From: malloy@crash.cts.com (Sean Malloy)
Subject: Re: Champions by Konami
Organization: CTS Network Services (crash, ctsnet), El Cajon, CA
Date: 27 Jan 93 21:41:27 PST
Keywords: Champions

In article <1993Jan27.134906.10692@apgea.army.mil> rcmerrit@apgea.army.mil (Robert C. Merritt <rcmerrit>) writes:
>In article <1993Jan25.195816.16598@crash> malloy@crash.cts.com (Sean Malloy) writes:
>>I talked to one of the artists who is doing backgrounds and character art
>>for the game; the character design and game mechanics sections of the game
>>are completed, and what is being done now is expansion and completion of
>>the story line(s) -- the artists and story programmers are feeding back on
>>each other.
>>
>>He said that the game would probably be out sometime between March and
>>June, and wouldn't be more specific than that (an attitude I agree with
>>totally, being a programmer myself -- predicting completion dates on
>>programs compares well in accuracy with divination from the entrails of a
>>goat).
>
>Yes, but I remember back in the the spring of 92 reading in CGM a sneak
>preview and the review said the game was just about done and should be out in 
>June. (and it was on the release lias
>list at Babbages for months (each date delayed) and eventually in November
>they said the projeect was canceled and wasn't going to be released ever.
>Why the change?

Well, let's see. Last August, at the San Diego Comic-Con, I got to play
with the then-current version of the program. The focus, mask/helmet,
quips, and special effects sections of the character creation section were
stubbed off because they weren't working. The 'fast start' section worked,
although the code that was supposed to give you bar graph ratings of the
sample characters (in categories like 'fast', 'strong', 'tough', 'smart',
'skilled', etc.) didn't work (you get to pick one category to increase,
adding 15 points to an aspect of the character to personalize it). For the
game play, the various side lines of the plot didn't exist, the art was
somewhat crude (I saw some of the artwork that had yet to be scanned, and
it was much better), and there were some detail problems in the mechanics --
you couldn't _stop_ taking recoveries, for example.

Part of the problem is that Konami is _not_ producing the game; Konami is
_marketing_ the game, but it is being written by Hero Software, a back-room
company in much the same tradition as the original Hero Games people. Some
of the principle programmers have regular jobs, as do many of the artists.

The plot lines for the stories that are built into the basic game (there
are plans for additional story releases, but they're rather nebulous) have
been expanded -- the plot designers expand the plotline, which needs more art
for backgrounds and characters; the artists take the ideas of the plotters
and create the art, which suggests additional directions the plotlines
could go, which they feed back to the plot designers. A case of positive
feedback; they're having to stomp it down to get the design finished.
Additionally, the Hero Software people are conducting extensive testing to
be as sure as possible that they haven't left something egregious in the
program which makes the game unplayable.

As Scott Ruggles, the artist I spoke to, said, "We're already two years
late on our original release date, so we might as well take the extra time
to do it right."


-- 
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 Sean Malloy        Navy Personnel R&D Center | Campus Crusade for Cthulhu
                    San Diego, CA 92152-6800  |  
 malloy@nprdc.navy.mil        < different     |       It Found Me
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