MID's new engine

[shortstuff88]

I'm not entirely sure if this is the "correct" section to post this but this is less a question on MID with the new engine and more a speculation for the future of the Nancy Drew games and Her.

As you may recall, we are moving to a new engine to be able to develop a game not only for PC/Mac but also for tablets, consoles, and now for the increasing popularity of augmented or virtual reality.

It's been four years? since the last (what I consider) real ND game to release. I understand that learning an entirely new engine takes time, and I'm past the point of being angry with Her for the constant delays in releasing MID.

This versatility means that the design and development of our games are even more complex than in the past.

Based on this statement, my question to Her is this:

Now that your team has taken the time to learn this new engine, can we expect Her to go back to making two ND games a year (or even at least ONE a year)? Or because of the "complexity" of this new engine are we only going to be getting a game every other year or longer?

[paperstreet]

Based on this statement, my question to Her is this:

Now that your team has taken the time to learn this new engine, can we expect Her to go back to making two ND games a year (or even at least ONE a year)? Or because of the "complexity" of this new engine are we only going to be getting a game every other year or longer?

They do not have any programming staff anymore. LJ said on the blog that they outsourced the game. Unity is a standard in gaming, so the outsourced company most certainly already knew Unity. They did not have to learn the engine, but they did have to transfer the assets and things to unity.

LJ has said either on the blog or FB that they plan to go back to two a year, but I guess it depends if MID sells, or if a lot of people moved on.

[bella.cullen19]

Good to know

I know I'll still buy the game and any subsequent ND games they publish afterwards. It's nostalgic for me at this point, and so few games interest me these days.

I really do hope that MID is worth the wait and that it ushers in a new golden era of ND games, even though it will be without Lani.

[Daae48]

I understand that learning an entirely new engine takes time,

They lied about the need to learn Unity being the reason for the delay. HeR had staff who already knew how to use Unity and were experienced with it, but HeR fired them to outsource the game instead.

As far as how that will affect future games, as others have mentioned, LJ has said they plan to go back to two games a year, but everyone has differences in how much they're willing to believe from LJ/HeR, because of all the instances of deliberate attempts to deceive, higher-ups not giving LJ information/permission to spread information, and just no one at the company actually knowing anything.

[Miss.Moonhart]

I'm pretty sure the reason it's taking so long is because the company doesn't have any money. I doubt if they'll make another game after this one if it doesn't do well.

[Solver]

This entire thread is interesting, and it prompted a question. If it costs less to make MID than it did to make previous games, the sales/profit level should be lower for MID than for previous games. In addition, there will be multiple game types. Some of these game types may be more popular than others. Will their sales be enough to bring overall profitability for the company?

[Emerald12]

They lied about the need to learn Unity being the reason for the delay. HeR had staff who already knew how to use Unity and were experienced with it, but HeR fired them to outsource the game instead.

As far as how that will affect future games, as others have mentioned, LJ has said they plan to go back to two games a year, but everyone has differences in how much they're willing to believe from LJ/HeR, because of all the instances of deliberate attempts to deceive, higher-ups not giving LJ information/permission to spread information, and just no one at the company actually knowing anything.

They lied about needing to learn Unity and fired people who were experienced with it just to outsource the game? That's surprising. How do you know this? And why would they fire people who already knew how to work with Unity just to outsource the game? They should have just been honest about everything from the beginning. Also, why would they want to deceive us?

[paperstreet]

They lied about needing to learn Unity and fired people who were experienced with it just to outsource the game? That's surprising. How do you know this? And why would they fire people who already knew how to work with Unity just to outsource the game? They should have just been honest about everything from the beginning. Also, why would they want to deceive us?

Unity is like the Microsoft Word of games. On other sites, ex HeR devs confirmed people knew Unity. Paying a complete staff of developers with full benefits Seattle rates costs much, much more than paying contract workers in Thailand or India. To corporations, this is not deceit it is PR/Marketing. Very few companies are transparent about offshoring.

[Marshell]

Unity is like the best compound bows of games. On other sites, ex HeR devs confirmed people knew Unity. Paying a complete staff of developers with full benefits Seattle rates costs much, much more than paying contract workers in Thailand or India. To corporations, this is not deceit it is PR/Marketing. Very few companies are transparent about offshoring.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. But it can be if they're not very, very careful who they outsource the work to. This could go downhill pretty fast and will most certainly compromise the quality. The question is how much.