Arcen Games

General Category => In Case Of Emergency, Release Raptor => : x4000 March 08, 2016, 08:52:10 PM

: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 08, 2016, 08:52:10 PM
Well, gee.  I like dinosaurs.  You guys do too, I take it from the commentary over on the 3d survival game side of things. 

Those who have been around long enough probably remember that back in... 2014 (I think?) we were working on a game called Cretaceous that was a strategy game about dinosaurs.  It never got off the ground.  This game is not that game. ;)  Just to be clear.

---

Just what is this game?  Well, I hope to have some video up later this week, actually.  But let me basically break it down like this:

1. The Starward Rogue stuff has left us with more of a shortfall even than I expected, even after all the outpouring of support.

2. Overall we still have a while to get things in order before things turn truly dire, but the idea of trying to complete an entire 3D survival game to the point where it would be ready for kickstarter is actually kind of ludicrous.

3. However, tons of awesome stuff has been happening over the last month in terms of progress toward that 3D survival game.

4. One of those things is dinosaurs and some really cool art.

5. So I thought... hey!  Why not make a stepping-stone game that actually IS about dinosaurs, but is smaller and more focused than a survival game.

6. Working on this game is not putting the 3D survival game "on hold" (per se), but rather is working on building the components for that larger game by building them into a smaller game (this one) first.

7. And the big exciting bonus is that I finally get to make that game I've wanted ever since the Sega Genesis kinda got it right...

8. The title is "In Case Of Emergency, Release Raptor."  What do you think? :)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Misery March 08, 2016, 08:58:51 PM
.....really, already?  That was fast...

Okay, I *have* to say it:  What happened to "I'll bring it up in a few days, but not just yet"?   ;)

That being said, this game really is sounding more and more interesting.

Any upcoming videos or whatever yet?  Or still not ready?  I dont remember if I already asked that or not.

Also I agree with you on that particular Jurassic Park game on the Genesis, I remember playing that too,, way back when, and thinking that playing as the dinosaur was pretty awesome.  Playing as Grant was less awesome.  Hadnt really thought about that game in ages, now I kinda want to have another go at it.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 08, 2016, 09:02:41 PM
.....really, already?  That was fast...

Okay, I *have* to say it:  What happened to "I'll bring it up in a few days, but not just yet"?   ;)

I know, we were just emailing and then literally I pretty much put aside your email and came over here to write this.  I'm not sure what happened there. ;)

That being said, this game really is sounding more and more interesting.

Bear in mind that this is wholly separate from the 3D Survival Game, so you've only been hearing about this particular game since Friday since you were on that one email thread.  But yeah, glad this is sounding interesting. :)

Any upcoming videos or whatever yet?  Or still not ready?  I dont remember if I already asked that or not.

I hope to be able to put together at least a teaser by later in the week, but I'm not positive.

Also I agree with you on that particular Jurassic Park game on the Genesis, I remember playing that too,, way back when, and thinking that playing as the dinosaur was pretty awesome.  Playing as Grant was less awesome.  Hadnt really thought about that game in ages, now I kinda want to have another go at it.

Yeah: who the heck plays as Grant? ;)  I loved that game.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 08, 2016, 09:05:14 PM
em wait is this a 3rd game? if so that's a little nuts 0_0 still I quite like bionic rogue despite the few hours I've got in it so assuming this is a 3rd game how alike is it to bionic?. ps awesome title by the way provided that is the title of this game and not just the subforum

edit put this up before chrises reply.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Aklyon March 08, 2016, 09:11:01 PM
Wait, so we have a dinosaur game, a not dinosaur game, and SBR now?
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Misery March 08, 2016, 09:12:26 PM
Oh yeah, I know this is different from the survival game. 

My own preference would be to have the survival game first, but that's just me, as I tend to like that genre (when it's done right).

But everything you've explained about THIS game just sounds good/hilarious so far.  So I look forward to this one too.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 08, 2016, 09:32:09 PM
1. Yes, this is a third game.  We have this dinosaur game, the 3D survival (not dinosaur) game, and SBR.

2. This game is much more short-term, will be smaller and more self-contained, and comparably inexpensive.  It should be really fun, and it will be a great way for us to make something fun while also building out a lot of systems that we will then turn around and have ready for the survival game. 

Aka, this helps to fun the survival game by building things that the survival game will use.  This will also build a number of things that the survival game will NOT use (aka, this is not a subset of the survival game), but what fun would it be if that were not true.  Even in those cases where we're building something that is only for ICOERR (wow that's a lot of letters -- how about just "Raptor" instead as a short-name for this), it still builds up skills and so on that apply to the survival game.

3. Yep that is intended as the title of the game, and I'm glad you like it. :)  We had a lot of us talking about it, and Keith popped out with that one.

4. I'd prefer to have the survival game first (in some respects) as well, but it is easily 40x larger in scope than this one.  Just what we need to do to get to the kickstarter level is about 4x larger than this whole game.  This game is more intimate and just focused on some fun mechanics that you can pop in and play and so on.

5. This game is also in 3D and whatnot, so there's no real similarity to Starward Rogue or Bionic Dues.  There are some robots in this game, but you play as a dinosaur.  The genetically-engineered sci-fi kind, not the jungles-and-ancient-earth kind.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: tombik March 08, 2016, 09:35:40 PM
I did not like the name.

It is too long to be catchy.

Emergency Raptor is a better name I think.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Aklyon March 08, 2016, 09:39:56 PM
I like the name a lot. Its amusing.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 08, 2016, 09:40:08 PM
There are a TON of games that are things like "Raptor Escape!!" and "Raptors Gone Wild!!" and "Raptor On The Loose!!!" and whatever else.  I really want to be careful to stay away from those. 

I like the humor of game names like Sir, You Are Being Hunted.  There's going to be a fair bit of mild humor in this as well, although done inside a larger atmosphere that is scary.  I really like how the humor in Aliens worked, or various bits in Terminator 2, or heck even in something like The Sixth Sense.  When you don't try to go to nuts with it "to be funny," I think it can add a lot.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 08, 2016, 09:40:55 PM
1. Yes, this is a third game.  We have this dinosaur game, the 3D survival (not dinosaur) game, and SBR.

2. This game is much more short-term, will be smaller and more self-contained, and comparably inexpensive.  It should be really fun, and it will be a great way for us to make something fun while also building out a lot of systems that we will then turn around and have ready for the survival game. 

Aka, this helps to fun the survival game by building things that the survival game will use.  This will also build a number of things that the survival game will NOT use (aka, this is not a subset of the survival game), but what fun would it be if that were not true.  Even in those cases where we're building something that is only for ICOERR (wow that's a lot of letters -- how about just "Raptor" instead as a short-name for this), it still builds up skills and so on that apply to the survival game.

3. Yep that is intended as the title of the game, and I'm glad you like it. :)  We had a lot of us talking about it, and Keith popped out with that one.

4. I'd prefer to have the survival game first (in some respects) as well, but it is easily 40x larger in scope than this one.  Just what we need to do to get to the kickstarter level is about 4x larger than this whole game.  This game is more intimate and just focused on some fun mechanics that you can pop in and play and so on.

5. This game is also in 3D and whatnot, so there's no real similarity to Starward Rogue or Bionic Dues.  There are some robots in this game, but you play as a dinosaur.  The genetically-engineered sci-fi kind, not the jungles-and-ancient-earth kind.

1 okay?.....

2 that's all cool by me.

3 yeap I love the title still I agree with tombik emergency raptor does roll off the tong better.

4 no comment

5 so do you actually look like a dinosaur? like a real one and not the made up nonsense kind?.
5
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 08, 2016, 09:45:56 PM
I'm not really looking for a title that rolls of the tongue easily (per se).  I'm looking for one that grabs your attention and throttles it.  That reviewers and players who see it in stores or in emails go "what the heck?  I gotta click that..."

As to looking like a dinosaur, yes you will look like a dinosaur.  Will you have feathers?  That... we are working on for a number of angles.  No promises just yet, but I hope to have something really awesome on that front.  Not to show this week, though.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Aklyon March 08, 2016, 09:46:43 PM
You're going to have to be more specific on that, roosterman. Technically all non-fossil dinosaurs could count as 'made up nonsense', unless you count birds or alligators or such.
it would be an odd viewpoint I think, but one anyway.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Castruccio March 08, 2016, 09:52:43 PM
I have some fear that this course of action is symptomatic of the Starward Rogue/SBR approach.  Namely, you make a smaller game to help out with a bigger game (financially in one case, developmentally in the other). But then the smaller game ends up not doing what you wanted it to (because difficulties in development and the market are both difficult to foresee).   Then the larger game--and hence the company--is put into jeopardy by the failure, delay, lack of sales/marketing, etc. of the smaller game.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 08, 2016, 09:55:54 PM
You're going to have to be more specific on that, roosterman. Technically all non-fossil dinosaurs could count as 'made up nonsense', unless you count birds or alligators or such.
it would be an odd viewpoint I think, but one anyway.
eh point taken I guess when I think about it properly that really you could flag any depictions of dinosaurs as made up nonsense since we don't have a 100 percent concrete evidence of what dinosaurs looked even with all the awesome work done by scientists archaeologists and so on without being able to go back to the time they existed and seeing them with our own eyes there's no way of really knowing what I meant though was in media were they'll have dinosaurs and just design them to look cool and not be authentic to what we think they look like.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 08, 2016, 10:01:44 PM
I'm not really looking for a title that rolls of the tongue easily (per se).  I'm looking for one that grabs your attention and throttles it.  That reviewers and players who see it in stores or in emails go "what the heck?  I gotta click that..."

As to looking like a dinosaur, yes you will look like a dinosaur.  Will you have feathers?  That... we are working on for a number of angles.  No promises just yet, but I hope to have something really awesome on that front.  Not to show this week, though.


1 fair enough

2 well if were talking genetically engineered ones then id say it makes more sense(with the limited context I have) to say no although I've always liked the theory that birds are descended from dinosaurs it would please me greatly to have concrete evidence that my ancestors were dinosaurs.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: mrhanman March 08, 2016, 10:05:07 PM
I like the name.  Especially if it describes an action I'll get to take in game.  8)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 08, 2016, 10:13:45 PM
I have some fear that this course of action is symptomatic of the Starward Rogue/SBR approach.  Namely, you make a smaller game to help out with a bigger game (financially in one case, developmentally in the other). But then the smaller game ends up not doing what you wanted it to (because difficulties in development and the market are both difficult to foresee).   Then the larger game--and hence the company--is put into jeopardy by the failure, delay, lack of sales/marketing, etc. of the smaller game.

Let's be blunt:

1. Last October, I had the choice of going on with SBR and beating my head bloody against the wall.  In the same timeframe we would have run out of money, and I don't think that we would have had a good game.  But aside from not having a good game, we also would not have had Starward Rogue.

2. As it stands, whether or not SBR ever sees the light of day is really kind of unrelated to Starward Rogue and how well it did or didn't do.  The art in general is complete for SBR.  It's had an enormous amount of work into it.  The problem is that I can't make it work.  Much as it pains me to say it.  I had hoped that the break while working on Starward Rogue would give me time to have a breakthrough, or get refreshed on the whole thing, or something.  But no dice.

3. Right now, the fate of SBR hangs on whether or not Keith can make it work in some fashion.  Aka, he's taking my design and then ripping apart many parts and building something else.  My thing didn't work.  Can he make something out of all those expensive components we created that functions?  We shall see.

4. Aka, yes there was a financial component to the decision to put SBR on hold.  But there was also a large "I am freaking stumped by this game" component.  I don't really like saying that, and I've beat around the bush on that some in the past, but I'm being blunt at the moment.  I had hoped that Starward would buy me a whole lot of time to figure things out with that game without the pressure of money, and yadda yadda.  There were a whole lot of things that the failure of Starward caused, but among them was/is not any sort of jeopardy for SBR.  The fate of that one was already in "R&D hell" prior to Starward.

5. When it comes to Starward, it was on an insanely rushed time schedule and required developing out fresh assets for a ton of stuff.  It also contributes nothing back into any future game of ours.  Aka, pieces that we made for Starward are not now being put into SBR.  Pieces from an older version of TLF went into Starward, which was great, but that was pulling from the past, not pushing to the future.

6. When it comes to Raptor, this is actually a building block for Untitled Survival.  It's a deviation, sure.  But probably 70% of the work done will feed right back into the survival game.  The other 30% doesn't, but even then will help give us practice and knowledge in this area and will thus make certain other aspects of the 3D survival game go faster.  Yay with pushing things forward!

7. But also this game pulls from the past, so it can happen very quickly.  A lot of the things I've been working on for the survival game up until now play into this Raptor game.  Which means it's not another month before I can start showing any respectable footage, for instance.  Which means we can start banging the marketing drum super duper early, for instance.  We can do previews, including hands-on ones.

8. After the end of the Raptor project, we wind up with a fun game that we can sell and that I also want to play.  AND we wind up a lot further along the path toward the survival game.


So yes, they are similar situations on the surface.  But the actual details are pretty different! :)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 08, 2016, 10:15:40 PM
I like the name.  Especially if it describes an action I'll get to take in game.  8)

It mostly describes the inciting event that begins the game.  >D
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Castruccio March 08, 2016, 10:29:29 PM

So yes, they are similar situations on the surface.  But the actual details are pretty different! :)

Very good, then.  Go with your gut and make this work.  I certainly don't oppose that.  It sounds like you've got up a good head of steam on these two new games, and you're excited to develop them.  That excitement alone should make them better games than SBR would have been if you had started right back to work on it after Starward. 
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 08, 2016, 10:35:14 PM
I like the name.  Especially if it describes an action I'll get to take in game.  8)

It mostly describes the inciting event that begins the game.  >D
does that mean your a raptor? that's pretty rad.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Aklyon March 08, 2016, 10:53:50 PM
i think it means we're an Emergency Raptor, not just a raptor :)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: tombik March 08, 2016, 11:10:55 PM
Sorry that I always sound negative, but I think you also need this feedback.

Even though "Sir, You Are Being Hunted" is a good name, and I also think it is funny as a name, I also think it is one of the reasons that the game was not a hit.

I did not know about the other Raptor games though, so you are right to not pick something that resembles my abbrevation.



: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Misery March 08, 2016, 11:28:40 PM
I have some fear that this course of action is symptomatic of the Starward Rogue/SBR approach.  Namely, you make a smaller game to help out with a bigger game (financially in one case, developmentally in the other). But then the smaller game ends up not doing what you wanted it to (because difficulties in development and the market are both difficult to foresee).   Then the larger game--and hence the company--is put into jeopardy by the failure, delay, lack of sales/marketing, etc. of the smaller game.

I've had concerns on this one myself, all of which I've already brought up during looooong email strings, and there's a couple of points on this one that are very different from how Starward went:

1.  Far as I know, there arent 10 squillion people working on the dinosaur game.  There were a TON of people involved with Starward, and while I"m not a money scientist, I suspect that was a huge part of the cost of the game.

2.  It's not the only thing going; the... other Starward thing, I'm not sure what to call it yet... is also going.  That's one that Chris isnt doing directly... it doesnt eat into his time... but is instead being done by a few of us that worked on the main game.  Again I dont entirely understand the financial aspects of it, but from what I was told, the basic idea I'd gotten was that THIS one isnt risky.    Chris could explain that better though, if I try to it'll just get a confused mess going.

3.  I'm assuming that the survival game isnt being put completely on hold during this?  I could be wrong.  And Keith is still hard at work on SBR.   With Starward, ALL of the resources were dumped into one game that didn't have enough time.


Again, someone can feel free to tell me how incorrect I am if I've gotten that stuff wrong, but that's what I remember from discussions.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Draco18s March 09, 2016, 01:17:11 AM
Misery, I think this one is more like "R&D for the Survival one."  Its not that it's on hold, but that everything that goes into this game will also go into the other game.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 09, 2016, 01:22:07 AM

So yes, they are similar situations on the surface.  But the actual details are pretty different! :)

Very good, then.  Go with your gut and make this work.  I certainly don't oppose that.

I appreciate it. :)

It sounds like you've got up a good head of steam on these two new games, and you're excited to develop them.  That excitement alone should make them better games than SBR would have been if you had started right back to work on it after Starward.

Yes, definitely for sure.  I've finished games before when I was in "I hate this now" mode, and the results are not what I want.  I mean, sometimes you just have to power through.  But if the game is not working yet, you need some kind of passion to figure out why and fix that.

i think it means we're an Emergency Raptor, not just a raptor :)

Indeed!

Sorry that I always sound negative, but I think you also need this feedback.

I don't recall you always being negative, and I certainly don't take someone pressing a point as a bad thing.  I agree, I need feedback from people who don't just say "yes that's brilliant Mr. Lucas!" or "ehhh, whatever, sure." ;)

Even though "Sir, You Are Being Hunted" is a good name, and I also think it is funny as a name, I also think it is one of the reasons that the game was not a hit.

I don't know.  I know it got a lot of attention partly for the name and the strange style it had.  I think the game's lack of hitness, if that was the case... hmm.  There's not a polite way to put it.  I try not to critique games by other developers.  At any rate, I think the game experience was not all that it could be.  I personally didn't find it very fun to play, which is about all I'll say there.  And I recall a number of critics discussing how much time you spent creeping around in the grass, and how each section of the island was basically the same thing over and over again. 

Which might have been fine, had the core thing been more fun in a bubble-wrap-popping sort of way.  You can have something repetitive if it's darn fun to do.  Or you can have something that isn't all that fun to do in a moment-to-moment sense if it's leading through some interesting progression.  Ideally you wind up with both.

My opinion on that game was that... it didn't fully have either, at least not for enough people.  I think that's also why Shattered Haven flopped.  For some people they love it, and it's not a "bad game" any more than Sir is.  But you have to have pretty specific tastes.

Bionic Dues I think actively drove people away with the name.  And then the screenshots were all very dark and also did not pull people in.  And then the turn-based nature of it, etc, also is not to everyone's tastes.  So we really did ourselves in there.

With this particular name, I think we can get people to click in out of curiosity.  I think we can make press chuckle and take a look.  I think we can then intrigue them with the visuals.  And then hook them with the moment-to-moment gameplay.  That's the plan, anyway.

I did not know about the other Raptor games though, so you are right to not pick something that resembles my abbrevation.

Right now there are just metric tons of games coming out, and most of them have pretty samey names.  They fit to a certain mold, at least.

I recall that we got a ton of attention for the esoteric A Valley Without Wind from the name alone, although that was a very different time period market-wise.  I think that worked really well.  What really flopped was that the execution of the first game left a lot to be desired for many people.  So... that happened.  Other people were happy with it, but still.

I am not saying that "In Case Of Emergency, Release Raptor" is the only possible name that could possibly work for this game.  However, I do feel like the name needs to be something very unique that makes people go "what the heck?" and click in.  Anything that's too short can sound campy, or bland, or like we're talking about airplanes (Raptors).  Our absolute #1 enemy right now is obscurity, and that's true for all the devs.  So doing whatever we can to make games that stand out in every way and at least get people to give them a glance is a big deal.

Like I said: that doesn't mean "this name goes with me to the graaaave, I will have no other." ;)  But it's the best by a country mile that I've seen for it so far, and it makes a lot of people chuckle, and more people seem to like it than not, it passes the test with my wife, and so on.  If someone has a more perfect name, I'd love to have it -- I'm down for that.  But the names of our games have a lot of pretty stringent requirements just because of the way the market is.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 09, 2016, 01:29:16 AM
1.  Far as I know, there arent 10 squillion people working on the dinosaur game.  There were a TON of people involved with Starward, and while I"m not a money scientist, I suspect that was a huge part of the cost of the game.

It didn't help, but honestly it actually DID help.  Heh.  Most of the added people on Starward were part-time, and compared to our general overhead, everyone we added cost less than an added month of development.  So by adding a ton of people I did spend a ton more money, but not as much as an extra month would have cost.  And the game was way better because of it.

Now granted that's just a whole other story entirely.  Apples and oranges, because Starward is inherently the sort of game that requires a ton of pretty unique content in terms of loot, enemies, etc, etc.  Nature of the beast.  With this game, it's more about really polishing the heck out of the core mechanics and then giving enough interesting situations in which to exercise them that it's worth a low asking price.

2.  It's not the only thing going; the... other Starward thing, I'm not sure what to call it yet... is also going.  That's one that Chris isnt doing directly... it doesnt eat into his time... but is instead being done by a few of us that worked on the main game.  Again I dont entirely understand the financial aspects of it, but from what I was told, the basic idea I'd gotten was that THIS one isnt risky.    Chris could explain that better though, if I try to it'll just get a confused mess going.

Right, the expansion for Starward, plus the post-release content.  You guys are doing the post-release content for free (which I can't thank you enough for coming out of the woodwork to do so), and the expansion content is something that will be royalties-based.  So you all share in the success (or lack thereof), but it doesn't cost me anything upfront.  Although it does cost me artist-hours from Blue, but she's part of our general overhead and so it's only an opportunity cost of what else she could be doing, and not a new cost.

And Keith is still hard at work on SBR.

Yep.  And if that doesn't work out, there's something else for him.  Though I am very hopeful.

With Starward, ALL of the resources were dumped into one game that didn't have enough time.

Yeah, for sure.  Honestly I think the release state of the game was great, but we didn't have that time for marketing, pre-release reviews and previews, etc.

Again, someone can feel free to tell me how incorrect I am if I've gotten that stuff wrong, but that's what I remember from discussions.

You pretty well got it!  Except...

Misery, I think this one is more like "R&D for the Survival one."  Its not that it's on hold, but that everything that goes into this game will also go into the other game.

Yep, that.  The survival game is "on hold" in a kinda loose sense.  Aka, I'm not working in that project for the time being, and won't be for a while.  But the code and whatnot that is being developed for Raptor will be mostly fed back into the survival game.  And the added experience from working on the Raptor game will enhance our speed on the survival game.  And there was much rejoicing. ;)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Amitiel March 09, 2016, 04:40:29 AM
So... robot dinosaur dating sim, right?
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Misery March 09, 2016, 05:29:02 AM
Huh, interesting.

I always find that kinda neat, that code from your previous games very often is then usable in your later games.  That must help a TON in getting things going faster.  As far as I know, many devs rewrite from scratch every time.  Well, the ones I'm familiar with anyway. 


Now, my big question on this one:  Replay value.  What kinds of things might this one do to increase that?  That's probably something people are going to be definitely wanting out of this, and I think alot of fans of Arcen expect it at this point, as that's usually how these games go.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 09, 2016, 12:12:26 PM
So... robot dinosaur dating sim, right?
could be Chris hasn't given any clues as to what the gameplay will actually be about so there's nothing saying it couldn't.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 09, 2016, 02:45:59 PM
So... robot dinosaur dating sim, right?

Right.  It's a simulation where try to match two lovely batchelorette twin talons and their many smaller sisters up with unwilling robot parts for "dates" that don't last very long and are euphemistic but not in the usual way.

I always find that kinda neat, that code from your previous games very often is then usable in your later games.  That must help a TON in getting things going faster.  As far as I know, many devs rewrite from scratch every time.  Well, the ones I'm familiar with anyway.

I'm not aware of too many that do that, honestly!  Generally speaking they have an engine that they are developing, and that evolves over many games.  I know that Squaresoft always did that.  Every so often you toss everything out and start again, but you still bring in ideas and whatnot from before.

With a lot of strategy game developers, they brought things across, too.  The codebase from Empire Earth II was the same as the one from Empire Earth, except with a ton of improvements and what they touted as a 400% speed improvement despite the added detail and whatnot.

We all know what Valve does with the Source Engine.  And so on....

Now, my big question on this one:  Replay value.  What kinds of things might this one do to increase that?  That's probably something people are going to be definitely wanting out of this, and I think alot of fans of Arcen expect it at this point, as that's usually how these games go.

That is my one big question, too.  I'll be honest: if I can give you an awesome one-time experience of sufficient value for $5, I'd rather do that with this game than give you a long list of less-fun things that nonetheless are repeatable.  THAT said, I do have a number of ideas for ways to make the game different every time, at least somewhat.

My hope for this game is that it's the sort of game that people will want to pick up for 5-30 minutes at a go every now and then and just have a blast with and then put it down for a while.  It's how I've been playing SUPERHOT, and I've just been loving that.

Anyhow, this bit is something I have a variety of ideas on, but I'm not yet to the point of being able to fully figure that out yet.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: ptarth March 09, 2016, 04:32:32 PM
So... robot dinosaur dating sim, right?

Another believer!
Welcome, Welcome to the fold.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 09, 2016, 08:03:32 PM
So... robot dinosaur dating sim, right?

Another believer!
Welcome, Welcome to the fold.
wait so that's what 3 of us now? I'm sure if we gathered enougher people that we could force Chris to make robot dating sim.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Aklyon March 09, 2016, 08:13:06 PM
Is it the same thing or related to the previous spire one?
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: wwwhhattt March 11, 2016, 12:55:35 PM
It's the same universe, so maybe the spire are the DLC?

Aren't the spire huge? Was the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs a spire thing that loved too much?
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: keith.lamothe March 11, 2016, 02:15:21 PM
Aren't the spire huge? Was the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs a spire thing that loved too much?
Nah, poor ol' Rocky was just three sheets to the wind. Terrible mess...
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Cyborg March 15, 2016, 11:15:48 PM
Huh, interesting.

I always find that kinda neat, that code from your previous games very often is then usable in your later games.  That must help a TON in getting things going faster.  As far as I know, many devs rewrite from scratch every time.  Well, the ones I'm familiar with anyway. 

 ::) Really? I don't believe you.

Most game companies don't rewrite a new engine for every single game.
Most developers use libraries. By definition, every library is reuse.
starward rogue boss creation is easy to create from pre-existing code.
The very existence of compilers is about creating machine-readable code from known components (languages).

Frankly, the entire existence of computing is about reuse and building on the shoulders of what came before.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Cyborg March 15, 2016, 11:22:44 PM
I did not like the name.

It is too long to be catchy.

Emergency Raptor is a better name I think.

I'm not sure if English is your native language, but the meaning behind emergency raptor is that raptor is modified by the emergency. So, a raptor that occurs when there's an emergency, a raptor that's used for emergency purposes, etc. In case of emergency, release raptor, implies that there is some need or necessity for a raptor in the event of an emergency. Perhaps for no other reason than chaos, but the meaning is different than emergency raptor.

Also, I think the game plays off of Internet meme speak a lot better. Anyone who reads RPS knows how much some of their authors do all of their intros as memes or intentional internet joke speak. I have even met people in person who speak like that, but normally it comes off as a defense mechanism to avoid the vulnerability of direct, honest communication. So, I don't think it's a bad name at all, and I think it's going to speak to the fun, not serious nature of this game.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Draco18s March 16, 2016, 02:48:24 AM
Also, I think the game plays off of Internet meme speak a lot better. Anyone who reads RPS knows how much some of their authors do all of their intros as memes or intentional internet joke speak. I have even met people in person who speak like that,

This (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ei81W228ww).
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 16, 2016, 01:54:08 PM
Also, I think the game plays off of Internet meme speak a lot better. Anyone who reads RPS knows how much some of their authors do all of their intros as memes or intentional internet joke speak. I have even met people in person who speak like that,

This (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ei81W228ww).

Oh my goodness that is a hilarious video.

In terms of meme speak, that's not exactly what I was going for -- although Keith came up with this particular name, not me.  Keith and I (and my wife, and I suspect his must as well) seem to share a love for "humor of the absurd."

My wife's favorite birthday card (that she gave to someone else) ever: http://shop.hallmark.com/cards/greeting-cards/grew-you-a-cat-349ZZB5227.html

Cracks us both up every time.  It's funny because it's surprising and sideways.  Like a Monty Python sketch that isn't yet a meme.  If it's the sort of humor that could show up in a Far Side comic, I probably like it.

Yeah, those things also wind up being compatible with internet meme culture sometimes, which I certainly won't deny.  And yeah, when picking a title we definitely try to go for one that will appeal to the most possible people and get clicks, etc.  I learned my lesson with Bionic Dues.  But at the same time, it's got to be something that we enjoy as well.

Originally I was thinking "Raptor Simulator" for the name of this game, which I was only able to stomach by adding the subtitle "A Reverse Horror Game."  Even so, jumping on the "X simulator" bandwagon felt pretty dirty, and people talked me out of that pretty fast.  "A Very Bad Plan Involving Raptors" was my next thought, which I also still think is funny, but it's not a catchy title in the same way.  Keith popped out with "In Case Of Emergency, Release Raptor."  After trying to tweak that a number of times for some reason, I realized the original was the best and here we are.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Draco18s March 16, 2016, 02:03:11 PM
Oh my goodness that is a hilarious video.

In terms of meme speak, that's not exactly what I was going for -- although Keith came up with this particular name, not me.  Keith and I (and my wife, and I suspect his must as well) seem to share a love for "humor of the absurd."

I figured it wasn't what you meant, but that's what it reminded me of, glad you liked it.

And that's a hilarious card, btw. :D
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 16, 2016, 02:08:19 PM
You bet. :)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 16, 2016, 06:49:25 PM
hey I've been wondering in regards to the base will you be building it up from the ground up with raw materials or will there be a system in place that builds it for you? also will you literally be able to put it any were you want? unless these things haven't been decided yet of course.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: TheVampire100 March 16, 2016, 07:41:30 PM
I'm also curios about this. is this more RTS/Sandbox base building or is it rather like Heroes of Might and Magic where you build stuff on specific spots and you can only build this stuff and nothing else.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 16, 2016, 08:52:51 PM
That's the other game -- the survival game.  This game, about being a raptor, has no base building or survival (genre, I mean) elements at all.

In the other game, it's definitely not like an RTS at all -- you're playing from the first person.  In that one you'll both find bases and buildings of enemies that have been procedurally seeded/generated and that you can take over and augment, as well as you being able to build some form of freeform bases wherever you want.  Exactly the style of freeform building I'm not yet sure on; there are a couple of ways that I can 100% definitely do it from a technical sense, but I'm not sure which will feel fiddly versus fun.  So that bit remains to be seen on the survival game.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 16, 2016, 09:07:48 PM
That's the other game -- the survival game.  This game, about being a raptor, has no base building or survival (genre, I mean) elements at all.

In the other game, it's definitely not like an RTS at all -- you're playing from the first person.  In that one you'll both find bases and buildings of enemies that have been procedurally seeded/generated and that you can take over and augment, as well as you being able to build some form of freeform bases wherever you want.  Exactly the style of freeform building I'm not yet sure on; there are a couple of ways that I can 100% definitely do it from a technical sense, but I'm not sure which will feel fiddly versus fun.  So that bit remains to be seen on the survival game.
o......yea for a moment there I thought these were the same game I must have had a brain fart.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 16, 2016, 09:29:23 PM
btw that sounds freaking rad but I was just wondering if its for you to be able to build a base on top of an encampment without getting rid of that encampment? I don't imagine so since it would be probably quite exploitable but still......
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 16, 2016, 09:31:00 PM
I doubt there would be any such restrictions.  Getting constantly murdered would probably be deterrent enough, and is most likely what would result. ;)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 16, 2016, 09:58:59 PM
 
I doubt there would be any such restrictions.  Getting constantly murdered would probably be deterrent enough, and is most likely what would result. ;)
   >D
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: keith.lamothe March 16, 2016, 10:07:25 PM
Getting constantly murdered
has a surprisingly low deterrent value for our audience.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 16, 2016, 10:14:44 PM
Getting constantly murdered
has a surprisingly low deterrent value for our audience.

Well, I mean if that's what's fun, then hey. :)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: crazyroosterman March 16, 2016, 10:26:39 PM
Getting constantly murdered
has a surprisingly low deterrent value for our audience.

Well, I mean if that's what's fun, then hey. :)
true true it may turn out to be over powered any way but that's what the early access testing period is for right?.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Cinth March 16, 2016, 11:32:30 PM
Getting constantly murdered
has a surprisingly low deterrent value for our audience.

Well, I mean if that's what's fun, then hey. :)

If it so pleases the court, I would like to present the following as evidence : Community loves getting murdered! (https://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/board,2.0.html)
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: chemical_art March 18, 2016, 08:50:37 AM
Been meaning to say this for over a week, but at least for American language "In case of emergency, <verb> <noun>" is such a common phrase that it transcends even meme speak. Even today I see the phrase as news headlines. It is just catchy, and has been for a while.

Of course, release raptor is unique even for this old phrase. So it is awesome.
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: Misery March 18, 2016, 09:20:06 AM
Getting constantly murdered
has a surprisingly low deterrent value for our audience.

How exactly that's a deterrent when it comes to any game is something that I, for one, certainly do not and never will understand.  Which should be more than a little obvious by now I suppose. 
: Re: This IS a dinosaur game!
: x4000 March 18, 2016, 01:23:03 PM
Been meaning to say this for over a week, but at least for American language "In case of emergency, <verb> <noun>" is such a common phrase that it transcends even meme speak. Even today I see the phrase as news headlines. It is just catchy, and has been for a while.

Of course, release raptor is unique even for this old phrase. So it is awesome.

Nice. :)