Interview and screenshots

Hah, I can verify that the clumsiness in those games (as well as with the Gothic series when it was still Piranha Bytes who produced the games, and Risen). It’s wonderful. I’m convinced it’s usually a “fault” of the devs, but it adds so much.

Nice interview.

I love the screens. The Dranghoul(?) in full armor is my new favourite. Any chance that his helmet will completely cover his eyes (like I thought was the case when I first saw the screen)? I absolutely love eyeless monsters!
Anyway, looking good regardless. Is that armor an inherent part of his design or will it drop? As it looks pretty amazing on him.

Just saw this pop up on my iGoogle RPS feed, very awesome interview!

I personally hope not, but they may have to get a publisher if Crate want boxed copies

but I hope that happens way after release, but publishers aren’t great, yes they will add a big influx of funds to the game, but they may / will influelence the direction of the studio / games.

I have seen too many studios either go bad or get closed down due to publishers

I hope crate will remain independent, the thought of going with a publisher to sell box copies (while is a must and has advantages) sends cold shivers down my spine, Bioware were a great studio, but since EA bought them, they gone downhill fast, the Dragon Age series, especially 2, are insults to the old classic games they use to make. big publishers are killing games, and its for that reason, small independent studios are the future of gaming

no offensive shawnmck, but I don’t want to see Crate getting tied to a publisher full stop, and I don’t want to see the studio destroyed because the publishers think they know what kind of games people want, instead of the gamers themselves, I think D3 is a good example of that, blizzard another perfect example, they made some really good games, but ever since the merger with activision, blizzard have really gone down hill fast

every day Crate stays out of the publisher’s grasp, every day, Crate will be able to make games as they want too, not what the publisher’s want, the indie road is the future of gaming now, I hope Crate continues to walk down that road for many, many years to come :smiley:

I agree completely with your statements. It’s also interesting that the future of games that gamers want is small independent studios. With this thought in mind and with Arthur’s statement of ‘We’re taking a step backward’ and I am about to show my age :), back in the golden days of the C64, Amstrad and the ZX Spectrums, almost all of the games were developed by small teams of developers sometimes just one guy. Andrew Braybrook the developer of Paradroid and Uridium comes to mind. If you have played either of those games you would notice on the title screen that it has “by Andrew Braybrook”, when was the last time you saw that? As far as I see it Crate is venturing back to the golden ages of gaming with today’s technology. This is a good thing.

@NZSpy
“Crate is venturing back to the golden ages of gaming with today’s technology.”

And they are taking us along in this quest … :smiley:

casual-player hostile is my new favorite concept! nicely done, Mr.Bruno.

That was a really good article. I loved what was said about some of today’s games and the casual market.

I agree with Matthewfarmery, I have the same opinion about big publishers like EA and Activision (known in french as “Actipognon”, that means “Acti-money”). This trend to publish casual games to conquer more buyer is very annoying, I don’t like casual games. Okay, it means more money but it involve less quality, and so you have 3 options :

  • You look at tests, or play the beta/demo, to avoid paying for a crap.
  • If you purchased it before testing, you play a little before reselling it on ebay :stuck_out_tongue:
  • Or you try the illegal-way because you are a fan and want to see how it is really before spending money (or not).

I saw the difference of quality between the 2 Dragon Age opus, and D3 is about to become another game. And I have a lot of fears about the future Mass Effect 3 (I’m a big fan!)
Another exemple is Relic Game that developped Torchlight without any big publisher, and the game is well good.

So, seeing Crate alone may be a good sign of quality to me, however I am afraid it equals to less money.

Otherwise, the article was pretty good !
I disagree with Arthur Bruno while he speak about Titan Quest defaults, but that’s my point of view.
But I am reassured to see they want to build a “hostile-to-casual-players” game :smiley:

One of the most frequent complaints I’ve seen about Titan Quest was that people felt like combat was slow and attacks had no real sense of power or impact.

I kind of liked that about Titan Quest. You start slow, clumsily swinging a wooden stick at pigs and birds and then, by your second or third playthrough, you are essentially a tornado of swords, and you’re tossing a cyclops off the screen with one hit. So instead of only feeling a sense of accomplishment from your stats and your characters appearance, you also get the satisfaction of seeing your character go from a peasant to a badass fighting machine.

Hi everybody

Quote:

“I love systems that are asymmetrical and chaotic, where the player can’t easily see the tell-tale structure and patterns of deliberate, organized human design.”

This is the exact reason I loved Dark of of Camelot and was bored of WOW within hours. Dark age balanced their system for RvR not for each character or each item. Like certain duo’s could wipe full groups of people when played well or in the right situation.

This is also the reason D3 is seriously lacking for me. Right away I noticed every single skill in the game is based off of a % of weapon damage I really dislike this kind of lazy, simplied balancing system. You know exactly what to expect from start to finish on any skill you choose or any class for that matter.

Arthur you have some great philosophies regarding game design. I know you won’t disappoint us. If you ever get stumped look to DnD for the answer! :slight_smile:

I’m just so impressed with Crate and Arthur. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a developer speak this way and mean it. Kudos.

Finally, a believable head game designer.

Arthur Bruno is my hero.

I believe many in the more traditional, core gaming audience are starting to become frustrated with the changes they’re seeing to their most beloved games.

Hell yes, I am sick and tired of games being easy win, give all, no brainers.

Last couple years i’ve been playing games that are known to be tougher and adjusting the difficulty of currents games.

I am GLAD that Crate is making Grim Dawn a game that will be tougher than the junk out these days.

WELL SAID Bruno!

Very lovely interview. The hardcore community is ready to support the developers…someone just needs to go out and get that slice of the pie.

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I agree and good interview