Change of Direction

Hi all,
Over the past week and a half or so (from posting the Splatterhouse update), I've began to realize something. This dated all the way back to our very first modification for any kind of game we worked on: Resident Evil Unleashed. This can also be related to my personal first project many years before that, "HellShifter".
Anyways, what I've come to expect from our game designing hasn't come far from...say, REU. For instance, our titles we're working on at the moment...it felt all...too rushed, not really put together. I thought we were doing it the right way...but then I started asking myself, "Why are we working on a completely new project every year or so?" It wasn't the technology preventing us from finishing the design document...no, it had to be something worse.
I finally sat down with the co-owners: Brendan Doe and Andrew Grimmer. Well, actually walked around mainstreet...for about two hours.
While we were there, interesting revelations came about. Suddenly, right before my eyes, Splatterhouse changed direction COMPLETELY from what I thought of it being like. The design, story, perspective...everything changed.
Was this the problem? No...games go from design to design frequently. But not like this. Ever.
I was walking as I noticed that none of our games ever really took a solid form before production. No, they were fleshed out and worked on, designed on, and built at the same time.
This isn't a serious flaw. Our past two games, Daikatana 2: Shadowcaster and Daikatana 2: Edge of the Sword were moving along just fine. Although the latter didn't get very far with what I was doing with it, Alex of Developers United actually came pretty far in his conception phase.
...Why was this? Why has every game that preceded Splatterhouse never became completed? Was it lack of resources? No...part of it was becoming burned out with the design phase. This is where we crashed and burned.
I think that our previous games lost a great amount of momentum because we started production even before the entire design was completed (!). It all became too much; the technology, the design, the workers...that's the wrong way to do it.
So the question you may be asking is: Why? I don't know, honestly. Maybe it was the excitement or my lack of real world experience (or both).
When we were walking a lot of questions and answers became apparent. For instance, taking a complete new direction on Splatterhouse.
In essence, Splatterhouse was supposed to be a quick-cut remake of the original, nothing more. Last night changed this as we became more involved with the game than the actual technology the game was going to run on.
This is called (in the industry) a Perfect World Situation (PWS); where money flows by the gallon, games get completed by the second, engines that write themselves, and life is always fun. This is NOT true. If anything, it begins destroying your life.
Recently, I spoke to a friend about all of this and he told me, point blank: You cannot rush anything you're doing. No matter how excited you are.
I concur; in the past 24 hours, I have had a completely new perspective on how games should be made. Instead of focusing on every part of the game, only focus on one part of the game (before you actually create it). Write everything down as in PWS situation, and we mean EVERYTHING. From that point, start editing and revising to fit whatever needs you can afford to do. Regardless of game quality, someone, SOMEWHERE, will like this game.

This next game will be Splatterhouse, completely built from the ground up. No more speaking of it, no more hyping of it, no more showcasing ANYTHING until the game is completed...on paper. This phase, being our first ever, might take months, or even YEARS. We are not shutting down or dissapearing from the scene, but we're simply taking all material and discussion out of the picture. For this game, however, the wiki site will be maintained, and material will still be updated on it.
Expect a lot of changes in our behavior and the way we do things. We're still talking (even now) and things are already looking to a new vista. However long this takes us, we will be sure to let you know when we're ready to start production (officially).

You know what they say...Welcome to the Next Level. And I think we achieved level 1. Until next time guys, "Use protection". Please. I'm tired of seeing perfectly fine girls mutilating themselves over unsafe you-know-what.
-Corbin
3dfx Development, Inc.

"Rick, it's time to play again..."

http://wiki.3dfxdev.net/splatterhouse
Yes, you may all have heard that 3dfx is spearheading a new project called Splatterhouse.

This game, not a prequel or sequel to the first three, depicts the story of Rick Taylor, the main character from the first three, in a post-modern, futuristic world, where corruption and darkness run rampant. In order to move forward, he has to forgive and forget his past.

The game plans on being more of a post-modern game, in comparison to the last three, which were more gory, 80's-inspired locales. It takes place in a futuristic city where the buildings reach miles and miles into the sky, and at the bottom lay the Wastelands, where Rick is throwing his life away, until a stranger one day presents him with the Terror Mask (created by Dr. Herbet West, The Reanimator), this time technologically fused. Rick must learn to let go in order to move forward and stop the evil corporation set to engulf the human race.

After that announement, I bring you...nothing! Eradicator 2 is currently in production limbo as I gather programmers for the project. As Splatterhouse is in the conceptional phase, work is indefinitely easier than actual development, but it's not dead. By far.

Check back for more updates as we progress.