Raven Software lays off 40 staff
I know, I know…you Dragons and Dragonettes are probably wondering why it matters, to me and to Aiera, that Raven Software is falling on some hard times of late. After all, Raven has most recently been involved with developing DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops, and has historically been a producer of games involving Star Trek, Marvel franchises, or iD Software engines.
They also produced a not-well-enough-known game, called Shadowcaster, some years ago…a game which was published by Origin Systems.
Yeah, the Shadowcaster engine was a kind of half-step between the Wolfenstein engine and the Doom engine. Carmack wrote it as a kind of experimental expansion of the Wolfenstein engine, adding sloped floors and textured floors & ceilings; Raven grabbed it up for use on Shadowcaster.
It is a shame that Raven seems to be tanking under Activision/Vivendi.
And Shadowcaster used the Wolfenstein3D engine as I recall.
As for Raven, it’s a pity it’s owned by Vivendi.
Not exact. Shadowcaster used pre-doom Engine with some its features, but it is also modification of Wolf3d-engine. Like Rise of the Triad Engine. And on some development stage SC had going to be Ultima-game.
And it is a shame, that such a good developer dying in Activision`s guts, like it was with Origin.
I have a Shadowcaster CD I got free with some magazine lying around here somewhere.
…it’s not a good game, but the engine was impressive for the time, as was the concept of morphing into different beasts.
I have it on 3.5″ discs somewhere as well. I don’t remember it being a particularly terrible game, though obviously it wasn’t a particularly immersive title either. Though I agree that the premise was interesting, and the story had some compelling elements. It wasn’t an Ultima, but it was in a similar vein.
The CD version supposedly included two additional levels, did it not?
I played Shadowcaster once, maybe a few years ago. Don’t remember it being great, but it was entertaining. At the time I played it, I think Thief had recently been released, and that was a far superior experience.
The CD version did have a couple of extra levels. Shadowcaster wasn’t a bad game but certainly not one of Origin’s best. I recall a lot of waiting around to regain hp where I’d have to find a safe corner and do something else for 10 minutes while they recharged.
I seem to remember reading in an interview that one of the problems with the game was that Raven spent so much time trying to fit it into the Wolfenstein engine that they would have been better off writing their own.
Interesting comment, that. The Wolf3D engine was pretty limited in many ways (not to mention a setback for 3D gaming technology), and Shadowcaster’s more advanced version only improved on what could be rendered; its shortcomings as a storytelling vehicle were still there.
That said, Raven did remarkably well with what they had.
Shadow Caster was not prefect, but I thought it was really good game, and also quite original for its time.
I wish Raven had done anotehr game like this rather than doing Heretic (aka new skin for Doom)
As regards Thief, it is, admittedly, difficult to compare the two titles objectively, given the difference in age and technology. I remember my uncle who passed away recently being less than impressed when I introduced him to Marathon (on the family Mac); he had just finished playing Unreal at the time.
Just glad that id Software hasn’t wound up under Vivendi’s malign ‘care’, like Raven has. And back before Vivendi and Activision-Blizzard, in the days of Mediagenic, with Infocom…
Really? I never thought I’d see the day where a bunch of people sung Raven’s praises over Shadowcaster of all games!
Raven was never exactly known for making good games, but what they could do was pump out something comfortably mediocre on a modest budget and timeframe.
Occasionally they did strike a little gold: I’d argue that Heretic bordered on being pretty darn good (chicken gun!), and Soldier of Fortune remains a favorite of mine.
That’s funny – Raven are definitly amongst my favorite FPS developpers. They never reinvent the wheel, but almost always turned out very solid and fun game.
I prefer Raven’s game to some of the “big name” FPS developpers really.
They are definitely a solid developer. They make solid, if not particularly special, games.
I also like how they never strayed far from a design philosophy of “fps games are about making shooting people really, really fun”. When most developers went to the Half-Life model of scripted sequences and cinematic moments (at the expense of the shooting), Raven always first made sure that the core fps gameplay concept of shooting a dude in the face was a really satisfying experience.
Raven also made Black Crypt, a game full of win!
I admit I had to look that one up…it does look quite neat. I might need to find an Amiga emulator!