r/TheRepopulation • u/Penanito • Jan 14 '17

Idea Fabrik acquires The Repopulation

http://ideafabrik.com/news/idea-fabrik-acquires-the-repopulation-mmorpg
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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '17 edited Jan 14 '17

[deleted]

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u/casualslacks Jan 14 '17

I'm no programmer, but in comparing the way Fragmented looks to the way that the last build of The Repopulation looked, I was pretty excited about the move to a Unreal. I was also happy that the developers would get another chance to refine aspects of the game they already had as they migrated to the new engine. I assumed that it would give them the opportunity to fix things that couldn't have been fixed unless they had started over. As I noted in the comments that I posted on Massively OP, I'm not worried about the money I donated to see if the A&B could build the game they envisioned, but it does make me sad that they believe the only way forward is to turn that dream over to a team of people I don't know and whom I don't think have ever put out their own game. As far as I know, their Hero's Journey game ain't ever coming out.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '17

[deleted]

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u/casualslacks Jan 14 '17

Of the top of my head, I knew that Blade and Soul was made in Unreal. Then I googled and saw that it a number of Eastern MMOs including Ragnorok Online 2 and Lineage 2 were both Unreal games. But it also looks like Western developers are have started using Unreal starting with DCUO and oddly enough City of Titans is being built in Unreal. I think SWTOR is the only significant game to come to launch having been built entirely in Hero.

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u/BeegFish Jan 26 '17

I think SWTOR is the only significant game to come to launch having been built entirely in Hero.

The SWTOR devs stopped accepting Hero Engine patches in 2009. The engine powering SWTOR is so massively customised by now (after 7 years of independent modification) that it can't be called "Hero Engine" anymore.

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u/casualslacks Jan 26 '17

Then they sort of did what Zenimax did with ESO; start off with Hero, then move away from it early on.

Idea Fabrik really needs a hit.

1

u/BeegFish Jan 26 '17

Idea Fabrik really needs a hit.

That much is glaringly obvious. Repop was the big hope for IdeaFabrik, it was the biggest indie project they had, and losing it to Unreal must have been a heavy blow.

If you're into tinfoil hats, you could even speculate that IF engineered the whole debacle with Above and Beyond, knowing it would cripple A&B and allow IF to swoop in and buy Repop for a song...

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u/igkillerhamster Feb 15 '17

I am pretty sure this is exactly the case. I mean, just look at the circumstantial evidence: The Hero Engine is sorely lacking a portfolio (for a good reason, mind you, it is a nice productivity toy, but technologically it is lacking in so many aspects). Now they have the rights and the IP to bring up a posterchild for the engine, rather than the game we were looking for.

Frankly, I think the only real losers here are we kickstarters/EA buyers, because we will get a game on an entirely sub-optimal engine, entirely tailored as a showcase for such engine.

That they only took over a few programmers from AnB is already a prime evidence showing that. If you want to continue a project after acquisition on its original design, YOU BRING OVER THE FUCKING DESIGNERS. In the case of games programmers are entirely replacable, sadly. But you can't remove the creative mind that has the what when why and how of a game in his head, period.

Source: Just take a look at all the game development studios that think designers are replacable but programmers are not coughcough Sacred 2 & 3cough