Old games that should be re-made.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph


I mentioned it. Not political correct anymore.

if civ4 can get by with slavery and ethnic cleansing, I don't see why colonization couldn't get by.

[Harovan]

That can't be compared. In Civ4 you're enslaving your own people and the better player wipes out the inferior one no matter what civ he's playing. Theoretically Sitting Bull could nuke Lincoln out of the game. Colonization is biased in this regard, it's always the white man who wipes out the red.

I don't say that I like that, I would like to see Col2 myself, but I have my doubts that it will happen in that political correctness crazy world.

[DrSpike]

I think most people are just posting old game they liked. For suggestions to be more than just a 'good old games' list some thought has to be put into how games would fare in the current market.

The two obvious approaches are bundle a lot of old games with nothing more than makeovers/tweaks and charge full price for a compilation (or a small price individually as with XBLA or the Wii service), or trying to re-imagine the game.

The former is working quite at the moment well due to the Xbox and Wii. The latter rarely does though - out of the games mentioned only games like Colonisation would obviously work well. It's very hard to keep the magic of the old classics whilst delivering a game that will be a success in the modern market - Pirates! is a good example.

[Kuciwalker]

I think most people are just posting old game they liked.

I actually think Pop:TB could be redone a lot better with 2007's technology. The idea of terrain manipulation as a weapon always struck me as really cool.

[Andemagne]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
That can't be compared. In Civ4 you're enslaving your own people and the better player wipes out the inferior one no matter what civ he's playing. Theoretically Sitting Bull could nuke Lincoln out of the game. Colonization is biased in this regard, it's always the white man who wipes out the red.

sometimes all my colonies get wiped out by the red man.

I don't say that I like that, I would like to see Col2 myself, but I have my doubts that it will happen in that political correctness crazy world.

"political correctness". bah! then make Col2 for European market only, we don't discriminate here. red, white, blue, brown, green, yellow and all in the between, they are all just Americans to us.


DrSpike: by remaking I mean "minor tweaks in the gameplay, better interphase".

[Guynemer]

No. Seriously. What the hell was Speedball?


I also support a proper Star Control 2 sequel.

[Andemagne]

how about California Games(an old C64 classic) for PC?

[vee4473]

1. Alpha Centauri definitely
2. Starflight (I've only played the sega genesis version 1990 or so?)
3. Shadowrun (SNES version from same time frame?)
4. Star Control


edit:

5. The immortal I played on nes (or genesis?)
6. shadowgate

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph


Thirded. Especially Colonization. Not gonna happen tho, not PC anymore, alas.

as info, killing native Americans wasnt any more PC in the '90s.

[Dis]

as for posting old games I liked, of course I am. I realize almost every single game listed is not feasible to make today. If it were feasible, someone would already be making it . The fact is most companies and publishers are not willing to develop games in some outdated genres unless there is a proven market (as civ games are assured to make at least some money in the TBS genre). This is not the case with such games as Alpha Centaur, Xcom, or Master of Magic. Though I'm certain Xcom would sell well, I can see how the big wigs don't think it would sell well.

As for games such as wasteland, fallout, I realize you can't make turned based games anymore. There just is no market for it. But I believe it can be possible to make a pausible real time game (similar to bg2) that captures the essence of these classic rpg's. As for Fallout3, I'm expecting something along the lines of Oblivion/Morrowind. Great looking, but lacking in depth with regards to gameplay and developed characters.

so this is just a fantasy list after all. Not necessarily based in any kind of reality.

[vee4473]

Originally posted by Dis
as for posting old games I liked, of course I am. I realize almost every single game listed is not feasible to make today. If it were feasible, someone would already be making it . The fact is most companies and publishers are not willing to develop games in some outdated genres unless there is a proven market (as civ games are assured to make at least some money in the TBS genre). This is not the case with such games as Alpha Centaur, Xcom, or Master of Magic. Though I'm certain Xcom would sell well, I can see how the big wigs don't think it would sell well.

As for games such as wasteland, fallout, I realize you can't make turned based games anymore. There just is no market for it. But I believe it can be possible to make a pausible real time game (similar to bg2) that captures the essence of these classic rpg's. As for Fallout3, I'm expecting something along the lines of Oblivion/Morrowind. Great looking, but lacking in depth with regards to gameplay and developed characters.

so this is just a fantasy list after all. Not necessarily based in any kind of reality.

There are alot of things that companies choose not to make. Not because they won't sell, but becuase other things will sell more. You can have a product that has tests showing it will sell great, but another product that shows that something else will sell greater. So, the manpower goes to what will hopefully sell more. A gamble.

The "greater" gets the funding. With the others put on the back burner. Not because the others wont sell, but because we only have a set number of resources and have to bet on the "hopefully sure thing". Regardless of quality. And when the others get made, so be it.

Even though the "others" would make great money. Only have a finite amount of designers, so put them on the "most likely to sell".

If TBS was outdated, civ 4 would have vanished like others. SMAC would sell great, but bean counters have to be convinced of it....in a world of WOW...so, it doesn't get made. Unless you have a smaller developer like Stardock who knows and believes in their product. In the higher end business world where licenses like smac are supposedly held, well, good luck in defeating the "next big twitch fest game" for design resources.

Genres are not outdated, only developers are. People migrate to games because it's all there is out there, how many times have you heard "it sucks, but it's the only rpg out there"....NWN2 comes to mind and i've seen threads on their forums saying such. A thread like this shows that genres are not outdated.

Because someone isn't making it, doesn't mean it wouldn't be successful. It just shows a glut of clouded judgement.

[demon59]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned M.U.L.E.

[El_Cid]

Originally posted by vee4473
........................

Because someone isn't making it, doesn't mean it wouldn't be successful. It just shows a glut of clouded judgement.

And fear of the unknown. AAA Games cost 10-20 times to make, compared to what they did even 10 years ago. In that enviroment you can't afford to take chances. So it's got to be aimed at where the money+sales is proven to lie. So we get what we get.....and great classics like Xcom etc never make it.

Still that is from the mainstream perspective, and the more that goes on the more smaller companies(like stardock) will be willing to have a go at those games that always turn up in these kind of lists.

I guess the main problem of this is the next/current generation of gamers probably won't understand a game like Xcom -

"why's it not in 3D? why do I have to manage my base, I just want to shoot aliens? Why will it take me months to finish the game, I usualy finish three in a weekend?" etc?

Progress? the effect of the rise and dominance of console gaming?

@demon59,

there was a recent remake of MULE(and it was ok too):

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/gilligames/Space_HoRSE/1.htm

of course it's difficult to beat the charm of the original Atari8bit version....so you could have a go at emulating it and playing online:

http://atarimule.neotechgaming.com/

[ZargonX]

Getting games like this remade requires smaller developers who aren't out to make a AAA title; not expecting 1 million units sold, etc. Unfortunately, those kinds of developers seem to be becoming fewer and fewer daily.

[MosesPresley]

Dungeon Keeper and Theme Hospital would be nice with some serious updates.