PROJECT DANIELLE

[66f88abe7cf70Join2]

Supposed leak of Arkane's pitch for Prey 2: Project Danielle, a spiritual successor to System Shock 2.

http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2014/05/prey-2-early-concept-docs-leaked.html
http://www.aliennoire.com/home/news/arkane-pitch-for-p2/

Related link: http://gamerant.com/prey-2-arkane-studios-system-shock-sequel/

Take with a grain of salt and do try not to cream your pants.

My personal highlights:

"More systems in every types of systems"

^Yes! It has been a long time coming. go mad! 50 million lines of game code!

That is all, because the whole thing is a fucking highlight.

"SS2, King of Immersive Sim RPGs"

In my opinion Deus Ex equals it (though SS2 does simulation better, Deus Ex has more freedom and depth). Arkane's Arx Fatalis I almost consider as good as these two. I know they have what it takes from playing Arx Fatalis, that game was just held back by circumstance, it was an exceptional game for their first attempt, and is one of my favourite games of all time. Shame it is very under appreciated even among Immersive Sim fans, but it's not by me.

[66f88abe7d123fox]

Dunno... to me most of those ideas sound a bit tired. They want to avoid "movie clichees" like Blade Runner's city in favor of 50ies retro SciFi (uh huh) or lush islands (because CryEngine does that best...) but at the same time those story pitches sound very much like cliches to me. Not a good starting point.

[66f88abe7d34cJoin2]

"Variety in the level layout is important"

"More systems in every types of systems"

"Survival aspect"

"Story Choices / consequences"

"The game should be hard!"

"Variability / replay ability"

Urm, sounds like System Shock 3 in all but characters, plot etc. System Shock 3 with "more systems in every systems". If this is for real this is a dream come true. Remember the year is 2014 and we get ~one good AAA game a year if that, and the remains of the Immersive Sim is split between Bioshock and Thi4f, Deus Ex: Human Revolution etc. Yeah the Prey 2 name forcibly slapped on is rediculous...but it's just a name, and if that what it takes to have a modern Immersive Sim then so be it. heck Deus Ex was called "Shooter: Majestic Revelations" in early concepts. Fucking shooter? What. Just a name.

Of course you are going to find something you disagree on. You only had one personal gripe, and the news is negative for you as a result of this one gripe?
You said my DX mod "renewed your love for the game", yet you were forgiving of my mistakes.
This to me is the best news I've heard in years. Can't say the plot stuff sounds interesting. Everything else? Sounds like a "true" immersive Sim with no compromise, and if true then I'll be supporting it.
This is only the pitch/concept, game development is very organic, games in development are always growing and changing, the story could end up exceptional.
There's lots of "cool shit" in the pitch that looks very exciting.

Game design has been suppressed for too long.

[66f88abe7d4e3fox]

The wish list is ok but I guess most games start with lofty ideas. If I'd ask you to come up with the ideal game, you'd have no problem at all to list cool features, I guess. What counts is what will make it in the finished product - after the suit-induced streamlining happened. There was a "spiritual successor to SS2" before, by no other then Ken Levine himself. He promised many of those features too but in direct comparison Bioshock didn't deliver in that regard. It's saving grace was the plot and setting. More or less the same goes for Infinite.

I think if you want to tackle a project like this you have to come up with a super-strong idea for pretty much every aspect of your vision. Much will change during the process but if you start off so uninspired in terms of plot and setting that doesn't seem promising to me.

"Variety in the level layout is important"
"More systems in every types of systems"
"Survival aspect"
"Story Choices / consequences"
"The game should be hard!"
"Variability / replay ability"

I think most of those are rather commonplace anyway.

[66f88abe7d8b4Join2]

Have some faith. These guys care about the Immersive Sim as much as we do, and they are all we've got in terms of advancement of the ImSim outside of mods.

I think most of those are rather commonplace anyway.

Really? In modern times?

Hard game? Well there's Dark Souls and that's about it.

More Systems in every systems? A game that promises to expand upon the depth of systems of System Shock 2 is common place? Most do the opposite and streamline.
 
Replayability? Yes, plenty devs strive for some form of replayability these days, but none do it the LGS way. Deus Ex and System Shock 2 are the most replayable SP games I've ever encountered outside of random generation of levels etc, which obviously doesn't allow for fine hand-crafted design and cohesiveness.

Survival aspect? AAA Survival horrors are exclusively action games these days.

Varied level design? Modern level design practices is probably the most depressing thing about modern games. So few have delivered satisfactory level design in my eyes.

Furthermore, the pitch promises all these things in the same game and more.

[66f88abe7d9befox]

"Have no expectations and be happy if something cool gets released" makes more sense to me.

[66f88abe7dad3Join2]

I expect much from Arkane. I wasn't a fan of Dishonored but that game was probably an opportunity for growth and to test the waters, test the audience.

Of course, the possibility of ending up disappointed is there. It happens almost every time, disappointment that is, but the future of the Immersive Sim is pretty much Arkane's responsibility and I think they take that responsibility seriously.

[66f88abe7dc2aKolya]

Regardless of whether this works out in the end, or if it's even desirable, I do like the understatement of calling their game a "Spiritual successor to System Shock 2". 

[66f88abe7dd33Join2]

Understatement indeed. 

Project Danielle is intended to be System Shock with more depth & developed on Cry Engine 3, minus the plot connections.

System Shock is genius design, anything that attempts to expand upon genius design whilst attempting to stay true to it's core principles deserves support.

[66f88abe7df24Join2]

Well, there are some inconsistencies that are pointing to this being fake, but you can't be sure.
Some people are outright trashing this "leaked" pitch, mainly for the plot concepts.
Plot concepts aside everything else sounds great to me. I want to see the advancement of the immersive Sim. More gameplay depth, more simulated, more detailed than ever before. That is what this alleged pitch proposes so I am hopeful.

The inconsistencies are odd and stand out, but I initially put it down to English not being the native language of the alleged writer.

Hmm, from an interview with Raphael:
 

What was the biggest lesson you learned with Dishonored?

The difference between complexity and depth. You can make games that are deep, yet and accessible at the same time. That’s a great win.

That's a great compromise. The classic Immersive Sims made little compromise.
Dishonored lacked the overall depth and challenge of the classics.

I guess I am naive for being hopeful...

If given the opportunity I personally would design a game with no compromise outside of the no-brainer decisions, and then just cram objective markers, regen health, constant tips etc into the easy and normal modes towards the end of development. But hey, what do I know, I have no professional experience...I have designed amateur mini-games games with this approach though.

[66f88abe7e2abfox]

If given the opportunity I personally would design a game with no compromise outside of the no-brainer decisions, and then just cram objective markers, regen health, constant tips etc into the easy and normal modes towards the end of development. But hey, what do I know, I have no professional experience...I have designed amateur mini-games games with this approach though.

I think it's usually not about devs being too stupid to come up with good uncompromising game concepts, it's about getting things funded and finished in time. That's the big difference between you and a professional and what I meant to say earlier. That's why indie games are often so much more creative then your standard "AAA"-fare.

[66f88abe7e3d6Join2]

Yes. I have little idea what it is like being reliant on a corporation, outside the abundant anecdotal evidence everywhere anyway.

BUT Fallout: New Vegas exists. Same publisher. More depth, less accessibility than FO3. Perhaps they saw it as a worthwhile risk though because it uses an absolute ton of assets from FO3.

[66f88abe7e4c7Kolya]

If it's a fake then probably by Arkane themselves to screw those "press sneak fucks".

[66f88abe7e70eJoin2]

If it's a fake then probably by Arkane themselves to screw those "press sneak fucks".

I doubt it. That's just giving them something to do, something to publish.
More likely to damage themselves pulling a stunt like that.

You just wanted a chance to allude to that quote didn't you it is a golden one, always makes me smile.

[66f88abe7e8b1JML]

Sounds more than great to me. I'll sit it out and see what comes out of this. We shall see if there is money to be made with these good intentions.

[66f88abe7e9e6Roarkes]

The Shining image ? I consider this news to be a fake one.

[66f88abe7ebdbJoin2]

The Shining image?

That complimented the "avoid hallway-room-hallway play" bullet point.
You missed the joke :p and it is no means to tell if it is fake or not.

[66f88abe7ecf8Ndrake]

Prey 2 cancelled (the one at Human Head Studios). Bethesda "denied numerous times that it's development was handed off to Dishonored developer Arkane Studios" (IGN).

[66f88abe7edf1Join2]

Yeah, I heard. Between this, Dishonored & a recent comment by Raph I have no further hopes of another "True" uncompromising Immersive Sim from Arkane. Arx Fatalis will always be remembered (and played on occasion) though.

[66f88abe7eecfOmegaDEATH]

Actually.. i have a feeling this is going to be a very very Sho-danielle release.