View Full Version : Unity sadly no more
Mayhem
12-10-2004, 07:56 AM
This is the press released from Jeff that's going out today :(
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 everyone’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, “Everyone at Lionhead has the utmost respect and admiration for Jeff’s unique talents. However, we’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.”
Jeff Minter responded, “Everyone 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. I’d like to thank Lionhead for all their help and support over the past two years.”
Avatard
12-10-2004, 08:00 AM
...and what the hell is Unity?
anagrama
12-10-2004, 08:15 AM
Ah shit. That was the one GC game I was really looking forward to. :(
Sadly, I'm not too surprised since the whole concept always had a whiff of vapourware about it and there had been no news for ages, but it's still a great shame.
Vroomfunkel
12-10-2004, 08:15 AM
Nooooooooooo!
I have been waiting for that one for ages, trying to be patient. Thinking 'it might take a while, but ... it'll be worth it'
:(
* Looks for corner to weep in *
Vroomfunkel
mr_jiggles_13
12-10-2004, 08:33 AM
exactly what is it? someone please give some links
anagrama
12-10-2004, 08:50 AM
exactly what is it? someone please give some links
You may not be aware of it, but there's this really handy thing called "Google". (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=unity+jeff+minter)
mr_jiggles_13
12-10-2004, 09:04 AM
yeah and i cant find a darn thing on it
EDIT- FINALLY found some pictures, looks like an acid trip, seriously.
anagrama
12-10-2004, 09:10 AM
Click on my last post.
MetroidFan1164
12-10-2004, 09:12 AM
Some links:
GameCube Gains Unity (IGN) (http://cube.ign.com/articles/384/384024p1.html?fromint=1)
Minter and Molyneux announce Unity (GameSpot) (http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/puzzle/unity/news_2909614.html)
Avatard
12-10-2004, 09:15 AM
Why on earth would I want to google a common word like Unity and try to figure out what ya'll are talking about. What I don't know won't hurt me so it probably wasn't important to begin with.
anagrama
12-10-2004, 09:31 AM
If you had clicked on the link i provided, you would have seen that it was a search for "Unity+Jeff+Minter" which brings up dozens of relevant links.
*sigh* It's really not worth trying sometimes...
davidleeroth
12-10-2004, 09:50 AM
It was kinda in the cards, just tried to convince myself to keep believing. All that silence. It would've been nice to see some input from Jeff on GC.
No matter how it hurts, gotta give it to Jeff and Lionhead for not releasing an unfinished game. Maybe in another two years it will be available in the net. :)
zmweasel
12-10-2004, 10:18 AM
"However, we’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."
Translated: "By the time we finally shipped this sucker, the market for third-party GameCube titles would be nonexistent."
Unity always sounded much like Rez, as described by Minter in this July '03 interview: http://archive.gamespy.com/interviews/september03/minter/
-- Z.
ubersaurus
12-10-2004, 10:25 AM
That's too bad, although I'm kinda not surprised. Maybe they'll move what they have developed to another platform at some point, but still, damn. I was really looking forward to that.
Querjek
12-10-2004, 03:12 PM
"However, we’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."
Translated: "By the time we finally shipped this sucker, the market for third-party GameCube titles would be nonexistent."
-- Z.
So, in essence, it would never have been released?
It's too bad that this game will probably never be seen again, but I understand why :/
SoulBlazer
12-10-2004, 05:22 PM
Yeah, but if they were worried about the GC, just change platforms. Hell, this sounds more like a game that was stuck in limbo too long and they finally decided to pass on it.
zmweasel
12-10-2004, 06:41 PM
Yeah, but if they were worried about the GC, just change platforms. Hell, this sounds more like a game that was stuck in limbo too long and they finally decided to pass on it.
You make it sound so easy to "just change platforms." :) If Minter was developing exclusively for the GameCube, and I never read anything otherwise, he probably wasn't using cross-platform devtools that would make it easy or even feasible to salvage whatever's been done.
In any case, Minter is finished in the game biz. He'd already been wandering in the wilderness before he hooked up with Molyneux, and now he's pissed away a golden opportunity. He's yet another of those old-school programmers who couldn't make the transition from one-man band to team player.
-- Z.
Mayhem
12-10-2004, 06:48 PM
Well as far as I am aware... some of it may well be coming over to the PC in some form or another. Quite likely the VLM and maybe more. But we'll see. That's unofficial and you didn't hear it from me. And it is being considered to be moved onto another future platform IF possible. Whether anything comes of it is another matter. Jeff is also considering something for the DS but that's way in the future. So he may not be out of it just yet.
In any case, Minter is finished in the game biz. He'd already been wandering in the wilderness before he hooked up with Molyneux, and now he's pissed away a golden opportunity. He's yet another of those old-school programmers who couldn't make the transition from one-man band to team player.
-- Z.
don't worry, I'm not going to give up, and the day I retire is the day they pry the compiler from my cold dead hooves. There's lots more good stuff to come, that I promise you.
Doesn't sound like he's finished to me :) He was able to complete Tempest 3000 as a one man project and that was just a few years ago. Have some faith man.
zmweasel
12-11-2004, 09:12 AM
In any case, Minter is finished in the game biz. He'd already been wandering in the wilderness before he hooked up with Molyneux, and now he's pissed away a golden opportunity. He's yet another of those old-school programmers who couldn't make the transition from one-man band to team player.
-- Z.
don't worry, I'm not going to give up, and the day I retire is the day they pry the compiler from my cold dead hooves. There's lots more good stuff to come, that I promise you.
Doesn't sound like he's finished to me :) He was able to complete Tempest 3000 as a one man project and that was just a few years ago. Have some faith man.
Tempest 3000 was just a souped-up Tempest 2000, which was based on a 20-year-old game design. Of course he was able to finish it as a one-man band. But even then, as he admits on his own website:
"That was a huge project...taking me over two years from start to finish. And no matter how good the end-product, being engaged on one project for such a length of time ceases to become fun after a while."
Guess what, Jeff--pretty much every game in the modern era takes two years from start to finish.
Again, he's one of those '80s one-man-banders who can't adjust to the realities of modern development.
He might produce more shareware Pocket PC shooters, but he's done working with actual game companies after this disaster.
-- Z.
JB Lars
05-20-2005, 01:37 AM
Care to revise that statement, Zach? ;)
Ed Oscuro
05-20-2005, 05:04 AM
Care to revise that statement, Zach? ;)
What, the VLM? It's the VLM, not Halo 2. Great and polished stuff, but not at all a gateway back into game development. We're all happy for Jeff however he can find work in the industry, but Zach's comments have been borne out.
Mayhem
05-20-2005, 07:04 AM
But... think about it. Neon visualiser with every Xbox360. Jeff's work will essentially be the biggest "selling" program for the new machine LOL
Still even Jeff admits this is just a way to get a toe-in with the next-gen hardware. He is planning something new but where it goes, no idea. He's currently at E3, no doubt to cement maybe a few contacts and play some retro stuff (so if you want to meet him, either look out for stands with retro games on it, or the CGE section!).
rbudrick
05-20-2005, 02:12 PM
Well he could always make it for Revolution...Miyamoto said the dev tools are very similar...
-ROb
pragmatic insanester
05-22-2005, 06:10 AM
aw, it looked nice too. anyone remember that other canned title, 100 bullets?
zmweasel
05-23-2005, 06:41 AM
aw, it looked nice too. anyone remember that other canned title, 100 bullets?
I do. Played an early version at last year's E3. Rough, but promising. I still have Acclaim's final E3 press-kit disc, which should have screenshots and an info sheet.
As for Minter, I was indeed wrong to state that he'd never work with a game company again, although producing a fifth iteration of his lightsynth isn't really getting back into game development, just allowing him to do about the only thing a one-man band can accomplish on a next-gen console. Graphic demos are "easy" -- full-fledged games, as Minter admitted, are hard.
-- Z.