Daikatana - What Happened?

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Edited By: / lophatjello
Intro By: / dkirbyj and / phildragash and / littlevmills

[@MattMcMuscles]

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[@midievalcat7770]

Seems kinda late to post links after 8 months

[@gracjanszmyt1442]

@@midievalcat7770 Seems kinda late to post comments 2 months out of date

[@Kage-jk4pj]

Wha happun to that intro. It was butchered.

[@AliFareedMC]

I love this series very funny and informative

[@MadMac5]

I love how Civvie 11 phrased his explanation for why John Romer had cultivated an ego in the early/mid-90s: "Why did he have an ego? He made the videogame equivalent of 'Thriller,' that's why."

[@nooneinparticular5273]

When I first saw "John Romero is gonna make you his bitch" I thought it was George Romero and I thought "But he seems like such a nice old man, why would he do such a thing?"

[@TheEmbessyNetwork]

I confused John with George Romero as a kid, so I thought this ad was a new movie coming out soon, which made me laugh at that line thinking "that makes sense. He made Night Of The Living Dead, anyway."

[@SonicKid7]

But what about that time he was a huge zombie who constantly fucked my shit up? I felt like George's bitch then.

[@Sonichero151]

@@SonicKid7 ahhhhhh..... the Golden days of Call of Duty...... they seem so long ago now...... but yeah Call of the Dead was the fucking tits.

[@wiskasIO]

Dude that's hilarious!

[@setsers1]

🤣

[@CruelestChris]

Without Romero, Carmack made Quake II, a techically impressive game that had no heart. Without Carmack, Romero made Daikatana, a conceptually impressive game that had no brain.

[@andrewparsons2391]

Hmm, perhaps they need to find a third person, one who can make games with both heart and brains, but lacks the courage to do so. And a little dog, too.

[@Vanessinha91Pucca]

Sorry but Quake II had heart. Back then ppl loved it (and still do, or nvidia wouldnt choose it to make the RTX release).The game with no Heart was Rage.

[@CruelestChris]

@@Vanessinha91Pucca Naw, people liked it for multi, the SP is a boring slog, particularly compared to Quake 1. And given Quake 2 was already a glorified engine demo, does it really strike you as odd that is was used for a glorified engine demo?

[@Vanessinha91Pucca]

I was alive back them.Ppl loved Quake 2 more than Quake 1. (I was an exception i love Quake 1 even above Doom), but ppl loved the strogs and the sci fi thematic.Also the strog prision was much more of an impact compared to any theme ID ever made before it.

[@CruelestChris]

@@Vanessinha91Pucca I was also alive back then. In fact, I was not only alive but fifteen years old. Try playing it again sometime, it absolutely does not hold up like the first game does. Levels are boring, enemies are boring, weapons are boring. Without its fancy graphics it doesn't have anything left, it's like the Turok games.

[@FlameLFH]

From what it seems like, John Romero and John Carmack are codependent on eachother when it comes to game development, which is interesting to me. Romero is good at innovation, but can't stay focused, while Carmack is great at staying focused, but lacks much of the creativity Romero has.

[@Humongous_Pig_Benis]

Yeah, I kinda agree. You need balance between tech brain and creativity and they worked well in Doom. Read Masters Of DooM for more!

[@ZhangtheGreat]

Sometimes, we need to be humbled before we realize where our shortcomings lie. Success almost always inevitably breeds ego, and ego can blind us to our shortcomings.

[@registereduser]

@@Humongous_Pig_Benis that’s such an awesome book.

[@synderthmc]

Yin and yang incarnate

[@Shuyin781]

@@Humongous_Pig_Benis Carmack may have been a tech wizard, but he had 0 social skills whatsoever. Basically saying to Halls that all his work doesn't matter is exactly what you should be saying to push him to quit.

[@CalliphoriBae]

A friend of mine worked under Romero during his mobile game stint. He said Romero was really friendly, and acknowledged his mistakes in the past. Pretty much everything I've heard about Romero in the past few years seems to be positive. I think he really matured with age past his younger, arrogant self.

[@Sonichero151]

Unlike george bossard.........

[@Shuyin781]

@@Sonichero151 i heard that George bossard went on a rant on twitter where he defended the crunch culture of the video game industry. Is it true?

[@Sonichero151]

@@Shuyin781 I saw a LOT of comments on the Duke nukeum video confirming that.....

[@Shuyin781]

@@Sonichero151 yep, I managed to find the twitter thread. It was made back in December 2020 and, in one of his comment, he claimed that the working people were ok with crunching since they were "better paid" and "had preps". You know who didn't have any of that, were underpaid, and had their future hiring potential in the industry destroyed? The people who crunched under him on DNF.

[@Bessux]

That's a shame. Seems everyone turns into such pussies when they're older.

[@RGT85]

Romero is such a fascinating character in gaming history. Dude brought a new flair to gaming.

[@flipsidelimited6560]

Kind of like Cliffy B, that wanted to be the “bad boy” of the gaming industry.

[@1300l]

Idk he sound to me like an egomaniac douche to be honest. Take credit to Doom as if the majority of it was his work.. where the games he was director (Quake and Daikatana) he kind of slip it out of his persona resume. Brilhant talent was Carmark in my view. Romero good poinst was to know about what make a game fun.. but he never was able to put it in to use alone.

[@ragemonkey117]

Everything Cliffy B wished he could be

[@SeekerLancer]

@@1300l Carmack's technology is the most important part of the equation and I think most people recognize that, but it takes more than an engine to make a good game and Romero could make a good game. His ego, for better or worse, is what gave id its personality though it's also a bit overstated. Romero, "taking majority credit for Doom," is nonsense though and something drummed up from people who don't like the guy. He's never done this. Every interview he's ever had he makes it clear that id created games as a team and no one person deserves all the credit. He's remained active in the industry but has worked on low-profile things, probably learning his lesson after what happened with Ion Storm. I hope he eventually gets his new project, Blackroom, off the ground with Adrian Carmack, but it's been a while since he's said anything about it and its status is uncertain.

[@1300l]

If you say Carmark+Romero can make a good game i agree. But romero didn't make a good game since Quake. Romero need Carmark and the others.. He is a great maper, but not a good game director.

[@arciks11]

A game truly worth of being featured on "WHA HAPPUN?" is Jurrasic Park Trespasser. It was very ambitious to try Far Cry 1 sized levels and ragdoll physics in 1998. Needless to say it didn't succeed.

[@chrissawyer1484]

I remember seeing a beta of this game at E3 in 1998. It ran horribly.

[@dawubber6676]

Yes! I heard about this game, and have always been curious to see it in action

[@EvanSchatz]

@@dawubber6676 there's a full let's play here on KZbin

[@W0lfenstrike]

At least Trespasser inspired Gabe Newell to make Half-Life 2's physics engine.

[@Cryster99]

Funny to see this now that AVGN just released his video on that game

[@LucasCunhaRocha]

To anyone that still haven't read "Masters of doom" do it! And saying that Romero ego was big is kinda of a double edged statement since he was hailed as a literal god by gamers when he went to game shows/expo and competitions (yeah Romero actually played competitively he was THAT cool). A singular figure I the game industry.

[@OGXenos]

I still love how this whole disaster still ended up accidentally creating DEUS EX, a game easily worthy of the same legendary status as Doom.

[@devindalton4688]

I know, right?

[@Ometecuhtli]

Deus Ex was developed by Warren Spector in Austin, a completely separate branch, the more telling thing is that Anachronox was developed by Tom Hall in Dallas, so access to talent they had, but the knowledge of how to manage a company while making a blockbuster game was not.

[@Proserpira]

That's because Romero wasn't behind Deus Ex. He was actually completely removed from the Deus Ex project, and without Romero, the team was able to make quite good games.

[@linkinparkrulz2275]

I think Romero felt outshined by Half Life and wanted to create a modern shooter to reclaim his "throne" without having any idea of how a game like Half Life actually works and why it's fun to play.

[@Anonymous-x1x]

I swear I've heard the Daikatana story from various youtuber's several times and it never stops being interesting. It was such a different time in video game history.

[@evilwillhunting]

Even though John was well over his head and poorly planned things, I do have to give grudging respect that he didn’t just release it on schedule for a cash grab. Wouldn’t you say, Todd Howard?

[@helterskelly1893]

Mike Brannon don’t forgot Sega and all of their classic Sonic blunders

[@roberte2945]

It just works!

[@evilwillhunting]

@@LD1E60 agreed. Releasing it "before it was ready" may have been better phrasing.

[@robertcastanpn288]

It pretty much cyberpunk of back then lol

[@Rutskarn]

Evidently, katana means "large sword." So the game's name is actually, "BIG BIG SWORD."

[@spookhyskeleton]

BIG STRONG SWORD

[@redkite1908]

Sword go up. But Game go down

[@WCWit]

Big McLarge Sword

[@emroktheverdant9279]

Daikatana isn't even correct either. It should be "Daitō"

[@josh-oo]

I thought katana meant "a sword held on one side".

[@richardg8376]

One big issue you missed was that the rush to spin up the company as soon as possible and ship a title within a year meant that recruitment wasn't handled properly. Romero was literally reaching out to prominent modders and map makers in the Quake online community and offering them a job, figuring if they were a good mapper or modder then that would be enough. This meant a lot of toxic, dysfunctional people flooded into the company, causing rifts and rivalries between departments. He also recruited artists from outside the game industry, hiring comic book artists and so on. This lead to an infamous incident where one of them produced a texture for an arrow bolt that was about 100x too high resolution because he had never worked on a game before and had no idea what the needs were. This also lead to a high turnover of staff, with people coming in, seeing the broken mess that had been left by previous employees, and quitting soon after.

[@Ometecuhtli]

He did put his then girlfriend to make some maps didn't he? And in the ending if memory serves me right he didn't even credit Will Loconto. Romero may be a cool and chill guy and actually a good programmer, but there's something about him that makes him unfit for big game productions.

[@t20kdc]

Picking modders and mappers is a decision that... could reasonably be defended. It's basically the same logic as picking a Quake-series engine in the first place. Throwing people at an unfamiliar engine and expecting results could easily become the cause of a Wha Happun episode all by itself... if it hasn't already. Another matter is that if you put "You need Quake engine experience" on a job posting at the time, you'd find people who fit into one of: Modders, those who've worked at ID, those from companies working with ID (Hipnotic, Rogue, Raven), or studios who licensed the Quake engine (Ratloop, Zero Gravity, Valve). The strategy did work out for another company doing the same thing, in any case: Half-Life, which is an extended Quake 1 engine.

[@Proserpira]

NOT ONLY THAT but they weren't hired for the quality of the mods and maps, but _for the amount of downloads they had_ It didn't really matter what you made. If it got tons of hits, you were hired!

[@Ironman1o1]

Romaro and Carmack are the classic case of the whole being greater then the Sum of its parts.

[@wildwest1832]

that was why doom and quake were so legendary even to this day. The perfect storm of logic and creativity of carmack and romero. I think small teams and passion also played a role too. I mean today you just need huge teams for AAA, but some things suffer when you have corporate designing games for mass market.

[@horricule451]

@@wildwest1832 I'm not sure if I'd call Carmack logical, not after hearing that... Lovely quote. I'd say more like extremely hardworking and confident but narrow minded, whereas romero is borderline incompetent at times but makes up for it with his sheer ambition and creativity. The two balance each other out well, but there's also no way they could've gotten along. Their partnership was doomed to fall apart.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

@@horricule451 It's like trying to make mortar without the cement to hold everything together.

[@Ometecuhtli]

Just have Spector and Hall direct the games, let Carmack in charge of technology and Romero in charge of design.

[@towelie1313]

Fun fact: on top of this game being such a disaster, even it's TITLE is messed up. It's gramatically incorrect in Japanese - the word "daikatana" doesn't even exist! Those two kanji characters written on the cover are read together as "daitou". Whatever mystical ancient Japanese warrior clan named the magical time travelling sword "daikatana" probably had a... questionable grasp on how to read their native tongue.

[@Charizard215]

Shouldn't it have been "ooki na katana"? lol.

[@EHH246]

It came from the Id founders’ D&D games, which also had a character named Quake.

[@Gato303co]

should it be "dai ken" 大剣 ? Like in るろうに　剣心 (Rurouni Kenshin) ?

[@towelie1313]

@@Gato303co 大剣 indeed is "big sword" but more in a "greatsword" kinda way. :) 大刀 is big katana specifically.

[@SaladofStones]

This is a stretch, but it would work as a la-lo-li-le-lou style smokescreen. Since its a cursed, forbidden sword, having it be named after a non-existent combination of kanji would help towards that.

[@Duchu26]

John 'Turbo Nerd Programming Gremlin' Carmack

[@Igneeka]

@@GiordanDiodato And a hell of a lot of other games

[@TheXell]

The energy-based higher lifeform inhabiting the shell named John Carmack

[@asbestosfish_]

_”Let’s all laugh at an industry that never learns anything, tee-hee-hee!”_

[@flow185]

True not just to video game

[@lutherholayeahme7449]

Skippy

[@Shuyin781]

Aaah, good ol' Yathzee :)

[@Leee275]

That's ironic considering that Romero did learn from this.

[@Dilo22]

The id team circa 1991-1996 was truly magical. They all balanced one another out, filling in the skills that each other lacked. Lightning in a bottle, really. And I'm so glad it existed as it did. That era of id's games were a huge chunk of what informs my gaming sensibilities today.

[@tomisabum]

BRINK. Matt, what the HELL happened to BRINK? Cool story concept, cool level design, cool movement controls, wild art...but miserable AI and poor pathing that screamed a lack of playtesting that murdered a neat idea! WHAT HAPPUN?

[@Gulyus]

Two words for Brink; Online Only. It literally killed the game. I worked/work at Gamestop - convinced MANY people to not bother touching that game. And those that did, returned it 9 times out of 10...

[@spyrelle3970]

@Lassi Kinnunen "mp game doesn't need a story." A Way Out.

[@spyrelle3970]

@@Gulyus Random passerby here, I salute you for being pro-consumer whilst trying to make bread.

[@IronFreakV]

I've seen him mentioning the fact that he has a Wha Happiun on Brink.... But I can't find it anywhere. Shame, I remember my younger brother playing that game back in the day

[@ItsRawdraft2]

@@spyrelle3970 Co-op story games don't count

[@QuazarSky27]

Romeros current gaming company, Romero Games, is actually based in my city. Sometimes I see him walking around and Im like heck its Doom guy.

[@Pikasprey]

This was a fun watch. Great video^

[@habeang304]

Wait is that you???

[@drwilyecoyote5357]

Oh hey you're here too

[@anthonyt4154]

nice hat

[@setsers1]

Ay dude

[@FoxyStoats]

Going to have to make a request for Tomb Raider:Angel of Darkness for a future episode. A game that not only destroyed one of the one famous game companies of the PS1 generation on a single game, Core Design, but also destroyed any any all goodwill the Tomb Raider series had by that point, with terrible controls, a terrible story, terrible characters, a Lara written horrifically out or character and somehow managing to both ruin mechanics that worked well in previous games (Movement, saving the game, combat.) and put in new ones that were even worse. (RPG mechanics that just served to pad out levels, dialogue options that could lead to instant game overs, and stealth takedown mechanics!)

[@irllcd13]

Was that the one with the black shirt and the comically massive tits? I mean, they were already pretty big but they seemed to get bigger every game for a while.

[@luisreyes1963]

So I guess this means no Lara Croft in SSBU. Bummer. 😢

[@YouVSMeTV]

10:50 Ah, Hitomi Tanaka. I see Mr. McMuscles is also a gentleman with class and sophistication.

[@AdmiralFace]

Romero still has the ability to turn out a few hundred grand by dishing out a new doom map or two every once in a while. He remade E1M4 and E1M8 and they were glorious. He also did a sequel to DOOM 1 called Sigil, which sold like crazy until it was out of stock, despite being free to download. This year (2022) he released a new map to raise money for Ukraine and raised nearly 30k.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Cool fundraiser!

[@Proserpira]

How can it be sold until it ran out of stock if it wasn't being sold (it was free) and it was a downloadable (unlimited)?

[@Proserpira]

@@yourswordsir2537 OP didn't mention that.

[@FinalWarrior591]

@@Proserpira it had both physical and digital releases; the physical release cost money, the digital release is free.

[@rosenrot234]

"What's Daikatana mean?" "It means big Japanese sword"

[@dum18numero54]

大剣

[@devindalton4688]

11/10 reference

[@jrlaps521]

Are you Fuj... Fujiyama?

[@Deathsye]

I remember playing the N64 version and getting to a point where I had to crouch, i never figured out how.

[@JJ18355]

Hold R and A, that's how you crouch.

[@michaelmtv]

Fun fact about the infamous ad, the one who pushed it was Mike Wilson, he would later co-found the Gathering of Developers and Devolver Digital.

[@calderarecords]

""Pride is the worst fear of all. It is the fear of admitting a need for collaboration".

[@j_fitz6913]

Nearly every picture and video of Romero looks like a completely different person. Like they all have long hair but that’s it. It’s really trippy.

[@yellowcougar18]

Romero and his wife, Brenda, now live in Galway, Ireland. They have a new, small company called Romero games where they're develloping a new title. It'll be interesting to see what happens there-especially since Brenda has been more involved in the games industry than he has.

[@DeathAngel-ft8oz]

Any updates on this stuff a year later?

[@yellowcougar18]

@@DeathAngel-ft8oz I believe that game is due for release soon. It's a Mafia title.

[@paolo2763]

Does he still have his coke-robot-maids in there?

[@yellowcougar18]

@@paolo2763 Coke Soda, or cocaine? I never heard of the maids.

[@paolo2763]

@@yellowcougar18 It's a joke from the beginning of the video

[@Xxsilverblade1991xX]

Too Human would certainly be an interesting episode, the development of that trash fire is incredible.

[@DarkMProductions]

An interesting game to look into, I think, would be either The 3rd Birthday, or Mindjack.

[@DarkMProductions]

Not saying 3rd Birthday wasn't a good game. But it's story was an absolute train wreck that completely character assassinated not only Aya Brea, a fan favorite, but also Kunihiko Maeda. With Aya, she went from a strong, no nonsense cop, who was frightened of her powers, but still used them to conquer her adversary, to a meek, submissive, moaning, constantly on the verge of tears, child. While Maeda... well, the less we speak of his butchered character, the better.

[@NSFSponsor]

ViciousArcanum No one cared about Special Forces either. The point of the series is to showcase flops. Not to mention, a third person shooter flopping after Gears was pretty crazy.

[@guybrush20x65]

I think the character change was explained in a plot twist but it was a terrible idea in the first place so we're back to square one.

[@flipsidelimited6560]

Reason "Special Forces" got a video was due to the fact that it had spilt the MK team. John Tobias left to make Studio Gigante, which consist of many members that worked on the MK series. He had so much resentment for the project, he quit Midway before it was even completed.

[@battlion507]

@@DarkMProductions hmmm, sounds familiar... Metroid Other M

[@Picia000123]

Hey Matt, hope you're alright and thanks for bringing the kind of entertainment that only you guys can provide. :)

[@WaluigiYoshi44Productions]

I would like to point out Romero went on to work on Cartoon Network Block Party for the Gameboy Advanced. I find the irony in that hilarious.

[@setsers1]

What's the irony

[@XellosNi]

"Hey, look. It's the very common punchline from Early 2000's video game webcomics!"

[@MrEric3000]

we need a "WHA HAPPUN" for Shenmue online, for the culture Matt. We need this.

[@mihailstratan343]

"No man's sky" of the late 90's

[@CrimsonMoonM]

So Carmac's attitude towards story in games is essentially the same as Miyamoto's, just... Worded in a less tactful way. If their skills as gameplay innovators were strengthened by an old-fashioned disdain for any other aspect of game design, then I can see why Romero had a tough time without his old buddy's single-minded perfectionism on the team to ensure that gameplay standards were up to par.

[@Shuyin781]

In a less tactful way, and without any heart. Quake 2 is the perfect example of that. Carmac may have been a tech wizard, but his lack of social skills and lack of imagination for storytelling, especially in an era where storytelling was starting to really develop in games showed that carmac needed Romero to overcome his short comings.

[@Ometecuhtli]

John Carmack loved the dev and modding community and I'm sure the respect he has towards it is basically because he's such a nerd, in the most befitting way. As Romero is a good programmer too I would've expected him to have more success as he had a penchant for ideas and an approach to design that seemed promising, turns out for different reasons neither of them can produce great games on their own.

[@Howlingd0g]

"I can't leave without my buddy, Superfly!"

[@jayroksel]

Good video, Matt! But I wanna add a couple things. The 1.3 Fanpatch for Daikatana (which when asked Romero handed over the source code to the fans) turns it into pretty good, imo. It fixes loads of bugs and ai issues. Not nearly as good as Quake or Doom but a solid 7/10 or so. And going through Doom 2 for the 10,000 time can get a bit boring to me sometime. Even if it is my favorite game. And something else not mentioned is that a large focus of the game was on the multiplayer which was quite good at the time and had a lot of the fast paced deathmatch sensibilities of that time. It was facing competition from Unreal and Quake 3 (the year prior) but it is a lot of fun. It's definitely not some tacked on multiplayer like DOOM 2016 or something. And Romero is mostly retired although last year in November a 3D character artist that worked on the Witcher 3 joined Romero Games in Ireland. I do think he is cooking something up. maybe a revised Blackroom concept. Also no love for Anachronox? It's one of the best JRPGS of all time! And it was made by a western studio!

[@1300l]

Sorry but even with the patch it don't turn it in to a good (and specially not a pretty good) game. What it turn is in to a playable game.

[@spyrelle3970]

@@1300l I think you're being a little harsh, *but* I'll agree that when you set the bar as low as DAIKATANA anything above it looks great.

[@kantikun134970]

Idk, as an 11yr old kid I thought it was the shit.

[@papayer]

>JRPG >Western studio I don't even

[@kainhighwind2]

@@papayer They're a thing. EA made a LotR Final Fantasy X clone in the ps2 era, even. It's largely forgotten, but pretty good. Had an Evil Mode where you'd attack your own party as monsters, and win to get loot to transfer over to the main game.

[@StraightPunkEdge93]

Every time you quote OSW/Simpson's an angel gets his wings, Matt.

[@MelodyInSilence607]

matt, this video is absolutely fantastic and im honestly suuuper happy to see you being able to use your creativity and your editing skills on all these side channel series. keep up all the good work, you're The Man™️ ✨✨✨

[@slipknotpurity00]

Besides BigSword's miserable failure, we actually got 3 legit great games out of !!! ION STORM !!! Deus Ex, Freelancer, and Anachronox.

[@setsers1]

Nice

[@extrapathos]

you mean *_🌪️💥🔋‼️ION STORM‼️🔋💥🌪️_*

[@minimumeffortmaximumderp7135]

I bought Daikatana on steam for 67 cents. It was on sale :)

[@maturememory]

It's actually alright if you install the right mods

[@joeyjoejoe1394]

This goes largely unmentioned whenever this game comes up but “big sword” would be daigatana So “daikatana” is akin to saying “big zword”

[@ameliawysel3468]

I don't have any new ideas for a game but I'm checking out this series because I love your work and am SO HAPPY to see videos about game history coming out. Especially since you have the time to focus on your solo stuff more often nowadays. Keep it up!

[@MattMcMuscles]

Thanks!

[@tntalchemist]

I just found out a weird fact recently that, apparently, around the same time this game was announced and in full development, John Romero worked with a newly formed Human Head Studios to work on a sequel, which was quickly scrapped because it was seen as an unnecessary cost. It would have been made using the Unreal Engine and led to the creation of Rune. I can only find one news article that references this project in any kind of detail but says nothing more than the above (except the Rune thing, which is only mentioned on that game's Wikipedia article)

[@OldemarFIN]

I love these vids, they remind me of Fighterpedia.

[@spookhyskeleton]

"Wha Happun?" - FighterPedia

[@OldemarFIN]

Hy Matt got thin and Woolie got white.

[@benjaminlewis4900]

How do you get reminded of something that nevuh happun?

[@TMcKeon408]

What's Fighterpedia?

[@setsers1]

Nice

[@iheartjackieyes]

The editing in this is superb.

[@TheAlien21755]

Daikatana is a perfect case of creative genius needing to be reined in by overhead bureaucrats. We may hate them and they may often stifle creative expression by being too overbearing but if John Romero had just one or two overhead guys who could look at what he wanted to do, map out a timeline, and either help him achieve it reasonably or scrap what couldn't work (like that co-AI), it arguably would've been a good game (or at least OK). Hell, that story, based on how big story is nowadays, could have carried that game pretty far if it had a non-intrusive gameplay system to go with it.

[@s.p.d.magentaranger1822]

The "Big Sword" bit never fails to kill me XD

[@CG-un3dh]

I am in constant awe at the quality, consistency, and frequency at which Matt and the rest of the Zaibatsu produce content. Like, Matt is recoving from some horrible jaw-based illness and yet here we are enjoying the freshest of takes on one of the funniest blowouts in viddygame history. Kudos, Boss Man; we don't deserve you.

[@MattMcMuscles]

to be fair, this was mostly edited before I got sick!

[@VTown1989]

I didn't think it was possible to combine a Nerd and a Chad into one being. But lo and behold. Romero was born.

[@brandonlynchock9553]

BIG SWORD BY ION STORM (Sounds like a heavy metal band) Love your videos Matt!

[@JoeStar30]

Another solid "Wha Happen?" episode. My favorite series on your channel. Thanks Matt!

[@monstergelo1072]

i'm a simple man. I see Hitomi Tanaka, i hit like

[@Loganian4]

was looking for a comment like this good on ya bud

[@kickassssnation027]

A man of culture, I see.

[@jaykay6222]

This video is tragic as hell. I feel bad for the guy. I mean, he dug his own bed, but regardless, I feel sympathetic. It seems like he really tried to make this an amazing game, and just...flopped. Daikatana could have probably been a fairly badass game if 2 things didn't happen, 1) him being fired, thus losing a large chunk of talent who could have helped make the game, and/or 2) hyping the game up so much. I think Daikatana would have been more successful if 2) happened even if 1) did not, as the hype really didn't help considering everything that came to get in the way of development. If people's expectations had been lower, it could have been received better, not necessarily great, but better. Add in 1) and I feel it's a strong enough assumption that the game could have gone down famously rather than infamously. Oh well though. Time passes and we can't go back to fix our mistakes. Still, to think back on this, it's just so damn tragic to see somebody with so much hope fall so completely. (For a modern reference on what this kind of fall looks like, check out Bethesda. HA)

[@flippedoutkyrii]

I know this sounds nuts, but I played this for the first time a couple of years ago and... I kinda liked it! It was bizarre, stupid, broken but all kinds of weird fun and I personally felt it was the final death-cry of almost entirely Brush-Work level-design. Hell, I even put 24 hours into this stupid game finding all the secrets according to Steam! Dopefish Lives! Even in Daikatana!

[@badsectoracula]

There were other games released with entirely brushwork-based levels after Daikatana, mostly using the GoldSrc engine, like Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001), James Bond 007: Nightfire (2002) and Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes (2004). I'm sure if you dig a bit, you'll find other engines that used brush-based levels, especially on budget games :-).

[@flippedoutkyrii]

You are right about Blue Shift, but Nightfire and Deleted Scenes utilized a hell of a lot of models in their levels compared to Daikatana.

[@flippedoutkyrii]

Brushwork is a term for level design crafted by hand rather then with pre-made model assets and most prefabs like buildings, cars, support beams and whatnot. media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/23/22202/fp15.JPG media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/23/22202/fp9.JPG steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/597003860857563882/1CFCA5CA71C5E7DE21E4D79100F61B7137C7C131/ steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/607225753885113693/67BCF7A61AC0138ECD0798A03C453ECC793DE71D/ steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/607226305912242971/842D0DBF8C7321D6AEF2E0C02F346DF2F3743156/ steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/607226305912007998/E1A6FBD505A42D1C65F97A6C25985184D770183E/ steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/607225753885505730/F71A7F39F4CA9231CBDB3861F7B3DA7D5AA37A98/ Brushwork is incredibly time-consuming, primitive and rough around the edges, but it can also be quite charming and can be given some pretty humanistic touches of personality by some particular mappers. It was pretty much the only way game-devs could craft a level in a 3D environment due to how memory and graphically intensive in-game models at the time were. It wasn't until the very late 90's when tech was beginning to explode and more advanced dev-kits came about such as IDtech 3 and Unreal Engine 2

[@badsectoracula]

I was playing Deleted Scenes recently and i'm 100% certain that everything is made with brushes. There are a few models used to add a bit of detail, but nothing more than what Daikatana itself does (if you check some shots there are several mesh props, like light fixtures, plants, statues, etc - even right from the first level).

[@flippedoutkyrii]

Deleted scenes featured a lot of scripted events utilizing primitive cinematic physics and more mesh props then Daikatana if my memory serves me well, hence why I feel the brushwork is more or less ignored for the sake of big bombastic set-pieces then articulate level design. The second time period in Daikatana featured some of the best and most expansive brushwork considering the over-abundance of slave-built temples and tunnels. The first and final time-period perhaps had some of the most mesh props and prefabs but considering the amount they had to make for each era the devs got lazy and many of them felt rushed and looked ugly even for the time.

[@otoole42]

Loving this series, always enjoy your solo (and group) work

[@insanelol]

EYE ON STORM

[@Vanisonic]

"development on Gauntlet was so ROCKY, ROMERO would leave the team" Shout out to Roppongi.

[@evelynlumihame7814]

i knew that he was joking about the robot maids, but i took the koi ponds part completely at face value

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Right? Believable.

[@Kitnighty]

I never understood what it was about that ad that infuriated people so much. It's stupid, sure- but I've heard people who swore off buying Daikatana *just* because of that ad.

[@techdeckdudes_]

We'll be something called "edgy" LMFAOOO

[@steelblake]

Death Stranding is watching to all sides of the room right now

[@jjnnerazor]

Oh man, I really hope we never have to see a what happened of that game.

[@tomipalasnenas9844]

@@jjnnerazor I guess we won't?

[@FeelingShred]

Heretic is a great example of a game who used an old engine and making a big impact, or Hexen for that matter. Say what you want about Daikatana, but anyone who already played will recognize each section of the maps, the levels are that distinctive, either if you despised it or if you liked the journey. (episode 3 was lame though xP )

[@Shrapnel82]

Can we get "What Happened? - John Romero's Hair" one of these days?

[@theschmorgishboard]

I always thought Carmack's work schedule wouldn't allow for porn

[@setsers1]

Lolz

[@RavenXeo]

Animation and editing on point ma' dude. Love this series!

[@JomasterTheSecond]

I got this game in Tasmania years ago, fully boxed for two whole dollars. Worth it.

[@Nialaim]

I'm really enjoying this video series. Thanks Matt!

[@billcarson6954]

To give Paul the marketing guy a little credit; we ARE still talking about that stupid ad decades later 😂 Failed Successfully.

[@Trooperfrog]

Just discovered this channel and it’s so good! Critiques about video games without the cringey try hard comedy you usually find from other creators. Subscribed! 😁

[@Teranewone]

I have been laughing at "Coke snorting Robot Maids" For hours and I don't know why.

[@Tsotha]

Going by this video's description of John Romero he reminds me of Elon Musk in many ways: Starts with taking gambles on risky projects that work much better than expected, then begins believing in his own hype and embarks upon one ambitious project after the other that fails to live up to expectations, keeps making increasingly bizarre and offensive publicity stunts, eventually ends up as a laughingstock across the industry...

[@Alias_Anybody]

I somehow suddenly really want that Gameboy Color version of Daikatana.

[@Sana_H]

4:40 - 5:38 is the reason I'm subscribed to this channel and why wha' happun series is my favourite. Absolute Gold🤩😂

[@dyll_pyckle]

The partnership of the Johns seemed really codependent and actually kinda neat! I wonder what happened that made them break up

[@luisreyes1963]

One of the best-known stories about a game crashing & burning during its development.

[@hermit6123]

How about Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite

[@derekstronf1837]

It looks like it's appropriate to discuss it now

[@joshbnimble]

Quake 2. It will forever be number one on my All Time Greatest Games list.

[@rokko4047]

i really love this game, the main problem was the AI for the companions, the rest of the game was mostly really good. if you want to play this game use the unofficial 1.3 patch to the game, it fixes the AI, adds unlimited saves, adds widescreen, and its basically the best way to experience this over-hated game.

[@zajajaja]

Fun fact, Tom Hall ALSO made Anachronox from the Dallas Ion Storm offices. That game was dope, but it sold weak numbers. There was so much good content in the cutscenes that the guy who directed it just spliced all the stuff together and made a FEATURE LENGTH film that won awards as an early Machinima film. Crazy to think the same studio that did that also made Daikatana but it seems to fit the whole 'story over gameplay' as it was a turn based final fantasy styled RPG, kinda similar to chrono trigger!

[@roberte2945]

Reading _Masters of Doom_ and playing through the id Software classics really makes me feel sad. I get a feeling of nostalgia for something I never knew. id Software is really just a shell of its former self, and has been since around the time of Doom 3. Doom 2016 and Eternal may be fun, well-made games, but they don't have the same soul of classic Doom, Quake, or even Commander Keen. Playing those old games, you can feel the creativity and energy that went into them. Young programmers and gamers in the prime of their lives reshaping the industry, while having a blast doing it. A college frat house making videogames, basically. That's the kind of thing that makes me sad - that's all gone now. Carmack is out of gaming, Romero had good intentions but made an ass of himself and is forever disgraced, and poor Tom Hall had a stroke not too long ago. id Software as it was is long gone, a victim of its own success. I have to say that as creative duos are concerned, Romero and Carmack completed each other, and it's a shame that we'll never see them jam together again. But, I suppose I shouldn't be sad it's over. Be happy it happened in the first place.

[@GuntanksInSpace]

I'm down for a Too Human episode, as mentioned by the others. Hell, your suggestion of Duke Nukem Forever would also be really, really neat. Or perhaps, something about the life and times of Midway Games. Great video, Bossman Matt! Get well soon!

[@Timestrider539]

I think John Romero is working on a crowd funded shooter called Blackroom. Haven't heard about it for ages though.

[@Timestrider539]

Jebediah Oldenheimer After looking it up its apparently coming out this year. So who knows?

[@TrueRaijin]

Allright, Matt. Just in the "good marketing feedback" sense I just want you to know. I've never clicked one of your solo videos. But THIS is the one that got me to click. I actually want to know the investigative journalism history on this shit, and your production values have finally gotten to a point you functionally impersonate the Austin class of youtuber. Y'made it, Boss.

[@ravenrose5712]

"Big Sword" sounds like one big sex joke.

[@SammEater]

Sometimes I feel like Carmack is right about games, specially considering modern games being more worried about delivering a story in a movie like fashion than actually being fun games to play.

[@animeshrine]

Even to this day, game development is still a very engineering-centric medium. Carmack's words still hold true. Story has gotten so much better in games but at the core is still the tech, optimization and gameplay. I work as a dev and I guess as a code monkey from the early 00's.. I lean more to thinking that Romero's type of dev is not great if not paired with a dev like Carmack...even worse are the marketing people. Marketing / sales department. even today, are still filled with tech-illiterate nobs who can end up being poison for many projects.

[@baiwatch1]

This was hilarious. Thanks for introducing me to this drama.

[@chyldstudios]

Just 2 words: ION STORM!

[@SamHintz]

These are super high quality and super close to actual show length. Matt, you should pitch these to netflix or something. I'd watch 2 seasons of Wha Happun.

[@TungstenViper]

you know... this reminds me of Death Stranding... i hope it doesn't go down like that

[@pepperoniunicorn8641]

I agree somewhat with Carmack on the story line thing, Every game you boot up these days just takes to long until you do something or your hindered in some live cinematic, sometimes you just want to jump into a game and play.

[@Zencast5]

This is just another sad story of a game company being too ambitious and lost everything in the process.

[@cliffordhaufe9123]

I've been a fan of you for a few months now and this was actually the first video of yours I saw

[@HotColdCoffee424]

Daikatana is Japanese for "Big Japanese Sword".

[@JasynSuin]

I said it in a previous WHA HAPPUN video, but even though it's out of his usual wheelhouse, I'd love to see Matt tackle the X-COM series in one of these; the way it went from the instant classic original, to the rushed reskin Terror of the Deep, the good but flawed Apocalypse, and then the descent into awfulness of Interceptor and Enforcer, followed by the canceled Alliance and Genesis, and then years of being a dead franchise before the reboot. Hell, even just a video on the Bureau would be interesting, because of the backlash it experienced.