Game Revival

[CuriousWonder]

First post, let's go.

I curious if anyone else has thought of this but recently I have come across an idea. As you might guess form my name I'm curious by nature & was wondering what would happen if someone went around the internet finding abandoned games which they then take over themselves after getting permission from the original creator. I'm sure we've all had one of those games where the Dev has a great idea & you can clearly tell that it's going to be a great game before they abandon the game for one reason or another, ones that clearly have a fan base like Inner Bimbo, XXXivilization, Bimbo High, etc. All good games with either fun stories or good mechanics or even both.

There are also undoubtedly thousands of artist, programmers, and writers that have talent but can't think of a worth while project. Feel free to post maybe share this thread maybe we'll get some games coming back to life.

 

[Deleted member 3917737]

The main and only one I want to be brought back to life, is


High Life

It was such a lovely experience. I bet it would have been one of the best AVN's out there. A proper Female MC game. Not the typical "blackmail, groping, slut etc" game these Devs like to do to their Female MC's. I want more Female Devs

 

[CuriousWonder]

The main and only one I want to be brought back to life, is

View attachment 2299672
High Life

It was such a lovely experience. I bet it would have been one of the best AVN's out there. A proper Female MC game. Not the typical "blackmail, groping, slut etc" game these Devs like to do to their Female MC's. I want more Female Devs

Right. Like I've never played this one but you get the feeling. You played the game to then end found out it got abandoned & are left with the thought of what could have been.

 

[Deleted member 3917737]

found out it got abandoned & are left with the thought of what could have been.

Eh, you are only left with that thought if you think about it too much. Like, I just started thinking about it because of this thread. Usually, my mind is too busy and focused on other things, not on games that could have been.

Would I like it to be revived? hella yesh!. Do I think about it constantly? no lol. So many new things coming out daily, monthly, yearly.

 

[Deleted member 5410619]

Games i love to see ressurected:
https://f95zone.to/threads/the-tyrant-v0-9-4b-saddoggames.6025/
https://f95zone.to/threads/hypno-family-trainer-v0-1-2-hf-trainer.1456/

 

[anne O'nymous]

I'm sure we've all had one of those games where the Dev has a great idea & you can clearly tell that it's going to be a great game before they abandon the game for one reason or another, [...]

Of course we have, but there's a tons of constraints that make a revival nearly impossible:

If it's a 2D CGs game, the guy that will continue the game need to have the same drawing style.
If it's a 3D CGs one, it need to have the same assets, tweaked in the same way, the same rendering configuration, the same post process, and the same ability to build the scenes.

The guy that will continue the game need to know everything that the original author have planed, because great games have a writing that anticipate the future, and the events that we guess through the dialogs and story need to happen. And, obviously, the story need to continue in the same direction.
He also need to know everything that the original author have defined regarding each character personality and past, because we expect them to continue behaving like they did in the previous release.
And of course, he also need to have the same writing style, because it's not just the story that made us like the game, it's also the way it's told and written. And of course, this apply even more for the dialogs, the characters have to speaks as they always did until now.

Feel free to post maybe share this thread maybe we'll get some games coming back to life.

Not more than with the previous threads like this one.

 

[Agent HK47]

Agreeing with Anne above. There are too many obstacles to make the idea viable. Big Brother has been revived about 20 different times, and I don't recall a single one of them doing well, and the vast majority are now abandoned.
Also, most people who have the means and skills to pull these kind of things off, will most often just create their own game instead, cause that way, they have completely control over everything from the start.

 

[The Masked Man]

Even if ya scratch out the "match author" aspect people above discussed, there's the codebase issue.

I'll be assuming you're actually "taking over". Cause re-building some other game 1:1 ground-up sounds kinda stupid.
If it's a linear VN-like, you'll have easier time getting around. Should take you like a few days to learn all the intricacies the previous dev tangled in. Might be very painful few days mind ya.
If it's not a VN-like, you're in a world of pain.
Even after you do "decompile" how the program operates, you'll most likely be facing a major refactor.

This next bit might sound esoteric, but software reflects psyche of people involved developing it. So if you end up with someone else's codebase, you'll either have to redo major parts of it so that it fits *your* psyche, or wing it and hope for the best, which will be a PITA to carry thru entire dev. process. Like working with a ghost on your team, you know.

I'm projecting my own view ofc, so a person with a diff. frame of mind might handle this stuff with ease.
In my mind, there's super low chance of someone competent rezzing a game happening.
Maybe if they were very passionate about a defunct game?
But, going around reviving stuff as a generic pastime activity, even if it just involves "coding onwards" is... madness.

 

[CuriousWonder]

Even if ya scratch out the "match author" aspect people above discussed, there's the codebase issue.

I'll be assuming you're actually "taking over". Cause re-building some other game 1:1 ground-up sounds kinda stupid.
If it's a linear VN-like, you'll have easier time getting around. Should take you like a few days to learn all the intricacies the previous dev tangled in. Might be very painful few days mind ya.
If it's not a VN-like, you're in a world of pain.
Even after you do "decompile" how the program operates, you'll most likely be facing a major refactor.

This next bit might sound esoteric, but software reflects psyche of people involved developing it. So if you end up with someone else's codebase, you'll either have to redo major parts of it so that it fits *your* psyche, or wing it and hope for the best, which will be a PITA to carry thru entire dev. process. Like working with a ghost on your team, you know.

I'm projecting my own view ofc, so a person with a diff. frame of mind might handle this stuff with ease.
In my mind, there's super low chance of someone competent rezzing a game happening.
Maybe if they were very passionate about a defunct game?
But, going around reviving stuff as a generic pastime activity, even if it just involves "coding onwards" is... madness.

I would assume that's what would happen because you'd have to get the original Dev's permission to take over their game anyway. So, having them hand over all the things they plained to do as well as teaching what parts of their code mean what only makes sense. After all not doing that would effectively give you the Disney star wars trilogy.

 

[Agent HK47]

I would assume that's what would happen because you'd have to get the original Dev's permission to take over their game anyway. So, having them hand over all the things they plained to do as well as teaching what parts of their code mean what only makes sense. After all not doing that would effectively give you the Disney star wars trilogy.

Funny thing is, AFAIK, George Lucas actually offered Disney to be a consultant and tell them about the ideas he had come up with for a possible star wars sequel, but Disney just brushed his proposal aside. They really thought they had such amazing ideas, that they did not need him. Wonder how much they regret that decision now (though they would never admit any regret publically.)

 

[gunderson]

The eeriest part of this website, to me, is how every single time that somebody brings up a totally reasonable thing to make as a fan project there's always this implied whisper of 'and then I sell it...'

Just mod a fuckin' abandoned game, for fun. Release your silly mod. Don't wait for permission, don't charge money for it. Practice, screw around, and if you decide you like developing games then use it as inspiration to make your own original game that's a take on what that dev did but unique (and yes, if you like, sell that). You might even end up making a better game, or at least one less jarring in tone between your version and the original dev's than a Frankensteined 'revival' game.

 

[Müptezel Emo]

[RPGM] - [Abandoned] - Bad Intentions [v0.2] [Evil Toddler] | F95zone

 

[nulnil]

You're better off taking it's concept and adding your own ideas to it. It can be hard to tell where a game may have been heading towards or some parts may have need to be remade too much for quality's sake.

 

[CuriousWonder]

You're better off taking it's concept and adding your own ideas to it. It can be hard to tell where a game may have been heading towards or some parts may have need to be remade too much for quality's sake.

You do have a point but could side step the issue of needing to remake a game if you talk to the dev about what they were doing or where they were going to take the story otherwise, I would agree with just taking the concept and making your own game.
Unfortunately, I can only speculate since I'm no game dev and doubt I ever will be. I just put this thread up in hopes to inspire others if I'm being honest.