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John Romero chats with level designers Luke Whiteside and Christian Cummings. |
A few weeks of polish soon turned into a few months, as the Daikatana team continued through the early months of 2000 to finish the game and make sure it was bug free. Because of the complexity of the game, namely the inclusion of sidekicks on most levels, the bug testing turned out to be a much more drawn-out process than is customary for first-person shooters. The Internet was buzzing with rumor after rumor of Daikatana going gold from February onward, but problems such as the load games not correctly restoring sidekick data kept Daikatana from gold status for most of the early part of 2000.
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John Romero finds a bug in Daikatana. |
With crunch mode entering its ninth month and the team in a relatively stable state, Eidos would finally declare Daikatana gold on April 21, 2000. The press release said it all: "After a series of improvements, transitions, and revolutionary gameplay features, the eagerly anticipated Daikatana has been approved for duplication!" To celebrate the occasion, Romero changed his e-mail signature from "Daikatana: Whoa, it's almost finished" to "Daikatana: Done!" Over three years, sixty employees, and millions of dollars later, Daikatana was finally a reality, burned onto a single CD-ROM and ready for distribution around the world.
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The testing area is buzzing with activity during the final stretch of development. |
The mood inside of the Ion office was jovial because the final Daikatana team had managed to survive nearly a year of 14-hour days. However, there were casualties too. Only days after finishing the game, level designer Christian Cummings (featured in a number of the photos that accompany this story) quit Ion Storm for greener pastures.
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The Daikatana team takes time out for a photo in February 2000. |
Nevertheless, many former employees thought they would never see the words "Daikatana is gold" strung together due to the game's many production problems. But Romero was proud he finished the game. He had proven that Daikatana wasn't just a thought and some screenshots.
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