How NOT to make a game
by Tom Bampton · 06/10/2007 (6:38 pm) · 8 comments
In a previous .plan I ranted about Need for Speed: Most Wanted. At the time, I vowed never to play that game again. I also vowed never to buy another game from that franchise. Now, over a year later, I have stuck to that and will continue to. Another not quite so deliberate side effect is that I haven't bought any other EA game since, and likely won't do. How much of that is me being pissed off with the game and how much is me being pissed off with EA's output in general is another question entirely, but I suspect that both play a part.
Anyway, this blog is not about NFS or EA. It's about Test Drive Unlimited, Atari (publisher) and Eden Games (developer).
Today I stuck the game into my 360 to burn about a bit, only to be met by a complete lack of hardcore mode and the game thinking I don't have 6 achievements that I blatantly do. Yep, it fucked up my save. This by itself was enough to send me ballistic, but is not the end of the story.
After calming down (which took a flagrant disregard for the continued sim-life of anything that moved in Crackdown and resulted in me accidentally getting the Rampage achievement, which I thought was extremely apt timing), I figured that re-doing 6 achievements was not as bad as redoing the entire game. So, I took a deep breath, stuck the disk in the drive, and sat down to be bored shitless re-doing things I have already done and don't want to do again.
Then the game popped up a message saying something along the lines of "You're playing with an old save. Please don't do it again, or we'll restrict online play." The only reason I was trying to play with an old save was because the game fucked up both my current save and it's automatic backup. So, now I have a choice: don't play online, which sucks balls, or redo the entire game again, which sucks even more balls.
Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Atari and Eden Games to my "never play, reccomend friends never play, and tell everybody on the Internet how much they suck" list. Thanks guys, you have really made my day.
Whilst this is mostly a rant, we are all game developers here and there is one important thing to take away from this: Piss off your customers, and they will piss on you. And that is going to hurt an indie far, far more than EA or Atari.
Anyway, this blog is not about NFS or EA. It's about Test Drive Unlimited, Atari (publisher) and Eden Games (developer).
Today I stuck the game into my 360 to burn about a bit, only to be met by a complete lack of hardcore mode and the game thinking I don't have 6 achievements that I blatantly do. Yep, it fucked up my save. This by itself was enough to send me ballistic, but is not the end of the story.
After calming down (which took a flagrant disregard for the continued sim-life of anything that moved in Crackdown and resulted in me accidentally getting the Rampage achievement, which I thought was extremely apt timing), I figured that re-doing 6 achievements was not as bad as redoing the entire game. So, I took a deep breath, stuck the disk in the drive, and sat down to be bored shitless re-doing things I have already done and don't want to do again.
Then the game popped up a message saying something along the lines of "You're playing with an old save. Please don't do it again, or we'll restrict online play." The only reason I was trying to play with an old save was because the game fucked up both my current save and it's automatic backup. So, now I have a choice: don't play online, which sucks balls, or redo the entire game again, which sucks even more balls.
Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Atari and Eden Games to my "never play, reccomend friends never play, and tell everybody on the Internet how much they suck" list. Thanks guys, you have really made my day.
Whilst this is mostly a rant, we are all game developers here and there is one important thing to take away from this: Piss off your customers, and they will piss on you. And that is going to hurt an indie far, far more than EA or Atari.
About the author
#2
06/10/2007 (8:51 pm)
If it weren't for the Battlefield series of games I'd boycott EA too. ; -) 
#3
It is made by Image Space Inc. who used to make the F1 200x (until 2002 I believe) and Nascar Thunder games for EA before striking it out on their own and releasing rFactor in late 2005.
Also, if you want to race with the pro's, this is the place to do it. Several Nascar and Champ Car drivers run in leagues in rFactor.
06/11/2007 (1:36 am)
You seem like you're looking for a real racing simulator. Well, you should look no further than rFactor (www.rfactor.net) and it's plethora of mods (www.rfactorcentral.com) for whatever type of vehicle you fancy (sports car, nascar, F1, classic F1, etc)It is made by Image Space Inc. who used to make the F1 200x (until 2002 I believe) and Nascar Thunder games for EA before striking it out on their own and releasing rFactor in late 2005.
Also, if you want to race with the pro's, this is the place to do it. Several Nascar and Champ Car drivers run in leagues in rFactor.
#4
i think they are stuck in 1996-97 just with better graphics...
all new racing games i have tried have impressive similarities with late 90's playstation 1 racing games...
with the same sucky car physics.. where you can steer at u turns at 200 km/h or brake at max speed without consequences..or you collide with an object and you just stop... instead or bouncing or damaging
the only one that is somewhat decent.. is richard burns rally.. i like this game.. is challenging but lacks on some points
i will try rfactor to try it out :)
Cheers!
06/11/2007 (7:00 am)
yep..mostly all racing games nowdays suck..i think they are stuck in 1996-97 just with better graphics...
all new racing games i have tried have impressive similarities with late 90's playstation 1 racing games...
with the same sucky car physics.. where you can steer at u turns at 200 km/h or brake at max speed without consequences..or you collide with an object and you just stop... instead or bouncing or damaging
the only one that is somewhat decent.. is richard burns rally.. i like this game.. is challenging but lacks on some points
i will try rfactor to try it out :)
Cheers!
#5
I sold my Xbox 360 and unsubscribed about a month after buying this game.
06/11/2007 (7:31 am)
Yup, I completely agree with this game. I was so excited to play it after reading about it. I thought it would be just as good as Tokyo Xtreme, but with online components. I bought an Xbox 360 and Xbox Live specifically for this game. I never could play more than 3 or 4 minutes online because I kept getting a "Disconnected from Xbox Live" message. And of course, if you reconnect, you have to restart the game.I sold my Xbox 360 and unsubscribed about a month after buying this game.
#6
@Tom: You still wouldnt buy a Need for Speed game even if they made a new Hot Pursuit!!? :O
Try DiRT, PGR3, or even Forza 2 (if you like sims).. they're pretty cool :)
06/11/2007 (9:48 pm)
@John: You bought a 360 for Testdrive? Yikes.. :S@Tom: You still wouldnt buy a Need for Speed game even if they made a new Hot Pursuit!!? :O
Try DiRT, PGR3, or even Forza 2 (if you like sims).. they're pretty cool :)
#7
06/11/2007 (10:04 pm)
I fucking hate EA, most EA games don't even work on my high end $6.000 gaming rig and it is only the freacking EA games that dont work - wtf?
#8
i dont know if you share your save games, but this might make you think twice about it.
06/12/2007 (5:29 pm)
i am assuming you havent heard about msft deleting the saves of sports saved games they found posted on the internet. (from what i heard, it was centered around player roster swapping though)i dont know if you share your save games, but this might make you think twice about it.
Torque Owner Anton Bursch
In sports nobody would tolerate a ref who made you start the game over because the score board glitched. That would result in a dead ref.
I hope you use GameFly and didn't waste $60. At least you wouldn't have to own a game you'll never play again. ~$20 a month to try out games has saved me a lot of money and at least when the game sucks I don't feel out more than a wait until I get another game that sucks.