Q&A: June 15th, 2022

San_Rayncloud Asks
Are there any comics (superheroes, manga, or otherwise) that you'd like to see adapted to film/animation that, as of now, haven't?

I've got no ideas for what a Daredevil game would be, but considering that every single dog enemy ever put into a video game basically is Daredevil, perhaps it's best to skip him.

Of all the comics on my shelf, the one that stands out the most is The Shadow. The M-Rated precursor to Batman with guns seems like a perfect fit for the medium, especially as the character's all about spreading his influence via people he saves owing him favors, almost like Big Boss.

I do know there was a 100 Bullets game being made by Acclaim before they went bankrupt, but as much as I love that comic, I'm not entirely confident in its ability to be a great video-game.

RupertLitterbin Asks
How do you feel about the CoD MW 2 2 trailer?

Haven't seen it.

I don't really pay much attention to COD trailers as I don't' buy them at launch anyway.

Kyle Dieleman Asks
Do you think an industry crash would help fix the issues with the Triple AAA FPS industry? Games like Halo, COD, Battlefield, ect?

I originally wrote multiple paragraphs about how the industry is currently rewarding all of the things that create games like the current state of COD and Halo, but then I forgot, the question is would a crash help?

Eh, personally, I don't think so, because "help" is a pretty broad term.

The crash in the 80s didn't really "help", it just shifted the playing field and who the market leaders were, and I don't think a similar shift in the modern day would occur following a crash.

Companies like Microsoft are way too big to be brought down by the gaming industry, and the reason people buy crap from EA like the yearly Madden franchises is because they've got no other option. Tanking the market for a couple years wouldn't change that.

So no, I don't think a crash would help the industry's problems in Triple AAA games. If anything, as seen with the global crash in 2008, it'd just make these companies clam up even more, and double or triple down on the obnoxious business models they've been spamming these last bunch of years.

Juhana Asks
Would you rather have your left leg be one inch shorter than the right or the right leg be one inch shorter than the left?

Flip a coin, they've got shoe insoles that solve that problem.

Vsevolod Frost Asks
Do you have any plans, wishes, dreams about making your own video game?

Absolutely!

I actually keep a page on my computer of all the project ideas I've got. Books, Films, Shows, Games, Comics, etc.

Personally, I'd want to be secure in my own talent and ability before branching off and collaborating with large groups of people, just to prove to myself that I can put out valued work without anybody else to blame it on should it fail.

For games, I've got a couple that I've been day dreaming about.

1. A WWII top-down stealth-action game about a German Soldier waking up from an execution line to find himself alive, still bleeding from his gunshot wound. The game's based on a story I heard from German family members of someone who was sent off to Stalingrad, lost his entire squad, and somehow managed to survive on foot all the way back to Berlin.

2. A Black Lagoon game. My elevator pitch is Max Payne meets Devil May Cry. Max Payne's third person over the top gameplay with the main character Revy leaping through the air firing duel pistols, but with a multiplier and metal music going on in the background. I really want to port in BF2: MC's mechanic where your character chained together kills to get bonuses that made your character more powerful on the fly. I think you could make a whole new way of playing shooters that don't rely on health packs, regenerating health cover shooting, or bullet time.

3. A Tomb Raider game, but one that mainly takes place in Iceland, with the player being able to explore these Tombs completely freely. Rather than a linear experience, you give the player a location marker, and say "I don't care how you get there." I'd want it to be a slow burner where the player starts off being scared of gaps, jumps, and climbing up walls with picks, before later on being able to do those same things with their eyes closed. 

I'd also really want Sigur Ros on the OST.

Lorn's Lure captured so much of what I would want to do with that last game, so definitely give that demo a try if it's still up.

In the meantime, I've been recently thinking about a Mass Effect Boomer Shooter staring Jack, a Comedy Stealth game based on robbing Notch's mansion, and an Apex Legends Campaign starring Wraith that uses the TF2 time travel mechanic as a base.

Problem with game development is that I'd be a pretty useless member of the team. Producing or creative directing's the most I could do, and that's not a position you just start in.

Hopefully one day, those dreams will come true.

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