Monolith Productions - Oh, how the mighty have fallen. - by EvaUnit02
Kuuso on 4/9/2012 at 08:24
Making MOBAs is nowhere near a "safe game" to make. The market is already saturated with Dota2, LoL and HoN, where the last is already dying. Sure, the audience for them are growing due to the first of the two and will probably bump up considerably as soon as Dota2 comes out of Beta. Still, I can't see why a single player would switch from those games to a half-arsed LOTR-themed one, unless it radically alters the genre and that's what Blizzard SC2 Dota is doing.
Jason Moyer on 4/9/2012 at 11:10
I dunno what Sierra's involvement was with NOLF, exactly, but the games were published by Fox Interactive. Sierra wasn't credited as a co-publisher until the GOTY edition came out. I suspect Sierra/Vivendi was more involved in distribution than in funding the game.
Edit: Also, I think NOLF was influenced by a lot of the same things as Austin Powers, rather than being influenced by Austin Powers itself. It reminds me of stuff like Get Smart or the original Casino Royale more than the AP movies.
EvaUnit02 on 4/9/2012 at 13:59
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
I dunno what Sierra's involvement was with NOLF, exactly, but the games were published by Fox Interactive. Sierra wasn't credited as a co-publisher until the GOTY edition came out. I suspect Sierra/Vivendi was more involved in distribution than in funding the game.
Sierra/Vivendi bought Fox Interactive.
henke on 4/9/2012 at 15:17
Quote Posted by dethtoll
FEAR 2 is fantastic. I will fight anyone who doesn't like it. Like, with fists and lawn chairs and whatnot.
"Fantastic"? Really? I thought it was alright. Good gameplay, forgettable story.
Quote Posted by Kuuso
Making MOBAs is nowhere near a "safe game" to make.
Ah, I must confess I'm not too familiar with the genre, having never played any of those games. But they seem to be popular, which is why I called it "safe". Maybe not then.
june gloom on 4/9/2012 at 20:30
HANDBAGS AT DAWN, HENKE, LET'S DO THIS
redrain85 on 4/9/2012 at 23:33
As I understand it, Monolith has the rights to the characters. So they could bring back Cate Archer.
But they don't own the NOLF name. Fox owned it. Whether Activision now owns the name (and not simply the publishing rights to the first two titles), I'm not sure. Maybe Fox still kept the NOLF name for themselves?
Either way, the rights are fractured between 2-3 companies. So, yeah. Not looking too good for another official follow-up with the actual NOLF name. Someone at Monolith also supposedly made a statement to the effect that time has passed NOLF by, the market isn't interested in games like that any more.
Ironically, I think it would take the shutdown of Monolith for any chance of another NOLF sequel. I'm sure the person quoted from 'Lith, would be singing a different tune if his ass was booted out the door. As long as everyone there continues to work for Warner, nothing will happen. But if all the 'Lith staff was let go: they'd probably form another studio, and then start thinking about what they could do as a project with a reasonable chance of success. Then a NOLF sequel would no longer "not be worth it". An unofficial or "spiritual" NOLF sequel would be pretty high up the list, and generate a lot of positive buzz for them.
Fafhrd on 6/9/2012 at 03:04
Quote Posted by redrain85
As I understand it, Monolith has the rights to the characters. So they could bring back Cate Archer.
But they don't own the NOLF name. Fox owned it. Whether Activision now owns the name (and not simply the publishing rights to the first two titles), I'm not sure. Maybe Fox still kept the NOLF name for themselves?
They could do what they should've done with NOLF2 and go back to the 'Cate Archer is The Operative in: [Title],' and drop No One Lives Forever altogether.
lost_soul on 8/9/2012 at 00:34
If they ever do plan to make another NOLF, it better be designed first and foremost for the PC and include a level editor, or it won't be worth it. Take the aspects that made the original NOLF great (length, varied locations) and mix them with aspects that made the second one great (skill system, better stealth mechanics). Avoid mistakes made in the first game (strict objectives) and mistakes made in the second game (unlimited-respawning enemies).
I like the idea of a "kickstarter" and I would even help out if this ever came to pass. It seems to be a way for the gamers to actually encourage development in a specific direction.
Also, whats the story with source code? I seem to recall that some code was released for NOLF and NOLF 2. Was it just the game logic and not the engine? Perhaps they could release Lithtech's source code?
CCCToad on 8/9/2012 at 02:00
Quote Posted by Fafhrd
They could do what they should've done with NOLF2 and go back to the 'Cate Archer is The Operative in: [Title],' and drop No One Lives Forever altogether.
Saw that, was reminded of the game, and couldn't help but to make the mental connection between Cate Archer and Sterling Archer.
Jason Moyer on 8/9/2012 at 02:19
Quote Posted by lost_soul
If they ever do plan to make another NOLF, it better be designed first and foremost for the PC and include a level editor, or it won't be worth it.
Those 2 things had basically nothing to do with the first 2 games being great (not that I could even tell you if the first 2 games had a level editor).
