gameplay as playing through the last couple levels of HL2. Yeah, one new enemy that runs at you with a grenade. A couple new puzzles. Woo. Alright. Valve just revolutionized the FPS genre. It's fun the first time or so, but don't make it into something its not.

You can't exactly talk considering you haven't even finished it. :|

There's a lot more to the gameplay than new enemies and puzzles, and I like how you've completely missed everything else, which for the record, is leaps and bounds ahead of other shooters. I can't find where I said it revolutionized the genre, I'm simply saying it is much, much better.
 
I agree with Samon. Ep1 is so much better than anything we saw this year in fps\action games it's not even funny.

I wish people would stop complian about length. Episodes are ~6 hours long , I finished Prey under 8 hours. 40$ more for plus-minus the same gameplay time is sad. Not to mention , the first 5 minutes of Ep1 are far better and enjoyable than all Prey was for me.
 
I agree with Samon. Ep1 is so much better than anything we saw this year in fps\action games it's not even funny.

I wish people would stop complian about length. Episodes are ~6 hours long , I finished Prey under 8 hours. 40$ more for plus-minus the same gameplay time is sad. Not to mention , the first 5 minutes of Ep1 are far better and enjoyable than all Prey was for me.

Doesn't matter, I can find numerous other games that give you even less playtime for your money, but that does not make one bit of differance. You have to compare it to hl2 not other games. Simply because by buying episodes you are encouraging valve to continue that way. Now that other games have even shittier length makes no differance, why would that justify you shooting yourself in the foot, and letting walve get away with the same.

Besides prey had multiplayer, totally new enviorments, and you can expect mods, which in the end justify's the price.
 
You are on the completely wrong wavelength. Sure, Episodic content may be a big hit (and considering this is only the beginning of it, it is), but Valve will ultimately make another full length game, it just won't be the end of Episodes that's all. They have no intention of 'selling out' the community, and know a certain majority of people would eventually like to see another full-length at some point. And the fact that this is inevitable begs the question as to "So why can't people just enjoy the Episodes for a couple of years?"

And yes other supposedly full-length games do make a difference. The idea of you saying that it doesn't is completely absurd. Episode 1 is £12, or $20, for truly quality gaming in a short period, whereas I might pay for something with even less length for what, £40/$50.
Don't try and tell me there isn't a difference, because there damn well is.

Episode 1 adds new upgrades for modders out there, and whilst it didn't come with multiplayer the enviroments in Prey aren't exactly what I'd call 'diverse'. I'd rather romp through the Citadel and City 17 than slug through the enviroments in Prey that suffer the distinct 'Doom 3' syndrome.
 
He's tallking about the big boys, like his company and Epic. They're never going to go with Steam.

3DR is not a big-boy, not anymore. They haven't developed a 3D game, they haven't released a Windows-only game ever. Valve, as a company, wasn't formed when development on DNF began.

3DR has produced 3 games, Max Payne 1&2 and Prey. They had input at development, but they didn't actually code for MP1/2 and Prey.

3DR is the joke of the industry. Until 3DR puts out a triple A title developed in-house, they have ZERO right to comment on the state of the industry.

As for episodic gaming, if you don't like it, simply wait until all 3 episodes are bundled together. They will pretty much constitute a full game (~12 hours of play at the worst case scenario) and have a cohesive story arc. I see no problem with episodic gaming.
 
I myself am not a big fan of "episodic" gaming at all either, never have been. I'd rather save my money for a greater amount of new content, even if it means 50 dollars a pop it's a better investment in my eyes. I still haven't purchased either Sin Episodes or HL2E1, I will wait for E2 and buy it because it is bundled with TF2.

(keep in mind that most 50 dollar games are not worth purchasing, but there are exceptions)
 
I don't think you can knock Episodic content without first sampling what it has to offer. The idea of you sitting there arms folded and saying "Well, I don't like it, short." is just silly. Try it and then decide the approach isn't worth it. That said, purchasing Sin Episodes is a waste of everyone's time, but then, I wouldn't expect the quality of the game to improve if they went full-length.
 
I would listen to this, but then I saw it was the boss of 3DRealms, which instantly nullified whatever it is he had to say.
 
And yes other supposedly full-length games do make a difference. The idea of you saying that it doesn't is completely absurd. Episode 1 is £12, or $20, for truly quality gaming in a short period, whereas I might pay for something with even less length for what, £40/$50.
Don't try and tell me there isn't a difference, because there damn well is.
No it does not make a differance, just like the fact that big rigs is a shittier game then 50cents bulletproof, does not make bulletproof any better.

So does the fact that other games, made by other companies have less playtime not make a differance in this case. Why would you want valve to go the same way, just because others do it too.

Episode 1 gave you less playtime for your money then hl2, + it did not have all the extra's hl2 did. Fact is if you did not support episodes they would focus on making one big sequel which would give you more bang for your buck. Other games have nothing to do with this.
 
No it does not make a differance, just like the fact that big rigs is a shittier game then 50cents bulletproof, does not make bulletproof any better.

So does the fact that other games, made by other companies have less playtime not make a differance in this case. Why would you want valve to go the same way, just because others do it too.

Episode 1 gave you less playtime for your money then hl2, + it did not have all the extra's hl2 did. Fact is if you did not support episodes they would focus on making one big sequel which would give you more bang for your buck. Other games have nothing to do with this.

Wait, what? The Episodes are intended to be smaller, and as such are cheaper and are not touted as full length games. Were not talking about 'two shit games', were talking about an entirely different branch of game development. You are obviously going to expect more 'bang for your buck' if you purchase full-length games because you have just shelled out £40.

The point is if you purchase EP1 for £12/$20, you know what you are getting. Whereas when you spend £40 you could just end up with a small, 6 hour game with no multiplayer and some pretty crap gaming to boot. The Episodes focus on gameplay, feedback, and something on a short term basis for gamers to play.
 
I am having a really hard time understanding Gray Fox's argument. Are you trying to compare full games to episodes? They are completely different, and intended to be so. The price of 3 episodes = the price of one full game + the gameplay additions of 3 full games and a full length storyline and probably longer than average game length.
 
If you don't like episodic content, you can go kill yourself. (May or not be a serious statement)
 
I am having a really hard time understanding Gray Fox's argument. Are you trying to compare full games to episodes? They are completely different, and intended to be so. The price of 3 episodes = the price of one full game + the gameplay additions of 3 full games and a full length storyline and probably longer than average game length.

The price of 3 episodes is not, I repeat is not the price of one full game.
3x20=60 hl2 cost 50, how hard is that. And EP1 is was a mappack, hl2 and mnost other proper sequels come with a new engine, totally new enviorments, multiplayer, mods. And yet you still pay less.

Second of all, when I am trying to explain why episodic content is shit compared to full length games and should not be supported, then it is completly fair and understandable that i compare two different products from the same company.


Salmon said:
Wait, what? The Episodes are intended to be smaller, and as such are cheaper and are not touted as full length games. Were not talking about 'two shit games', were talking about an entirely different branch of game development. You are obviously going to expect more 'bang for your buck' if you purchase full-length games because you have just shelled out £40.

The point is if you purchase EP1 for £12/$20, you know what you are getting. Whereas when you spend £40 you could just end up with a small, 6 hour game with no multiplayer and some pretty crap gaming to boot. The Episodes focus on gameplay, feedback, and something on a short term basis for gamers to play.
I know they are intended to be smaller, but I disagree that you know what to expect, the length of an EP can vary just as much as full length games.
I simply trying to explain why imo episodic content is bad for the consumer.
 
Sigh.. how exactly is Episode 1 a mappack? By that definition of a mappack, HL1 was a mappack and so was HL2.

EP1 is not a ****ing mappack, it advances the story, on which Episode 2 will continue.

And you can't say that because the price of all episodes added up is higher than HL2 and in total the same length, it has a lower value for money. EP1 had a much higher quality density than HL2, EP1 never suffered from sections that were too long (like the boat and buggy and some of the city fighting in HL2) it never stretched a chapter further than needed just to increase the length. They could have easily made it a couple of hours longer, by simply adding more of the same but that wouldn't have made it any better, and probably worse.

Saying the value of a game = (price/playtime) is wrong. It's ((quality/hour)/(price/playtime)). Where quality/hour is a subjective value. And I think EP1 had much more quality per hour played than HL2, which is a direct result of episodic content.
 
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