Derek Smart - I Summon Thee!

[Telefrog]

Seriously (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/27/doctoring-the-tardis-all-aspect-warfare/)? He has made the same game five times now.

1) Who buys these games?

2) Who is funding these games?

3) How have the basic flaws never been addressed?

4) How have the graphics never improved?

http://i44.tinypic.com/2hx1qtt.png

[Karak]

This game, if made by a large team would litterally be a dream for a person like me.
However, one person just can not do it in any realistic timeframe. I actually enjoyed one of them...the one that ran, and you could indeed do a shitton of stuff.
However, Parkan 2, though flawed, allowed much of the same things and was made by a larger team so that the game looks a bit better and is a better more stable.

[Voodoo]

If he's so smart, why is the Earth rotating backwards in his game company logo?!

Huh?!?!

And...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/237/446707751_e6ed02a1d9.jpg

[Bad Buddha]

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1448/cokefightpz5.gif

[Spectre-7]

Oh, for the love of all that is holy, no... That man's harder to get rid of than AIDS.

There are precious few things in this world I want more than a good starship game, but I don't believe for a second that [name withheld] will ever deliver it.

[DoctorFinger]

Ok, what's up with the coke machine thing? That one I don't know.

[Voodoo]

I love this page...

http://follies.werewolves.org/

...even explains the Coke Machine story.

[Harv]

This guy still makes games? Wow.

[Panthera]

That screenshot looks a lot better than the last time I played one of his games, which was Universal Combat. Ground combat was a bit iffy in that game, but I respect his games for what they are - an attempt to make a serious simulation out of completely fictional technology, and they do a great job of exactly that.

[Telefrog]

That screenshot looks a lot better than the last time I played one of his games, which was Universal Combat. Ground combat was a bit iffy in that game, but I respect his games for what they are - an attempt to make a serious simulation out of completely fictional technology, and they do a great job of exactly that.

You must have a different criteria for a "great job" kudos. :D

[Panthera]

Have you played them? The battlecruiser games are insanely hard to get into, but I find the freeform gameplay rewarding once you get a handle on them. The complexity is somewhat like the controls of the most hardcore of hardcore flight simulators, so I can totally understand anyone not liking the games or not able to get into them.

I should probably add to that that I'm defending his games, which I've enjoyed, not the guy himself. Smart's like ten kinds of batshit.

[Telefrog]

Have you played them? The battlecruiser games are insanely hard to get into, but I find the freeform gameplay rewarding once you get a handle on them. The complexity is somewhat like the controls of the most hardcore of hardcore flight simulators, so I can totally understand anyone not liking the games or not able to get into them.

I should probably add to that that I'm defending his games, which I've enjoyed, not the guy himself. Smart's like ten kinds of batshit.

Yes, I have played 3 of 5 of Smart's games. Hell, I paid full price at retail for Battlecruiser 3000!

I respect the idea behind his games. I can see the amazing potential there, but the actual products he released are ten pounds of crap stuffed in a two pound box. The controls go beyond complicated. They're unintuitive and downright unfriendly. The physics are terrible. The graphics are decidely primitive. The gameplay itself is unengaging.

Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy that built a flight chair setup so he could play flight sims back during the Jane's Combat era. I play games with complicated keyboard controls to this day, so that's not why I object to Smart's games.

[Panthera]

I guess we just disagree, then.

[cppcrusader]

Ok, what's up with the coke machine thing? That one I don't know.

He beat up a Coke machine in Take Two's lobby.

[jpublic]

I remember his first Battlecrusier game, and the companies that refused to review it because it was still clearly beta.

[Bingley Joe]

Has to be done:

tIn1_9YvGds

:)

[Bad Buddha]

I was on Usenet comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategy back when he was in the news. As complicated as this game was, it didn't ship with a decent manual. People were all over DS to post SOMETHING to help them figure out the game and its controls.

I tried to be a voice of reason and get people to understand that this was a one-man-operation and show some patience. DS later threatened to jump me in a dark alley and break my ribs one by one and then piss down my throat.

I love the interwebs!

[biosc1]

I appreciate what he has always wanted to do, but he needs a solid team around him to help him brainstorm/solidify ideas and actually complete a solid product.

ps...expect him to sign up a new account here (if he doesn't already have one..)

[TrackZero]

He beat up a Coke machine in Take Two's lobby.

Thank you. I just wasted 30+ minutes reading through that link Voodoo posted and couldn't find anything specifically describing the incident.

[Bingley Joe]

Thank you. I just wasted 30+ minutes reading through that link Voodoo posted and couldn't find anything specifically describing the incident.

The incident is also painstakingly recreated in the video I posted at ~1:35 and again at about ~2:00

[muddi900]

Wiki says he tried to buy the Freespace IP!

Fear Him!

[Xerxes]

Is he blocked from here too?

[thomas]

4) How have the graphics never improved?
They've improved a lot.
one person just can not do it in any realistic timeframe.
There is more than one person working on the game.

[Telefrog]

They've improved a lot.

That's really not a compliment.

[Panthera]

It is true, though.

[Adam Blue]

I appreciate what he has always wanted to do, but he needs a solid team around him to help him brainstorm/solidify ideas and actually complete a solid product.

ps...expect him to sign up a new account here (if he doesn't already have one..)

Yeah, he's just trying to make a game and he's not letting anyone hold him back. If you fail, try again. If he had a good team and good publisher, it would work.

[J Arcane]

What I don't get is why no GOOD developer has ever stepped up and just done a Battlecruiser game but without the suck. The potential for the basic concept is vast, and it's pretty much my dream game, it's just that the man trying to make it happen is fucking nuts, and has drastically overestimated his abilities. I've tried several different versions of his game now, and every one of them spectacularly fails as a game. They're hideously buggy, heinously dull, incredibly convoluted, and just generally a bloody mess.

I'd still love to see someone make the all-encompassing space game of that type, but I fear he may've poisoned the well, the same way Nintendo's Virtual Boy did for the HMD. No one else is willing to even try it because they've only seen the most spectacular failure at it.

I've only seen two games since that even hinted at the potential for the concept, Venture the Void, and Spore, but both sort of fell short on scope, the former for world size, and the latter for a lack of interesting tasks.

[thomas]

Derek Smart is OK (http://www.tremblinghand.net/2009/01/derek-smart-is-ok.html).

[MagGnome]

Derek Smart is OK (http://www.tremblinghand.net/2009/01/derek-smart-is-ok.html).

It's a plant, a plant!! :p

[Slack3r78]

Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy that built a flight chair setup so he could play flight sims back during the Jane's Combat era. I play games with complicated keyboard controls to this day, so that's not why I object to Smart's games.
Seriously. I'm a huge fan of LOMAC where it took me weeks to really get a feel for operating each plane in the game, but the Battlecruiser games have just always been absurdly obtuse. Love the concept, have given just about every iteration a chance, and they've just been beyond terribly implemented.

[Disgustipated]

These games need serious playtesting. Also, did anyone ever read that Jeff Green interview with Derek Smart back in about... oh, 2001 or so in Computer Gaming World? Good stuff.