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Why doesn't Ubisoft port ZombiU to other platforms?
- Thread starter gribbles
- Start date
Then perhaps you can further explain your position instead of being condescending.
Don't use vision.
Use sound.
One of the reason that no other stealth game has ever approached Thief is because it conveyed so much of its horror through sound. The only reason Amnesia is worth anything is because of its sound design. Red Dead Redemption was praised for its atmosphere, which, you guessed it, is the direct result of the quality of the sound design.
Nobody ever TALKS about sound design, but a game's rating is directly proportional to the quality of sound design it has. Even a really really bad game can get a 90% on metacritic if its controls are largely inoffensive and it has great sound design.
MOUSE!
Fortunately, they don't need to be on a controller. That's what mice are for!
Two point 3s?
This is actually the most valid point. Of course, if the port's easy... then make the port. They ended up profiting off of the awful I Am Alive.
This is kind of misleading considering games have been doing real time inventories the same way with the same tension for decades elsewhere.
Hell, The Last of Us just came out last year and does the same thing.
Why go from a dead platform to another platform which is even more dead?
Why don't they just make a different Zombi game rather than try to completely port over a game designed with the Gamepad in mind?
Wiktor
Member
The inventory system isn't that important. Sure, it would make the game different, but it's not something that would break the whole game and make it impossible to port.
Heck, if you want second screen just use smartphones.
The real reason why they don't port it is because the game sold weak and it got weak reviews. A late port wouldn't get the benefit of rose collored glsses that launch titles usually have and would still require enormous marketing budget to sell. Ubi propably just thought it's money is better spent on better and more high profile projects.
Heck, if you want second screen just use smartphones.
The real reason why they don't port it is because the game sold weak and it got weak reviews. A late port wouldn't get the benefit of rose collored glsses that launch titles usually have and would still require enormous marketing budget to sell. Ubi propably just thought it's money is better spent on better and more high profile projects.
Because nothing in Zombi U is entirely reliant on the gamepad to the point it wouldn't work on a traditional controller. Everything it "innovates" with the gamepad has been done before and arguably better with traditional control methods.
It really wouldn't, though.
Games like System Shock did the same thing nearly 20 years ago just fine.
Hate to pile on, but nearly everyone in this thread is right, this game wouldn't be the same without the Gamepad.
The tension of trying to open a door or search your inventory without being able to see, but hearing threats, the very fun zombie vs human local multiplayer wouldn't work elsewhere either.
Ubisoft did a great job using the Gamepad and due to that, ZombiU will always just have to be a thing you need the Wii U to experience.
The tension of trying to open a door or search your inventory without being able to see, but hearing threats, the very fun zombie vs human local multiplayer wouldn't work elsewhere either.
Ubisoft did a great job using the Gamepad and due to that, ZombiU will always just have to be a thing you need the Wii U to experience.
ArkkAngel007
Member
I wouldn't say critically acclaimed as the press was torn and some major outlets like GameSpot and GameInformer were absolutely brutal.
However, it seems most of those who've played it on GAF and Reddit seem to have really enjoyed it, and it was a shame how quickly the door was shut on them. But the game did have some nasty end game glitches that prevented completion.
It just seems that the effort to port it given all the work they would have to do would just be better served as a spiritual reboot with fresh marketing and given the proper development time.
Ultima Underworld pulled it off well in 1991
System Shock did it well in 1994
System Shock 2 did it just fine in 1999.
Dead Space did a pretty swell job of it in 2008
The Last of Us did a great job of it last year.
ahh I see, yeah I haven't been following the reviews for the game but heard a lot of good things about it on gaf. I just thought it might be worth investing on the IP if it still has potentials, because it sounds unique enough, but I guess the uniqueness wouldn't really carry over without the off screen tablet function.
Wiktor
Member
Because the brand is already taninted by one low rated low selling game. At this point it's better if Ubisoft just makes brand new zombie IP and just use some of what worked best with ZombieU there.
I was more interested in the thought experiment (how to pull off ZombiU on another platform) that comes with shooting down silly arguments than expressly demanding that Ubisoft port ZombiU to the PC.
I was with you until you switched to TLOU
ArkkAngel007
Member
But this game doesn't do it the exact same, and all the things on the gamepad lumped on a controller (blah blah PC keyboard and mouse I know, though still not quite as efficient and clean) would just be a mess and make the game feel like a clunker when going for the other features.
Yes, they could possibly redo all of those elements to make it work on just a controller or through the KB/M (hot keys would be welcome but would circumvent the purpose), but why waste all the resources on that when there are actual issues in the game that require work that also aren't a snap of the fingers away.
My question is: why is a port actually wanted when all that work would have to be done where it's going to be a different game in the end?
It depends on what your tastes in gaming are. If you like survival horror, high risk gameplay, perma-death and/or Dark Souls death, and passive online (other killed players appearing as zombies with their gear upon death in your game), then you'll enjoy it.
If you're more interested in animation, story, glitch-free gameplay, and being empowered, you're not going to have as good of a time.
I feel it's worth investing in as, while it wasn't fleshed out, the background of what is taking place in the game is very interesting and one of the biggest wasted opportunities.
The game was just unfortunately rushed to release on a platform that very few are interested in playing in their first place, with many of the people on said system not being the audience a game like ZombiU would look attractive.
It's possible some of that functionality can transfer over in a way, but it would require a lot of retooling or just plain replacing with some other system. Which is probably why moving on with a spiritual successor would be better than wasting it on a mere port.
if you were going to port it, could something like what Alone in the Dark did work for solving the inventory issue?
edit. i mean that it would replicate some of that tension of having to look at your items while being vulnerable to attack/not being able to see but still hear where enemies are coming from
disclaimer: im not too familiar with ZombiU
edit. i mean that it would replicate some of that tension of having to look at your items while being vulnerable to attack/not being able to see but still hear where enemies are coming from
disclaimer: im not too familiar with ZombiU
TheRedSnifit
Member
I love System Shock, but that is not "better" than what ZombiU did by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, it's an example of how only having one screen forces you to limit the player's options in order to have a cohesive UI.
Solid Samus
Banned
and do you say that as a casual observer of the game's mechanics or as someone who has played the game? because what I'm reading here frankly makes no sense at all to me, especially given the counterpoints already posted in this thread. There's no one thing in the game that couldn't be reworked to function serviceably without the gamepad but you're effortlessly handwaving away the Gamepad-specific functions and designs that permeate the entire game and comingle to allow for some interesting approaches to traditional elements. Not to mention reducing things like pauseless touch screen inventory management, or interaction with a pad mirroring the in-game device that provides feedback independent of the main screen, to things that have quite simply been 'done better' elsewhere via traditional console control schemes.
I don't think the game couldn't exist on other platforms, but I do agree with the sentiment that at that point you might as well just develop a new Zombi game built around traditional input methods and perhaps PS4 touchpad and speaker/Kinect functionality... instead of spending time and money reworking ZombiU for platforms that have already launched and aren't still riding the rose tinted wave
I love System Shock, but that is not "better" than what ZombiU did by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, it's an example of how only having one screen forces you to limit the player's options in order to have a cohesive UI.
I never said it did it better, I said it did it just fine for a game released nearly 20 years ago.
And the second part of your post is pretty lol worthy considering you're talking about a nearly 20 year old game running on old hardware. Look at System Shock 2 for a more modern interpretation (aka, the game that set the standard games like Zombi U lifted), and yes, I would say SS2's implementation worked better than what Zombi U did simply for the fact mouse and keyboard is a better, more intuitive solution to real time inventory management than fumbling through it with a button limited controller.
Someone who bought the game and system at launch.
The gamepad was completely throwaway in that game. Everything it hamfistedly mapped to a gamepad function had been done before and better with traditional control methods, and in the end the game felt weighed down by all of its gimmicks.
TheRedSnifit
Member
SS2 is notorious for its clunky UI and inventory system, even by 1999 standards. And you manage ZombiU's inventory with buttons? I'm starting to think that you've never played either of those games.
freenudemacusers
Member
Ubisoft is probably too busy cancelling wii u software right now. priorities.
That's funny, because I consider it one of the best UIs in FPV history.
Lot's of designers apparently do too, because it's been ripped off dozens of times now by subsequent games attempting the same type of real time horror inventory management.
And I'm starting to think you didn't actually fully comprehend what I posted?
I never said Zombi U controlled with buttons. I said everything it shoehorned into a gamepad function had been done before and better on traditional control methods, which it has.
Vyse The Legend
Member
Looking away from the screen entirely is different from a Dark Souls-esque inventory screen.
Play the game, then judge.
Have and did.
It's superficially different in barely noticeable ways as other games which do the same thing with real time inventory either obfuscate partially or most of the screen (the last of us, ss2) or play with enemy spawns in a way that they come from your blind spot anyways (dead space, ss2, the last of us).
TheCongressman1
Member
Yeah, the game uses several neat, but unnecessary gimmicks. Meaning it can absolutely be done with traditional controls/screens, not to say it doesn't work well with the gamepad.
Rather than putting it on other systems I wish they would just make a sequel on the Wii U. I doubt they will at this point, but that would be great. Putting some polish and expanding on what they had it could be amazing.
ArkkAngel007
Member
I can agree that the scoping, radar pinging, and minigames were hamfisted, though the first two were just fine.
But the way you can quickly swap in and out with everything and manage the inventory I can't say could be rivaled on a traditional pad. KB/M would be quicker through hotkeys, but regular button mapping? Probably not. To make it level, items like ammunition would have to be removed, and flare/explosives would have to be keyed to their own button. Which removes a lot of the potential consequences to the player and watering down the experience.
Also the scanning and puzzles attached to that were pretty interesting and a nice callback to Metroidvania games. It was a shame they limited it to just the blacklight messages.
Edit: I'm not going to deny that there can be alternative methods that can work as well and possibly better. But for porting it over, it's just not going to work as well as it did on the gamepad. I mean, go ahead and keep dreaming that they'll put that much effort into a port of a 'failure', but you'd be closer to the lottery in odds on them revisiting it in a different game.
TheRedSnifit
Member
But not SS1's, eh? The two games have almost identical UIs, except that calling your inventory in 2 takes more steps than in 1 (where it's always open).
You specifically mentioned Kb/M being superior to buttons. While that's true, I'm not entirely sure why you'd bring it up in a discussion that is completely unrelated to buttons at all.
Standard mapping would place everything on a single button press on the f1-8 or 1-8, with quick access stuff mapped to other fuction keys close to WASD like Q, E, R, T, F, G, V, C, X, Z, Alt, or Tab. This isn't even bringing a five button mouse into the equation which opens up a whole different can of worms.
So yeah, it'd faster with or without hotkeys as long as you're accumulated to Kb/M.
Or they could just give you four quick slots on the dpad? Considering the lack of weapon variety in the game I can't really imagine what they'd have to lose there.
I really thought dragging the gamepad up to scan was pretty clunky, honestly. Metroid Prime did the same thing with scanning years ago but better. Honestly after the novelty wore off I just ended up using the right stick to move around in scan mode (I think? Or was that Lego City?).
ZombiePlatypus
Member
"I'm not buying a WiiU because no games"
GAMES!
"Dammit why are these WiiU exclusives exclusive to the WiiU!?"
GAMES!
"Dammit why are these WiiU exclusives exclusive to the WiiU!?"
Id buy it day one if they released it, even after watching an entire walkthrough on youtube.
IMO people saying you need the second screen or else its a different game, sounds ridiculous... Now, having said that, i havnt played the game personally. But surely a creative mind could come up with something very similar without the second screen to replace that mechanic, without missing a beat in tension that that mechanic supposedly delivers so well.
The game i saw played on youtube looked awesome. and that was completely without even seeing the second screen at all. I hope it gets ported.
IMO people saying you need the second screen or else its a different game, sounds ridiculous... Now, having said that, i havnt played the game personally. But surely a creative mind could come up with something very similar without the second screen to replace that mechanic, without missing a beat in tension that that mechanic supposedly delivers so well.
The game i saw played on youtube looked awesome. and that was completely without even seeing the second screen at all. I hope it gets ported.
akidnamededdy
Banned
The game's on Wii U. If you want to play it, buy a Wii U. Just like if you want to play Bayonetta 2.
Why doesn't Sony port Halo to Playstation?
Why doesn't Sony port Halo to Playstation?
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you've never played it (statistically I should be right 
) if you feel it would be no problem porting it to other platforms.
The game is one of the few Wii U games entirely built from scratch around the concept of the gamepad. So I'm fairly certain that is the main reason. That and the fact it would probably not do too hot anywhere else either, and of course, there could be some sort of deal between Ubi and Ninty that we don't know about.
) if you feel it would be no problem porting it to other platforms.The game is one of the few Wii U games entirely built from scratch around the concept of the gamepad. So I'm fairly certain that is the main reason. That and the fact it would probably not do too hot anywhere else either, and of course, there could be some sort of deal between Ubi and Ninty that we don't know about.
plasmawave
Banned
Then recreate that in in-game. d-pad to navigate menu, and the right stick to look around.
Problem solved.
sakipon
Member
Yeah. The game can be bought for cheap, and there's a lot of bargains for Wii U systems.
Then again, I understood this is not a port begging thread. We're just worried Ubisoft isn't maximising their income by porting this everywhere... or something.
guggnichso
Banned
Well, if you want to play the game, buy the system. Maybe you'll find other games on it also anjoyable? Whoooops! System isn't dead anymore.
Jawmuncher
Member
Some people definitely going over board about the gamepad here.
While it does add a lot to the game. The experience would still be fine without it.
Not to mention with MS having Smartglass and PS4 having the vita. Ubisoft if they wanted could craft a similar experience for those consoles as a added feature.
Personally I do find it odd that Ubisoft hasn't said anything about bringing the game to other consoles. Very rarely does Ubi do a console exclusive game for big titles. Since the last I can recall that was recent was AC:Liberation which just had a HD release. Maybe they are planning some sort of "definitive edition" but aren't saying anything until after watch dogs? There forecast release is currently pretty empty isn't it?
While it does add a lot to the game. The experience would still be fine without it.
Not to mention with MS having Smartglass and PS4 having the vita. Ubisoft if they wanted could craft a similar experience for those consoles as a added feature.
Personally I do find it odd that Ubisoft hasn't said anything about bringing the game to other consoles. Very rarely does Ubi do a console exclusive game for big titles. Since the last I can recall that was recent was AC:Liberation which just had a HD release. Maybe they are planning some sort of "definitive edition" but aren't saying anything until after watch dogs? There forecast release is currently pretty empty isn't it?
that they should buy the game that it was originally designed for: the ps3 & x360.
those consoles are relatively cheap nowadays and bayonetta can be bought for peanuts at eb/gamestop.
besides, at this point why wouldn't you own those two consoles; there's tonnes of fantastic games on both.
in addition, the wiiU is getting bayonetta 2. they should be happy with that.
lol. neither do the majority of those asking for a port, i'm guessing.
at the end of the day, if ubisoft ports it. great. we can look back at all the 'gamers' in this thread asking for ports and see if they actually put their money where their mouth is(i doubt it).
:/
Game has great synergy between screens. The experience is better WITH two screens. Probably the best WII U example game out there.
ArkkAngel007
Member
I don't see what the point of this is. Hotkeys help, but I didn't rule out that regular mapping would be sufficient.
But that defeats the purpose of having to go into your bag for what you need. Weapon runs out and you're fuc...no wait, I'll just quick select on the pad the magic molotov! The inventory is designed that way to have you deal with the consequences of your decisions.
And why does there need to be a shit ton of weapon variety? The guns were variable enough for what they were with their strengths and weaknesses, but this isn't some military shooter where you need the armory at your fingertips. Resident Evil and TLOU did fine with just a handful of types, so why is that an issue here? Ammo is also relatively easy to stock up on if you know how and where to go.
The scan though was activated on the gamepad screen iirc. Everything being right there was great to quickly access without being a clutter or taking the place of buttons related to movement or other functions. And honestly, let's not make it sound like the game is forcing you to do the physical gamepad method of viewing. My point was that the scanning feature itself was really nice, not the gimmicky feature attached to it.
But why waste all the resources to make it work well on a traditional controller and a single screen, among the actual things needing to be addressed in the game itself to do so? And while Smartglass might be possible (might be too slow), the Vita inclusion would be a fragmenting factor. I know it's nice to think of the ideal scenario, but that doesn't make it realistic.
Because it was a failure even when taking into account the sales of the Wii U. Their investors wouldn't understand why they would be porting a game that had no success in its own environment. Liberation at least saw some success on the Vita, just as Far Cry 3 has (if the port rumors were true) on its platforms.
akidnamededdy
Banned
The system wasn't dead when the game came out. Technically it's still not dead. Technically.
This kind of thread just chaps my hide. People are ready and willing to declare the Wii U dead and buried, but oooh, they should port ZombiU to other systems, oooh why is Platinum making Wii U exclusives like W101 and Bayonetta 2, they should port them.
The thing's got exclusives--great exclusives--and all people want is for them to be ported to these more expensive systems so they don't have to, I don't know....suffer the indignity of buying a Nintendo console?
Yeah that's basically my reaction whenever I see a thread like this.
Guess again, because you couldnt be more wrong if you tried.
And what harm is it to you if they ported the game ?, you seem almost upset even at the idea. I dont get that attitude.
Heavy's Sandvich
Member
Can everyone state whether theyve played the game or not before offering their opinion?
Ive completed the game, feasible to do it but wont be nearly as tension filled without the gamepad. No where near.
Ive completed the game, feasible to do it but wont be nearly as tension filled without the gamepad. No where near.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Truth.