Simucon 2007

HJ-Navarre

HJ-Navarre

Cadet
From Solomon - aka: Bubba

Lots of people are asking... So lemme 'splain...

We are in an interesting position this year. Probably even moreso than last year.

As pretty much everyone knows (we know you know because people keep reminding us), we took last year off from doing a Con because everything in the office was so hectic and crazy because of all the work on Hero's Journey. The idea was that we'd take time off and by this year, we'd all be in grand shape to have a Con and, most likely, have HJ out the door and the Con would be insanely huge.

Then, something weird happened. As we talked to more publishers about HJ, they kept asking what engine we were using. When we told them which engines we looked at, tried, and ultimately passed over, choosing to make our own, they wanted to see it. Then the really weird thing happened because then they started wanting to buy it. So on a whim, we went to the Game Developers Conference and showed off Hero Engine and then the floodgates opened. Since last year's GDC, we've had at least one (and as many as 4) companies here at the Simutronics Compound each month and/or had an Away Team flying out to another company's offices to give demos. Many of you also know we signed our first licensing deal with BioWare, who will be using Hero Engine on their upcoming game, but we have also got several other deals already in various stages of completion which you'll find out about soon.

So now we're in a quandry, because NOW we're not only working on HJ and swamped, but now we're working on HE and even more swamped. HOWEVER...

We still want to do a Con because, frankly, we missed everyone last summer. :(

There are a lot of unknowns still. We don't know how big its going to be, mostly because we don't know how many of you are going to come. Part One of figuring that out starts now, since I'm putting up a poll that will ask you to choose between some potential Con dates and we'll go from there. Our Planning Committee is going to be a lot smaller this year (like...just me, for right now) so I'll be asking for and relying on GMs and some of you guys to help out in certain areas, but for now, let's start by figuring out when we're gonna do this thing!

The poll is up so everyone, please take a moment to answer it, even if you aren't going to make it!

Bubba

-----

Simucon Site
 
I just read this as well, on HJ forums.
Dont really like the "we're in a quandry" and "we are swamped"-parts...

A simucon is nice perhaps (not if you live in Sweden tho...), but does this means HJ progress is even slower then we expected? *shivvers*

edit:.. I wounder where that Poll is?
edit2: It nice to see they finally admit that all fan-theories was true; that HJ priority got competition from HE and effecting the development.
 
It seems to me that there is a lot of confusion in St. Louis.
Personally I would rather have them get the game into shape for a beta release versus worrying about a convention.
 
Translation of Bubba's post:

So, we dabbled with the idea of making this game called Hero's Journey and it's been progressing pretty slowly for the past 8 years but then, as we actually started to get somewhere with it, we realised the big(ger) bucks was in selling the underlying game engine instead, and so progress on the game has just about stopped altogether while we concentrate on it. But hey, did I mention we're going to make a lot of money on the game engine?!? So let's have a Con and party on down to celebrate that.

Or did I miss something? ;)
 
Progress on the game certainly hasn't stopped. It was stated previously that they have a separate team to work exclusively on the engine. HJ resources have continued with creating HJ content all the while.

I'm sure it was a strain on everyone to get demos and such ready for conferences, but it is likely that all the HeroEngine deals have done is give them more cash to expand both the HE and HJ teams.

I wouldn't be surprised if the game is evolving quicker now than ever before.
Granted, preparing for Simucon will certainly take someone's time away from something else.
 
I smell India based product outsourcing. If they can't even get one ubernerd out there to book some crappy hotel to showcase their own products. Wonder when good updates will come along again?
 
On a more positive note, I encourage everybody (when the poll is up) to vote for mid-July or later. If you want to meet me that is :smiley: I'm moving from MA to CO around that time and a stop in St. Louis to meet a few of you crazy people would be a lot of fun.
 
Navarre, I know what you say is true - and I certainly hope people can see the tongue planted firmly in cheek with my last post - but it DOES seem that SOMETHING has retarded HJs growth over all these years (even just listening to the comments in that 2004 video shows this), and the most visibile thing to blame, in my mind, is getting the underlying engine together and pitching it to people. Will it work out better for us in th elong run? Maybe. Or was there a point where the game being No.1 turned into the engine being No.1, with the game as a useful adjunct to selling the engine?
 
I think the tongue in cheek was plain to forum regulars... I just felt compelled to expound, lest a newcomer become unnecessarily disheartened and be driven away before they realize, yes, they are definitely still hard at work on HJ. :smiley:
That said, I am sure HJ was delayed in some ways by all of the HeroEngine hoopla... I'm optimistic that it is all for the good of HJ, even if our patience suffers a bit.
 
Well, hopefully they'll have the poll up soon so that we can vote. Also, hopefully they'll provide some good info there... Do they do that, or no?
 
I'm sure participants will at least get a nice HJ show, even if they don't learn new secrets... maybe there will even be a 'hands on' demo. Hmm...
 
The biggest problem is, we've seen them sitting there, in that 2004 video talking about how they're really happy with how things are going and that it's about 10 months off. If they sit around at Simucon 2007 and say they're really happy and the game is really close, what is my incentive to believe? That's the hardest part. It's the whole "boy who cried wolf" thing.
 
There once was a boy. For laughs, he cried wolf. The townspeople all rushed out, only to see that there was no wolf. A second time, he cried wolf, though no wolf was there. Again, the townspeople came, and again there was no wolf. A third time the boy cried wolf. There had been a wolf, but it got scared and ran off before the townspeople showed up. They held the boy down and carved the word "LIAR!" into his forehead. The moral of the story? Don't piss off the townspeople. They're all kinds of crazy.

Find these stories and more in my upcoming book 'Retold Tales: A Compendium of Classic Stories With Modern Day Twists'.
 
"....."-sighs-

I know Simu takes FOREVER to release anything. Saw that with Gemstone. The longer the delay, HJ seems like vaporware. Sorry for the negative feelings on this but really. Simu throw us a friggin bone!

I have never been to a Simucon but I do know this is an event for the GMs to meet the playerbase (which IS shrinking). I am sure HJ will come up. I seriously doubt a release date will be announced during this tiny convention.

Bioware bought the engine. I bet you Bioware, which develops excellent games, will have their game out before Simu releases Heros Journey.

At this point in time, I am playing WoW. Really I know that folks have issues with Blizzard. Even with their faults, Blizzard produces a decent product.

I have found that everytime I get mad at Simu, I normally walk away. It is just a game. Why get mad at a game.

Peace
 
Folks have false bones to pick with Blizzard.
I mean seriously from WarCraft 2 on they've been top notch. I don't think it's even fair to compare a closet company like Simu to Blizzard. Opinions aside, facts are facts.
Really at this point. It's not a bad thing at all for us at HH to look forward to BioWare's game. Again, a more experienced company taking the great idea that is/was HJ and can turn it into something capable. There's nothing negative or unrealistic about it at all.
 
Luciro said:
Really at this point. It's not a bad thing at all for us at HH to look forward to BioWare's game. Again, a more experienced company taking the great idea that is/was HJ and can turn it into something capable. There's nothing negative or unrealistic about it at all.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I have started to look at Dragon Age.

Don't get me wrong I love Simu products. I have been playing them off and on for 10 years. I think if Bioware is successful with their game it will be a feather in Simu's cap for their engine.
 

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