TimeSplitters Rewind – the fan-made recreation of TimeSplitters 1, 2 and three’s multiplayer, which has been in improvement since 2013 – has reemerged with its first replace video in over the 12 months, providing a contemporary have a look at the challenge and an pressing name for help as its builders discover themselves in an “extremely difficult area” as a result of present state of the trade.
The TimeSplitters Rewind workforce secured permission to create the multiplayer remake again in 2012, from then-rights holder Crytek UK. Since then, its volunteer builders have continued to plug away on the challenge of their spare time, intermittently providing video updates on its progress. The group’s newest video – the primary since December 2022 – describes itself as a “candid dialogue”, mixing footage of its work-in-progress maps with a name for improvement assist.
“With the state of the video games trade,” explains lead author Jake ‘The Voice’ Parr within the video, “it has positioned our builders into an extremely difficult area the place Rewind can’t catch the attention of them. Whether or not that is coping with potential layoffs, an more and more troublesome job market, or, within the case of TimeSplitters, some modifications to the panorama of the IP.”
“TimeSplitters being a free challenge implies that it can’t be on the forefront for individuals,” Parr continues. “This has all the time been the case however particularly throughout the final 12 months that has been very true.”
On this gentle, the Rewind workforce wants “extra assist and a extra refined focus” to shine the expertise and get it over the end line. As such it is in search of all the things from character artists and surroundings artists to technical designers and animators. “We can’t overstate our want for assist to make this primary launch the very best one potential”, Parr provides.
In line with the replace, Rewind’s environments at present vary from completed to “useful”, whereas the Spaceways map is “very behind”. The challenge additionally wants new character and music property, in addition to weapon animations, with the developer saying it would not have sufficient assist to prioritise something past property in the meanwhile, noting, “Until we have now modifications to our workforce composition, illustration from TimeSplitters 2 and Future Good could also be fairly restricted.”
There is not any signal of a launch date for TimeSplitters Rewind then, however, notably, it is now the one TimeSplitters challenge in improvement following Embracer Group’s determination final December to shut developer Free Radical Design and cancel its official new TimeSplitters sport. That challenge has since been revealed to have began life as a Fortnite clone earlier than morphing into an expanded alternate universe tackle the basic TimeSplitters 2.