100,000 Strong for Timesplitters 4 “we all love the series, and all want it back”

June 28th, 2012 ramdewarkiron
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Recently there has been a lot of talk about a TimeSplitters sequel.

The FPS was one of the most loved games of the last generation, but since developers Free Radical went bust we have heard very little news on a fourth iteration in the series. That was until earlier this month when several members of the Crytek team , who now own Free Radical, asked if fans would really like to see TimeSplitters 4.

This ignited Daniel Wesoly, who has been pushing for a Timeplitters sequel for years. He jumped right on Crytek’s talk about a sequel and since then has seen great feedback from his and Reddit groups. We got the chance to talk with Daniel about his love for TimeSplitters and why it was so important to him that this franchise is revived.

KR: You have clearly put a lot of work into this, why TimeSplitters?
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 DW: Because Timesplitters is the only game that has managed to stay with me from my childhood as a fun, frantic and crazy game! I believe it has so much more to give with a fourth title. Also it would show todays gamers that you don’t have to be Call of Duty to have great multiplayer!a

KR: What do you think TimeSplitters has that other first person shooters are missing?

DW: Fast frantic gameplay, a dynamic range of characters and weapons, bots, creative bits like the mapmaker. Games today put all their eggs in one basket, once you complete the story, that’s it with most games, it’s over. But with Timesplitters, you unlocked maps and characters for completing levels that you could then use in arcade mode and play against them as bots or splitscreen with friends. The joy of unlocking a new map and then exploring it with a few characters you newly unlocked is a joy!


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KR: Do you feel that the comical and fun nature of TimeSplitters gave it a better online community than modern ‘gritty’ first person shooters?
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DW: Most certainly. Most games today look for epic scenes, huge explosions, the serious rugged Rambo like military figure that holds a mini-gun with his little finger. That is just plain boring in my eyes, and even though Timesplitters has its humor, some of it can be pretty dark. So it gives you the ability to create dark, scary, action packed levels in the mapmaker and in arcade against bots. Take the hospital level in arcade for example, it has a really eerie feel to it, same with mansion of madness in Timesplitters Future Perfect. But then you have for example, Scotland the Brave where you are fighting off steampunk soldiers and tagging along with Captain Ash, grand explorer. So yes, it would create a fantastic atmosphere for the online community.

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KR: Why do you think that the military shooter has become such a success?a

DW: In my honest opinion, i have no idea. I have never seen the appeal of military shooters, they are all so bland to me. They all look the same! I think its annoying and unbelievable how the Call of Dutyseries has got so far in the gaming community. And even some fans that hate the series, still go out each year and buy a new one. And that is maybe why the military shooting genre is doing so well, even tho most people are starting to get annoyed with the whole thing, they are still buying into the hype of the games, and still purchasing the titles.
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KR: How long have you been lobbying for a new TimeSplitters game and what have you been doing?
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DW: Around three years now, I have been in and out of small ways to grab interest for a new game. Each one failing, as i have said in other interviews, it is so hard to gather a community that is so split up. The last game was 7 years ago, and a lot of them gamers have grown up and moved on. So it is hard to find them gamers in a world that is filled with today’s generation of gamers. I am always working on little projects for Timesplitters, I actually rigged around 70 characters for Garrysmod around two years ago now. I have also just released 120 skins for Minecraft on the campaign site, all of the skins being Timesplitters characters.a

KR: Were you surprised by the amount of support you have got recently? You have received 20,000+ more likes on Facebook since the 18th of July.

DW: The support has been great, the initial surge was amazing. It was really surprising to see how many gamers still held Timesplitters in their heart. We have messages and comments all the time that I can relate to in big ways, the stories they have to tell about the game. The pure love and ambition to have a new one. Each one of us are like a collective hive mind, we all love the series, and all want it back!
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KR: Have you received any feedback from fans at all?
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DW: We have people all the time trying to help out, the hard thing is when people contact us telling to contact big people in Youtube and stuff. But there are two problems in that. One, I don’t like to update statuses every hour or so, it clogs up people’s feeds and just ends up annoying them. And two, I do not want the campaign to go around spamming the hell out of well-known people just so they can advertise for us. Look what happened with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. They played Timesplitters 2 in Shaun of the Dead, and we stupidly thought it was a good idea to get the community to ask them on twitter to retweet the link. It got some bad feedback from fans, and so we have learned our lesson there.a

KR: Do you think a Kickstarter budget would be able to fund a game as big as TimeSplitters 4?a

DW: I am not quite sure, lets put it like this. The Crysis 3 fan page on Facebook has 14,000 likes in however long they have been running? 4-5 months perhaps? We have gathered almost 21,000 fans of Timesplitters in around 2-3 days. Obviously the Crysis 3 fanpage doesn’t count for every single fan out there, and neither does this campaign page. So if you think about it like that, then i guess yes, it would hit the target amount.
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KR: Your Facebook page says that you would consider doing a Kickstarter, have you had any further thoughts on that and have you discussed this idea with Crytek?
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DW: I think a kickstarter is out of the question currently. I have spoken to a few Crytek  members and they believe this wont be happening. Imagine a multi million pound company asking to do a kickstarter for a game they would be able to fund. It just wouldn’t seem right, would it?
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KR: Do you feel that this kind of fan pressure could affect future game releases for other titles and are there any other franchises you would like to see revived?
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DW: Any game can be revived as long as it has a fanbase, and people willing to pay for the game when its done. I do believe that this is the reason Crytek could get away with a kickstarter, it is only natural that they are scared to bring back a game that has been dead for 7 years. So I would actually see it as a sign of respect if Crytek opened up a kickstarter for the game. But back to the question. I don’t really have any past games I would be interested in seeing be revived, Timesplitters is the only game i have not been able to let go with.a

KR: What are your most requested features for Timesplitters 4?a

DW: Character maker, bots, splitscreen, challenges, mapmaker, no ironsights, tons of maps, tons of characters, not too many monkeys and last but not least, to keep all the main characters such as captain ash and Harry Tipper.

KR: Finally, who is your favourite character from TimeSplitters and why?a

DW: Hank Nova, just always loved the guy. Looked like a proper space jockey! i have other favorites, but this one sticks out the most.

Related posts:

TimeSplitters: A better online experience
Timesplitters 4 not dead - "We've seen it running"
Crytek shows interest in TimeSplitters 4
Posted in Features Tags: TimeSplitters,
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