PC V3.0 Sandbox Siege Dev Diary

[HammerDano]

I don't want any details of their deal. I am happy that they got this far.
The basic thing that has always interested me always goes back to a single
forum conversation, when Joel was more active. That was what the underlying,
desire was. To make pretty much an amorphic game, that spanned multiple genres.
Also to prove that they could buck the system and maybe plant a seed for awareness
industry change and individual inspiration, yet still be successful in the gaming
industry.

I always wanted to know what it took as a company, small group, or individual,
it would take to build a successful game. I happened upon the forum years after getting
the game. I have read all sorts of pdfs, blogs, books. The one thing they all have in
common is the unspoken word. I play games for entertainment, but after i complete it,
then I look at what it is at the core. Meaning genre motivation, level of simplicity, gameplay manipulation,
dealing with graphics and gameplay. Nouveau riche vs copy and paste. The advancement of
ai, algorithms, graphics techniques, basically the technology that goes into them, and what
exactly makes them popular, what need they fulfill.

This one has given me a little insight into of all of that, Like they said once before
most gaming companies, even well established and larger ones will not do it, because it
is too hard.

I've gotten to experience, the good the bad and the ugly, the facts, the BS, hypotheses, prognostications,
wishful thinking, and the passion from both sides, meaning streams, social media, and the forum
interactions, not only member to dev conversations, but member to member.

The sheer magnitude, and ambition of trying to level this many rulesets that have constantly changed over
the generations. I half expected it to turn into a Never Ending Story scenario. A favorite quote
on the forum is; It is done when it is done. For me it meant either when promises were fulfilled,
the developers gave up on the game, it was good enough, it was abandoned, or it was sold.

Looking at snapshots, in the histogram that I kept updating, and reading, seeing, what was going on,
with verbal, visual, and written communication, gave me an idea.

Regarding, my curiosity above. It came from reading a few of the, I'll never buy another game from
this company again monologues. It is a self defeating post. like a person coming to the forum complaining
a bout a play problem, a person attempts to assist, and they tote the expertise of their day job. So if,
the simple person, attempting to help does not have a problem and the purported expert does, then
that has weakened their position. The simple loophole, that renders them moot, is A company is simply,
a registered name that anyone can save up and buy. A new release, can be under a different name, so
unless those same people that make those statements, do their due diligence, the next game they buy
could be from the very person that they just verbally bashed.

I look at as many possibilities and possible outcomes no matter how unlikely. Kind of like playing
3d chess vs playing checkers. So I can have an idea of different outcomes, just which one is the surprise.

sorry, but, I look at that response and think "that's a lot of words to basically say nothing".

 

[4sheetzngeegles]

I just look at it from a different perspective than you. I understand your view point.
It is from a console users, perspective and expectations, that is why I have never had
a comment or a response. If I have not experienced it I just listen and acknowledge it.
What I posted is just what I looked for, everyone's thoughts make sense to them selves.

When I watched a stream, or read a post I often played it back multiple times and reread it,
to hear the exact words that were being said. Otherwise I would project what I thought or
wanted it to mean, and would most likely be disappointed and wrong.

I admit it is verbose, and a lot is lost in translation. That is just my R'lyehian way of writing
kind of unfiltered.

Abridged version: I had an idea that a sale was eminent, so no surprise for me as of A19 2020 to 2024 .
The game is finally coming to a conclusion, in one form or another. They achieved a share in multiple
markets. Over time the game has morphed, to attract more markets, and is known world wide. The only
markets left would be portables, and Live service IE BI is into that. I looked at it as a business as well as
a game. For me personally, I wanted to understand, the ups downs losses sacrifices, and how close they
could remain to the idealistic, original presentation to grow, survive, and succeed. The rest, is just information.

 

[smedic55]

Is anything more coming with challenges? I really like those. The balances on them since their release have been nice too. We have the first and second pages, but a third page of even more difficult ones could be cool. Although I think the balance on the amount of animals should be looked at. Even on like day 50-60, I still haven't gotten anywhere near 50 rabbits; I just don't ever see enough, and I'll be at the end of my playthrough with like 20 killed. Maybe also building ones like upgrading 100 blocks. Thank y'all for your hard work!

 

[Space4Ace]

The way the relaunch was announced, the shoddy roll out (for console), the missed deadlines and lack of communication...and then the sudden sale of the company...with a cheery video saying "now they have the resources to finish the game". These are some of the reasons why I am sooooooo curious as to when did they start shopping the company around...how long were they in negotiations? (not that I ever expect to get any answers)

My guess is, when they saw that all signs pointed to 7 Days Blood Moon being a failure is when they made the decision to sell to a bigger entity. I'm sure they invested a lot in that game and it didn't sell much at all. They must have lost a lot of money with that one, paying iLLOGIKA and all.

 

[HammerDano]

My guess is, when they saw that all signs pointed to 7 Days Blood Moon being a failure is when they made the decision to sell to a bigger entity. I'm sure they invested a lot in that game and it didn't sell much at all. They must have lost a lot of money with that one, paying iLLOGIKA and all.

I thought we were being led to believe that Illogika approached TFP...that TFP wasn't putting people or resources into it's development...or am I wrong?

If they were footing the bill...yeah...it no doubt would have put a crunch on the brothers.

Just need to point out that what you highlighted that you were answering was:

The way the relaunch was announced, the shoddy roll out (for console), the missed deadlines and lack of communication...and then the sudden sale of the company...with a cheery video saying "now they have the resources to finish the game". These are some of the reasons why I am sooooooo curious as to when did they start shopping the company around...how long were they in negotiations? (not that I ever expect to get any answers)

Blood moons was released on Nov 4th, 2025 and crashed out in March 2026...well over a year after the re-release to console. "we" don't even know what the financial relationship was with Illogika. That said. I think it is Fair for you to speculate if that was a factor, but, for guys that are known for saying too much during a dev stream, they sure know when to keep their mouths shut about this stuff. IMO it just looks like a refusal to admit ■■■■■■■ behaviour.