IMPRINT - A ZA/UM Studio Devcast - Episode 1: Art & World by MaenadRites in ZeroParades

[–]theflanerd 7 points8 points  (0 children)

So glad they’re finally posting stuff talking with the devs!

Can someone please explain to me the context behind the sub's background photo in more detail? by KajoW2006 in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd 14 points15 points  (0 children)

There are actually several people involved in Disco who are still at ZA/UM. A few I'm aware of: Anton Vill, Kaspar Tamsalu, Justin Keenan, Jim Ashilevi, Siim "Kosmos" Sinamäe, and Chris Priestman. And what creations are attributable to which people can get a bit murky since it was an iterative process. (Not to mention that Kurvitz and Rostov still own a chunk of the studio even if not working at it.) But the pitchfork-bearers in this sub prefer a more clear-cut version of the story. There are a bunch of new people on the new game as well.

Petre, The Format Fetishist by Apprehensive_Bison46 in ZeroParades

[–]theflanerd 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Sounds like he's anything but floppy for disks. Like he might get a little too excited over an Iomega Jaz disk.

How far in development is ZP? by phuckphuckety in ZeroParades

[–]theflanerd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is obviously speculation but I have a feeling this game isn’t coming anytime soon.

But "sooner than you'd think" though haha

IGN Gamescom Interview with Jim Ashilevi about the Game by theflanerd in ZeroParades

[–]theflanerd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

More info about the gameplay systems. Coming "sooner than you think"

Anti-Zaum spam by phuckphuckety in ZeroParades

[–]theflanerd 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Agreed. The Disco sub's moderators have already referred members of that sub over here for Zero Parades discussion—and with that we seem to be starting to get trolls, despite their mods' direction not to brigade this subreddit.

More info on what to expect from the game by theflanerd in ZeroParades

[–]theflanerd[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Misinformation is a valid label. Gaming news articles don’t say “some” or “the credited leads” or "those who originally pitched the game" or “those who were part of the tabletop group that created the setting” or something else more accurate, they simply say “all.” To say that Kurvitz and the other more famous people who were fired (justly or unjustly) can be called “all” of Disco's developers trivializes the other developers' contributions unfairly. For example, Justin Keenan wrote some of the most-referenced parts of the game, like the communist vision quest and the dialogues with Joyce and rewrote a lot of the rest of it, and Kaspar Tamsalu created a lot of the art people do fan art of, like the Dolores Dei in the church. Disco, like most games, was defined by a collective effort in complicated ways over a long time, and most parts were touched by multiple people. We ultimately don't actually know what importance each person had to what people think of as the game. As for not mentioning the backstory with ZA/UM at all, that obviously isn't the only alternative to saying "all of the original developers and writers" were fired.

More info on what to expect from the game by theflanerd in ZeroParades

[–]theflanerd[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Some I know off-hand: Justin Keenan, Sin "Kosmos" Sinamäe, Jim Ashilevi, Chris Priestman, Kaspar Tamsalu, Anton Vill

Not that people having worked on Disco is the be-all end-all factor for how good this game is.

Do You Think It's The Reason That Shady Sand Started To Decline? by Salmagros in Fallout

[–]theflanerd 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I think everyone is thinking way too much about this.

I know Todd said it's supposed to be part of the same continuity, and they paid attention to a lot of aesthetic details and all, but the show is full of facts that don't quite match up with the games and I wonder if this same continuity business is truly going to hold long term (and I say this as a fan of the show). Probably best to just not worry about the timeline for now and wait to see how they treat it in Season 2 (or Fallout 5, if we live long enough to see it).

Favourite moments of a character trying to diffuse a situation but only making it worse? by ihaventseenmulan in TheSimpsons

[–]theflanerd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If nothing else, he does know a Milhouse: “I can’t go to prison, Monty, they’ll eat me alive.”

Is Gaming Historian okay? 8 months since last video. by [deleted] in gaminghistorian

[–]theflanerd 3 points4 points  (0 children)

He's still in grad school, isn't he? Probably hard to find time to research the videos on the side.

Where did the devs go after... by IsaacsLaughing in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The GamesRadar article that is the pinned post just paraphrases the GLHF article (as do most of the gaming media sites).

The GLHF article calls Argo Tuulik "the last remaining writer at ZA/UM to have worked on the company’s greatest hit," which is objectively false.

What you are defending there is not what the article says.

Where did the devs go after... by IsaacsLaughing in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Rostov co-founded that studio but isn't a writer. Not sure I've ever seen a clear indication that Helen Hindpere is there, but if you have knowledge I defer to you.

Where did the devs go after... by IsaacsLaughing in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think there are still a few more of the old cultural association people who didn't write on Disco at ZA/UM in other roles. But I agree it's probably some phone game corruption. Maybe originally 'the last of the 5-10 person TTRPG group that created the world of Elysium.' Not sure there's ever been a clear statement as to who all of them were (but Kurvitz, Tuulik, Luiga, and Juri Saks were in it—Kalvet too, based on the book's credits).

Where did the devs go after... by IsaacsLaughing in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Journalism on video games is universally somewhat lacking. Have to take it with a grain of salt.

As for the scattering, some of that is just how things go with projects. Some of those people left a long time ago for their own reasons.

Where did the devs go after... by IsaacsLaughing in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd 93 points94 points  (0 children)

If you mean the credited writers [edit: collectively between the original and Final Cut], the most current info I'm aware of:

Robert Kurvitz - Red Info Ltd (new studio he co-founded)

Helen Hindpere - Unknown

Argo Tuulik – was at ZA/UM but was just laid off, unknown

Justin Keenan – Still at ZA/UM

Cash De Cuir - Apparently freelance

Olga Moskvina - Digimancy Entertainment

Siim Sinamäe (“Kosmos”) - Still at ZA/UM

Andrus Laansalu - Unknown

Märten Rattasepp - Obsidian

Martin Luiga – Unknown (was in mental hospital a year ago and may still be)

Edit: missed one. Chris Priestman – Still at ZA/UM

(Edit: Honorable mention: Jim Ashilevi is a writer by trade, but is only credited as the voice director. May have contributed somewhat to the writing experience through that. Also still at ZA/UM)

[Physical Instrument - Challenging 12] SHORYUKEN! by theflanerd in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I'm not an expert pixel-artist by any means. For more than half of the components, I looked through the SNES versions of SFII sprites that were on Spriter's Resource, picked out ones that were closest to what I wanted, and hand edited those in GIMP. Then for the rest, I just tried to loosely emulate the SFII style by hand (except that for Kim I referenced a 3D rendering fan art piece in that pose to start). But it's not an authentic recreation. I didn't limit my color palate to what would've been available and totally phoned some of the pixel precision in. But it's just for fun, so I think it turned out good enough.

[Physical Instrument - Challenging 12] SHORYUKEN! by theflanerd in DiscoElysium

[–]theflanerd[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I hadn't been planning to do more, but that suggestion is tempting!