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Freelancer (Roberts brothers/digital anvil/Wing Commander) maybe scrapped

My guess is that the suits heading Digital Anvil saw Freelancer's design move into the realm of non-profitability. In other words -- it became top expensive to finish, too complex to sell to the Deer Hunter crowd. That scared them.

Roberts and his team probably fought to keep the game true to their vision but lost in the end. This type of thing happens all the time in today's PC gaming biz. Ironically, Roberts, in making Wing Commander 3 which was the first PC game to cost > $1 mil to build, started the trend toward very expensive games with full motion video and simplistic gameplay.

It's probably for the better -- you wouldn't want to have bought Privateer Lite anyway which is the game I'm sure Digital Anvil wanted ROberts to make.
 
These "lite" games really irk me. Everybody is making them. Net result? Oversaturation. Every developer resource working on a "lite" game...or even a console...means one less to work on groundbreaking games that I enjoy. Don't get me wrong, "accessible" games are nice every so often but if every title offers simplistic, derivitive gameplay that leaves nothing for those of us who want more.
 
Voodoo Extreme has a press release up that Microsoft bought Digital Anvil, and Freelancer will be finished!
 
If it's a groundbreaking game, Roberts and Company would not have left. This game is better left unpublished.
 
Check these 2 interviews with Digital Anvil staff (thanks bluesnews):
http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2661569,00.html
http://pc.ign.com/news/28608.html

They really explain what's been going on, and it seems as if - fortunately - the situation is not as bad as it seemed earlier the day.
For one, Chris Roberts will leave DA, however he will still work on Freelancer as a "creative consultant" whatever that means. He didn't leave DA because his vision of Freelancer would not come true or whatever was mentioned in this thread, but (at least that's what he says), because he doesn't want to work in such a big company environment as MS. He had similar reasons for leaving EA a few years before.
Freelancer is to a good degree done, there will be no design changes because of the deal. The target release date should not change.

Myself, I am eagerly waiting eagerly for the game. It doesn't seem to be a "lite" game at ALL to me, but rather an open, very in-depth game. Maybe it'll be one of the last single-player games worth playing (for me).
 
Guys,

I loved the Wing Commander Genre, and have all the games on the PC. Is there any word on the 2nd Part of Wing Commander Prophecy?? Or has this gone to sh*t as well?

Anyway, I have been looking at Star Lancer is this any good?

Also I can't wait for FreeSpace 3. Since these guys are the only ones doing good space-sims now.

Its such a shame that no-one is taking up Wing Commander 1, and giving it a make over for the next-gen cards. Man the graphics would rock. And im sure that would be a hit!

 
Daemon,

Electronic Arts now owns the rights for the WC series I believe. And EA is only interested in games that make a ton of money. Space games aren't selling now so the odds you'll see another single-player Wing Commander are nil. Perhaps something ma$$ively multiplayer, but nothing solo.

Of course all it would take is one or two new space games that sell well and the whole genre could be reborn.

Also, space games tend to "reinvent" themselves when we get something new in video display technology. So again I see nothing happening until NV20+ class graphics cards arrive, DX8 takes hold, and everyone has a 19" tube or better (to play at insane resolutions).
 
The latest WCesque (lol) space sim was Star Lancer. I didn't like it very much, mainly because of the lack of mouse support, but if you liked WC1 you ought to enjoy Star Lancer.
Tachyon: The Fringe is nice, too, offering something between Privateer and WC, besides it has the coolest mouse support I've seen so far.
 
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