Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance IP

I remember reading somewhere that Jon once approached the owner of Total A. IP for a potential rebuy.
And the price was too high.
Greedy publisher.

But now there is a chance to get an other one : Supreme Commander.
As you probably know, THQ is dead.
And most of their IP and Studios has been sold.

But there are still some licences in store, and they will be put in auction soon.
=> http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/27/darksiders-red-faction-and-more-go-to-under-the-hammer/

So, who got some money to spare ?

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Except THQ never owned the SupCom IP, GPG had it until they had to use it as leverage to get Square Enix to Publish SupCom2, so now it's SE you need to ask about the possibility of a SupCom3.

Mike

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Completly true !

But to be honest, i didn't even thinked about a SupComm3 !
Was more thinking about reusing with total freedom the stuff & ideas present in SupCom1 & FA...

[Edit] : Typos, typos...

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

........What kind of things couldn't they do without the IP? We already have Flow-eco, Strat Zoom, lots of units.......what's left to take aside from the name(and after SupCom2 it might not be the best idea really)

Mike

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Only the publishing rights are on sell. Basically, you will just have a piece of paper allowing you to sell it on steam.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

There's always the amazing universe and storyline.

Buahaha. Can't say that with a straight face.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

...

I liked the SupCom storyline, and the sc2 one nonwithstanding (I thought the plot line overall was pretty decent even if some may argue over the specifics of the story), it deserves continuation.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Especially once Dotswarlock was done with it.

Mike

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

THQ doesn't own the IP so it's a moot point.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Personally, I'm interested in seeing what happens to Homeworld.

It was one of my favorites.

Notmike

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Yes, Dotswarlock proved that the storyline itself holds some awesome potential, and if anything it is the (in-game) execution that was lacking. In fact, the only thing holding his novel back IMHO is his will to stick to the gameplay specifics even when they make no sense. (...bot veterancy?)
That and when you're coughing blood after being hit in the ribs, you're not just bruised, you're dying. Because I like nitpicking on a single tiny detail nearly no-one will pay attention to.

What I hope for is someone doing a remake with (at least) pre-WoW-Blizzard narrative skills. One can dream...

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

My personal belief is that while there is a ton of value being able to evoke favorite IPs when making a game - obviously, the parallels between what we're doing and Total Annihilation are huge - most games in general are just as well off finding their own path as they are linking to existing IP.

The advantages of using an existing an IP, such as fan base, built in sales, and pre-built universe, are more than offset by the limiting factors. You lose a lot of freedom to innovate, and the potential for upsetting the fanbase is HUGE, even when you make good decisions.

Of course, I worked on the XCOM FPS for a while, so maybe I'm more sensitive to it. We got universally panned before people even knew anything about the game because we were making an FPS built around XCOM, which was, apparently, HERESY. That was an extreme example, but even microcosms of that apply when doing a more apples to apples comparison like TA/Sup Com/PA.

That's not to say obtaining those well loved IPs when it makes sense isn't a good idea, but it's no substitute for just making an awesome game.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Yep, makes total sense.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Imagine that. People wanting a sequel to carry the torch of its predecessors. Who would have thunk a tactical game series would have gone so wrong when it stopped being a tactical game? Even XCOM:Interceptor had recognizable ties to the original, despite being poorly executed.

Supcom2 had the same problem, where it changed the core dynamic that defined its predecessors. It was a decent enough game, but to too many people it wasn't a TotalA successor.

Honestly, all the XCOM FPS had to do was change its name. It could have still been a good game. It could have still been an exciting, surreal experience. But some bonehead was so stuck to the title that he killed the whole project rather than change its name. That makes no sense.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

All they would have had to have done is change the announcement order. Firaxis was already hard at work on the gameplay successor. If that had been announced first, and ours second, I think all the concerns would have gone away. Announcing them the other way around was just.. well. Not advisable. Anyway, offtopic, and kind of a weird example, but still relevant.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

You are making his point for him. Old IP's come with a lot of baggage that isn't always helpful.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Conversely, you can have new IPs that use the best features of previous games and get spectacular results. Fallout 1 was created because the developers lost the IP to Wasteland. Deus Ex took tons of inspiration from System Shock. And most notably, Starcraft was a completely new direction for Blizzard that wasn't another Warcraft. Now look at the juggernaut it has become.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

Yeah, Blizzard not getting the Warhammer and Warhammer: 40 000 licenses were probably one of the best things to happen to them. They made a fortune of changing just enough to get around copyright. And saved them themselves a tonne of licensing fees.

That being said, sometimes the IP itself does matter. I could care less about the lore behind TA or SupCom honestly. Homeworld on the other hand, the background, story and even the characters (such as they were) are part of what made that series so good. It's the only RTS where I actually cared about the plot at all. Story or universe driven games, IP matters for the game itself.

But unless you got the good writers to back it up it's probably more a hindrance, unless you really need the installed player base. Look at Aliens: Colonial Marine, Gearbox has burnt a lot more goodwill for wrecking an Aliens game than they ever would for wrecking a Borderlands game. They effectively destroyed a franchise, a much beloved one, people are demanding their heads on a platter. So unless you really need an IP I'd stay the hell away from it.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

This was actually the core of my point. I would add to your sentence.. "to you". That's the danger of IPs, at the end of the day. They mean different things to different people. To you, the story on that was critical, but to someone else, perhaps it was the gameplay.

Evoking nostalgia is far more powerful a tool than trying to recreate nostalgia. As has been said, nostalgia isn't as good as it used to be.

Re: Supreme Commander and Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

If I could get the Aliens or Terminator licenses I would love to make a game. In my Alien's game you play through the actual movie. I want Hicks and Hudson fighting by my side. I want to be there when the **** goes down under the cooling towers and Apone bites it! I want to pull out the shotgun while Vasquez ******* screams about how she's going to shoot the **** out of these fuckers. I want to remote pilot the drop ship back after the ******* bishop tunnel mini-game. And pressing the button that's nukes the whole site from orbit... priceless!

It's the only way to be sure.