Homefront - Catch all

Tkyl wrote:

Hey guys. So I was actually out of the office today and just received the call about the closure. I'm not sure what I'm aloud to say about the closure, so I'll just keep it pretty simple. We were all expecting this to happen sooner or later, so we've been at least somewhat prepared. Most of us have been actively interviewing at other places.

Good, sounds like you weren't blindsided by this, hope you were prepared and things go easy for you.

It's situations like this that keep me away from getting into the game industry as a 3D modeler. This happens all too often. Best of luck to you Tkyl and unless you are going to Rockstar or Gameloft you will be moving out of NYC. It's been fun hanging out!

TempestBlayze wrote:

It's situations like this that keep me away from getting into the game industry as a 3D modeler. This happens all too often.

I can think of a laundry list of other reasons why I wouldn't want to get into the games industry too.

Tkyl wrote:

Hey guys. So I was actually out of the office today and just received the call about the closure. I'm not sure what I'm aloud to say about the closure, so I'll just keep it pretty simple. We were all expecting this to happen sooner or later, so we've been at least somewhat prepared. Most of us have been actively interviewing at other places.

I've got to run, but I'll be back on later and might be able to share some more info.

Thanks for the best wishes.

Good luck, buddy - best wishes and all that. Let us know if you need us to send you some pictures of junk, because that is apparently something people on the internet do.

But seriously, good luck.

Tough break Tkyl. Good luck in the job hunt.

Tkyl, if you want to stick around NYC I just read about Avalanche Studio opening on Joystiq

You know, I never followed the game, but I noticed THQ is having a good quarter this year compared to last in their financial report and they mentioned they're handing Homefront 2 to Crytek. Also, according to npd, homefront on the 360 was the #17 selling game so far this year. Sad to see that tykl was hit by the studio being shut down, despite a good performance.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Sad to see that tykl was hit by the studio being shut down, despite a good performance.

I think the biggest issue I had was THQ kept telling us that if the game sold well, we'd be able to work on the sequel. Then it goes and sells decently (not amazingly, but it defintely made it's money back) and they shut us down anyways. As much as it sucked to have had to move on from the studio, I've definitely landed a better gig.

Tkyl wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Sad to see that tykl was hit by the studio being shut down, despite a good performance.

I think the biggest issue I had was THQ kept telling us that if the game sold well, we'd be able to work on the sequel. Then it goes and sells decently (not amazingly, but it defintely made it's money back) and they shut us down anyways. As much as it sucked to have had to move on from the studio, I've definitely landed a better gig.

That's good to hear. For what it's worth, I enjoyed it more than MW2's campaign.

Didn't play the multiplayer, though.

ccesarano wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Sad to see that tykl was hit by the studio being shut down, despite a good performance.

I think the biggest issue I had was THQ kept telling us that if the game sold well, we'd be able to work on the sequel. Then it goes and sells decently (not amazingly, but it defintely made it's money back) and they shut us down anyways. As much as it sucked to have had to move on from the studio, I've definitely landed a better gig.

That's good to hear. For what it's worth, I enjoyed it more than MW2's campaign.

Didn't play the multiplayer, though.

The multiplayer was the best part. We had a little snafu with multiplayer connectivity that definitely hurt us, but when that was fixed, the multiplayer was amazing, IMO. In fact, Battlefield 3 and MW3 have already taken several of new features we introduced and have added them to their game.

Tkyl wrote:
ccesarano wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Sad to see that tykl was hit by the studio being shut down, despite a good performance.

I think the biggest issue I had was THQ kept telling us that if the game sold well, we'd be able to work on the sequel. Then it goes and sells decently (not amazingly, but it defintely made it's money back) and they shut us down anyways. As much as it sucked to have had to move on from the studio, I've definitely landed a better gig.

That's good to hear. For what it's worth, I enjoyed it more than MW2's campaign.

Didn't play the multiplayer, though.

The multiplayer was the best part. We had a little snafu with multiplayer connectivity that definitely hurt us, but when that was fixed, the multiplayer was amazing, IMO. In fact, Battlefield 3 and MW3 have already taken several of new features we introduced and have added them to their game.

I really enjoyed the multiplayer but there is almost nobody playing it. It was a nice blend between battlefield and COD. Also the hit detection was really solid.

breander wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
ccesarano wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Sad to see that tykl was hit by the studio being shut down, despite a good performance.

I think the biggest issue I had was THQ kept telling us that if the game sold well, we'd be able to work on the sequel. Then it goes and sells decently (not amazingly, but it defintely made it's money back) and they shut us down anyways. As much as it sucked to have had to move on from the studio, I've definitely landed a better gig.

That's good to hear. For what it's worth, I enjoyed it more than MW2's campaign.

Didn't play the multiplayer, though.

The multiplayer was the best part. We had a little snafu with multiplayer connectivity that definitely hurt us, but when that was fixed, the multiplayer was amazing, IMO. In fact, Battlefield 3 and MW3 have already taken several of new features we introduced and have added them to their game.

I really enjoyed the multiplayer but there is almost nobody playing it. It was a nice blend between battlefield and COD. Also the hit detection was really solid.

Yep i tried going back to it awhile back and the servers were empty.

I still get games nearly instantly on 360, FWIW.

I tried multiplayer once. I would always spawn in a fenced in yard. As soon as I went through any of the exits out of that yard I got sniper by somebody on the other side of the map. After three times, I turned it off and never played it again.

Tkyl wrote:

In fact, Battlefield 3 and MW3 have already taken several of new features we introduced and have added them to their game.

My brain is fried here at work and, I'm having trouble figuring out which features you are talking about; do you mind elaborating?

Instant Spawn in Vehicle - Homefront didn't have vehicles sitting around. You would purchase a vehicle and directly spawn in it. Battlefield is known for having vehicles spawn in the map that you have to run to, to be able to get in. However, in BF3 they now allow you to instantly spawn in a vehicle if it's available at the spawn.

Drones - Both MW3 and BF3 now have drones.

That's just off the top of my head. I've barely played BF3 so far. Most of what I've heard of is from ex-Kaos employees mentioning various things. I think MW3 is also supposed to have EMP grenades now.

I'm not trying to brag and say, "Homefront is so much better! They are all trying to copy us." It's just nice to see that even though we did several things wrong, we did several things right that other studios are copying and integrating into their games.

Oh, and MW3 is changing how they do killstreaks. Instead of actually having to hit a killstreak, you earn points for killing people and completing objectives. You then use those points to buy strike packages. Sounds very similar to our system.

Tkyl wrote:

Instant Spawn in Vehicle - Homefront didn't have vehicles sitting around. You would purchase a vehicle and directly spawn in it. Battlefield is known for having vehicles spawn in the map that you have to run to, to be able to get in. However, in BF3 they now allow you to instantly spawn in a vehicle if it's available at the spawn.

Drones - Both MW3 and BF3 now have drones.

That's just off the top of my head. I've barely played BF3 so far. Most of what I've heard of is from ex-Kaos employees mentioning various things. I think MW3 is also supposed to have EMP grenades now.

I'm not trying to brag and say, "Homefront is so much better! They are all trying to copy us." It's just nice to see that even though we did several things wrong, we did several things right that other studios are copying and integrating into their games.

Oh, and MW3 is changing how they do killstreaks. Instead of actually having to hit a killstreak, you earn points for killing people and completing objectives. You then use those points to buy strike packages. Sounds very similar to our system. :)

I wasn't coming down on yo for the comment; just trying to figure out what the things were. I enjoyed HF MP after the launch issues where figured out.

There was definitely a lot of good ideas in HF. But if BF3 and MW3 took things from HF, HF also took things from older BF and CoD games.

Nothing wrong with that. That's the way the genre evolves.

Sounds like Desert Combat/BF2 over again. That has to piss off the founders.

Tigerbill wrote:

I wasn't coming down on yo for the comment; just trying to figure out what the things were. I enjoyed HF MP after the launch issues where figured out.

Yeah, I know. I didn't take it as such.

MannishBoy wrote:

There was definitely a lot of good ideas in HF. But if BF3 and MW3 took things from HF, HF also took things from older BF and CoD games.

Nothing wrong with that. That's the way the genre evolves.

We definitely borrowed a lot from CoD games. In fact, so much so that whenever we had to ask a designer how he wanted certain things implemented we knew his response was going to be, "What did CoD do?"

WWCODDO

Has a nice ring to it!

Scratched wrote:

Sounds like Desert Combat/BF2 over again. That has to piss off the founders.

I had no idea of the history there. Interesting.

So I picked this up last night on sale - anyone still have this on 360?

Today begins the story of Homefront....

TempestBlayze wrote:

Today begins the story of Homefront....

Ironic that Kim Jong-Il died over the weekend, and that America has turned itself into a CLEVELAND.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/55...
$7.50

is it worth it? lol

groan wrote:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/55...
$7.50

is it worth it? lol

You're looking at a 5 hour single player campaign that is fun, but has many significant flaws.

Multiplayer servers are pretty much empty.

Elycion wrote:
groan wrote:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/55...
$7.50

is it worth it? lol

You're looking at a 5 hour single player campaign that is fun, but has many significant flaws.

Multiplayer servers are pretty much empty.

thanks, so I pretty much wasted my $7.50 because I liked the trailers. SUCKERED!
too bad you cant gift something you purchased for yourself as long as you dont install it...

I'm enjoying the multiplayer. There are usually 3-4 servers with 20+ people playing on them at the times I've looked. It's easy to get into a game.

Edit: So right now there are 9 servers up with more than 20 people on them. I wouldn't call it dead, but I wouldn't imagine that it's on a top 10 anywhere.

Maybe this sale will revamp the interest.

not like i needed another shooter, but i like the idea, strangely, of fighting in urban western cities. seems surreal.