Fan-Games

TimeSplitters Gold
Early/May 2006: Cob Shaw starts working on the game on his own

18thundefinedJune 2006: The first version of the game is released

Late 2006: The TeamSplitters is founded, lead by Cob Shaw

12th May 2007: The v3.4 is released; it will be the last from Cob

September 2007: Llamaliker takes the reigns; at this point, the TimeSplitters Gold releases restarted at v1

17th September 2008: The v1.3 is released; it will unfortunately be the last ever

TimeSplitters Mayhem
Late 2007: Skulldust Studios starts working on the game as a one-man team; a Beta release is intended for December 31st

23rd December 2007: Skulldust says the game is most likely going to have to be delayed until early January but nothing will ever come out

Mid 2008: TimeSplitters Mayhem is cancelled, the developers claimed working on it was boring and they had no inspiration

TimeSplitters Platinum (and 3D Monkey Curling)
Interview with Matthew Mitchell

'''When did you start working on the game and why? How did it start basically?'''

In 2009 I was doing a Computing A-level at Sixth Form College and we were required to do a coursework project involving the development of some software. The project suggestions we were given were quite boring so I decided to do a game instead. I previously knew about TimeSplitters Gold and I decided to create a game inspired by that.

Were you working on the game alone?

Yes. I got some people interested in potentially providing graphics and music though it never came to fruition.

What content was planned for a first release?

The project was quite open-ended and I didn't have very specific plans. I wanted to have a basic deathmatch mode available with a mapmaker and at least one level.

And was any date scheduled?

No

Was your Anaconda recreation a separate project or was it a mini-game within TimeSplitters Platinum?

Originally it was a mini-game, though I later separated it out and used it for my Computing A-level project.

When did you stop working on TimeSplitters Platinum and for what reason?

Over time I realised that the project was too ambitious and the plans moved towards working on the Anaconda and 3D Monkey Curling games instead. I became interested in mobile development and so I made an iPhone game for the monkey curling. The top-down shooter went by the wayside. I stopped working on it in 2010 I think.

Note: 3D Monkey Curling was released the 22th October 2010 for iPhone and iPod touch, with 2 updates released the next days

OpenSplitters
Late 2012: Jolteon and some other Timesplittersportal.com members start working on the game; the first version is scheduled for release in 2013

22nd February 2013: The OpenSplitters Team is now comprised of 12 individuals

16th March 2013: Project managers Matt and Fizz announced that they were ceasing development on OpenSplitters, citing TimeSplitters Rewind’s status as an officially sanctioned mod as the main reason

TimeSplitters Zero
2011: Harry makes a first attempt at creating a TimeSplitters fan-game by making a FPS called TimeCrasher but he’s not happy with the result

14th November 2014: Harry starts working on TimeSplitters Zero

12th December 2014: The first demo of the game is released

1st February 2015: A second demo is released; a third one is intended for late 2015

August 2015: Harry gives up on the project due to multiple troubles caused by the engine and the lack of free time

TimeSplitters: Silver
15th December 2014: Oblask Studios is founded by Sandwave and the team starts working on the game

10th January 2015: The first version of the game is released; a small update is released the next month

March 2015: The project is on hold due to the programmers not having enough free time to work on it

December 2015: The development of the Alpha 1.2 begins

Early 2016: TimeSplitters: Silver is cancelled due to the lack of motivation and the desire to work on something different

Bricky Monkey
Early 2015: Yvanor and Sandwave make a concept version of the game

4th February 2016: An improved version is intended to be made; a poll is created to decide if the game should be released for browsers or as a mini-game in TimeSplitters: Silver

March 2017: Yvanor and Sandwave start working on an improved version of the game for mobile phones

13th August 2017: The game is released on the Google Play Store; a small update with bugfixes and minor additions is released the next day

Anaconda
Interview with Lachlan Smith

'''You made the game with your brother but which one of you got the idea? How did you start working on it? '''

We got Timesplitters 2 for GameCube back in 2004 and loved the game. It was one of those games we always kept coming back to, it had so much content. We played the 2 player Anaconda minigame a quite a bit too. The idea to make it was mine originally, but my brother and I worked on it together.

Technically I actually started programming a version of the game back in 2006, I was just learning how to program in primary school. I guess Anaconda stood out as something that seemed really simple to complete as a first game. It turned out to be far more difficult than I thought it would be (being 12 didn't help!). The original version is somewhere, I could probably send it through if you're interested. Anyway, by the time I got to university in 2013 I decided I should finish the game, so I rebuilt it based off an engine I built for another game.

'''I saw on Facebook that the development started in 2008. Why did it take so long to be finished?'''

Mostly because I hover between projects and rarely finish anything! The Anaconda that was released probably only took a few weeks in the end, but there was a lot of learnings from the past that helped it become what it was.

How did you manage to make it so accurate to the original?

We played the original a lot during development, but actually all of the content in the game is custom and drawn by us (It's pretty simple art, but still!). Even the soundtrack was our own version (scored by my brother, we used a bunch of MIDI sounds to create a similar sounding soundtrack). We really just wanted to capture the nostalgia of the original, while adding a bit of extra content.

The game actually has some additional content to the original but was there any content cut before the game released?

Yeah so the original game we built back in 2006-2008 had a heap of different content. My brother did all the art, it looked pretty good! I was unfortunately too lazy to finish it properly back then so we ended up with the original minimal art style that you see today.

Note: Anaconda was released the 11th December 2014 on Newgrounds.com and Kongregate.com and is also available on LEDPalmtree’s website

TimeSplitters RPG
'''You were creating a TS RPG at one time (that I was supposed to be beta testing). Are you still working on that, or has it been brought to a halt?'''

Haha! I remember that. Yeah it was pretty crap. I "borrowed" a Pokémon engine off someone and used it to make a rubbishy... well... it never really got to be a game. Shame really, it had potential, but I suppose I just have a really short attention span. So yeah, discontinued. Thanks for your help by the way!

From an interview with Cob Shaw, by Drifting (2007)