Kickstarter Round-up: Frontiers, Unrest, Frozen State, Our Darker Purpose
Kickstarter Round-up: Frontiers, Unrest, Frozen State, Our Darker Purpose
Information - posted by Crooked Bee on Tue 18 June 2013, 23:02:41
Tags: Frontiers; Frozen State; Kickstarter; Our Darker Purpose; UnrestThere have been some smaller RPG projects seeking (all of) your money on Kickstarter lately that I don't think require separate newsposts but still may be of interest to some of you, so I'll do one of our irregular round-ups instead.
Frontiers: Explore - Discover - Survive
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/railboy/frontiers-explore-discover-survive/
First there is Frontiers, an exploration-focused first person RPG inspired by The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall. And when I say "exploration-focused", I mean it: the game claims to be almost exclusively about exploration and exploration-centered character building. The $50,000 it has for its funding goal should help the man behind the game assemble a small team to finish the project, which is currently in alpha.
Unfortunately the developer wasn't clever enough to upload a Youtube version of the pitch video so I can't embed it here, but I do encourage you to watch it -- it gives a much better idea about the game than the text of the Kickstarter pitch, in my opinion.
Unrest : An Unconventional RPG Set in Ancient India
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/698883673/unrest-an-unconventional-rpg-set-in-ancient-india
Next comes Unrest, "a story driven RPG set in ancient India in the midst of an uprising" which has you "play as ordinary men and women struggling for safety, freedom, food for their children, and a chance at peace." The main attraction of this game seems to be the conversation system it promises to implement, as well as the approach to combat it takes:
Unrest has already well surpassed its humble goal of $3,000, and has 3 days left to go. (P.S. Brian Fargo tweeted about it so it must be worth supporting!)
Frozen State
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1683973133/frozen-state
Russian comrades want you to support Frozen State, "a survival based horror RPG, set in a Siberian, post apocalyptic wasteland":
Seeking £60,000, Frozen State currently sits at just barely above 1/6 of that. There is some alpha footage in a video on the KS page, in case you'd like to check that out.
Our Darker Purpose
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1750899614/our-darker-purpose-0
The fourth project that caught my attention is Our Darker Purpose, a "fiendishly difficult" roguelike/action RPG set in a high school (no it isn't Japanese, why do you ask?):
With just 8 days left to go, however, there's no guarantee Our Darker Purpose is going to reach its $40,000 target. If you ask me, I believe the $15 for a digital copy, a somewhat steep-ish price for a Binding of Isaac-like roguelike, is to blame for scaring away some of the potential backers.
Adventure Game Codex
Finally, since I know there's quite a few adventure game fans on the Codex, I'll briefly mention the ongoing adventure game projects of note. These are:
Frontiers: Explore - Discover - Survive
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/railboy/frontiers-explore-discover-survive/
First there is Frontiers, an exploration-focused first person RPG inspired by The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall. And when I say "exploration-focused", I mean it: the game claims to be almost exclusively about exploration and exploration-centered character building. The $50,000 it has for its funding goal should help the man behind the game assemble a small team to finish the project, which is currently in alpha.
Unfortunately the developer wasn't clever enough to upload a Youtube version of the pitch video so I can't embed it here, but I do encourage you to watch it -- it gives a much better idea about the game than the text of the Kickstarter pitch, in my opinion.
Unrest : An Unconventional RPG Set in Ancient India
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/698883673/unrest-an-unconventional-rpg-set-in-ancient-india
Next comes Unrest, "a story driven RPG set in ancient India in the midst of an uprising" which has you "play as ordinary men and women struggling for safety, freedom, food for their children, and a chance at peace." The main attraction of this game seems to be the conversation system it promises to implement, as well as the approach to combat it takes:
Combat in Unrest is focused on one versus one duels - fast, decisive, brutal and always a last resort. Instead of meaningless combat encounters with dozens of enemies in every area, combat encounters will be few and unique, such as a knife fight for food in an alley, a duel between homeless humans and Naga (and more!) in a style similar to Sid Meier's Pirates. Importantly, violence will have consequences on the state of the world - too much bloodshed and you might just tip the city over the edge.
Conversation is an art - be it debate, negotiation, intimidation, flattery or bribery. The branching narrative of Unrest coupled with the detailed conversation system aims to reflect that by providing depth and freedom to the player.
Every person in the world will have their opinion of you - some might despise you simply because of your birth or caste, some might admire you if you are a priest of the religion they follow, or some may be indifferent to your fate. We measure all these possibilities using 3 values for every character - Friendship, Respect and Fear. This system enables the game to portray a number of nuanced relationships that are not fully conveyed with a single "opinion" value.
Conversation is an art - be it debate, negotiation, intimidation, flattery or bribery. The branching narrative of Unrest coupled with the detailed conversation system aims to reflect that by providing depth and freedom to the player.
Every person in the world will have their opinion of you - some might despise you simply because of your birth or caste, some might admire you if you are a priest of the religion they follow, or some may be indifferent to your fate. We measure all these possibilities using 3 values for every character - Friendship, Respect and Fear. This system enables the game to portray a number of nuanced relationships that are not fully conveyed with a single "opinion" value.
Unrest has already well surpassed its humble goal of $3,000, and has 3 days left to go. (P.S. Brian Fargo tweeted about it so it must be worth supporting!)
Frozen State
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1683973133/frozen-state
Russian comrades want you to support Frozen State, "a survival based horror RPG, set in a Siberian, post apocalyptic wasteland":
It is a survival based horror RPG, which will immerse you in a Siberian, post apocalyptic wasteland. The game takes place in a secret Soviet city,which was partly destroyed. You will get by, side by side, with vicious alien hybrids, ruthless bandits and other survivors like you, who haven’t lost hope. Exploring new areas, scavenging and fighting for your life, you will be making hard choices between greater good and your personal goals, which will lead you to different outcomes.
Our inspiration comes from many sources: games like Fallout 1 and 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl, Metro 2033, Half-Life 2, Resident Evil; films The Thing, Alien(s),Prometheus, The Road, The Myst; our favorite writers Isaac Asimov, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Stanislaw Lem and many others.
Our inspiration comes from many sources: games like Fallout 1 and 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl, Metro 2033, Half-Life 2, Resident Evil; films The Thing, Alien(s),Prometheus, The Road, The Myst; our favorite writers Isaac Asimov, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Stanislaw Lem and many others.
Seeking £60,000, Frozen State currently sits at just barely above 1/6 of that. There is some alpha footage in a video on the KS page, in case you'd like to check that out.
Our Darker Purpose
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1750899614/our-darker-purpose-0
The fourth project that caught my attention is Our Darker Purpose, a "fiendishly difficult" roguelike/action RPG set in a high school (no it isn't Japanese, why do you ask?):
When her teacher stepped out of the classroom a month ago, Cordy never imagined he would be gone for good. Now her fellow students have turned on each other as the school descends into chaos. Cordy must battle feral classmates and dangerous creatures as she ascends to the cruel Administrators’ offices atop the Edgewood Home for Lost Children.
Our Darker Purpose is a top-down, rogue-like action RPG that combines the ingenuity of genre-defining classics with the expansiveness and accessibility of modern day action adventure games. The gameplay is steeped in a variety of influences ranging from A Link to the Past to The Binding of Isaac to Diablo. We love games with great mechanics and awesome, bizarre storylines, and that’s what we’re creating with Our Darker Purpose.
Our Darker Purpose is a top-down, rogue-like action RPG that combines the ingenuity of genre-defining classics with the expansiveness and accessibility of modern day action adventure games. The gameplay is steeped in a variety of influences ranging from A Link to the Past to The Binding of Isaac to Diablo. We love games with great mechanics and awesome, bizarre storylines, and that’s what we’re creating with Our Darker Purpose.
With just 8 days left to go, however, there's no guarantee Our Darker Purpose is going to reach its $40,000 target. If you ask me, I believe the $15 for a digital copy, a somewhat steep-ish price for a Binding of Isaac-like roguelike, is to blame for scaring away some of the potential backers.
Adventure Game Codex
Finally, since I know there's quite a few adventure game fans on the Codex, I'll briefly mention the ongoing adventure game projects of note. These are:
- Armikrog, a new claymation game from the creator of Neverhood.
- Harvest, a dystopian graphic menu-based adventure inspired by Snatcher and Phoenix Wright.
- Alum is just your good old point-and-click adventure "with the same feel and vibe as some of the classic games we love (Quest for Glory, Roger Wilco, Monkey Island, etc..)" that doesn't look too bad, really.
- Nelly Cootalot, a full-fledged sequel to a pretty nice and charming (and free) point-and-click'er; really rooting for this myself.
- Deus Ex Machina 2 is something... extremely weird. Starring Christopher Lee.
There are 49 comments on Kickstarter Round-up: Frontiers, Unrest, Frozen State, Our Darker Purpose
