X3F Presents: Silicon Knights studio tour [X3F]

We've been lucky enough to make Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, Too Human and if you look at all of those they're all really different. The next game that we're going to announce, not including the sequels to the trilogy, it's nothing like anything else we've ever made before...We want to continue to do that to keep fresh. That's really what's important, and making sure that we continue to make new IPs but also continue to innovate in the genres that we try to... create content in, I suppose is the best way to describe it.

He still thinks a second and third Too Human are going to be made? Bless him. As for this mystery project, it'll be with Sega, and if he's teasing us like this a more formal announcement can't be too far off.

Silicon Knights' next game "nothing like" Too Human [CVG]

The best part of the article comes at the end, where they mention the people they want to hear more from. They need to just sit Tim Shafer down in front of a PA system and have him deliver a running commentary for the entire length of the show.

The 10 People We Hope Will Shut the F*** Up at This Year's E3 [Crispy Gamer]

There is a chance; we love all the games we work on. We don't want to be pigeon-holed [into a genre], we want to be known for strong content...There's a strong chance we'll return to it, but there's no announcements yet.

Dyack: Strong Chance Of Eternal Darkness Return News [TVG]

I think the games industry is challenging, but I'm always about telling the truth and saying it like it is. And that is a tough thing to do in this industry, as I'm sure you know. That's always been our way. We're often misquoted and misunderstood as a developer... We're big believers in the truth. I'd rather be truthful than go unscathed, I guess. We're going to say some things and stand up for some things that we think are right, and we're going to seek justice when harm has been done—and that's the right thing to do, regardless of the consequences. We're going to do the right thing.

What we told Microsoft last year — they wanted a demo for Gears of War and we said 'you've got a choice — you can have the demo this year or the game this year'... We're not a big huge company with the resources to do that, and all the time we're testing that demo we're not testing our full game, which we need to be doing constantly... We'll have a PC demo for UT, [but] I don't think we'll have a PS3 demo before the game ships.

• By March 2006, Epic was obligated to provide a fully functional Unreal Engine 3 to Silicon Knights. Epic did not until November 2006. Apparently that means SK was using an Unreal placeholder for its E306 Too Human showing>. From the suit: "Had Epic complied with its promises and contractual obligations, Silicon Knights would have had the opportunity not only to generate
a positive press and industry response to Too Human, but also to finish the game earlier and on
better financial terms." What's more, SK was "bound" to the UE3 and had to wait for Epic to finish it.

•Epic did create a working version of the Unreal Engine 3 for the Xbox 360 before E306, but kept this code to themselves. Later, Epic allegedly failed to provide guidance on how to use the Unreal Engine 3. SK claims that since Epic employs only 75 people and was working on two titles (Gears of War and Unreal III), they were spread too thin and unable to help companies like Silicon Knights. By contrast, SK employees 140 staffers focused on creating two titles.

• Epic once again supposedly missed a deadline for an Engine Silicon Knights was going to use on a PLAYSTATION 3 game. Epic missed this deadline by six-months. A functional UE3 for the PS3 was supposed to be delivered by February 2007. It wasn't.

• According to SK, the Engine apparently caused the game to "slow down significantly" due to lengthly load times and "memory-spikes" during loading. Epic apparently had known about this problem with the Unreal Engine since 2004 and promised a solution by 2005. It never came.

• SK claims that the UE3 did not "satisfy" their needs for an "immersive" experience regarding sound, lighting and character interplay. What's more, SK claims the Engine could not render terrain. To quote the suit: "Epic appears to have simply taken-in millions of dollars in license fees from Silicon Knights and other developers, and provided them in return with vastly less than the entirety of the Engine, let alone all parts of the Engine that are necessary to make a videogame function on the next generations systems as Epic warranted."

Couldn't get UE3 support from Epic? Mental images of a panicked SK honcho Dennis Dyack trying to get Epic tech support on the line, only to get some surfer type "The Cliffster is so not in" type phone message. Sure, Silicon Knights have been pointing the finger for their poor E306 showing for some time now. What's more, after reports popped up that Silicon Knights was having problems with the Engine, Dyack contradicted that saying all was fine. Though, isn't it telling that SK ditched the Unreal Engine 3 all together and created its own engine? Or how about games using the U3E have been delayed or scraped? Games like Stranglehold, BioShock, Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Turok, Frame City Killer, Fatal Inertia and Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. All delayed. Many multi-platform. It certainly does look like there is something wrong with the UE3, and this Sony tech-support highlights it. But what about those developers who've already been working with the Unreal Engine 3? I smell a possible class action suit.

We asked Mark Rein to comment on this issue. He has not replied as of posting.

Luke Plunkett contributed to this post.

At E3, Silicon Knights' Too Human didn't meet the hype, and the game's demo wasn't quite ready. Following its outing, the game got pushed back to next year, and the title didn't make an appearance at X06 in Barcelona. Rumors swirled, and Silicon Knights president Dennis Dyack commented on an IGN developer blog, writing:

As you may have noticed we did not show in Barcelona. This decision to not show at X06 was made immediately after E3. We made the decision to next show the game when we are ready and we knew that X06 would not be the right time. When we do decide to show the game, our goal is to give everyone a true impression of the game—one that includes story, audio, game play, artwork and technology. Things are going very well and Too Human is shaping up to be our best game to date.

Kudos to Dyack and co. for addressing these rumors and for waiting until there's solid product to show, instead of something half-baked like at E3. Brian Ashcraft

Silicon Knights Addresses Rumors [1Up]

You know, nothing turns me off more to your game than setting yourself up for lofty, epic goals, and promising revolutionary gameplay, but I wish Microsoft and Silicon Knights nothing but the best of luck!

The Monster Within [Toronto Star]