Layoffs

Oh did I write Ubi? I want Uber.. Too much hyped about Assassin's Creed Syndicate lolz.

FTFY (considering your last post)

don´t think so ...
i dare say grey goo did rather poorly if steamsales are to be trusted
and appearantly many consider act of aggression rather average/mediocre
even then i don´t see these games to be in direct competition with PA because of how different they are

realy if at all legacy of the void may lure rts players to it .. but still people that want large scale rts may still have interest in PA ..

(personaly i may take a look into company of heroes 2 because it looks actualy pretty cool)

so no i don´t see other rts´s hurting PA ... there simply isn´t anything in direct competition to it ...
and i don´t think ashes of the singularity will be going to change that either ...

Have to agree there.
I had high hopes for Act Of Agression but in the end the game just feels average for me.
Grey goo ended up being average as well, something just didn't click with me. The presentation of the factions? Campaign felt dodge as well in both games. Many aspects of the grey goo campaign in particular felt cheap to me.

All in all I don't think these RTS games are crossing over too much, so don't think they are hurting PA's sales, its more just the negative views posted around the place that hurt original sales then things spiralled downwards from there.

Starcraft itself is and RTS but completely different to PA. Caters to a different audience so don't think that is affecting it either. Well not directly anyway, pretty much holds the reigns over the entire RTS scene.

I really wanted to dislike that post to the max but thought better not to respond to it. Good you muted it!

Sorian's twitter profile now says Envelop VR, so the layoff may be a technical step in a staff transfer between sister companies. Of course Sorian doubtless knew some of the people, so it could have been independent as well.

Lol he's gone to Envelope Nice.

I'll be really interested to see what Envelope come up with to be honest. From their website they look more focused on commercial applications for VR rather than games, which could mean really cool new tech down the road for me to use in my line of work

Jon Mavor is the CTO of both Uber and Envelop VR, and Bob Berry is the CEO of both companies as well.

So as Wondible said, Sorian is merely being transferred from one company to the other, since they probably just need maintenance on PA's AI. But I'm sure some other employees were let go because the game just needs maintenance at this point, and possibly isn't getting enough sales to keep the company afloat.

I hope the game survives. These guys have spent most of their careers trying to get Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, and now Planetary Annihilation, to succeed. This really is the best work they've ever done, and the best technology ever developed in an RTS by far.

NECRO!NECRO!NECRO!


just too lazy to open a new thread but i wonder how many people of uber are active ... because it feels like almost 3 months where there last has been activity from uberemployes

NERCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!! number 2 .... but it appears sorian is no longer with envelop according to his recent tweets ...


well ... that ... sux .. to say the least ... and while i don´t want to doom and gloom ... imho it kinda makes the future of uber much more questionable ... *sigh*

Personally, I'm not that pessimistic. PA always has been a labour of love from all those involved. Look at (S)MNC - despite never having made a profit Uber continues to keep the servers online.

And being in the fortunate position of having met many of the guys at Uber personally, I have confidence that they'll keep the lights on

Lol sorry for the *late* reply- I must have missed this last year haha!

I run a small product design firm. I offer 3D Cad and electronic design services with a specialism in medical and disability equipment.

If you've ever watched how Tony Stark designs stuff in the Iron Man films- well I can envisage that VR would be able to provide that type of visualization (i.e. get 'hands on' with a 3D model rather than just look at it on screen). Obviously design requires a bit more work than the 'hand-wavium, oh look it's done' approach shown in Iron Man, but the interface is actually something industry has been looking at for a while.

There is already a 'VR table' out by HP I believe- which has the user look through a 'lens' at a surface with their hands below allowing interaction with 3D objects. Another neat bit of kit I've had chance to work with are some of the various 'haptic devices'- which are basically an advanced, force feedback 'pen'- the device includes a set of motors and encoders so that the device will follow the shape of a 3D object on screen when the virtual tool touches it, allowing the operator to carve the object a bit like working with clay.

Just to toss this out there to clear up confusion. Uber is not tied to Envelop. They are 2 entirely different companies.

isn´t uber a sistercompany of envelop though?

As I understood it, they are 2 entirely different *legal* entities- however they are founded by the same people (at least in part?) who founded Uber? I think that is why people view them as 'sister' companies- especially with people like Sorian effectively being 'moved over' when Envelop was first formed...

They have same founders, however they are not tied to each other in any legal or business ways. They do their thing, we do ours. Nothing that happens there affects us or vice versa.

Alright then

are berry and mavor still involved with uber or do they primarily/only work/focus on envelop now?