As a communications manager Night diving studios As a fan of both classic and independent games, I feel privileged to be part of an independent team whose goal is to “bring back lost and forgotten games from the depths.” It is also an honor to see that this goal is shared by employees like us Ziggurat Interactive.
Recently Nightdive worked with Ziggurat to release Killing Time: Resurrectedand brings the 3DO classic to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S for the first time ever. As exciting as this is for long-time fans, Killing Time might be seen as an odd choice for a remaster for those unfamiliar with the game.
So why remaster a game like Killing Time?
After all, Killing Time wasn’t as big a commercial success as other boomer shooters of the ’90s, nor is it as popular today as titles like DOOM (1993). But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for it at all. Killing Time has long been a popular remaster request from members of the Nightdive community, and the excitement following the remaster’s release was just as great.
However, popularity and marketability aren’t the only factors companies consider when deciding whether a game should be remastered. Remastering games can be a great way to preserve them for future generations.
“Remakes and remasters are so important to preservation, especially for console gamers,” says Larry Kuperman, Director of Business Development at Nightdive.
It’s also a great time for wildlife conservation because, according to the Software Preservation Network87% of classic video games released in the United States are considered “endangered.” Without action, these games risk not only becoming unplayable, but disappearing altogether.
“Preserving a game means ensuring that it is not lost and unplayable in any form,” explains Alex Lodz, Managing Producer at Ziggurat Interactive. “Remakes, remasters or re-releases all serve this goal in different ways. Other notable forms of preservation include anthologies, such as those created by Digital Eclipse.”
What people may not know about companies like Nightdive is that many of their remasters – System shockfor example – are passion projects. Not created to make a profit, but because people like Nightdive founder Stephen Kick wanted a way to reproduce their favorite childhood songs.
With many older titles lacking support on modern consoles and buying used games becoming more expensive, many find replaying their favorites more difficult than worth it. This is a shame, because when a game becomes a lost medium, we not only lose a work of art, but also important insights into the history of game development.
“If you look at it from a game development perspective, most of the game mechanics used in today’s AAA titles have evolved,” notes Nightdive’s Larry Kuperman. “Wildlife conservation gives everyone the opportunity to see how this development occurred and have fun while doing it.”
According to Nightdive developer Seth Groom, “Killing Time” specifically represents a particular era of gaming where art, design, and creation methods were still growing and evolving: “Even the fact that it has live-action video and real props/photos from has things enough to realize how special it was at the time of its release.”
Ziggurat’s Alex Lodz shares the same sentiment: “Games of all kinds deserve preservation for general reasons, such as historical interest, and serve as a window into the media and entertainment culture of their time.” Games like Killing are particularly important to us Time that showcases the original development team’s outstanding imagination and willingness to take innovative risks when it comes to gameplay, presentation, design, technical execution and storytelling.”
Wildlife protection in many forms
With that in mind, do re-releases, remasters, and remakes really count as game preservation methods?
Since a remaster is not a direct port of the original, one could argue that parts of the game are still at risk of becoming lost media. However, companies like Nightdive mitigate this by including the original version of the game alongside the remaster, as well as a vault full of historical content
“Another thing Nightdive is now doing for preservation reasons is to include any content that we cannot fully restore or integrate as a ‘Vault’ feature, which provides important insight into the game’s development process,” says James Haley, lead developer at Nightdive, points out.
Improve playability
Remakes and remasters not only help restore and preserve games, but also have the potential to expand a game’s player base by incorporating accessibility improvements, whether by simply making the game available on newer platforms or by existing ones Settings can be made more flexible
“From an accessibility perspective, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is important to bring games up to date through remasters and remakes,” emphasizes Groom. “Not everyone has access to older technology to experience older games, so breathing new life into them allows for wider access.”
One of the ways Killing Time: Resurrected achieves this is through its improved control scheme.
“We are excited about the new controls!” says Lodz. “While some will find the game’s original control scheme charming, many others will enjoy being able to easily customize the game’s controls to their liking and having the ability to aim more freely.”
According to Haley, the Nightdive team also addressed “a number of issues that previously made the game a hard sell,” noting: “All the strange creatures, gaudy textures, and roaring ’20s jazz band music are completely intact, but devoid of any.” . “the crashes, audio glitches, broken controls or cramped environments.”
The graphical improvements in Killing Time: Remastered also make it easier to navigate the game.
“I created all the light shaders and screen effects and I’m really proud of the difference. Lights now influence everything. “Many rooms have been completely transformed by the additional lighting,” shares Groom.
Thanks to the help of Ziggurat and the passionate work of Nightdive’s development team, Killing Time: Resurrected also includes components from both the 3DO and PC versions of the game.
“Ziggurat was able to provide us with complete development archives for the 3DO version, which were critical to creating high-resolution sprites and movies from the original bluescreen capture process,” explains Haley. “Otherwise, we had free rein to make the two versions of the game a cohesive experience.”
Get out there and kill some time!
Whether you want to replay a childhood favorite, get a feel for a classic game you may have missed, or want to support the preservation efforts of Ziggurat and Nightdive, you’ll find Killing Time: Resurrected worth picking up to take time Xbox One and Series X|Sand it is now available.
Killing Time: Resurrected
Nightdive Studios, Ziggurat Interactive
$24.99
$19.99
Welcome to Conway Estate! Nightdive Studios and Ziggurat Interactive have teamed up to bring back this challenging shooter full of gallows humor and visual violence that brings chaos to all! Puzzle solving and strategic thinking are the focus. The visceral violence is complemented by paranormal graphics and a supernatural storyline. Set in the early 1930s, Killing Time: Resurrected puts you in the role of a student studying the cryptic world of Egyptology and trapped in the estate of wealthy heiress Tess Conway. A ritual performed by Ms. Conway to bestow eternal life backfires and her high-society friends disappear without a trace. It’s up to you to find and destroy the mystical Egyptian Water Clock to lift its curse and face a legion of supernatural horrors. The remastered edition of Killing Time: Resurrected features switchable high-resolution character graphics/sprites from the original 3DO and PC versions of the game, improved environmental textures, smoother gameplay, more responsive controls, and expanded control and button binding settings.
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