Totally Games: all about games… and military projects

Totally Games‘ Alien Syndrome work for the PSP and Wii only marks one of many milestones for this storied developer, well-known among older gamers for X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, for starters. TG founder and president Larry Holland talks to Gamasutra about three things, one of which this writer severely disagrees with.

• Updating the 1984 Sega Alien Syndrome for the very much present-day PSP and Wii.
• Being invited to work with DARPA – that’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
• Why Totally Games moved out of the flight/space sim genre it made its name on, because the genre’s “on a long and slow decline.” (This writer says: nuts to that)

The original arcade Alien Syndrome was an arcade shooter (sorry for the redundancy), so to bring the game up to speed for the early 21st century for a handheld and a Wiimote, Totally Games decided to fuse it with elements from the action-RPG (ARPG) genre.

The gameplay of this new version definitely places emphasis on the action component of the ARPG genre by requiring the player to refine his skill with range and melee weaponry in order to progress through the game. In addition there is plenty of loot to collect, weapons to upgrade, character skills and proficiencies to balance and an inventory to manage.

In summary, the game is all new, with new characters, weapons, environments, gameplay and a new story. Therefore this version of Alien Syndrome is not a simple graphics upgrade but a complete re-design from the ground. The result is an intense, ranged-combat oriented game with lots of strange and horrific aliens threatening to tear the player from limb to limb.

The Wii version of Alien Syndrome will come with special mini-games designed around the Wiimote’s motion-sensing, geared to crafting items for the player. The interface will also be unique to the game (likely because you use the Wiimote with the interface, no doubt). Other than that, Holland says the Wii and PSP versions “share much” and are being developed concurrently.

Talking about working on a government project, and breaking the hearts of all X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter veterans everywhere at the full article.

Totally Games‘ Alien Syndrome work for the PSP and Wii only marks one of many milestones for this storied developer, well-known among older gamers for X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, for starters. TG founder and president Larry Holland talks to Gamasutra about three things, one of which this writer severely disagrees with.

• Updating the 1984 Sega Alien Syndrome for the very much present-day PSP and Wii.
• Being invited to work with DARPA – that’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
• Why Totally Games moved out of the flight/space sim genre it made its name on, because the genre’s “on a long and slow decline.” (This writer says: nuts to that)

The original arcade Alien Syndrome was an arcade shooter (sorry for the redundancy), so to bring the game up to speed for the early 21st century for a handheld and a Wiimote, Totally Games decided to fuse it with elements from the action-RPG (ARPG) genre.

The gameplay of this new version definitely places emphasis on the action component of the ARPG genre by requiring the player to refine his skill with range and melee weaponry in order to progress through the game. In addition there is plenty of loot to collect, weapons to upgrade, character skills and proficiencies to balance and an inventory to manage.

In summary, the game is all new, with new characters, weapons, environments, gameplay and a new story. Therefore this version of Alien Syndrome is not a simple graphics upgrade but a complete re-design from the ground. The result is an intense, ranged-combat oriented game with lots of strange and horrific aliens threatening to tear the player from limb to limb.

The Wii version of Alien Syndrome will come with special mini-games designed around the Wiimote’s motion-sensing, geared to crafting items for the player. The interface will also be unique to the game (likely because you use the Wiimote with the interface, no doubt). Other than that, Holland says the Wii and PSP versions “share much” and are being developed concurrently.

Okay, now about working for Uncle Sam. Apparently being a games designer has its advantages, both with the Wiimote or analog nub and with the real world, too. The DARPA project involved a system simulating the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in a variety of futuristic military scenarios. Sort of like EALA being invited to design a Command & Conquer training simulator for the Marines… wait, didn’t that occur for what became Full Spectrum Warrior?

DARPA hired us because we were experienced games designers and they wanted to hear our out of the box thinking to solve the interface problem of controlling many UAVs simultaneously. We approached the project like any other of our past complex simulations, except this time we were able to push the envelope with our ideas and to solely design for an expert user.

Finally, why did Totally Games decide to refocus away from the flight and space sim genre, after creating some of the more memorable titles in there like X-Wing and Star Trek: Bridge Commander, not to mention break my heart? “In the years leading up to 2003, we realized that air combat and space sims were on a long, slow decline with their market share falling after many decades of strong sales. And despite our fervent efforts and wishes to the contrary by 2004 this category of games could no longer by itself sustain our studio.”

Chris L.: No, no, no, NOOO!!! You guys were the greatest after X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter!!! (Unintelligible expletives deleted) Say it ain’t so! Sigh. Oh well, at least we’ll always have Ace Combat. (Grumbles)