Tierra article in CGM

remixor · Mon 08/09/2003 00:24:54

The September issue of Computer Games Magazine apparently has a two-page spread about Tierra Entertainment and their games.
http://www.cgonline.com/cgm/200310-m1.html
Second item down in "Featured"
They also have a preview of Syberia II, although I'm sure it's nothing a site like Gamespot hasn't shown.

Is there anyone here who gets this magazine who can scan the Tierra article for us? I'd be interested to see what it's all about. The article is titled "A Fascinating Re-Quest"

Teh Crabe · Mon 08/09/2003 01:25:59

I read the article. It's a good article. Didn't mention AGS a single time. You'd swear they coded it from scratch. Not sure whether that was the AGDs or CGMs fault though.

remixor · Mon 08/09/2003 04:21:30

Well, that's a bit of teh suck! I'd still definitely be interesting in reading it, but I don't know how you could possibly talk for two pages about Tierra and not refer to the bloody engine that is the core of their games. It would be different if they had written the engine, but come on!

Teh Crabe · Mon 08/09/2003 04:29:59

It's a positive article in that it really plays up that adventure games aren't dead, and how the project was a success and all that. Talked a bit about the community and all.

My guess is that the writer of the article for whatever reason left out AGS. Tierra links to it from their site after all. I'm sure they'd have mentioned it, and if not, all the people who visit Tierra to follow up on the article will learn about AGS that way.

Probably going to be an influx of users as the article hits its peak circulation.

Also, in that magazine is an advertisement I made. Just in cas you were wondering.

Pumaman · Mon 08/09/2003 22:51:42

To be fair, there's no reason for them to mention AGS. If it's an article about Tierra's games, then let it be an article about Tierra's games.

If they do an article on Doom 3, they don't include mentions of C++ and the DirectX libraries used to create it.

Incidentally, I was recently contacted by a magazine publisher asking permission to include AGS in a new magazine, Gamemaker, which will be released to stores in the UK later this month. Apparently it's going to be a one-off magazine covering various forms of amateur game development, from Half Life mods to adventure game creation. Might be worth a look.

MrColossal · Mon 08/09/2003 23:51:43

jesus christ i just want to frame CJ for murder..

he's like the greatest guy and he needs some dirt on him

rodekill · Tue 09/09/2003 01:31:34

Well, we all know what guys who like onion rings are really up to, eh? EH?

taryuu · Tue 09/09/2003 04:56:45

cj i disagree buddy. I find in a lot of articles about games they'll discuss what engine they're using, how they developed it, or if they licensed it from another company.

Doom3 as an example, is using a gutted version of the quake3 engine. i dunno, maybe i read the articles for nerds.

and I really don't think tierra is giving you your props. you've got to read through 3 pages of FAQs before you get to a mention of AGS on their website.

"Without a great engine, you don't have a game"
David Perry - President of game development house Shiny Entertainment

remixor · Tue 09/09/2003 10:24:27

I agree with taryuu. I think this is especially true in Tierra's case, as engines like AGS are the only reason these adventure games get made at all. In the case of games like Doom 3, people would make that game anyway, and if they had to they would use an original engine. However, I am completely convinced that Tierra's projects, while obviously excellent due to the skills of the AGDs, would probably not have existed if it weren't for people like CJ.

That being said, CJ's point is equally valid and as the guy who programmed the damn thing it's really his choice how he wishes to market and license his work. Cheers, man.

Pumaman · Tue 09/09/2003 21:17:40

Quotecj i disagree buddy. I find in a lot of articles about games they'll discuss what engine they're using, how they developed it, or if they licensed it from another company.

That's a valid point, but obviously it depends on the article.

But perhaps more importantly, if this article is geared towards *players* of the game, I'd rather it didn't pimp AGS and then bombard us with novice computer users thinking they can make a great game.

If somebody wants to know what engine KQ2VGA was made with, they can find out via the Tierra website. If they're not interested, it's probably best that they never know.

Quote
I think this is especially true in Tierra's case, as engines like AGS are the only reason these adventure games get made at all. In the case of games like Doom 3, people would make that game anyway, and if they had to they would use an original engine.

Although, you can apply the same principle to this. If AGS was not around, they may well have written it with AGAST, or even written their own engine. There's no way to tell.

QuoteWell, we all know what guys who like onion rings are really up to, eh? EH?

It's a given that women swoon at the smell of onion on the breath.

MrColossal · Tue 09/09/2003 23:42:13

No way to tell, eh?

* MrColossal fires up The Ti--- uh... The Blender! wink wink

Erpy · Wed 10/09/2003 10:33:59

There's a thread on our forums where someone posted the article.

The editor's questions seemed to be completely geared towards the games themselves. Had he asked a specific question about their making or anything technical related, we would have mentioned AGS at once, of course. It wouldn't have made it in had we made a passing reference to it, because the document we sent in was already about two times longer than what's published now (including a QFG2-screenshot which wasn't posted on our website) and he obviously only left those things in he considered 100% relevant to what he wanted to squeeze in there.

Esseb · Wed 10/09/2003 15:48:10

And here is the url to that thread which includes a scan of the article: http://pub57.ezboard.com/froyalquestforumsfrm1.showMessage?topicID=1240.topic.

logan · Wed 10/09/2003 16:13:06

It looks to me like the length of the article prevented any indepth discussion of AGS. I bet they mentioned it, but the magazine decieded not to put it in...

DragonRose · Wed 10/09/2003 22:02:42

Okay, I find this much more interesting.

Tierra mentioned in Penny Arcade!

Alright, it's only a few sentences. But I spotted it first!

remixor · Thu 11/09/2003 03:08:27

Dragonrose: I saw that PA today and was very pleased. I've been a PA reader for a good 4 years now and I never thought of them as guys who played many adventure games, but it looks like Tycho at least has a special place in his heart for the adventure era of yore. Hopefully the Penny Arcade Effect will kick in and a new generation of gamers will be introduced to adventure.

AGD2 · Thu 18/09/2003 20:41:14

The guy who did the interview asked a bunch of very specific questions which were geared towards the revival/legal side of the remakes, rather than the technical and creative side.

Like Erpy said earlier, a lot more stuff got cut out of the interview due to lack of space. The interviewer didn't really ask anything which could lead onto the subject of mentioning AGS, unfortunately. But in other interviews held in the past, we've credited AGS as the engine we use, and Chris as being the creator. So don't worry, we're not going to steal AGS, run away with it, laughing at Chris as we take all the credit for developing the engine ourselves, and then call him mean names behind his back just to add salt to the wounds :

Besides, anyone who read the CGM article will probably download the games, both of which mention AGS (and have a link to the website) in the top (i.e. important) half of the readme.txt file. Either that, or they'll ask how we made the games on our forums, and we'll direct them here.

Tierra article in CGM

logan