Unity cancelled? :(

A_Lee_N · Post by **A_Lee_N** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:01 pm 0

What's this I hear about Unity being cancelled? A swedish gaming site just posted a news article about Yak and Lionhead claiming that the development of Unity has been cancelled.

I've been looking everywhere and I can't seem to find anything else that backs this up, so I'm asking here on this forum, Yak.. is there any thruth to this?

colour_thief · Post by **colour_thief** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:15 pm 0

http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?t=2 ... sc&start=0

Have a look here mate.

A_Lee_N · Post by **A_Lee_N** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:34 pm 0

... that's so sad, I'm speechless.

Zen-Chan · Post by **Zen-Chan** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 5:20 pm 0

The Unity we knew as a proposed Gamecube game is gone, but you never know what the future may bring.

At the end of the day, if justice couldn't be done to the original vision of the game, then it's for the best that it was cancelled.

Rovastar · Post by **Rovastar** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 6:34 pm 0

A_Lee_N · Post by **A_Lee_N** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 7:54 pm 0

Zen-Chan: Naturally I agree that it was the right decision to cancel the development if it wasn't going to get like intended within a reasonable amount of time, and I respect Yak for doing this. 12 out of 10 other game developers would have rushed it and made a half-assed game instead.

But it's still disappointing news, we all looked forward to it badly.

feo · Post by **feo** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 8:41 pm 0

it was the game i was waiting for... Ã§_Ã§

please, i'll go on in waiting, but you keep in mind the idea for better chances

benedictw · Post by **benedictw** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:56 pm 0

Nuts. Nuts. NUTS.

Oh Jeff, I can't imagine what it feels like.

*Sigh* I wonder how much GC's trade in for at Gamestation.

I'm glad Giles is now Llamasoftie programmer #2 - hope it goes well.

I can't help but wonder about Lionheads future...

Winters · Post by **Winters** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 9:42 pm 0

What the Fuck ????

Hey Jaff, that was not very nice !

We know you are a great Gameproducer - so finish it !!!!

WE NEED NEW STUFF !!!!!

I CANÂ´T SEE THE MAINSTREAM SHIT ANYMORE !!!!!

I NEED MINTERGAMES !!!!!!!!

Mika73 · Post by **Mika73** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 10:09 pm 0

Why this had to happend... Whats reason?

Llamasoft used to release games old days.. Why it cant still do it..

disciple · Post by **disciple** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 10:14 pm 0

Mika73 wrote:Why this had to happend... Whats reason?

Time constraints, the amount of work left to do on Unity weighed against the amount of time the gamecube is still a viable platfom mean't that Unity wasn't likely to be finished before the gamecube was superceeded.

UNITY IS CANCELLED

Lionhead Studios and Jeff Minter have come to a mutual decision to cancel their collaborative project Unity with immediate effect. Unity was always an ambitious and experimental project and as is the case with such endeavours they do not always come to fruition.

Both Lionhead and Jeff are disappointed that it has been necessary to take this step despite significant publisher interest. However, a shared commitment to excellence and originality meant both sides agree that the cancellation of the project was in everyoneâ€™s best interests.

Relations between Jeff and Lionhead remain strong and both sides have enjoyed working together over the past two years.

Commenting on the decision to halt work on Unity, Peter Molyneux said, â€œEveryone at Lionhead has the utmost respect and admiration for Jeffâ€™s unique talents. However, weâ€™ve both been in the industry a long time and it was becoming increasingly apparent to us that we would not be able to finish Unity in an acceptable time frame. On a personal level, I have very much enjoyed working with Jeff.â€

Jeff Minter responded, â€œEveryone at Lionhead has been incredibly supportive and the decision to stop working on Unity has been a difficult one for us. But being realistic, I felt it was better for everyone concerned that we cease work on Unity. Iâ€™d like to thank Lionhead for all their help and support over the past two years.â€

http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?t=2 ... sc&start=0

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:09 pm 0

disciple wrote:
Mika73 wrote:Why this had to happend... Whats reason?
Time constraints, the amount of work left to do on Unity weighed against the amount of time the gamecube is still a viable platfom mean't that Unity wasn't likely to be finished before the gamecube was superceeded.

If new systems are launched next X-mas (late 2005), that probably only gave development another 9 or 10 months left, max. Launching a game that close to new consoles might have been suicide. So a spring 2005 release was probably what they were looking at, giving only 2-4 months to "rush" the game out to completion.

It is sad to see it canceled, but rushing it out wouldnâ€™t have been the better choice. Jeff and Lionhead donâ€™t release crap games, so I commend them for pulling the plug.

This reminds me of when Blizzard stopped development on that Warcraft II sequel (of sorts) that seemed to be an enhanced version of Dragon's Lair (well, the hand-drawn cartoon's looked that way at least). This was after 2-3 years of work, and the game was near completion. But it lacked good gameplay and Blizzard moved on. It's so sad that we got Warcraft III instead.

Molloy · Post by **Molloy** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 5:39 pm 0

Sure the next Nintendo platform may well be backwards compatable. The next gen isn't going to come as soon as many thing. Nintendo are always late.

As far as I can see Yak has done enough with the graphics engine. Kenta Cho seems to knock out tasty little shooter games in his spare time. So did Jeff with his shareware stuff. Is he being overambitious? A nice shooty arcade game in the Unity engine wouldn't take that much time.

I don't like to see poor Jeff ditch all his hard work. Building an engine like this has taken him so long. Looking to the future is all well and good but we may be talking 3 or 4 years unless he goes back to shareware.

Kamineko · Post by **Kamineko** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 2:56 pm 0

Darnit.

isoprene · Post by **isoprene** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:09 pm 0

Proper gutted!!!

I was really looking forward to Unity. Couldn't believe what I was seeing when I saw it had been cancelled. I am looking right now at the Edge mag which features Unity on the cover, issue 120... sob sob!

Still, better to abort an unachieveable timeframe than produce some half rate game, like many of the big names would do.

Look after yourself Jeff, I'm sure you'll succeed with it in the end.

(Just as long as you get it finished within the next 40 years, cos I'll probably be dead after that!)

YakYak

Unity cancelled? :(

Unity cancelled? :(

Unity aborted!!!