Development Hell (and not the good kind)

Started by Necrum January 2nd, 2016 2:01 PM
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Necrum

I AM THE REAL SONIC

Male
Portland, OR
Seen August 20th, 2019
Posted July 13th, 2017
5,080 posts
10.9 Years
We've all seen it before. An ambitious company comes up with a very ambitious plan for a mega ambitious video game. The community gets all excited, starts talking about how amazing the game will be, how it will revolutionize gaming as we know it! ...if only it would just get released. Video games are complicated machines, and sometimes a developer severely underestimates their goals. Or they change their mind midway through development, and suddenly the whole game needs to be reworked. And then suddenly all the funds are gone. These situations are called Development Hell, and refers to when a game with great potential takes FOREVER to actually release, if it does at all. A great modern example is Mighty No 9, a game that I've been looking forward to since announcement. The game has had half a dozen release dates now, and I'm starting to wonder if the next one will even be the last!

So what are your hardest Dev Hell experiences, modern or in the past? What game do you think is the biggest offender? Is it fair to judge these companies for poor management? Share your thoughts on this phenomena with us!

Pyrax

Midnight Guest

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14.1 Years
I haven't played it myself, but Duke Nukem Forever is the worst offender by far. It was announced back way back 1998. And when it was released a few years ago, it apparently had several flaws and didn't live up to the hype.

...Oh yeah, and Final Fantasy XV, having been announced way back in 2006 as Final Fantasy Versus XIII. It's been a 10 year wait so far, but 2016's looking probable. I'm really hoping it won't turn out to be as linear as XIII (or hell, even X) was.
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mew_nani

Pokécommunity's Licensed Tree Exorcist

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Far Lands
Seen May 28th, 2019
Posted August 25th, 2018
1,839 posts
13.4 Years
Wasn't Too Human a game that was in development hell for almost a couple of decades before it finally came out? I remember it was pretty mediocre at best, sorta like Dude Nukem Forever was.

I'm never really happy when a game goes into development hell because when it does it either won't come out at all or will come out and not be worth the time you spent waiting for it. There are some exceptions to that rule but for the most part... well...

I support:

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1946 - 2017

acatfrommars

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Seen February 5th, 2023
Posted January 9th, 2023
3,870 posts
9.6 Years
Yes, Fallout 3. I didn't know about the game until it came out in 2008 but apparently the game took about 8 years to make. I could see why though, those games are tremendously long are really good as well. This one didn't take too terribly long, but it was agonizing for the wait. Nintendo originally announced Super Smash Bros. Brawl sometime back in 2007 and changed the date of release to about a year later. I remember being so excited to hear about Brawl, then was pissed when the game kept getting pushed back farther and farther. I think it took so long because of the drastic changed between Melee and Brawl. Brawl seemed likr an entirely new game to me, and still does. At least Smash 4 seems a bit like both which is nice.

JJ Styles

The Phenomenal Darling

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NCR
Seen November 10th, 2019
Posted November 10th, 2019
3,924 posts
8.4 Years
I love following these development hell stories in games because of the drama and pinches of salt that often generates from everyone who follows it.

Since i got too much to say about games that went through Dev hell, i put my thoughts in spoiler tags.

DNF and Aliens Colonial Marines
Spoiler:
Obviously Duke Nukem Forever is possibly one of the biggest, if not the biggest, offender of all when it comes to Dev Hell. I followed the DNF story from the days where it was first announced with the really badass trailer from E3 2001, which that trailer was much greater than the actual DNF that came out. That was the game that I wanted to play. I still remember the stories of how DNF underwent multiple game devs before Gearbox eventually finished the job. Eventually, when it was done, all we got was a game that still felt unfinished and was having an identity crisis with a sourly bad mix of gameplay elements that does not know what it wants to be.

Then another big offender was Aliens: Colonial Marines, which spent over 12 years in development. Announced in 2001, then the rights to Aliens were sold to Sega, then Gearbox (these guys) decides to actually complete the project, and what did we got? A pretty bad game that makes Duke Nukem Forever a masterpiece.


Blizzard thrives on Development Hell
Spoiler:
Not really sure if i would call it but back in the day, I was hyped for Blizzard All-Stars, which eventually became Heroes of the Storm, as we now know it today. I always thought that Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm was one of those games that sorta had a development hell but not because of lengthy production times or whatever jobbing but mostly for the iteration of how the game could come about. It wasn't a long ass one such as in DNF but I remember Blizzard years ago announcing Blizzard All-Stars, which was their answer to the rising MOBA genra to compete with Riot's League of Legends and Valve/Icefrog's DOTA 2. I remember Blizzard All-Stars being called Blizzard DOTA back in the day and the drama between Valve and Blizzard with the use of the term "DOTA" was something that I really loved. Then it was set back possibly because Blizzard thought ahead that Blizzard All-Stars may not stand out against the MOBA Juggernauts of League and DOTA2, so they had to remade the game to not be just another "League or DOTA game with a Blizzard Skin". As for the final game, its pretty fun, and it definitely differentiates from both League and Dotes from a couple of ways with rather justifiable reasons on why they had to rehash the game.

Speaking of Blizzard, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (the first in the SC2 Trilogy, and is pretty much the base game) was another game that may fit better the nature of this thread. 7 Years in the making, along with the controversies that emerged from it such as the internet connection requirement just to play SINGLE PLAYER, the separation of the Terran, Zerg, and Protoss campaigns into separate games, though Blizzard somehow found good ways to get around that, and then there was Starcraft Ghost to pass the time, which was never released ever, and humurously, SC Ghost's main protagonist is in the actual SC2 game. SC2's development story was something that I also enjoyed for all the salts and drama it generated for the time, and the game that came out is arguably worth enduring all of it.


What i love about these Dev Hell stories is that there are games that come out really poorly, such as DNF and Aliens Colonial marines, and then there's Blizzard's games which arguably are decent titles that were worth the wait.

Spinosaurus

Seen May 27th, 2019
Posted June 7th, 2018
4,569 posts
14.1 Years
Nintendo originally announced Super Smash Bros. Brawl sometime back in 2007 and changed the date of release to about a year later. I remember being so excited to hear about Brawl, then was pissed when the game kept getting pushed back farther and farther. I think it took so long because of the drastic changed between Melee and Brawl. Brawl seemed likr an entirely new game to me, and still does. At least Smash 4 seems a bit like both which is nice.
The push wasn't that long, and the reason for it was because of the sudden request to add Sonic in at the last minute. Characters take a LOT of development time.

Aliens Colonial Marine is a really good recent example. What an abomination. Another infamous example is Sonic 06, but that was more of a rushed development. Metal Gear Solid V is a pretty good example as well. Though not a bad game per se, it really suffered and could have been much more...well, not really, because it was too ambitious. The game ended up a disappointment more than anything even if it's still fun.

Hilariously I have more examples of games that underwent development hell but ended up incredible. (Metroid Prime, Metal Gear Rising, Mother 3, Team Fortress 2, Bayonetta 2)

Necrum

I AM THE REAL SONIC

Male
Portland, OR
Seen August 20th, 2019
Posted July 13th, 2017
5,080 posts
10.9 Years
One game that's still in Dev Hell and I'm surprised to hear nothing about, is Half-Life 2: Episode 3/Half-Life 3. We are rapidly approaching 10 years since The Orange Box came out! Almost 10 years since anything Half-Life related was released by Valve! I've seen so much beautiful concept art for a great setting that hasn't been used yet: the Arctic, and it just makes me sad that we haven't gotten this yet. Black Mesa doesn't even count because it was made by a modding team and it just a remake. GIVE US SOMETHING GABE N.!
Square Enix have this down to a twisted art form by this point, really. I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed by FFXV if it actually gets released this year. Never mind how awful FFXIII was after five years of messing around, or the fact that Fortress was never released and wound up becoming vaporware.

Most games in development hell wind up becoming vaporware. Asides Fortress, the only three that have ever really bothered me are Metroid Dread - especially after Other M, which was utter trash - the rumoured Baten Kaitos III, and the Legacy of Kain: Dark Prophecy. Sega can go and **** themselves with the English release of Phantasy Star Online 2, too. We're getting the anime, though! Lucky, lucky us.

I'm glad Ni-Oh finally has a release date on the horizon, but that's been in development hell for nearly eleven years now. What the HELL went on with that?

I think Asagi's game is in development hell at Nippon Ichi Software too. Makai Wars is where now? That was announced for PS3 back in 2004, it missed the 20th Anniversary of the company in 2013, and the only thing we're hearing about it now is Asagi's constant complaints in Disgaea games that she doesn't have her own game yet. I have to wonder if they're actually going to make it or if they just trademarked it to set this all up...

JJ Styles

The Phenomenal Darling

Male
NCR
Seen November 10th, 2019
Posted November 10th, 2019
3,924 posts
8.4 Years
On the topic of things, along with things becoming Vaporware, I remember that Blizzard announced a new MMO called "Titan" a few years back. It was in development since 2006, rehased in 2013, and then in 2014 was officially cancelled since they didn't know what to do to make it "fun", and Blizz didn't need another MMO. I wanted to play Titan, as i didn't really like WoW and a Blizzard handled Sci-Fi MMO could have been something that i would gladly play, but sadly it never came to be. Then again, its a pretty good move on their part, as they already have FOUR games (SC2, D3, HOTS, WOW) with Online Multiplayer and large followings to devote resources into, and becomes FIVE anyway with Overwatch on release, and WoW is pretty much the MMORPG among their current library that they need anyway.

I just remembered there is/or was Tekken X Street Fighter, Namco's own iteration of the crossover. This was announced way back in 2010, along with Street Fighter x Tekken, which was Capcom's own iteration. SF X Tekken got its release in 2012, but as of today and since 2014, Tekken X SF has gotten little news or info on what's being done, apart from statements that Harada has not cancelled the project. Of course, Tekken 7 does tease us with Akuma of all characters being the guest of said game.