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Since Microsoft bought Rare, only a few details have been announced.
First we heard that by Spring 2005 there would be 5 Rare XBox games.
Perfect Dark and Kameo were the only ones confirmed.
Now there's been another, supposedly set for release in about a years time.
This one might come as a shock to most of you:
Flight Simulator 2004!!!
An MS spokesperson commented:
"Ever since the buy out was announced, all sorts of people have had their doubts about what Microsoft's ownership will do to this company. In the past, they did indeed have a strong relationship with Nintendo, and nobody thought that we could match that. We wanted to prove them wrong.
"One of the ways Nintendo treated Rare, was by letting them borrow minor franchises like Donkey Kong and Starfox. Nintendo kept all the big ones like Mario, Zelda and Pokémon to themselves. Because we are so much better than Nintendo, we gave Rare none other than our most prestigeous franchise around."
Indeed they did.
Flight Simulator is one of Microsoft's longest running franchise around, selling in huge numbers every year.
It has been getting a sort of "anorak" image of late, though.
This is where Microsoft hope that Rare will change things.
"They turned Donkey Kong from a King Kong wannabe side piece in classic Mario games, into a cool platformer in his own right. Conker, another one of those pathetically cute characters, was also transformed into an icon that children out of their nappies can appreciate. We expect they can do similar things to a Flight Simulator."
When asked by an avid Flight Simulator fan whether it was wise to entrust such a major game in the hands of foreiners, Bill Gates had this to say:
"Although it would normally be daft to trust Brits with a project like this, these guys are from around Leicester, and you know how it is in Leicester, the people there being the brightest, hardests, most witty, imaginative, and powerful geniuses in the entire world..."
He did go on for quite a while about how great Leicester people are, but most of us already know all that so there's no need to repeat it all. :-)
Although the announcement has only just been made, devellopment has been going on for quite some time now, and thins are shaping up nicely.
The lead designer, who refused to give us his name, tells us on what his team made of the proposition.
"When we were asked to make a Flight Simulator game, we weren't quite sure what to think. That sort of game isn't really our area.
"Then MS told us that we were free to tamper with the formula so long as we kept it true to the title: Flight Simulated with the greatest degree of accuracy possible.
"If they'd known what we were going to do with it, they might've put a few more restrictions in too..."
So wear was the loophole that allowed Rare to completely change the franchise beyond previous recognition?
Although MS specifically demanded realistic flight, that happened in the REAL world, the forgot to specify what should be flying.
"Looking at the specifications, it did seem like we'd have to simply clone previous games, until we noticed that MS had forgotten to specify exactly WHAT should be flying realistically, so we immediately started brain storming."
A quick meeting and then the team started making paper earoplanes to start messing around with - the first idea that had come to mind.
It didn't turn out to be as much fun as they thought, especially not as a design concept. Feeling a bit fed up, they amused themselves that afternoon by throwing their paper earoplanes at a wasp that was buzzing round the office. Needless to say, the wasp buzzed around unscathed, effortlessly dodging the paper missiles with slick manauvering.
And that's when inspiration hit.
"It was while throwing paper earoplanes at a wasp that we got an idea of what to do. It was perfect! No one had done a proper insect game before. It was realistic because it was genuinely happening but surreal and interesting because it would be seeing the world through a smaller perspective!"
When the team compiled their ideas and sent them back to Microsoft, MS were a bit surprised, but decided to let Rare have their way.
Flying insects wasn't what they'd had in mind, but it did fit the criteria.
"I suppose people have often told me that bugs are a trademark of Microsoft software." said a miffed J. Allard "I think it's fitting that MS's most notorious trademark should combine with our biggest franchise."
And this game is set to be BIG!
You'll be able to choose from a range of insects, ranging from the bees and wasps to flys. You can even unlock secrets like the mosquito!
Everything is realistic from the flight dynamics to the way the fast moving wings buzz. Instead of flying like earoplanes, the bugs will fly as nature designed them, being able to hover and manauver in a way that human technology can't.
Also, another way that this game's "flyers" differ from the usual aircraft is that they are living creatures.
They will be brought to life through Rare's famous animation abilities and will even have "artificial instincts" programmed in.
"Although you control where the insect is flying, it'll also have a mind of it's own. Not only will it's general body movements be automatic, if you stop controlling it, it will do things for itself, like walk over to some nectar if it sees some or buzz off if a predator comes after it."
The full details of these instincts are yet to be released, but I expect that they'll mostly add to the realism by making the bugs seem real, rather than merely characterless aircraft with fancy shapes.
A new twist to the Flight Simulator franchise sees you in the midst of a food chain. You'll have hunters to avoid and prey to hunt.
Being a living creature rather than a machine, you'll need to eat instead of "refuling" at the airport. Whether this means grabbing some nectar or picking off those little aphids, this means that there will nearly always be some objective to this game.
If you're an avid fan of the classic Flight Simulator series, look away now. You do NOT want to SEE what they've done to the cockpit...
That's right. Kiss the airplane cockpit good bye, and say hello to bug vision. Instead of the full colour images that our eyes pick up, it seems that Rare want us to take the chance to see the way a bug sees things.
Although this feature has yet to be develloped, I'm told that each bug has a different method of vision, each of which will be implimented in the game.
When you play as the moth, I expect you'll see why the dumb insects keep ramming themselves into lightbulbs! :-D
The game modes are a plenty.
There's the tutorial where you'll be taught how to fly any of the insects you've unlocked, and I expect you'll get a fair lot of detail on their background and what their lives revolve around (a very important aspect when it gets to the main game).
There's the usual freeflight where you buzz around real gardens from real parts of the world, only now they're much much bigger than before, and you start to see microscopic details that you never knew existed!
There's plenty of missions as well, ranging from collecting nectar/food for your hive/nest, or working with other bugs in your swarm to defend your nest from invaders.
And Rare being Rare, there had so slip in a few fun modes as well.
This ranges from multiplayer games (like collecting the most food in a certain amount of time), to mini games such as "ruin the picnic" where you must annoy the family as much as possible without suffering death from the fly swat. You can poison their food by laying your eggs in it and eating from it (the fly), or get the father REALLY angry by stinging his little daughter as much as you can! :-D
It shows that the minds that made Conker's Bad Fur Day are behind this one!
And you did hear right. Depending on what insect you're flying, you can bight/sting people, but you have to be very careful.
The sting in particular, despite being the most powerful attack, takes time to follow through (resting on the victim, pumping energy into lifting the tail, plunging the sting in... it takes time, leaving you vunerable) and also uses a lot of energy.
If you're playing as the bumble bee, the powerful sting does satisfying damage (sure, it only mildly hurts a human, but we're much bigger than the average target...), but uses so much energy, if you don't get to some nectar REALLY quick, you'll die from the effort.
Such is the realism of this game.
It's in relatively early devellopment, but already the game looks stunning.
It looked unimpressive at first, seeing a small patch of daisys (the only map made so far - still very early devellopment), but as it zoomed in and I saw the greater detail, I was blown away!
The daisies don't look like much from a distance, but come in close and it'll take your breath away, with hundreds of organisms on the leaves and on the ground around it.
I've been told that it's not a patch on the finished scenery when there will be even more life, and various other touches like wind blowing the flowers around (and you as well - small insects don't resist wind like us big humans do).
This game is going to be fantastic and should bring new life to the currently dull and uninspiring simulation scene.
What's that you say?
How come none of the online magazines have mentioned it?
Well ermm... they're just slow.
How come I've written it like I've been there and seen it for myself?
ah, that would be because I live in Leicester, near Rare and went in, seen it and played it... honest...
Alright. I'll come clean.
Microsoft haven't given the Flight Simulator franchise to Rare, who haven't been working on it, and the game ISN'T set for a Christmas 2003 release...
It is in devellopment though.
If not at Twycross then atleast in my mind, and when 10 or so years pass by and I finally get a job there, I promise you that this game WILL be happening. If someone else hasn't beaten me to it, I'll be seeing to it personally!
In the mean time, I'm sure Rare have plenty of other exciting games in mind...
First we heard that by Spring 2005 there would be 5 Rare XBox games.
Perfect Dark and Kameo were the only ones confirmed.
Now there's been another, supposedly set for release in about a years time.
This one might come as a shock to most of you:
Flight Simulator 2004!!!
An MS spokesperson commented:
"Ever since the buy out was announced, all sorts of people have had their doubts about what Microsoft's ownership will do to this company. In the past, they did indeed have a strong relationship with Nintendo, and nobody thought that we could match that. We wanted to prove them wrong.
"One of the ways Nintendo treated Rare, was by letting them borrow minor franchises like Donkey Kong and Starfox. Nintendo kept all the big ones like Mario, Zelda and Pokémon to themselves. Because we are so much better than Nintendo, we gave Rare none other than our most prestigeous franchise around."
Indeed they did.
Flight Simulator is one of Microsoft's longest running franchise around, selling in huge numbers every year.
It has been getting a sort of "anorak" image of late, though.
This is where Microsoft hope that Rare will change things.
"They turned Donkey Kong from a King Kong wannabe side piece in classic Mario games, into a cool platformer in his own right. Conker, another one of those pathetically cute characters, was also transformed into an icon that children out of their nappies can appreciate. We expect they can do similar things to a Flight Simulator."
When asked by an avid Flight Simulator fan whether it was wise to entrust such a major game in the hands of foreiners, Bill Gates had this to say:
"Although it would normally be daft to trust Brits with a project like this, these guys are from around Leicester, and you know how it is in Leicester, the people there being the brightest, hardests, most witty, imaginative, and powerful geniuses in the entire world..."
He did go on for quite a while about how great Leicester people are, but most of us already know all that so there's no need to repeat it all. :-)
Although the announcement has only just been made, devellopment has been going on for quite some time now, and thins are shaping up nicely.
The lead designer, who refused to give us his name, tells us on what his team made of the proposition.
"When we were asked to make a Flight Simulator game, we weren't quite sure what to think. That sort of game isn't really our area.
"Then MS told us that we were free to tamper with the formula so long as we kept it true to the title: Flight Simulated with the greatest degree of accuracy possible.
"If they'd known what we were going to do with it, they might've put a few more restrictions in too..."
So wear was the loophole that allowed Rare to completely change the franchise beyond previous recognition?
Although MS specifically demanded realistic flight, that happened in the REAL world, the forgot to specify what should be flying.
"Looking at the specifications, it did seem like we'd have to simply clone previous games, until we noticed that MS had forgotten to specify exactly WHAT should be flying realistically, so we immediately started brain storming."
A quick meeting and then the team started making paper earoplanes to start messing around with - the first idea that had come to mind.
It didn't turn out to be as much fun as they thought, especially not as a design concept. Feeling a bit fed up, they amused themselves that afternoon by throwing their paper earoplanes at a wasp that was buzzing round the office. Needless to say, the wasp buzzed around unscathed, effortlessly dodging the paper missiles with slick manauvering.
And that's when inspiration hit.
"It was while throwing paper earoplanes at a wasp that we got an idea of what to do. It was perfect! No one had done a proper insect game before. It was realistic because it was genuinely happening but surreal and interesting because it would be seeing the world through a smaller perspective!"
When the team compiled their ideas and sent them back to Microsoft, MS were a bit surprised, but decided to let Rare have their way.
Flying insects wasn't what they'd had in mind, but it did fit the criteria.
"I suppose people have often told me that bugs are a trademark of Microsoft software." said a miffed J. Allard "I think it's fitting that MS's most notorious trademark should combine with our biggest franchise."
And this game is set to be BIG!
You'll be able to choose from a range of insects, ranging from the bees and wasps to flys. You can even unlock secrets like the mosquito!
Everything is realistic from the flight dynamics to the way the fast moving wings buzz. Instead of flying like earoplanes, the bugs will fly as nature designed them, being able to hover and manauver in a way that human technology can't.
Also, another way that this game's "flyers" differ from the usual aircraft is that they are living creatures.
They will be brought to life through Rare's famous animation abilities and will even have "artificial instincts" programmed in.
"Although you control where the insect is flying, it'll also have a mind of it's own. Not only will it's general body movements be automatic, if you stop controlling it, it will do things for itself, like walk over to some nectar if it sees some or buzz off if a predator comes after it."
The full details of these instincts are yet to be released, but I expect that they'll mostly add to the realism by making the bugs seem real, rather than merely characterless aircraft with fancy shapes.
A new twist to the Flight Simulator franchise sees you in the midst of a food chain. You'll have hunters to avoid and prey to hunt.
Being a living creature rather than a machine, you'll need to eat instead of "refuling" at the airport. Whether this means grabbing some nectar or picking off those little aphids, this means that there will nearly always be some objective to this game.
If you're an avid fan of the classic Flight Simulator series, look away now. You do NOT want to SEE what they've done to the cockpit...
That's right. Kiss the airplane cockpit good bye, and say hello to bug vision. Instead of the full colour images that our eyes pick up, it seems that Rare want us to take the chance to see the way a bug sees things.
Although this feature has yet to be develloped, I'm told that each bug has a different method of vision, each of which will be implimented in the game.
When you play as the moth, I expect you'll see why the dumb insects keep ramming themselves into lightbulbs! :-D
The game modes are a plenty.
There's the tutorial where you'll be taught how to fly any of the insects you've unlocked, and I expect you'll get a fair lot of detail on their background and what their lives revolve around (a very important aspect when it gets to the main game).
There's the usual freeflight where you buzz around real gardens from real parts of the world, only now they're much much bigger than before, and you start to see microscopic details that you never knew existed!
There's plenty of missions as well, ranging from collecting nectar/food for your hive/nest, or working with other bugs in your swarm to defend your nest from invaders.
And Rare being Rare, there had so slip in a few fun modes as well.
This ranges from multiplayer games (like collecting the most food in a certain amount of time), to mini games such as "ruin the picnic" where you must annoy the family as much as possible without suffering death from the fly swat. You can poison their food by laying your eggs in it and eating from it (the fly), or get the father REALLY angry by stinging his little daughter as much as you can! :-D
It shows that the minds that made Conker's Bad Fur Day are behind this one!
And you did hear right. Depending on what insect you're flying, you can bight/sting people, but you have to be very careful.
The sting in particular, despite being the most powerful attack, takes time to follow through (resting on the victim, pumping energy into lifting the tail, plunging the sting in... it takes time, leaving you vunerable) and also uses a lot of energy.
If you're playing as the bumble bee, the powerful sting does satisfying damage (sure, it only mildly hurts a human, but we're much bigger than the average target...), but uses so much energy, if you don't get to some nectar REALLY quick, you'll die from the effort.
Such is the realism of this game.
It's in relatively early devellopment, but already the game looks stunning.
It looked unimpressive at first, seeing a small patch of daisys (the only map made so far - still very early devellopment), but as it zoomed in and I saw the greater detail, I was blown away!
The daisies don't look like much from a distance, but come in close and it'll take your breath away, with hundreds of organisms on the leaves and on the ground around it.
I've been told that it's not a patch on the finished scenery when there will be even more life, and various other touches like wind blowing the flowers around (and you as well - small insects don't resist wind like us big humans do).
This game is going to be fantastic and should bring new life to the currently dull and uninspiring simulation scene.
What's that you say?
How come none of the online magazines have mentioned it?
Well ermm... they're just slow.
How come I've written it like I've been there and seen it for myself?
ah, that would be because I live in Leicester, near Rare and went in, seen it and played it... honest...
Alright. I'll come clean.
Microsoft haven't given the Flight Simulator franchise to Rare, who haven't been working on it, and the game ISN'T set for a Christmas 2003 release...
It is in devellopment though.
If not at Twycross then atleast in my mind, and when 10 or so years pass by and I finally get a job there, I promise you that this game WILL be happening. If someone else hasn't beaten me to it, I'll be seeing to it personally!
In the mean time, I'm sure Rare have plenty of other exciting games in mind...
Page:
Strafex wrote:
> Flight Simulator is marketed and sold as a game.
No its not... it might be sold as 'entertainment' software, but not as a game...
> Flight Simulator is marketed and sold as a game.
No its not... it might be sold as 'entertainment' software, but not as a game...
damn thats a lot to write for something you might not win.
Semajal wrote:
> heh, tabloids.
Actualy, the Daily Mail is a 'mid-market daily'.
;)
> heh, tabloids.
Actualy, the Daily Mail is a 'mid-market daily'.
;)
Grix Thraves wrote:
Trolley Simulator...
'Must kill moe... wwwweeeeeeeeeeeeee'
Trolley Simulator...
'Must kill moe... wwwweeeeeeeeeeeeee'
Flight Simulator is marketed and sold as a game.
Anyway, after over 10 years of mini improvements, a nice deviation would be fun, interesting, unexpected, and would most certainly turn a few heads.
It would also make Microsoft's image that little bit cooler.
Anyway, after over 10 years of mini improvements, a nice deviation would be fun, interesting, unexpected, and would most certainly turn a few heads.
It would also make Microsoft's image that little bit cooler.
heh, tabloids.
Strafex wrote:
>(which makes for a
> crap game)
Its a simulator, not a game... the emphasis is on realism, not novelty...
Or, if the Daily Mail is to be believed, on training terrorists to slam planes into the twin towers?
>(which makes for a
> crap game)
Its a simulator, not a game... the emphasis is on realism, not novelty...
Or, if the Daily Mail is to be believed, on training terrorists to slam planes into the twin towers?
Hmph!
I thought an insect flying simulator would actually be fun.
Instead of the usual Flight Simulator of a plane high in the sky, over a pixellated motionless rendering of the earth, and where flying is like controlling a real plane with all the spoddy details and controls, this one would actually be interesting and fun to play.
While the realism in flying a plane involves getting from A-B, fighting with turbulance to kee the plane level (which makes for a crap game), the realism of an insect involves flying through a giant landscape, hunting for food while being hunted.
Insects are VERY fast for their size, and very manauverable too which I think would make for some interesting gameplay.
The point was that if devellopers tried, even a Flight Simulator could be fun, instead of the usual old boring generic Plane Simulator they drag out year after year...
I thought an insect flying simulator would actually be fun.
Instead of the usual Flight Simulator of a plane high in the sky, over a pixellated motionless rendering of the earth, and where flying is like controlling a real plane with all the spoddy details and controls, this one would actually be interesting and fun to play.
While the realism in flying a plane involves getting from A-B, fighting with turbulance to kee the plane level (which makes for a crap game), the realism of an insect involves flying through a giant landscape, hunting for food while being hunted.
Insects are VERY fast for their size, and very manauverable too which I think would make for some interesting gameplay.
The point was that if devellopers tried, even a Flight Simulator could be fun, instead of the usual old boring generic Plane Simulator they drag out year after year...
Meh could not care less do not have the box but I got the cube
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