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ixfd64

Hacx - similar to The Matrix?

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Is it just me, or do you guys think that there is some similarity between Hacx and The Matrix?

For example:

1. Danny Evanger is a hacker who discoveres some secret evil plan by some malicious force (GENIE). Neo Anderson (also a hacker) discovers that the world may soon be destroyed.

2. Danny uses a Genemp Microtel implant to enter another reality. Neo and others are connected to an alternate reality using computers wires connected to hardware in their bodies.

3. Danny can use access terminals to actually enter "cyberspace". Neo uses computer terminals.

4. The evil force turns people into one of their own. So does Agent Smith.

5. Neo and Danny both know kung-fu.

And there's other bits and pieces - the game just feels "Matrixy". Anyone agree?

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4. The evil force turns people into one of their own. So does Agent Smith.

Oh nice. Now you've just spoiled it.

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A "correction" I'd like to make to #4 - the monsters in Hacx don't turn good guys to bad guys (but they seem to do in the story, not the game itself.)

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They're quite similar in that they start out full of promise and quite excellent then by fucking map20 they're both pieces of shit.

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Scuba Steve said:

If by similar you mean they suck, then yes.

The Matrix sequels are crap, agreed, but what the heck is wrong with the original? O_o

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Arioch said:

They're quite similar in that they start out full of promise and quite excellent then by fucking map20 they're both pieces of shit.

more like map05

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NiGHTMARE said:

The Matrix sequels are crap, agreed, but what the heck is wrong with the original? O_o

Besides the soundtrack and Lawrence Fishburne, what's right? O_o

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I liked the soundtrack to the original, especially "Clubbed to Death" by Rob D...

I don't think Keanu was a bad casting decision, either. He played a pretty good confused guy. Also, one has to admit that even though a pure eye candy and style element carried a lot of the movie, it was GOOD eye candy and style.

I think the original Matrix stands on its own quite nicely.

Hacx, though... ugh. SO ruined. The whole cyberpunk thing could have been so much cooler with ZDoom or Eternity's scripting and special features. Just IMAGINE. Especially now that ZDoom's gonna have custom weapons. There's so much one could do! You could even have a special set of weapons that the player can only use in cyberspace.

Ling: More like MAP02, and even MAP01 felt poorly done.

Some of the enemies and sprites and stuff were quite cool, though.

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Ultraviolet said:

I liked the soundtrack to the original, especially "Clubbed to Death" by Rob D...

By soundtrack I mean Don Davis' orchestral arrangements, not that "MTV's Buzz Bin"-ripoff compilation CD.

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Alright, well, what I heard of that in the movie was nice too. I just wanted to point out that I liked a few songs on the soundtrack, heh. EDIT: Because I love Meat Beat Manifesto.

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ravage said:

Phones.


he used computer teminals, too. When he is in the real world, he used a computer terminal to hook up to the matrix, but in the matrix he used phones.

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Ultraviolet said:

Alright, well, what I heard of that in the movie was nice too. I just wanted to point out that I liked a few songs on the soundtrack, heh. EDIT: Because I love Meat Beat Manifesto.

Heh yeah, I didn't mean that reply directly for you, but you reminded me that there were 2 soundtracks for the Matrix so I wanted to point out which one I was talking about.

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The second "MTV Buzz-Bin"-ripoff complication CD really, really sucked, though. I found nothing on it I liked. Oakenfold is so overrated.

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scary, I have never watched any of the matrix movies to the end. When I tried to watch the first one, I felt in sleep after 5mins. And then I woke up like 5mins before the end. :P

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One good thing about Hacx: decent semi-believable level design.

No, I don't like Hacx - I couldn't get myself to finsih it.

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dsm said:

One good thing about Hacx: decent semi-believable level design.

No, I don't like Hacx - I couldn't get myself to finsih it.


I agree. I think i'm the only person who actually paid for the full retail version (i thought the hacx demo was rather promising for the time perois it came out) but WTF? No boss, shakey Level design, and a faltering story. It almost falls into the same catagory as heretic.

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Here's the deal with HacX, and I speak from personal expierence, I was on the team and did some textures, graphics, sounds, and three levels.

The problem with HacX, and Banjo Software, was the team and leaders. The leaders didn't do a good job at uniting everyone for a single goal (e.g. the HacX game), and the team didn't do a good job at coming through. So many people came and went with Banjo for many many reasons, the main thing being that no one got paid. But aside from that, a few people really poured their souls into the project, but it just wasn't enough to make it a singular minded purpose supported by a team of talent. It just turned out more like a really good free TC rather than a brand new game and expierence.

Aside from that, it's just about impossible to have a large team work on something from all over the planet. Only a couple of the team members actually lived anywhere near each other. So frequently we had to wait for days to get replies from each other just because of the time lag.

The thing that killed Banjo was after HacX, when we decided to do HacX 2 in the following engines, in the following order, and in a fairly short period of time:

1. Quake - because it was the next big thing on the market
2. Quake 2 - because it had better graphics and whatnot
3. Unreal - to spite id (no publisher would offer us the time of day when we told them we were using an id engine, so we *had* to change to Unreal)
4. Genesis - because it was free

Genesis was a good free engine, but not a great engine. It was by no means ready for a sellable game. But Genesis broke the Banjo. It was essentially a crappy half ass engine compared to Quake 2 and Unreal, and no one wanted to work with it. But we had the same problems by this time with lingering half-interested members, occasionally churning out something good, but not amazing. No ones heart was really in it anymore.

You simply cannot make that many changes with a remote team that is not getting paid a dime for their pain and suffering for the art that is game making.

As Slingblade would say, that is how I recollect it, ummmm mmmm. :)

It was a worthwhile expierence, I learned limits and bad setups for a business. I personally had much greater satisfaction and success with QDOOM, and I did all that by myself over 3 years.

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Heh, just out of curiosity, do you know offhand how many people bought HacX?

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Grimm said:

Heh, just out of curiosity, do you know offhand how many people bought HacX?

AdamW was probably exaggerating but he said something like 20, iirc.

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I'm really not sure. I know for a fact that just about everyone that was involved in the project payed for one just for memorbalia (me included). So that has to be around 20.

Other than that, the company that was selling our stuff online is now as dead as Banjo, so I have no idea.

If anyone still knows Nostromo's email, he worked with John Herndon (I think that's how you spell it), and they were the top level of Banjo. Nostromo (Rich) might recall how little we made. :)

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Fanatic said:

As Slingblade would say, that is how I recollect it, ummmm mmmm. :)

Heh, such a good film. Someone here likes non-Hollywood cinema huh?

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Linguica said:

I'd say they're both ripoffs of Neuromancer, Snow Crash, and other cyberpunk fiction


This is the correct answer.

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Hacx is a memorable and classic game, I treat it like a totally new game, more than just a Doom TC but it's only my opinion. Despite some too-colourful textures and Cyberspace levels it was wonderful. One thing I couldn't stand was the music, I've swapped it with Fanatic's MP3's from "Delicate Balance" and "Raretracks" and it fits to the game like nothing else, giving it a great atmosphere. I suggest to do the same, than try Hacx with Zdoom or Jdoom. It's a pity Hacx 2 was never made. Despite what some people believe Hacx had really good levels and very good graphics for that when time it was made... All in all, Banjo was a talented bunch of people.

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