Valve Canceled Fairy RPG to Make Left 4 Dead

Tom Goldman

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Aug 17, 2009
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Valve Canceled Fairy RPG to Make Left 4 Dead



If Valve hadn't made Left 4 Dead, it would have developed an RPG about fairies instead.

Before Valve came up with the idea of Left 4 Dead [http://www.amazon.com/Left-4-Dead-Game-Xbox-360/dp/B0025KZV7A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1282877026&sr=8-1], it was working on a game that it really wasn't proud of. Gabe Newell refers to a previous Valve "action fantasy sort of role playing game" featuring fairies that was so bad, it drove the studio to create its co-op zombie shooter instead.

Valve head Gabe Newell, project manager Erik Johnson, and marketing director Doug Lombardi all recently talked about the game in an interview with PC Gamer. The three introduce it thusly:


Doug Lombardi: There were a few failed starts to build Left 4 Dead.
Gabe Newell: Well, there was the flying fairy game. Is that the one you were referring to?
Erik Johnson: That was just a different game that, when we stabbed it... (everyone laughs)
Doug Lombardi: ... It turned into Left 4 Dead!


Johnson explains the title's gameplay as one that included spell casting "based on movement and mouse gestures." Newell calls the fairy RPG a "useful failure ... because it was so clearly dumb that it made us say, 'Ok, what are we actually good at that we can do instead?'"

Newell continues to say it made Valve ask itself: "'How could we make a game that was this bad? And how should we make a game ... Why are we doing this game which was kind of a'... it wasn't really an RPG... it was this action fantasy sort of role playing game that had no story."

Valve had a moment of clarity, and thought: "'What we should focus in on is AI and playing in co-op, and that's the interesting opportunity.'" Newell reveals: "That was where Left 4 Dead came from." This example could show why Valve is one of the world's top developers. It can look at itself and see when it's making a blunder, and even admit it to the world. I'm confident that Valve would probably have made a decent fairy RPG, but Left 4 Dead probably has more of an appeal.

Source: PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/26/valve-were-making-a-fairy-rpg-before-left-4-dead/]


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zombiejoe

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Sep 2, 2009
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2nd/3rd comment

But yeah, intersting game. I hope they make like one leval and show it to us just to show how bad it was.
 

dfcrackhead

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Apr 14, 2009
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Left 4 Fairy Dead. 4 Renegade fairies take on the zombie apocalypse using spells and mouse gestures
 

TheBoulder

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Nov 11, 2009
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Oh thank Jesus. I don't know what I'd do without my zombie fix. I mean, fairies? Pshhhhh
 

whaleswiththumbs

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Feb 13, 2009
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hm. I think they made the right decision, but i'm curious as to how they would make it work, because you know it would, I mean it's Valve, they haven't made a bad game that i can think of. Not a fanboy

But please for the love of games, don't try to show anything like it to us. You have otehr things to work on *cough**cough*
 

Johnnyallstar

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Feb 22, 2009
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And people wonder why there's no "girly games." They start making a game about fairies and and pixies and all the wonderfully glittery things, and then cut that to make a very violent zombie game.

I guess they wanted to make money instead of a game for girly girls.
 

elricik

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Nov 1, 2008
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Oh come one who would't choose frolicking with some fairies over fighting in the zombie apocalypse?

fairies>zombies
 

Erana

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Feb 28, 2008
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What? I don't even...
Seriously, where did that come from?
Also,
To quote its protagonist, "I'm a fairy? how... dull..."
Yeah, this game is like having fairies in a Vampire novel. Except it prolly would've been terrible.
 

dududf

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Aug 31, 2009
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wu...wu...

I'm dumb struck at this. I..I...

I can't really say anything about this.
 

AlternatePFG

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Jan 22, 2010
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Well now's there chance. Make it.
Now.

In all honesty though, that's pretty bizarre. Why did they choose that kind of game of all things?
 

Chicago Ted

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Jan 13, 2009
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If they made it something like Changeling it might have stood a chance, but the moment I saw that picture... Well, I love Left 4 Dead more then ever now.
 

subject_87

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Jul 2, 2010
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They should've combined the two; have a saccharine sweet fantasy world with lots of straight-faced gore and zombie genocide, like a game version of Happy Tree Friends. I'd play it.
 

Delock

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Mar 4, 2009
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Johnnyallstar said:
And people wonder why there's no "girly games." They start making a game about fairies and and pixies and all the wonderfully glittery things, and then cut that to make a very violent zombie game.
I'm pretty sure there's one very popular one created by adult swim.

OT: Wow... it's like Valve lost their minds for a moment. The only thing that would be funnier than this is if it was Team Ico's story instead of Valve's.
 

Twilight_guy

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Nov 24, 2008
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I suddenly have this idea of a Valve made RPG. That would probably be awesome. Although I really can't see Valve making anything revolving around faeries it doesn't fit well with the gun touting scientists, or gun wielding mercenaries.