GRAVEN - dark fantasy first person action puzzler from 3D Realms

[Durandal]

If it is Dark Messiah-inspired, then

 

[Wunderbar]

Sounds great on paper, but that 30min video looked kinda boring.
Using lightning to stun a group of enemies while they were standing in a puddle, freezing water into ice to cross a gap without getting wet, using fire to burn through a wooden door you can't damage otherwise, impaling enemies on a spiky wall after a kick - now that would've been interesting, but alas. Devs chose to show us just walking from A to B while killing samey trash mobs in a repetitive fashion instead.

Dark Messiah successor? So far this looks like less interesting Hexen 2 with dumbed-down puzzles.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I'd kill for a Hexen2-like, but I get absolutely zero Hexen2 vibes from this, don't know where are these comparisons coming from.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

What else was there in 1998?

SiN?
Blood 2?

Carnivores
Delta Force
Gunmetal
NAM
Rainbow Six
Shogo: Mobile Armor Division
Starsiege: Tribes
Trespasser

Spoiler

Or, if you want to go obscure, go for Genetic Species

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Can you play it with software rendering, like Unreal?

 

[LESS T_T]

This is using Unreal Engine 4, so highly unlikely.

 

[Curratum]

You can have your software rendering look with just nearest texture filtering, just like you can run GZDoom and Blood FS in OpenGL and have them still look pixellated like the originals. The only thing you lose is the banded software lighting.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

I am more excited about this one than about Gloomwood.

 

[deama]

Anyone else finding the UI horrible? The numbers beside the mana/hp pools look really annoying to me, and the hotbars stick out like a sore thumb.
Couldn't they just get rid of the hotbars and numbers and only show them once you open up your inventory?

 

[Curratum]

Anyone else finding the UI horrible? The numbers beside the mana/hp pools look really annoying to me, and the hotbars stick out like a sore thumb.
Couldn't they just get rid of the hotbars and numbers and only show them once you open up your inventory?

So you unironically want basically your health and ammo in a shooter to only be visible when you open your inventory? :D

 

[geno]

Anyone else finding the UI horrible? The numbers beside the mana/hp pools look really annoying to me, and the hotbars stick out like a sore thumb.
Couldn't they just get rid of the hotbars and numbers and only show them once you open up your inventory?

So you unironically want basically your health and ammo in a shooter to only be visible when you open your inventory? :D

Well it's an immersive sim, if anything they should a dedicated button to check weapon's ammo, like Gloomwood does.

 

[Curratum]

It's only an immersive sim because some big brain at 3D Realms is trying to sell the game to as many people as possible.

 

[Gerrard]

Also should have an agility check when walking backwards on stairs to see if you don't trip, fall down, and crack your skull open.
Now that is the kind of simulation depth I long for.

 

[deama]

Anyone else finding the UI horrible? The numbers beside the mana/hp pools look really annoying to me, and the hotbars stick out like a sore thumb.
Couldn't they just get rid of the hotbars and numbers and only show them once you open up your inventory?

So you unironically want basically your health and ammo in a shooter to only be visible when you open your inventory? :D

Where did I say to remove health bars and ammo?

 

[Lyric Suite]

I'd kill for a Hexen2-like, but I get absolutely zero Hexen2 vibes from this, don't know where are these comparisons coming from.

Because it uses the same model for one of the weapons, the open book and the hand firing spells. Ho, and it's fantasy.

So far that's the only thing that even remotely reminds one of Hexen 2. The atmosphere, the music, the general feeling of the game, there's none of that here. The graphics are something Blizzard would have come up with following their WoW/Diablo 3 style.

 

[Lyric Suite]

It was talked about briefly in another thread, but the Boomer FPS trend needs something to shift it from Doom-inspired, Build-inspired, and Quake-inspired games (which are great) into the 1998 - 2002 realm of full 3D shooters and immersive sims. This could be the one that does it.

Obviously there was DUSK, but that feels much more pre-1998 in terms of level design and gameplay. No I will not elaborate.

Ion Storm is already here. It wasn't any more successful than the rest. Nice visuals, cringy attempts at replicating the humor of the original game.

I don't know WHY it is so god damn hard to replicate such a simplistic and straightforward formula, but apparently it's beyond the abilities of modern developers. Even those that come close still have some glaring problems.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

It was talked about briefly in another thread, but the Boomer FPS trend needs something to shift it from Doom-inspired, Build-inspired, and Quake-inspired games (which are great) into the 1998 - 2002 realm of full 3D shooters and immersive sims. This could be the one that does it.

Obviously there was DUSK, but that feels much more pre-1998 in terms of level design and gameplay. No I will not elaborate.

Ion Storm is already here. It wasn't any more successful than the rest. Nice visuals, cringy attempts at replicating the humor of the original game.

I don't know WHY it is so god damn hard to replicate such a simplistic and straightforward formula, but apparently it's beyond the abilities of modern developers. Even those that come close still have some glaring problems.

Because its easy to get experience in the Doom/Build/Quake-style games, and people have been trying to perfect them for 20+ years now. Most of the games from 1998-2002 don't have as easy to learn development tools. They also don't have big modding communities for the most part, and thus no one for people to get advice from. I think the exception would be Half Life and its sequel, which eventually morphed into the current crop of uninteresting non-boomer shooter indies. But even that seems dead these days.
With little in the way of modders to leech off of, and more complex systems to mimic, lazier developers aren't going to do anything more recent until someone else does it.

 

[Infinitron]

Because its easy to get experience in the Doom/Build/Quake-style games, and people have been trying to perfect them for 20+ years now. Most of the games from 1998-2002 don't have as easy to learn development tools. They also don't have big modding communities for the most part, and thus no one for people to get advice from. I think the exception would be Half Life and its sequel, which eventually morphed into the current crop of uninteresting non-boomer shooter indies. But even that seems dead these days.
With little in the way of modders to leech off of, and more complex systems to mimic, lazier developers aren't going to do anything more recent until someone else does it.

Would have been interesting if The Nameless Mod for Deus Ex had somehow come along late enough for its team to remain together and join the indie scene, instead of dispersing to do other things (such as found Logic Artists).

 

[DeepOcean]

So far, I liked what I saw until the combat started, the weapons have good impact sounds, there are secrets, there is some immersive sim enviroment interaction stuff in there, I liked the homage to Hexen and the art style is okay, it isnt the best thing in the world but it works, never gave a damn to graphix whoring anyway. The thing I find annoying and it gets more and more annoying on the video as time passes is that you play for 30 min and there are pratically no variation on level design and enemy placement, long open areas with zombies in there for 30 mins? I was getting bored of watching the video, common... no decent ranged enemy for 30 mins? The enemy placement challenge progression seems boring, that stun lighting power also kinda trivializes the zombies and zombie dogs.

It checks the boxes but that is it, I started the video interested but as it goes on, I got more and more bored.

 

[Lagi]

graphic is good
maps are too dark
for my taste too much "sim element", npc and reading notes, (quest's? wtf)
senseless vandalizing environment (oh yeah... to find coin). Im more than happy for some collateral damage, or breaking boxes on head of my enemies... but here its a whack-a-mole to find a penny.
economy (collecting coins) :/ - in powerslave there was a map when you fall down into the treasure room, full of gold, and your character ignore all that. And that was beautiful.

monsters are weak. There is absolutely no threat.
Zombies should fall down and rise again, over and over (like in quake1) - &ofc there should be more of them.
There could be some Knight type of enemy, slow as soil erosion, but absolutely invulnerably to all your weapons - you would have to constantly run away from him or stun him for few sec.
The beast should be fast and kill player quickly in a melee, but it could be big and have hard time catching player, so the player would rely on hiding behind some pillar, crunch under some cave, and shoot the dog down - if i dont ask for too much, the beast when hurt, could run away, to hunt for player again later.
The flying monster could laid a linear carpet of fire as he fly by.
Range enemies ....

hand crossbow look trash (and op).

 

[Infinitron]

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/1371690/view/2945877049933729933

GRAVEN Dev Blog #1 - Lore

GRAVEN breathes as much in its lore as it does in the creatures, buildings, or people. It is not written as padding or filler, but an additional thread traversing the world. Lore is everywhere, though not always obvious, and the presuppositions of it inform the structure of the game world.

Inspiration can strike from many vantage points, though I would credit my avenues for the lore to evocative lyrics, such as the early works of Opeth and Tristania, but particularly the writing of M.R. James whose subdued and curiously grounded ghost stories made the mundane fantastical in already fantastic circumstances. Paired with such influences, and an inclination as an armchair theologian, GRAVEN’s protagonist being a priest drew these components together, and they guide me from the esoteric to the expository.

GRAVEN takes place in a different universe, a purely physical one. Under the benevolent but distant eye of a creator, there is no ethereal element, simply the world as experienced. Though how it works is far from mundane or without mystery. Magic is real, and controversial. Its convenience entices, but the risk is pulling upon the garment of reality. Civilized society has thus long eschewed it, in favor of a strong manual work ethic, and ingenuity. The peaceful world is their church, difficult though it may be, as beyond those borders reside those who indulge in magic, and thus lose themselves, and the world around them.

The Priest is a walking contradiction, a man sentenced to death in the desert, who lives and breathes the fetid swamp air. A devout follower who abstained from magic for its corrupting nature now effortlessly channels it, compelled by greater forces. This is part of why the player is the exception in this world, the priest is the squared circle to the dilemma and existential threat facing all of them.

An early example of this can be found in lore scraps and conversations in the first quest, depending on how you handle it. When you approach the gates of Cruxfirth, there are two postings on the wall, one of which is from a woman, desperately searching for her son who has gone missing. Immediately beyond this is the Tax Collector, who asks that you illuminate the lighthouse. On the approach to the lighthouse, you can find a diary, written by a boy who speaks of a golden opportunity to get out of town, after completing this one job. Cut and dry stuff for sure, but if you were to return to town and speak to the Tax Collector again, he greets you impatiently, and compares your performance to “that boy.” Thus we learn a little bit about his character, his approach regarding others, and the fact that he would send a boy just as well as a grown man on such a dangerous mission speaks to either his self-importance, cowardice, or both.

Lore is not simply explanation or clarification, nor is it purely external. The Priest makes notes as you play the game, picking up on details that you might have missed. The scribbling of quill pen upon parchment should tip you off to consulting the journal. Perhaps the mosaic has an asymmetry, or that creature lurched strangely when struck in a particular way. There are other writings as well to peruse, it is a literate society after all. Lost diaries detailing private plans, ledgers indicating business endeavors, and scholastic research about strange creatures. You can find entirely new opportunities, resources, and quests through the lore. Not everything is delivered to you through a citizen approaching.

As knowledge is pursued, it is gained, and this gain brings power. But if you learn of cryptic passages to forgotten hovels, buried beneath moss and grave soil, will you avoid it? Or will this knowledge tempt you, tempt you to explore, and uncover things not meant for a human to experience. What lurks in the sunless fog beneath catacombs? What lives in manors that bear no vermin, as rats know to avoid them? What horrors await you? What knowledge? What power?

Wishlist the game here to find out...

 

[frajaq]

this is looking so good

 

[LESS T_T]

A demo is out on Steam. In time for TGA.

 

[Boleskine]

 

[Gerrard]

Game has some serious performance issues for something that looks like it should run without problems on a 10 year old PC.
I have FPS drops without anything getting even close to maxed in usage.