A Couple of Ideas for Rebellion

[Steve Green]

It's not pessimism, it's realism.

I worked on a sandbox GTA clone for 18 months back in the stone-age before the publisher went belly-up and the project folded. It pretty much did for that office of the company.

As Gordon says, they are incredibly expensive because of the amount of content required, and subsequent testing compared to something that's more limited in area.

Even the procedurally generated worlds (and they tend to favour natural landscapes rather than cities) fall short of intent to the extent that there are piss-take videos about it (hello No Man's Sky)

Sure I could see themed DLC for something like Sniper Elite, and I'm a little surprised there's been nothing on that front, but I find it hard to see a Dredd open world game ever happening.

[Krakajac]

^ This.

In addition, open-world games are not a new notion.  They’ve been around for donkeys.  A cursory check on the inter-webs suggests that The Legend Of Zelda might* be considered the first sandbox-style, open-world game that rewarded exploration - and that was 32 years ago.  If there were legs in a truly open-world Dredd game (even one with the relatively simple, top down style of the original Zelda) we would have seen something by now.

*Perhaps Zelda might not be the best example of the genre - but even the original Elder Scrolls game (which definitely was open world in design) was released 24 years ago.

I can guarantee - if Cyberpunk 2077 is moddable (and it may not be) - we’ll definitely be seeing Bladerunner skins, PKD blasters, possibly even spinners, etc.  There’s no reason why the same can’t occur for Dredd.

[Mardroid]

Crying out loud.

I just typed a post and my ipad crashed, and the post was lost. I do like my iPad, but I do find the Android system more robust in that regard.

In a nutshell: what I’d like to see would be a Strontium Dog game. While the bounty hunting scenario would lend well to open world, I’d be happy with a decent if more linear action game (preferably 3rd person) along the likes of our Rogue Trooper or the Arkham series games. Make sure you have the special weapons and toys available (upgrades available, it’s money paid for bounties, etc) and access to mutie powers. Maybe a buddie team up thing, the second character (Wulf or whoever) computer controlled in single player games. Could be smashing.

[Sandman1]

Possibly the absence of that level of capital.

GTA5 cost over $200 million.
Remember that, anytime you see another well-meaning “You could do an open-world Dredd game, just like GTA!” post.

It's not pessimism, it's realism.

I worked on a sandbox GTA clone for 18 months back in the stone-age before the publisher went belly-up and the project folded. It pretty much did for that office of the company.

As Gordon says, they are incredibly expensive because of the amount of content required, and subsequent testing compared to something that's more limited in area.

This is not a massive open-world game with a narrative that lasts for 100 hours, so it's pretty unfair to compare it with games that plays in another league. You substantially reduce the expenses and find a publisher with enough capital and confidence in your concept. Genuine ambition, compromises and a great idea can realize a lot.   

[GordonR]

This is not a massive open-world game with a narrative that lasts for 100 hours, so it's pretty unfair to compare it with games that plays in another league. You substantially reduce the expenses and find a publisher with enough capital and confidence in your concept. Genuine ambition, compromises and a great idea can realize a lot.   

Rewind to the beginning of this conversation:

James C:

I’d love to see a really good Dredd-world game but I don’t think the big open-world thing is ever going to happen.

You:

It can definitely be done if the concept is good enough and you can gather the right people behind it.

So you’ll forgive us if we thought that you were indeed talking about a giant, open-world Dredd game, since....y’know, that’s what you said could definitely be done.

I’ve worked on a couple of dozen games, big and small, and i respectfully disagree with your take on what is and isn’t possible in mainstream game production.

[Steve Green]

So it's both ambitious *and* makes compromises?

Sorry, that sounds like a woolly description.

Personally I see it in the same vein as trying to do a low-mid range comic book movie like Dredd and getting compared to Marvel's film costing 3-4 times more.

Sometimes these things cost, and the consumer doesn't care about what the budget is, just the end result.

"You substantially reduce the expenses and find a publisher with enough capital and confidence in your concept."

If it was that straightforward, don't you think Rebellion would have done it?

[Sandman1]

James C:

I’d love to see a really good Dredd-world game but I don’t think the big open-world thing is ever going to happen.

You:

It can definitely be done if the concept is good enough and you can gather the right people behind it.

So you’ll forgive us if we thought that you were indeed talking about a giant, open-world Dredd game, since....y’know, that’s what you said could definitely be done.

I’ve worked on a couple of dozen games, big and small, and i respectfully disagree with your take on what is and isn’t possible in mainstream game production.

An open-world, yes, but not something that can be compared with the industry giants. I have no empirical knowledge about game development, so I can't make a sure assessment about the matter. Only time will tell and I think expenses can fluctuate pretty much depending on what you choose to implement. I can probably get a bit naively optimistic when I see potential.

So it's both ambitious *and* makes compromises?

Sorry, that sounds like a woolly description.

In summary: relativity and subjective opinions.

"You substantially reduce the expenses and find a publisher with enough capital and confidence in your concept."

If it was that straightforward, don't you think Rebellion would have done it?

There's a big "if" in my response. I bet they could give you a better answer.

[GrudgeJohnDeed]

It does seem a little defeatist to go straight to the GTA V budget when we think of a figure, that's on the very high end indeed right? Before we even start cutting unnecessary features there must be lots of places you could save money when you look at what Rockstar spend on things like marketing, voice actors and licences. Someone brought it up before but The Witcher 3 had a miniscule marketing budget in comparison for example with a total budget including marketing of $80m+, and it's an extremely high quality, ambitious game by all accounts and sold well.

As a related point the Witcher books upon which the games are based are very obscure in the west (or were, before the games), when you leverage an IP you're not just thinking about its current popularity but whether it's fertile ground for games (cool characters, stories, worlds, visuals), and whether the brand can grow. I absolutely believe a big publisher could be sold on that with Dredd, and I always will. It's fucking cool and completely maddening to me it's not more popular!

You can do it Sandman! I'll wear a big clock and be your hype man in the pitch meetings. YEAAA, OPEN WORLD DREDD, SUCKAH!! DAS RIGHT! XD I'll get my coat..

[Frank]

Sorry, can't count.

[Frank]

The Witcher 3 had a (budget) of $80m

The proposed Dredd TV show has a budget of £10-20 million, and Tharg's either unable or unwilling to pay for that himself.


... second time's the charm

[GrudgeJohnDeed]

I think the best chance is definitely a bigger developer or publisher coming in now the Dredd licence is on the market, but never say never for Rebellion doing it in-house I say! Fingers crossed Strange Brigade does gang-busters.

[Sandman1]

Someone brought it up before but The Witcher 3 had a miniscule marketing budget in comparison for example with a total budget including marketing of $80m+, and it's an extremely high quality, ambitious game by all accounts and sold well.

I'm quite sure games like Sleeping Dogs or Saints Row even had a way more limited budget than that.   

You can do it Sandman! I'll wear a big clock and be your hype man in the pitch meetings. YEAAA, OPEN WORLD DREDD, SUCKAH!! DAS RIGHT! XD I'll get my coat..

You could say that to anyone who has the slightest interest in materializing the great potential in a possible Dredd game. 

[von Boom]

There may be some good news soon:

https://www.vg247.com/2018/06/21/judge-dredd-2000ad-games/

[GrudgeJohnDeed]

Yeah that's great news, I'm chuffed we're getting stuff whatever it is!

oh and Rebellion, if you do make an fully open-world Sniper Elite game you could perhaps use the big open map to dip your toe in the Battle Royale market multiplayer market that's so hot right now..

[Sandman1]

There may be some good news soon:

https://www.vg247.com/2018/06/21/judge-dredd-2000ad-games/

I cross my fingers really tight.