Schilling Releases a Bunch of Copernicus Screenshots

[John Funk]

Schilling Releases a Bunch of Copernicus Screenshots

A world begging "to be seen and lived in."

By now, most gamers who keep up with news on a regular basis are well aware of the disaster in Rhode Island that saw Project Copernicus [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/tag/38+studios] presumably abandoned. It's a bit difficult to make an MMO without employees, after all.

The man at the center of the mess is former baseball star Curt Schilling, who reportedly stands to lose $50 million of his own money [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117494-Curt-Schilling-Points-Finger-at-Rhode-Island-Governor] on 38 Studios' implosion. Beyond the loss of more cash than any of us are likely to see in our lifetimes, Schilling was also a massive fan of MMORPGs, which was what led him to found a MMO studio in the first place.

[gallery=737]

Schilling has posted a handful of screenshots from Project Copernicus on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3765839378253.155500.1044701480&type=1], calling it "a world that has to be seen and lived in."

These were images "from the most magical, breathtaking and awe inspiring world ever created," he writes. "Images I was 'allowed' to peek at along the way, when the team wanted us all to see the magical world we were building."

They're certainly very nice-looking screens, that's for sure. Some of these definitely look like places I'd want to visit in an MMO. Alas, this may be the last we'll ever see of Copernicus barring some kind of investment miracle. You can't help but feel for everyone involved in creating a world that will never be "seen [or] lived in" - especially those who are now out of a job.

What a mess.

Source: Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3765839378253.155500.1044701480&type=1]

Permalink

 

[Therumancer]

*Sigh* Another universe past before it's time.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4454/534/320/Wallpaper.Firefly.Serenity.1024%20%28Small%29%20%28Custom%29.jpg
We'll always have the sky.

I wouldn't put it into the same catagory. Amalur was a decent game, but it's universe wasn't anything paticularly special.

I think we see the problem here in that Mr. Shilling defines 38 Studios as an "MMO company" and makes it clear that his intent from the very beginning was to try and enter into that space, at a time when it's tantamount to suicide. He did this with a company that had one decent (if not incredible) success with a single player game, and apparently began financing that MMO before he even saw how that was going.

Firefly was a great universe that died from problems with the networks and it's creator's relationship with then. Amalur was arguably a giant cash grab (whether Mr. Shilling loved the genere or not) that doesn't appear to have even been paticularly well thought out, and it didn't work.

That said, it will be interesting to see what happens. Perhaps Rhode Island will come through with the other 25 million it promised, which might get the project finished. Though if it does, I imagine RI will be lucky if it breaks even in the long run.

 

[Nielas]

*Sigh* Another universe past before it's time.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4454/534/320/Wallpaper.Firefly.Serenity.1024%20%28Small%29%20%28Custom%29.jpg
We'll always have the sky.

I find this comparison silly. With Firefly we actually got to experience the show. With Copernicus all we have is screenshots and a graphics demo. For all we know the actual gameplay might have been utter crap. For all we know, Shilling might have delivered to us a MMORPG equivalent of "Work It" rather than "Firefly".

 

[Azuaron]

...and this is why you don't take government money right before an election.

 

[Chaos Marine]

From what I've heard of the upper management who took on the mortgages from their clients when they moved to Rhodes Island, many of their employees getting new mortgages, didn't give their staff and families health insurance which they only found out when one of the wives of the workers was giving birth. They also never told their employees about their impending firing which came immediately out of the blue. They also had to, if they were to continue getting state funding, had to have four hundred and fifty staff and they had about three hundred and eighty or thereabouts. The upper management and accountants had to know.

And what's even worse, they could have mentioned this back in January or December when hiring in the gaming industry is higher than it is near summer where it's quite slow at best.

 

[Formica Archonis]

They look pretty. Yep, that they do. Just like every other screenshot for every other game released in the past five years.

I do feel sorry for the 38 rank-and-file, though.

 

[viranimus]

/omits a paragraph on how firefly was not only over hyped, it was downright bad.

Its regrettable. I watched 38s progress since like 2007-8 or so when I first heard about it. Some of the vistas look great, but it still was an MMO.

I had hoped they would have succeeded. As I recall I think initially the plan was to do the MMO first, but then it changed around to doing a stand alone to build the lore first.

Anyway it is disappointing to see all that lost. However perhaps they can do what THQ was going to do with one of their Warhammer titles. Save the existing content by reworking it into a stand alone single player game to try to remake some revenue.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Pity. A lot of potential in that little IP. Maybe someone else will buy it up, and put forward a decent series.

 

[Saviordd1]

/omits a paragraph on how firefly was not only over hyped, it was downright bad.

OT: Why am I getting the same feeling you get from seeing someones funeral pictures, minus the large feeling of mourning for the dead of course, and not nearly as important, and this metaphor is starting to get a tad bit stretched.

ANYWAY, sad is sad, the screens look genuinely beautiful.

 

[evilneko]

These screens are a testament to wasted resources.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Gosh that looks pretty...

But Secret of Mana will still be a better game for me to keep playing.

 

[Arakasi]

Well, at least this happened before they got everyone hooked on it.

It looks too damn pretty to let die.

Captcha: 'it happens'

 

[CD-R]

...and this is why you don't take government money right before an election.

OH Curt Schilling when will you learn.

http://www.94hjy.com/player/?mid=22127038

 

[veloper]

50 million PLUS a 75 million loan.

They could not make 1 MMO for 125 million.
Funny.

 

[Azuaron]

...and this is why you don't take government money right before an election.

OH Curt Schilling when will you learn.

http://www.94hjy.com/player/?mid=22127038

Yep; that's exactly how this didn't happen.

 

[Gather]

I've actually been to some of these places in KoA. #3 looks like that major city for the Gnomes and #5 appears to be the Alfar capitol city.

It's great and all to see these now but unless this is just a publicity stunt (That might go horribly wrong) it's a little annoying to get these screenshots of what could have been.

 

[Mamzelle_Kat]

I've actually been to some of these places in KoA. #3 looks like that major city for the Gnomes and #5 appears to be the Alfar capitol city.

It's great and all to see these now but unless this is just a publicity stunt (That might go horribly wrong) it's a little annoying to get these screenshots of what could have been.

That's probably some of the intent.. I mean if your company was going bankrupt, you and all your coworkers lost their job and you had been super invested in this project only to see it being taken from you, wouldn't you want to show at least some of it to let people know "Look how awesome it would've been!!"

It could be an attempt to build outrage or a fanbase to promote a kickstarter project later on, who knows?

OT: These pictures look superb. It's a shame this world will never come to life.