Is Zeno Clash 3 going to ever be a thing?

[Osku]

Was just wondering, i heard you guys at ACE are now working on a new original IP so i thought if you were ever going to come back and continue the Zeno Clash series?

Anyways, the new title looks super promising as well so all the best of luck with it, a day one purchase for sure.

[tschumann]

I think they've said they want to but I'm not sure if there are any firm plans yet.

[[ACE] cbordeu]

Exploring the world of Zenozoik again is something that would definitely be cool, but it is a complicated proposition for us, and something we would need to consider very well.

The Zeno Clash games are the most difficult titles for us to develop, since they are too close to "AAA" games in terms of production requirements. ZC2 recieved a fair amount of "bad press" for not being as "good" as titles of the scale of the Witcher 2, Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge (even Skyrim). We're just 15 people... so you can understand that while it may be flattering to be compared with those ginormous titles, it is dissapointing to get discarded because your action adventure is "too small" or "there aren't enough things to do"... (Despite ZC2 selling for half or a third of the price of those games we were being compared to).

With the new FPS titles of the next gen, the expectations for graphics, scale and other features will be even more unrealistic. How do we counter that? Very few people know we are a tiny company. The answer is: We don't know.

We haven't made any plans for a sequel as we can only focus on a game at a time (and for a ZC we would need a 150% dedication again). Time will tell, but a ZC3 would be a massive project for ACE Team, and it is not something we can rush into without a lot of thought.

[Osku]

Thank you for your reply!

Yes indeed, i see where you are coming from and agree with the points you make.

Having purchased all of your games during this sale and played most of them, i'm quite sure you are able to do a lot for the industry in the coming years, if not in Zenozoik then surely in something else, Rock of Ages is an absolutely stellar game and i dont think developing it was such a massive project like ZC2 (?)

Still, now that you have revealed Abyss Odyssey, i just cant keep myself from asking few things about it, are you going to have it in Steam Early Access before it finally releases?
If not, then what is the estimated time of release for the game? (As in, Q1-4 2014-15 I understand you cant give a specific date yet.)

Also, what is your policy on DLC? One thing i noticed in your games was that you didn't have any (paid) DLC, which made me rather happy becouse i think it has become a plague for the industry in recent years, are you going to still incorporate DLC for your future projects?

Edit: Sorry for making this yet another question thread, i just noticed you had already one pinned down for it but cant get myself to move all this there.

[[ACE] cbordeu]

Most of your questions are answered here:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/03/07/zeno-clash-dev-on-abyss-odysseys-procedural-insanity/

We've never done paid DLC before, which doesn't mean we would never do any in the future, but up to now our titles have had a great amount of free updates, and we plan on continuing to do so for our future projects.

[sere]

as fans the best we can wish for is that in 20 years ACE will not pull a George Lucas on their baby when they finally decide to revisit and traverse the franchise we hold so dear!

i'd give them 15 years leeway for the project but no more.

p.s. i would be cool if zc3 were a movie. too bad john henson died because if the the henson company could make a movie like mirrormask with a paltry 1 million dollar budget then a zeno clash movie at that level or better would be an amazing experience.

[Unoilrig]

Opprinnelig skrevet av ACE cbordeu:

Exploring the world of Zenozoik again is something that would definitely be cool, but it is a complicated proposition for us, and something we would need to consider very well.

The Zeno Clash games are the most difficult titles for us to develop, since they are too close to "AAA" games in terms of production requirements. ZC2 recieved a fair amount of "bad press" for not being as "good" as titles of the scale of the Witcher 2, Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge (even Skyrim). We're just 15 people... so you can understand that while it may be flattering to be compared with those ginormous titles, it is dissapointing to get discarded because your action adventure is "too small" or "there aren't enough things to do"... (Despite ZC2 selling for half or a third of the price of those games we were being compared to).

With the new FPS titles of the next gen, the expectations for graphics, scale and other features will be even more unrealistic. How do we counter that? Very few people know we are a tiny company. The answer is: We don't know.

We haven't made any plans for a sequel as we can only focus on a game at a time (and for a ZC we would need a 150% dedication again). Time will tell, but a ZC3 would be a massive project for ACE Team, and it is not something we can rush into without a lot of thought.

But here's something you guys can do: Remake ZC2 on the Source engine.

[[ACE] cbordeu]

Making ZC2 in Source would actually be impossible. There are many things (like the scale of maps or the dynamic lighting for the day night cycle) which are impossible on Source (unless you heavily modify the engine).

For Zeno Clash 1 we did a huge hack of the entire mesh system since we totally ditched brush based geometry in favor of levels built with custom static meshes (that was the only way to get such chaotic and organic environments). We needed to modify the engine to support custom lightmapped 3D models for world creation. That is not how Source is meant to be used, and we could get away with our custom solution only because the levels were so small.

Unreal uses/supports custom static meshes for world geometry. We didn't have to modify anything. We used the engine the way it is meant to be used and that allowed us to create much larger environments which could be explored.

[Unoilrig]

Opprinnelig skrevet av ACE cbordeu:

Making ZC2 in Source would actually be impossible. There are many things (like the scale of maps or the dynamic lighting for the day night cycle) which are impossible on Source (unless you heavily modify the engine).

For Zeno Clash 1 we did a huge hack of the entire mesh system since we totally ditched brush based geometry in favor of levels built with custom static meshes (that was the only way to get such chaotic and organic environments). We needed to modify the engine to support custom lightmapped 3D models for world creation. That is not how Source is meant to be used, and we could get away with our custom solution only because the levels were so small.

Unreal uses/supports custom static meshes for world geometry. We didn't have to modify anything. We used the engine the way it is meant to be used and that allowed us to create much larger environments which could be explored.

Ok then.

[Threedogawoo]

I would love to have a Zeno Clash 3, the first one is in my top 10 games. I wouldn't care if it was a prequel, sequel, or a completely new set of characters. I just want more.

[Redriv]

If ZC3 ever does come out I will definatly be getting it, one of my favorite games and settings.

[Threedogawoo]

I would be fine with a Comic book, or animated shortfilm. I just have to know what happeneds next.

[SexyPanther]

I like how upfront you are as developers to be willing to share your experiences with the public. I find it refreshing, and quite interesting. Best of luck to you and your team.

[Blackpot]

I don't understand those who put negative feedback on this game. I've read some, and i didn't met their source of criticism during my gametime.
Hope dies last, i wish ZC3 will be made in the future, every big series have 3 parts, most unique hand-to-hand combat game ever made.

[Burn504]

i think the "bad press" it got was because it strayed too far from the play style of the first one.

[sere]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Burn504:

i think the "bad press" it got was because it strayed too far from the play style of the first one.

the play style was almost exactly the same as the first one. the differences were technical along with a tweaked implementation of weapons. besides the addition of skill points and allies other than daedra, the "style"/"play style" is virtually unchanged between the two games.