BREAKING NEWS: EX-TROIKA CRPG IN MAKING

[Llyranor]

http://rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=130

 

The good old Codex has an interview with an ex-Troika dawg, Michael McCarthy. He talks about Troika, his new company, and an action turn-based RPG to be released on Steam.

 

I don't think many people know this, but on Arcanum, everyone at the company made the same salary and had the same percentage of royalties. Anyone at the company could look through the books at any time and see exactly how much we cost to run. Even on the production side, anyone could question any decision made. There were pro's and con's to this, but in general I still hold a lot of that original Troika sentiment. If you hire a small group of intelligent, experienced people, you can keep everything in the open. It builds a level of trust and feeling of truly belonging to a family. You really feel like you are working together to create something.

 

The concept is to take good ideas, and bring them to life. Remove any outside control. I truly believe the only way to make a great game is to push everything else aside, and bring forth your vision.

 

I would not be putting this company together if I wasn't in control.

 

As far as the notions of Troika go.... I am dedicating this game to Tim, Leonard, and Jason. The greatest gift I have been given in my journey through making games is the concept that "it's ok to give the player control". What would the player want to do? Why can't we let them do that? Most importantly, who's to say that the player will care about the story or not? Don't thrust the player into something they wouldn't want to do. While it is impossible to give people complete control within the game, do your best to give them as much control as the budget, technology, and development cycle can muster. While this may sound like a simple concept, it's surprisingly rare these days. Tim, Leonard, and Jason really forged a company based around giving the player freedom. It's about making role playing games The key is to let the player do what he wants, but have his decisions affect the world he lives in.

 

Why Steam... the reason Steam is so fantastic, is because the game can be developed and distributed without any publisher involvement. Laidback will get to keep the IP, which means that the idea and world the game takes place in will still be ours. Laidback can make a great title, put it up there and people can download it for less than they'd pay in the stores. On top of that, Laid Back will only need to sell a very small number of copies to recoup its cost and keep the company going.

 

If Troika was able to sell the games they made through Steam and sold only a 1/4 of the units they did, they'd be thriving today and everyone would have really cool RPG's to play. The more people who download, install, and actively use Steam the better. It's really small developers only hope to get their games out to people.

Edited May 8, 2006 by Llyranor

[Judge Hades]

Good and Codex should not be used in the same sentence in that context.

[Volourn]

I hope he does well. The game he plans sound slike it has potential despite some pitfalls like a squad of 'robots"; but some good stuff like these robots have stress levels.

 

His insight into publisher-developer relationships is logical. I do tend to think he seems to wash over mistakes that Troika mad eby saying their games are 'complicated' and that's why they're 'buggy'.

 

I have been playing TOEE as of late. And, while character creation/character level up is coll (the only reasons the game is wortwhile) there's nothing complicated in the role-playing side. definitely less than many other CRPGs, that's for sure.

 

Still, a good TB RPG is always a good thing.

Edited May 8, 2006 by Volourn

[Llyranor]

There are some incorrect things in the interview. For example, you don't need Source for Steam, and Valve actually does take a significant (but quite small relative to traditional publishers) part of the profits.

 

Otherwise, that game sounds pretty cool. I'm hoping for some coop too, but that'll probably be a no-no. Looks like I might end up supporting this.

[Judge Hades]

I have no interest in Steam. Did th who buy over the Internet thing but I decided it was a pretty bad thing. If it doesn't come on disc from the store shelves I will passing it by.

[Bokishi]

LOL is it going to be Source-Powered?

[Cantousent]

I hope he succeeds. It'll mean a good game, which is always welcome.

 

I've always been irritated by Troika. I've been irritated by the way they respond to criticism and the way they hyped their games. I've been scornful in regards to their demeanor and the superior attitude of Troika fans.

 

On the other hand, I hope they do well. I hope most folks do well. Mostly, I hope Michael McCarthy manages to pull it all together. It was even touching to read his praise for the old Troika guard. They had some great ideas and had one great game. If only...

[Judge Hades]

They had a great game? WHEN?!?!?!

[Darque]

more good games are always welcome

[Darque]

They had a great game?  WHEN?!?!?!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'd suggest you put something like that in your sig, but then you'd only have 1/4 as many posts from now on (w00t)

 

[Volourn]

"I have no interest in Steam. Did th who buy over the Internet thing but I decided it was a pretty bad thing. If it doesn't come on disc from the store shelves I will passing it by."

 

Unless it's from BIO, and it's a module for a 4 year old game!!!

 

 

"They had a great game? WHEN?!?!?!"

 

Arcanum was great.

 

Bloodlines was good; but it coulda been great.

 

TOEE was below par; but it's combat SYSTEM and giant frogs makes it playable now that it doens't crash every 2 seconds (though Iron Man mod is impossible thanks to crashes )...

Edited May 8, 2006 by Volourn

[angshuman]

... Valve actually does take a significant (but quite small relative to traditional publishers) part of the profits.

Yeah, that's what I was wondering. How is the Valve-Laidback relationship any different from the Publisher-Laidback relationship? Since Valve does not provide the developer as much reach and availability for the game as a traditional CDROM publisher, they obviously charge less. At the same time, my understanding was that the game was always "owned" by the publisher, not the developer. I wonder if it's the same here, or whether Valve strictly provides a paid service, nothing more.

 

Does anyone here have an idea of approximately what percentage of the revenue a publisher allows its developer to have? Is it as bad as the music industry?

[Dhruin]

Well, he does specify they will retain the IP. With traditional publishers, it all depends on the deal you negotiate, although they will often demand to own the IP. Given that Valve isn't putting up the development cash, it's not really surprising you don't have to hand over the IP.

 

I didn't get much of an idea of the game itself, but best of luck to them. A good game is always welcome.

[Tigranes]

Also, Valve might not have as tight a hand over deadlines / release dates / post-release support?

[Volourn]

At the same time, my understanding was that the game was always "owned" by the publisher, not the developer."

 

Not always. Just ask MS.

[Dhruin]

Also, Valve might not have as tight a hand over deadlines / release dates / post-release support?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Assuming Valve doesn't front the development money, I doubt they would even have deadlines. It's just not their concern if they aren't paying out.

[Tigranes]

Thing is, they need to get funds from somewhere. If not publishers, then somewhere else - a source that is equally likely to pressure them? Dunno.

[Dhruin]

As far as I can tell from the interview, they are using personal savings for the prototype and then have promises (?) of other investment if that is successful (or something like that). What STEAM offers is a larger/easier marketplace than selling from your own website.

 

But that's a long way from replacing a traditional publisher.

[kirottu]

I do tend to think he seems to wash over mistakes that Troika mad eby saying their games are 'complicated' and that's why they're 'buggy'.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

He sounded lika a Troika person alright.

[Kaftan Barlast]

This sounds plain awesome. Ill pre-order, pre-load ro whatever I need to do to support him and his team.

 

 

If this succeeds, it could be a big precedent in the way you can make games which could REALLY help the indie market make games the way want to make and we want to play.

[Nick_i_am]

Digital distribution is the way forward.

 

I loved Half-Life 2, got it cheaper than I would have otherwise, gave the actual devs a bigger cut of the profit than they otherwise would have gotten and never once had to fiddle around with a CD.

 

The only real agrument against is that there is no option for a smaller install (though HDs are so cheap these days that it's pretty irrelivent) and for people who like having a manual to shove up their noses (Hearts of Iron 2 is a hugely complicated game, but one which is relatively intuative to learn, so I simply used the PDF as a quick referance and never touched it again, though it could be an issue with other games, but still, meh).

 

EDIT: oh yeah, modem losers get the shaft though.

Edited May 8, 2006 by Nick_i_am

[Dark_Raven]

Good to here about the ex-employees from Troika. Hope he succeeds where others have failed.

[Ellester]

well I really like the art in toee, so I expect the art to be good again. And I like the fact its sci-fi rather than fantasy. hopefully this works out, I would love to play a 3/4 isometric game again that is actually good.

[mkreku]

Most importantly, who's to say that the player will care about the story or not? Don't thrust the player into something they wouldn't want to do.

Now this is something they should have thought about when they made Planescape: Torment.

[karka]

8. You mentioned you had a planned release date of some time in 2007 in mind. That's a pretty quick development time-frame. Did the short 18-month development cycle of ToEE teach you anything in terms of how to better handle such a short development time-frame? Some people even critisicised ToEE because it needed more time spent on it and was such a short game. Are you bearing that critiscism in mind?

 

My thinking currently is to release the game in three stages. Each stage will encompass about 20 hours of gameplay. They will build upon each other so you can't play the 2nd stage until you have completed the first. This reduces the initial development time, and price point. The first stage will set up the story and the world, have character creation, and a bunch of really cool missions.

 

The last thing i want is an episodic game.

Edited May 8, 2006 by karka