Ouch. Looks like Dreamland Chronicles has been cancelled. I saw the news on Gamespot, if you'd like to read an official report. Why is it that games which attempt to follow up on X-Com have such a hard time?

Yeah, ouch. The posts on the Mythos board look legit, but I'll wait until the official announcement.

- Alan

Man, this really sucks. This is as bad as Agents of Justice getting cancelled.

You know, it also makes me wonder if Mythos was foolish to go to a 3D engine? Did that hold up development? You have to go 3D to get onto the next gen consoles, so I hope Mythos wasn't chasing those dollars.

You know, I can't think of one wisecrack for this. X-Com was such a great game, and I was really looking forward to this one.

It does seem odd to me that they couldn't find a publisher for this game. Doesn't the successor to X-Com, from the people that made X-Com, rate a publisher these days?

It's just fucking sad. I was really looking forward to this game.

It really does look like turn-based games are dying. This is just very discouraging news.

"You know, it also makes me wonder if Mythos was foolish to go to a 3D engine? Did that hold up development? You have to go 3D to
get onto the next gen consoles, so I hope Mythos wasn't chasing those dollars. "

that they were considering consoles is the foolsihness imo. . . pc games are for pc's! developing for multiplatforms is a sure way to lose money imo. . . unless the game is a sure fire hit (which is rare these days).

I have yet to see a good number of console games with decent strategy (only FFtactics comes to mind). Strategy games are the bread and butter genre for pc's. There is no substitute on consoles!

etc

Look at the bright side...X-Com will continue to be the best there is for at least a little longer.

Well from what I gather, the devotion of resources to the ps2 was an act of desperation. Virgin pulled funding from them and no pc game publisher was interested. (actually a few probably were but they didn't want to pay for continued development) So they switched all their energies to the ps2 in hopes a console publisher would save them. That too failed.

One thing to note, Mythos clearly pulling the wool over some people's eyes and that may have what caught them. For example. Here is an early screenshot:
http://www.tacticalplanet.com/xcom/dlc/dl12.jpg

And here is a picture of the engine from early this year:
http://www.mythosgames.com/development.htm

So while my heart is screaming the sound of ultimate suffering (I watch princess bride too damn much) my brain is thinking, "there might be a good reason why Mythos couldn't get funded."

Well, Atlest we have Fallout Tactics to look forward too.

"Well from what I gather, the devotion of resources to the ps2 was an act of desperation. Virgin pulled funding from them and no pc game publisher was interested. (actually a few probably were but they didn't want to pay for continued development) So they switched all their energies to the ps2 in hopes a console publisher would save them. That too failed."

I agree, considering how wildly inappropriate this title is for the PS2. It smacked of desperation. And then they recently announced they were "rewriting their PS2 engine" (they were using the commercial NetImmerse engine for PS2, also) due to major performance problems.. not good. Looks like the very thing they were clinging to for funding got them screwed.

"And here is a picture of the engine from early this year:"

That's not an engine, that's a physics test. Sheesh. Some of the shots are clearly art mockups, but many of them look authentic to me.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

"Some of the shots are clearly art mockups, but many of them look authentic to me."

I saw Dreamland at E3 last year. They had code, although I don't think it was really playable yet. It was more than just rendered art, though.

We still have Civ III coming, right? I never quite understood where the dinosaur game was going that el Sid was doing, but remember reading an interview with him in, like, '95, saying he wanted to do a dinosaur game, so maybe that one will resurface at some point.

GodGames, a proud Q23 sponsor, has Age of Wonders 2 in development. I'm drawing a blank on other turn-based titles, tho.

kazz: I never quite understood where the dinosaur game was going that el Sid was doing, but remember reading an interview with him in, like, '95, saying he wanted to do a dinosaur game, so maybe that one will resurface at some point.

There was an announcement on the Firaxis page a few weeks back. Apparently Sid's dino game is on indefinite back-burner.

I remember seeing some screenshots of Dreamland that looked like NetImmerse editing grabs, not that it seems to matter now. *sniff*

kazz: GodGames, a proud Q23 sponsor, has Age of Wonders 2 in development. I'm drawing a blank on other turn-based titles, tho.

Yeah, if AoW2 follows after the first game, it should be interesting. AoW reminded me a lot of Master of Magic. Besides Civ III, there's also Master of Orion III. I'm a bit bummed that you won't be able to fully customize the races though. I mean, that's where most of the replay value was in MoO II.

Speaking of older turn-based games, I dug up a copy of Fantasy General. Now there's a fun game.

- Alan

Disciples 2 is turn-based. HOMM4 will be out this year and is turn-based. Stars! Supernova. Fallout Tactics has a turn-based mode.

Outside of those and Civ 3 and MOO3, I can't think of any others. That's pretty dismal.

My understanding was that MOO3 wasn't going to be turn-based, but rather one of those real-time-with-a-sliding gamespeed-bar-type games.

>>Outside of those and Civ 3 and MOO3, I can't think of any others. That's pretty dismal.

How many do you EXPECT to be in development? (Also, there's a Warlords IV in development.) 5-6 of one specific style of game in one year is pretty good...

That doesn't make the fact that Dreamland Chronicles (which we just picked as one of our "Games (we think) We Want to Play in 2001" dying sucks any less.

I dont know from what I read MOO3 was going to be turn based accept for battles. Those would be played in real time albeit very slowly.

Sounds kinda backwards -- aren't most games with turn-based battles real-time throughout the rest of the game?

BTW, there is also Freedom Force the superhero squad based game that might actually satisfy the XCom fans. . though the games mission based and more linear.

etc

IF it makes it. The PC arena melt down is putting everything in the air. It's like the Normandy beach invasion of PC/.com indusrty. Companies are dropping like flies with no ryme or reason! Whi will make it through this meat grinder is anybodies guess.

Freedom Force is real-time. I like real-time, but I really would like an updated X-COM.

Fallout Tactics will have a pretty robust editor with it. I'm hoping that some talented fans might at least do an X-COM multiplayer mod.