"A rivalry of sorts was born [between the level designers and the artists]," claims Daikatana artist Bill Daly, brother to conceptual designer Jim Daly. While many of the level designers had firsthand experience with the Quake engine before coming to Ion, most of the artists were new to working with the engine and its limitations. The time pressure to get the game finished exacerbated the problem. "It was incredibly tough for me," explains Romero, "because I was expecting we could get everything done right the first time out. We didn't have time to redo content."
- Conceptual Artist Jim Daly
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To many of the artists, the "design is law" credo at Ion Storm was exactly the problem. "I agree with Ion's credo to some extent, but at the same time the game should be law," says former Daikatana lead artist Bryan Pritchard. "It's not about one portion of the development staff being more important than the other, but about a team working to develop a top-notch title to the best of their abilities." Soon, the lack of community on the project would breed internecine feuds, which would continue for the rest of development. "The level designers fancied themselves at a higher level than the artists from the beginning," claims Jim Daly. "To call it a team was insulting. No one was willing to close the gap or sit down and discuss the problems." With the clock ticking, it seemed no one had the time to close the gap. By the end of 1997, the strife reached a climax; employees were beginning to give up on Daikatana and many had grown tired of the incessant infighting. " I personally witnessed the destruction of the team morale, " says Daly.
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Real-time strategy game Dominion was acquired from 7th Level in September of 1997. |
Amid the pall that was developing over the Daikatana team, Ion Storm continued to expand and push into new genres. In September of 1997 the company acquired Porter's old game, Dominion, from 7th Level for $1.8 million, a game that was supposed to help get the Ion Storm name on store shelves in early 1998.
Late 1997 would also mark the departure of Mike Wilson, who was ousted by the four co-founders of Ion Storm. Wilson had originally joined Ion Storm with the understanding that the company would turn into an independent publisher named Ion Strike once Ion had delivered its games to Eidos. However, by the end of 1997, Wilson grew frustrated and believed that Ion's six game deal with Eidos would tie up Ion Storm for the next 36 months. In early 1998 Wilson started his own independent publisher based in Dallas - Gathering of Developers.
But most importantly, the tumultuous year would draw to a close as Quake II was released by id Software around Thanksgiving 1997. The game's release was a sign that Ion was about to receive the final Quake II source code. That meant the conversion of Daikatana to the Quake II code structure could commence, with the project en route for a March 1998 ship date.
