Wheezy

Wheezy

@wheezy

Currently working on Neuro-Dose, a Half Life Alyx campaign.

Joined 10 Nov 2021
Ireland
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Exploring Valve Archive, part 28 - "A Valve 3D platformer to rival Mario?"

valvearchive.com>archive>3rd Party Developers>Escape Factory>Teebo And Kai The Search For Awl (Cancelled)>

In the year 2000, Valve Software were contracted by Microsoft to develop a title for their upcoming Xbox console. Keen to develop for the new hardware, Valve collaborated with newly-found game studio Escape Factory: a team of industry veterans who'd worked at the likes of Sega and Nintendo to produce a prototype. Before long, they built a prototype for a sci-fi 3D mascot platformer called "Teebo and Kai: The Search For Awl" to rival the likes of Mario and Crash Bandicoot.

The killer feature to differentiate this game from its rivals would've been its strong focus on *Online Play*. This likely manifested as an online multiplayer in which players could either compete or cooperate to finish in-game objectives. 

Valve was well-established in designing online gameplay, as they had released online modes to all their titles at that point. Now they wanted to bring the benefits of online play to a different kind of game, specifically, to the 3D platformer genre, which had been booming in popularity at the time.

The project was ultimately shelved after the first prototype, likely due to Valve's concerns over the console userbase: Valve were used to catering towards the PC audience, which had adopted broadband internet long before the more casual console crowd, who were typically still confined to the slower internet speeds of land-line.

In the end, Valve fulfilled Microsoft's contract by porting Half-Life 2 to the Xbox. Teebo and Kai, and Escape Factory themselves, would go under Sierra's umbrella, who continued the game as a spin-off of the Space Quest series, before being cancelled entirely.
Exploring Valve Archive, part 28 - "A Valve 3D platformer to rival Mario?"

valvearchive.com>archive>3rd Party Developers>Escape Factory>Teebo And Kai The Search For Awl (Cancelled)>

In the year 2000, Valve Software were contracted by Microsoft to develop a title for their upcoming Xbox console. Keen to develop for the new hardware, Valve collaborated with newly-found game studio Escape Factory: a team of industry veterans who'd worked at the likes of Sega and Nintendo to produce a prototype. Before long, they built a prototype for a sci-fi 3D mascot platformer called "Teebo and Kai: The Search For Awl" to rival the likes of Mario and Crash Bandicoot.

The killer feature to differentiate this game from its rivals would've been its strong focus on *Online Play*. This likely manifested as an online multiplayer in which players could either compete or cooperate to finish in-game objectives. 

Valve was well-established in designing online gameplay, as they had released online modes to all their titles at that point. Now they wanted to bring the benefits of online play to a different kind of game, specifically, to the 3D platformer genre, which had been booming in popularity at the time.

The project was ultimately shelved after the first prototype, likely due to Valve's concerns over the console userbase: Valve were used to catering towards the PC audience, which had adopted broadband internet long before the more casual console crowd, who were typically still confined to the slower internet speeds of land-line.

In the end, Valve fulfilled Microsoft's contract by porting Half-Life 2 to the Xbox. Teebo and Kai, and Escape Factory themselves, would go under Sierra's umbrella, who continued the game as a spin-off of the Space Quest series, before being cancelled entirely.
Exploring Valve Archive, part 28 - "A Valve 3D platformer to rival Mario?"

valvearchive.com>archive>3rd Party Developers>Escape Factory>Teebo And Kai The Search For Awl (Cancelled)>

In the year 2000, Valve Software were contracted by Microsoft to develop a title for their upcoming Xbox console. Keen to develop for the new hardware, Valve collaborated with newly-found game studio Escape Factory: a team of industry veterans who'd worked at the likes of Sega and Nintendo to produce a prototype. Before long, they built a prototype for a sci-fi 3D mascot platformer called "Teebo and Kai: The Search For Awl" to rival the likes of Mario and Crash Bandicoot.

The killer feature to differentiate this game from its rivals would've been its strong focus on *Online Play*. This likely manifested as an online multiplayer in which players could either compete or cooperate to finish in-game objectives. 

Valve was well-established in designing online gameplay, as they had released online modes to all their titles at that point. Now they wanted to bring the benefits of online play to a different kind of game, specifically, to the 3D platformer genre, which had been booming in popularity at the time.

The project was ultimately shelved after the first prototype, likely due to Valve's concerns over the console userbase: Valve were used to catering towards the PC audience, which had adopted broadband internet long before the more casual console crowd, who were typically still confined to the slower internet speeds of land-line.

In the end, Valve fulfilled Microsoft's contract by porting Half-Life 2 to the Xbox. Teebo and Kai, and Escape Factory themselves, would go under Sierra's umbrella, who continued the game as a spin-off of the Space Quest series, before being cancelled entirely.
Exploring Valve Archive, part 28 - "A Valve 3D platformer to rival Mario?"

valvearchive.com>archive>3rd Party Developers>Escape Factory>Teebo And Kai The Search For Awl (Cancelled)>

In the year 2000, Valve Software were contracted by Microsoft to develop a title for their upcoming Xbox console. Keen to develop for the new hardware, Valve collaborated with newly-found game studio Escape Factory: a team of industry veterans who'd worked at the likes of Sega and Nintendo to produce a prototype. Before long, they built a prototype for a sci-fi 3D mascot platformer called "Teebo and Kai: The Search For Awl" to rival the likes of Mario and Crash Bandicoot.

The killer feature to differentiate this game from its rivals would've been its strong focus on *Online Play*. This likely manifested as an online multiplayer in which players could either compete or cooperate to finish in-game objectives. 

Valve was well-established in designing online gameplay, as they had released online modes to all their titles at that point. Now they wanted to bring the benefits of online play to a different kind of game, specifically, to the 3D platformer genre, which had been booming in popularity at the time.

The project was ultimately shelved after the first prototype, likely due to Valve's concerns over the console userbase: Valve were used to catering towards the PC audience, which had adopted broadband internet long before the more casual console crowd, who were typically still confined to the slower internet speeds of land-line.

In the end, Valve fulfilled Microsoft's contract by porting Half-Life 2 to the Xbox. Teebo and Kai, and Escape Factory themselves, would go under Sierra's umbrella, who continued the game as a spin-off of the Space Quest series, before being cancelled entirely.

Exploring Valve Archive, part 28 - "A Valve 3D platformer to rival Mario?" valvearchive.com>archive>3rd Party Developers>Escape Factory>Teebo And Kai The Search For Awl (Cancelled)> In the year 2000, Valve Software were contracted by Microsoft to develop a title for their upcoming Xbox console. Keen to develop for the new hardware, Valve collaborated with newly-found game studio Escape Factory: a team of industry veterans who'd worked at the likes of Sega and Nintendo to produce a prototype. Bā€¦

(Edited)
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