[History]The Story of Daikatana

[KJAX]

I've just spent the past hour reading this rather long article about the making of Daikatana and exactly what John Romero went through to finally get this game released. Yes, the article is at least two years old but well worth the read if you are thinking about a career as a game programmer.

I actually now feel sorry for John Romero. The article is fair and talks about all the turmoil and drama it took to release the game.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/btg-daikatana/p9_01.html

[Zarkazm]

Did anyone actually play the game? I'd be interested to know how it really turned out. I recall seeing it in stores now. Didn't attract any interest though, as the box didn't give any impression of what's inside.

[ElectricSheep]

From what I hear, the game was an absolute disaster. One of the worst ever released.

[FaT CaM]

I tohught it was cool, it was like doom goes metal/industrial with katanas and giant flyign mosquitos made of steel and such.

[Zarkazm]

From what I hear, the game was an absolute disaster. One of the worst ever released.
That's the impression I got myself, but from the article is becomes clear that most people had formed their opinion based on the "drama" around the development, not the actual game. That's why I asked.

[ZenPirate]

Friends don't let friends play Dai... Daik... damn, I still can't even bring mself to say it, after all this time.

[Hadmar]

It's a pretty average game. No must have but no disaster either.

[Selerox]

Daikatana wasn't a disaster because of the game (although it was at best sub-standard, and I wouln't ever let someone I know play it), it was a disaster because the game took so long to make, and took so much money to make that it caused Eidos major financial trouble. Eidos was forced to close down Looking Glass Studios, one of the greatest developers in game history, to offset the massive financial drag ION Storm was putting on Eidos. LGS in case you don't remember, made System Shock 1/2, Thief 1/2, and numerous other top class games.

Eidos being forced to kill off LGS was a direct result of ION Storm's utter lack of organisation, morale and progress. The ammount of anger caused by the death of LGS caused numerous people to boycott daikatana and ION Storm. The [UCAD] (Unreal Community Against Daikatana) tag was worn by numerous people around that time.

ION Storm took years to make a game that wasn't worth giving away. In the process it destroyed LGS, John Romeros reputation and created the biggest joke in gaming history.

A joke that looks to be surpassed by Duke Nukem Forever.

[PainAmplifier]

Did anyone actually play the game? I'd be interested to know how it really turned out. I recall seeing it in stores now. Didn't attract any interest though, as the box didn't give any impression of what's inside.

I played it, beat it, and even enjoyed it. It was a decent game.

In places you could see what he was trying to acheive, but ended up missing due to technical limitations or design limitations. So at times you would think your sidekicks were the shiznit, other times they were the thorn Satan sent to torment you forever, but most of the time you pretty much ignored them and they were just there. (Hmmm, not too different from online gaming nowadays...Although the canned voices you got when bumping into them got really annoying after awhile.)

Technically, the graphics were pretty impressive for the engine they were using and the voices were pretty good...although you had to laugh at some of the *really* cheezy lines or some of the *really* laughable plot points. (Although there *were* some really shocking and interesting plot twists.) And other than one nasty bug near the end of the game, it was a pretty solid game.

Keep in mind the game physics though...it takes what Q1 and Q2 were doing and upping them a level. (Like UT/UT2k3 at 1.35+ Gamespeed...) So everything is FAST, and it feels loose although you could adjust that somewhat. (Argh there was one spot I got frustrated with, until I realized that I *wasn't* supposed to crouch jump, and I was just supposed to crouch and *WALK*...)

Level design was fair to good. Nothing really spectacular, but then again by that time every other game was or had done the same things, so by the time the game was released most players were jaded to most of it.

One other thing I liked was the weapons. There were lots of them, and they were *different*. Sure you had some basic choices (even some crappy ones), but you never fell into that 'pistol/shotgun/Rocket Launcher' rut that just about every game since Doom has fallen in. And even their 'stock' weapons had a difference in many cases.

So I think it was ahead of it's time, so it could have been better had they waited a few more years before attempting it. Although the cheeze factor makes me think it never would reach that 'Half-Life' level of immersion.

So in short, It's worth playing but you'll probably only play it once through because it isn't any better than that.

[Clayeth]

It's a pretty average game. No must have but no disaster either.
There was a lot of hype about it before it was released. I remember it had at least one cover of PC Gamer. They had 10 page previews of it several times... then the release slipped back, and back, and back... and by the time it was released, it just didn't live up to all the expectations. If it was the first game released by a new company, it would probably have been successful because it would have exceeded expectations. Hype can hurt as much as it helps.

[SugarBear]

read masters of doom, it's a really good game, it mentions a few people you would be familiar with, spends quite a bit of time on daikatana, where it came from and what he was trying to do and stuff like that.

I didn't read the article, but did it mention anything about that the game came from a game of D&D that the two johns were playing, and that romero had to give a book to a demon so that he could get his hands on the Daikatana, but in doing so he unleased all the demons and ended the game immediatly.

MOD was a good book, tells you all about those guys.

ps, Daikatana sucked huge weiner.

[UrsaMajor2]

I played the demo and thought it was dreadful.

[boo-shem-ee]

How To Get People To Not Buy Your Game 101
- Make the first level utterly frustrating, not only because of crappy design, but also through inserting enemies that are more irritating and annoying than a crying baby in a cinema. And last but not least make sure a nerfgun or waterpistol is a better weapon than the ones this first level offers.

Seriously, I actually forced myself to get to the second level which happened to be a dozen times more enjoyable than the first one. Still, the fun factor was hard to find which probally explains why I don't remember if there were more levels in the demo. (this was a couple months after the game was released, so my expections of the game weren't high in the first place)

This Salon article (http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/02/ion_storm/index.html) is also an interesting read BTW.

[KJAX]

Ion Storm Austin is still up and running with Warren Spector running things and working on the Deus Ex sequel. It's Deus Ex that actually saved Ion from being shut down completely. The Austin offie is also workin on Thief III.

I say this because something good did eventually come from Romero's venture. Deus Ex might not have existed with Romero creating Ion Storm.

[tool]

anyone remember how much John Romero really pissed off the gaming community with his ego to? There were a lot of rumors that the guys at ID Software hated his guts after doom came out. He got pretty rich and that is when his ego went soaring. And there was another thing with this Daikatana ad in a PCGamer magazine issue that said "John Romero is going to make you his bitch" that pissed off quite a few people aswell.

[phillys]

the John Romero and his bitch part is really far-fetched. i wish i could get my hands on that game and give it a whim :hmm:

[dapngwnman]

the pc versions were ugh...but the console ports shoulda just been renamed STAB PEN IN EYE 3: THE SHOCKING ADVENTURE...

[Clayeth]

And there was another thing with this Daikatana ad in a PCGamer magazine issue that said "John Romero is going to make you his bitch" that pissed off quite a few people aswell.
OMG, I remember that... I laughed my ass off. One of the best advertisements I've seen in a long time :tup:

[Vers Vlees]

I wonder if duke nukem forever will go the same way ;)

[Selerox]

I wonder if duke nukem forever will go the same way ;)

Unless it turns out to be the best game ever, I'm willing to bet cash it that it will.

[KJAX]

I wonder if duke nukem forever will go the same way ;)


Ironic that you say that because George Broussard, 3d Realms President, was mentioned in the article. There was a brief mention that he was having troubles releasing a game. There was no mention of DNF but that's obviously what they were hinting at.

[Thrawn70]

They're calling it Duke Nukem Forever...cause it's gonna take forever to.... oh God, don't even get me started down that road. :lol: "3drealms is about to become the gaming industry's bitch" is about all I'll say unless they can blow me away whenever it gets released. :nag: <- yes, they've earned it.