Next Darksiders could reduce scope to improve detail

Darksiders 2 lead designer Haydn Dalton says that depending on the reaction, Vigil may make the next game use a smaller, more focused world.

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Vigil Games decided that bigger is better in Darksiders 2, making the world as much as four times larger than the original by some accounts. As Vigil wraps up work on the game, it's already thinking about the next step in the franchise--and might just scale things down for the next title if the reaction and sales call for it.

"If Jason's [Rubin, THQ President] sat there and we go and sell 4 or 5 million units, I'm pretty sure he won't say, 'Let's go and do something different now'," lead designer Haydn Dalton told Videogamer. "Maybe what he might do is turn around and say, 'We'll do another Darksiders game, but we'll try and reduce the scope so that we can make it even higher polished'. Because our scope is huge. Maybe he says, 'Bring the scope down a little bit, we'll still do another game but it's a lot more focused'. That's not such a bad thing to do either."

Dalton says that a smaller world could allow for more "detail or destruction," and balks at the idea that a smaller world would be less interesting for players. "Quantity is not about quality," he said. "Just because you make something bigger doesn't mean it's better. That's something people are saying to us: 'You keep quoting about size'. I tend to not really go on about the physical size of the world so much because it's more about what you're doing within that area that's important to me."

Darksiders 2 is set to launch August 14, and will include a Season Pass for its DLC plans.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 27, 2012 8:00 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Next Darksiders could reduce scope to improve detail.

    Darksiders 2 lead designer Haydn Dalton says that depending on the reaction, Vigil may make the next game use a smaller, more focused world.

    • reply
      July 27, 2012 8:08 AM

      [deleted]

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        July 27, 2012 8:32 AM

        It doesn't sound like he's saying they over extended themselves.. it just sounds like a design choice. Sounds like they decided to make more areas with more square mileage in this game. Resources are always limited in some way.. if you want to make larger area to play around in, you sacrifice some detail. If you have very tight areas you can go crazy on the detail in the environments. Both choices have their strengths. Star Wars Galaxies had crazy huge environments you could get lost in... but huge areas of the game were just bland and repetitive (but it did give you an excellent sense of scale - and plenty of room to drive vehicles around in). World of Warcraft has tighter, more focused areas, but everything is hand sculpted and more detailed.

        Based on the screenshots and videos I've seen so far, I'm not really worried. The game looks great.

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        July 27, 2012 8:34 AM

        I think they're thinking about future development costs, given the state of THQ, and have decided that if they have to cut scope then they can make up for that some other way (IE, detail, etc.)

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      July 27, 2012 8:42 AM

      Darksiders 4 should be like Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures.

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      July 27, 2012 8:50 AM

      This sounds like the typical trade-offs a game producer faces on every game.

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      July 27, 2012 1:25 PM

      Interested in this, but having not played the 1st i am prob going to hold off for awhile. With Counter Strike: GO and Guild Wars 2 just a few weeks out....my gaming plate will be pretty full for awhile.

      Here is hoping that they agree to put Darksiders 1 free on PS+ like they did with Space Marine. If that pulls me in, i would most likely get more interested in 2.

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      July 27, 2012 1:33 PM

      When does the first game get fun, y'all lied to me. =( I'm about an hour in and yep it is still a yawner. Just got past the first flying part, which was utter crap btw.

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        July 27, 2012 1:57 PM

        I mean if you get to the first boss and aren't digging it, I would assume that game aint for you.

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          July 27, 2012 2:07 PM

          I feel like the combat is so uninspired (I can defeat every monster just using the basic attack) and also I thought there were puzzles? I haven't found a single puzzle yet.

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            July 27, 2012 4:10 PM

            It's not particularly deep (the combat or the puzzles) but if you haven't found any yet you aren't very far at all. It's basically God of War meets Zelda post apocalypse with some muting of the main elements in both. The start of Darksiders is definitely the weakest part.

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        July 27, 2012 4:30 PM

        The start SUCKS - it gets really goddamned good. Stick with it.

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        July 27, 2012 5:37 PM

        I was really bored for a couple of hours, and then it gets pretty amazing.

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      July 27, 2012 2:15 PM

      LOL nice way to say that Darksiders 2 lacks focus

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        July 27, 2012 4:34 PM

        [deleted]

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        July 27, 2012 4:56 PM

        Yup, that's what I understood.

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        July 27, 2012 5:06 PM

        Well, just the Cathedral area is meant to be as big as the original game. So I think it's more they went insanely overboard with the amount of area in this one.

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        July 27, 2012 8:58 PM

        Bullshit. His example was that they went big with what they've done on the first, and on the next maybe they'll go crazy in detail. It is the difference between having a big world with lots of places to go and things to do versus a small world where everything is more rich in detail, presentation.

        It is Red Dead versus God of War. Neither is the "right" thing, just different approaches.

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      July 27, 2012 6:06 PM

      Are they gonna go back to War because... Famine and Pestilence just don't have the same... asskicking name as War and Death. Just a a thought...

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      July 27, 2012 6:22 PM

      the THQ website had Darksiders 2 on sale for like $25-$30 back last year.

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        July 27, 2012 6:26 PM

        Although my order doesn't show up on the THQ site. I have a feeling it is going to be quite an ordeal to get them to honor that price/purchase.

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