KickStarter Pathologic 2 (AKA Pathologic remake)

[Wunderbar]

By the way.

https://theodorbastard.bandcamp.com/album/utopia

 

[Agame]

I am sad they got rid of the cool photo portraits for dialogue.

The art/design direction was so strong for the original game that it still holds up really well graphically. Not sure if we even needed this remake, I would have loved to see them do something new and wacky like The Void.

 

[AnnoyanceCrime]

http://ice-pick.com/en/the-state-of-pathologic-2/

Spoiler

I dont care that much that it will be released in parts, it sucks but i guess there was no other way.
However I really dont like that they have decided to make the game easier than the first one. I hoped that at least this game would be free from omnipresent casualisation.

 

[Perkel]

So they run out of money.

 

[Infinitron]

The State of Pathologic 2

Hey, so, let’s talk about the current state and future release of Pathologic 2.

To make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s start with bullet points:

• We’ve made the tough decision to release the game in parts
• The first part—the Haruspex’s storyline—will be available in Q2 2019
• The Bachelor’s and the Changeling’s stories will be released later
• After it’s released on PC, the Haruspex’s story will also become available on XBox Game Pass
• All eligible backers will (obviously) receive all three stories as they get released, no additional payment or fuss
• For now, we’re unsure how exactly we’ll release the other two stories technically—whether as DLCs or something else. What matters is, they remain as crucial to the overall concept and as content-complete as before, no matter how delivered to you
• Polishing changes a game a lot

Now, to those of you who have been following our progress, the delay probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. You’ve seen the alpha; your feedback was very kind to us regarding the mood, story, visuals, and overall concept of the game, but it also made it abundantly clear that the game’s level of polish was still quite far from the goal we’re aiming at. Thus, the delay.

Now, let’s talk about the “only Haruspex first” a bit.

Like, talk talk. Please watch this subtitled video from Nikolay, the head of our studio.

To sum it up, this decision did not come easy to us, but it had to be made for the following reasons:

1. We want to watch you play the Haruspex’s story just as much as you want to play it—and it will also help us fine-tune the other two.
2. It would just be wrong to prolong the wait even further.
3. Your feedback to the Marble Nest and the alpha confirmed some of our suspicions, but also gave us new food for thought. We realized that we need to tweak the game—not its core ideas, but the presentation—some more. Some of our ideas are not what you would call extremely accessible; but that only means that we need to put extra work into making sure only those parts of the game that we want to be confusing, are.
4. The economic crisis in Russia, that happened just around our KS campaign, seriously hindered the early development. It came out of the blue for many people, and, looking back, we still can’t see how we could have avoided it. We invested our personal savings into the game, worked for free sometimes, and in the end, overcame the issues. But it came at a cost—namely, of development speed.
5. In this era of soft launches and Early Accesses releasing a game in parts does not have to come as a shock. Some projects choose it do this deliberately. It was not our original intent, but we do think it works fine with the game’s concept.

By the way, we suspect that some of you were planning to play the Bachelor first or were most interested in the renewed Changeling and thus might be frustrated with our choice for the first story. We can only hope that you’ll give the Haruspex a chance and will like him no less than our beloved snakeskin-wearing fop or cryptic thief girl by the end of the game.

Thank you very much for the kindness, understanding and patience.

 

[Egosphere]

Not sure how to feel. On the surface it does suck, but wasn't the whole changelling part very rushed in the original anyways? If they can make the quality consistent, it's worth the wait

 

[Mikeal]

No, just no. Episodical release always ends with fiasco.

 

[Haba]

It has been obvious that they were running on fumes for a while now. Why can't some billionaire oligarch pump a few million into this?

 

[Wunderbar]

It has been obvious that they were running on fumes for a while now. Why can't some billionaire oligarch pump a few million into this?

russian oligarchs would rather steal stuff than give it away.

 

[Jinn]

Normally this would piss me off, but with how long each character's path is, I'll happily play this in parts. Need a break between character playthroughs anyway, really. Only thing I'm worried about is how this is going to affect their sales, that would have already been somewhat slim.

I don't like the idea of creating a more accessible experience, however. Part of the charm of Pathologic is just how daunting and confusing everything can seem on the first playthrough. I have faith that Icepick won't go to far in the direction of decline though. Just hope they don't fuck up the challenge because of it.

 

[bataille]

Normally this would piss me off, but with how long each character's path is, I'll happily play this in parts. Need a break between character playthroughs anyway, really. Only thing I'm worried about is how this is going to affect their sales, that would have already been somewhat slim.

I don't like the idea of creating a more accessible experience, however. Part of the charm of Pathologic is just how daunting and confusing everything can seem on the first playthrough. I have faith that Icepick won't go to far in the direction of decline though. Just hope they don't fuck up the challenge because of it.

You could not play it at all until all the parts have been released. Treat this like 'our company is dying, and we're afraid of not having the time to make the game' instead of 'it's episodic now!' They need the cash influx from selling the first 'episode', and I'm sure they won't sell it at a full price. With how the things are right now, it's a delayed release no matter how you look at it, but in releasing it in parts may lie the studio's miraculous salvation

Besides, people need to rewatch that video while simultaneously trimming all the fat, and then they'll get what Dybovsky was talking about: financial problems that threaten the possibility of Pathologic even happening. The sole fact that the first episode is going to be about Haruspex speaks volumes.

Ice-Pick Lodge dying would be a real loss for games as a medium, so I wish that they succeed using this tactic.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[Orma]

Pathologic 2 coming May 23 to Steam
28 MAR @ 9:44PM - ALEX@TINYBUILD


On behalf of Ice Pick Lodge and tinyBuild, I'm happy to announce that Pathologic 2 will be launching on Steam on May 23. This is actually happening!

The dev team has been making tremendous progress over the past few months, and to give you an idea we made possibly the most bizarre game trailer ever. Check it out:



Meanwhile you may have also seen Pathologic 2 on Gearbox's livestream today and have some questions. I'll just digest what's happening in bulletpoints

• Pathologic 2 will release on Steam on May 23
  
• Later this year it's coming to Xbox One (Digital)
  
• At the same time Gearbox will release a physical edition of Pathologic 2 in stores across the US and Europe
  
• We have no concrete information on European countries yet
  
• We have no information on the _other consoles_ yet, but Xbox One is definitely happening

Don't forget to Wishlist & Follow the Steam page:

 

[Infinitron]

Free demo: https://ice-pick.com/en/pathologic-2-demo/

► Pathologic 2 Demo



Remember how the Haruspex’s story begins? Artemy Burakh returns to his hometown, only to be attacked at the Station…

Well, not exactly. That’s the start of the Haruspex’s story—but not the game itself.

Today we’re releasing a demo of Pathologic 2. It’s shorter than the alpha: only half a day as the Haruspex plus the aforementioned mysterious intro. But the quality of the game is much closer to the release version (although we keep improving it still, including the performance).

All backers will find a demo key in their Backer Portal Dashboard. And if you’re not a backer, we invite you to follow the link and grab one!

Pathologic 2 Demo is free and available to everyone. You’re welcome to share it, stream or shoot all kinds of videos, etc. If you always wanted to share Pathologic 2 with a friend, this demo is hopefully your best chance: we’ve tried to structure it in such a way that it would be representative of the game and what people might find interesting about it.

This is the final rehearsal. The performance begins in a month.

 

[34scell]

T poses and missing textures everywhere.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

So this one will be a remake to original game or a sequel?

 

[normie]

So this one will be a remake to original game or a sequel?

started as a sequel, became a remake and a reimagining of the original concept, stuck with the name

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1535515364/pathologic/posts/1541112

 

[Wunderbar]

So this one will be a remake to original game or a sequel?

started as a sequel, became a remake and a reimagining of the original concept, stuck with the name

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1535515364/pathologic/posts/1541112

it was always a remake. "2" in the title is a publisher bullshit.

 

[normie]

So this one will be a remake to original game or a sequel?

started as a sequel, became a remake and a reimagining of the original concept, stuck with the name

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1535515364/pathologic/posts/1541112

it was always a remake. "2" in the title is a publisher bullshit.

oh yeah

 

[you know what time it is]

I guess it's a remake in a lot of ways, including execution. I wonder if it's just the usual case of mismanagement, development team lagging behind or designers unable to reign in an otherwise great concept, but there's clearly a problem persisting through the years.

 

[Puteo]

So did anyone actually try the demo? I just finished my run and I love it. No idea why the guy above is complaining about bugs, the only issue I found was that the fall damage is excessive but it's pretty difficult to actually fall in the game anyhow.

Never tried the original potato version, but from the little I've played this game is already a strong contender for GOTY material. Actual C&C, an interesting plot that doesn't hold your hand, reputation system, and an inclined barter system where different things are more valuable to different people; I know you people all love that shit.

 

[34scell]

So did anyone actually try the demo? I just finished my run and I love it. No idea why the guy above is complaining about bugs, the only issue I found was that the fall damage is excessive but it's pretty difficult to actually fall in the game anyhow.

Never tried the original potato version, but from the little I've played this game is already a strong contender for GOTY material. Actual C&C, an interesting plot that doesn't hold your hand, reputation system, and an inclined barter system where different things are more valuable to different people; I know you people all love that shit.

Actually just reinstalled it and you're right, it's pretty good.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Tried the demo for a short while. It looks and sounds pretty good, even impresssive considering that IPL is a pretty small studio. Hell, if this came out about 3 years ago, it could rival some of the triple-A stuff.

The major downside, however, is performance -- I couldn't find a reliable source with system requirements and fps was pretty unstable all the way through (along with an out of memory crash during the dialogue).

I'll try fiddling with the settings some more and see if it gets me anywhere.

 

[Puteo]

The major downside, however, is performance -- I couldn't find a reliable source with system requirements and fps was pretty unstable all the way through (along with an out of memory crash during the dialogue).

That's unfortunate, performance was fine on my end, solid 60 fps throughout; the massive caveat being that my system is a beast.

Fortunately, they have said that one of their major objectives between now and release is to work on more performance improvements and I can say that they have certainly come a long way from the marble nest pre-alpha which ran terribly even on my system.