Hatchling Cockatrice Aoslare Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 As some of you know, I am a rabid fan of two of Cliff Johnson's metapuzzle games from more than two decades ago: The Fool's Errand, and 3 in Three. I like the latter enough that every time I play it, I go around saying it was the best computer game ever made. That's probably not true, but the game's story and presentation are unexpectedly beautiful in many respects. Some of you probably also know that Cliff Johnson has been writing a sequel to The Fool's Errand for almost ten years... or has he been conning fans out of their money for ten years? He started taking pre-orders in 2003, but the game has been constantly delayed... and the title, "The Fool and His Money," has an obvious proverbial ending. Wikipedia has a rather hilarious collection of the delay announcements. It's rather hard to believe that a single game, apparently without any complex graphics or unusual programming needs, could be legitimately delayed for nine years. On the other hand, there are an awful lot of demos and screenshots for a fake game. Johnson also gives pre-order refunds on demand; on the other hand, he'd surely be litigated for fraud if he didn't, so maybe that is just part of the con. But I'm curious: what do you all think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dantius Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Well, with a title like "The Fool and His Money", he just might be trying to pull one over his fans. Of course, I can't really imagine what he would stand to gain from doing that, but you never know sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 "My friends, I was on the way to the post office with all the completed games when I tripped and fell and the power went out. I'm afraid I'll have to delay this but the game will ship next month!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 tbh it seems like he's just a dude who's bad at finishing things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Slarty should be one of the last people to wonder at completion delays. There are always reasons as I wait for the next Hithchiker's Guide to the Galaxy game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dintiradan Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Real artists ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Dikiyoba Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 At the very least, you don't start taking preorders until the game is almost finished and definitely going to be released within a month or two. Dikiyoba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 From the TV short 1775, Adam West played George Washington and was quoting Benjamin Franklin, "A fool and his money will be soon parted." Ryan O'Neal playing Jeremy Proctor, Washington's brother-in-law who was there for a loan replied, "So what's taking so long?" He didn't get the loan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Duke Nukem Forever was in development for fifteen years. The final product was terrible, but that's beside the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Aoslare Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Originally Posted By: Randomizer Slarty should be one of the last people to wonder at completion delays. This didn't even occur to me. Ummm.... yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Aran Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 On one hand, I can understand him; I have a Blades scenario concept I've been perennially chipping away at since 2002. On the other hand, I haven't spent the past ten years repeatedly pushing back a six-months-away release date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Originally Posted By: Tyranicus Duke Nukem Forever was in development for fifteen years. The final product was terrible, but that's beside the point. It was taking pre-orders for a bunch of those years, too, and not all of them ended up being honoured thanks to getting lost in the system over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Alorael at Large Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I believe the author believes it will be released. He's just bad at making it happen, and delays beget delays. At some point humiliation also becomes an obstacle. —Alorael, who at least thinks the demos and the like are firm evidence of progress. He wouldn't count on there being much more to the game than is shown in the demo, but something's getting done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast The Mystic Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Originally Posted By: Polaran On the other hand, I haven't spent the past ten years repeatedly pushing back a six-months-away release date. That, I believe, is a good thing. Continually pushing back the release date can be kind of like a bad joke: Click to reveal.. (don't say I didn't warn you) Q: How do you keep an idiot in suspense for 24 hours? A: I'll tell you this time tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Trenton. Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Pfft. You call that bad? I busted out! This should go in, "Puns and jokes" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Balladeer Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Bad for being incredibly old. It's funny, perhaps, the first time. Speaking of first times, I told my Sunday School kids I would do my evil laugh for them but I could only do it if I was already laughing. They started barraging me with knock-knock jokes most of which I'd already heard, but then there was a new one: Kid: Knock knock. Me: Who's there? Kid: Interrupting Cow. Me: Interrupt... Kid: MOO! I hadn't heard it before and it was cute. Made me laugh which I worked into my evil laugh for them. Their response: Kid: Now I'm totally creeped out! Kid: ... Kid: Do it again! The moral of the story is, 'Jokes are funny the first time, but evil laughs are good for an encore or two.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Harehunter Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 "Do it again!" Now that is a truly honest response. Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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