Development Info Guido Henkel returns to cRPGs with Thorvalla?

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Guido Henkel; Thorvalla

Do you still remember Attic Entertainment, the makers of Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny (1992) , Realms of Arkania: Star Trail (1994) and Realms of Arkania: Shadows over Riva (1996)? Well, it appears Guido Henkel, formerly Attic, who runs his own studio "G3 Studios" for a decade now, might be up to something. Rumor has it, he plans to return to the world of cRPGs - after all these years - by kickstarting his new project Thorvalla soon.

​

There's not much known as of yet, but I could extract a few tidbits from here for instance. Namely, Thorvalla will be a single player cRPG like the good old classics, won't be D&D or TDE (despite the name which sounds very TDE) but will be based on a new, homebrewn system. Yet, the TDE roots might shine through here and there, it's no coincidence that the game has a nordic touch and is named Thorvalla.

​

 

[Rhuantavan]

As long as it features turn-based combat, cool map travel and micromanagement like in the RoA trilogy, you can count me in!

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Yeah, that's not me. I don't have an account over there.

 

[Angelo85]

So he is "not" making a TDE game because he can't afford the license? Because not only does the name cry TDE, also the picture. For reference here's the canon illustration of a Thorwalian (would you like to know more?) ship:

And here's what the games look like that Guido Henkel produces nowadays (http://www.g3studios.com/games/):

So we know he already has the technology ready for a hardcore PC RPG :D

Rhuantavan better not get our hopes up just yet. A single player game goes against the old classics of the TDE series. If he does away with that "feature" he might decide to cut the travelling as well. And while we're at it let's streamline the whole tedious process of party management and todays gamers can't be expected to deal with boring turn based combat! What the genre needs is an active cover system.

Yeah I'm getting kinda cynical here, but only because I love those games. All I'm saying is guys don't expect a TDE 4. This will be a new IP.

New system will probably also mean new game mechanics.

/e: damn I'm a dumbfuck! As Brother None correctly pointed out "Single player" just means not Multiplayer in modern context. For a second there while reading about TDE my brain switched to oldschool happy place mode where there was no Internetz and Single player RPG totally equaled single character in my mind :D

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I suppose there will be more info on that game soon, will reserve any judgement until then.

 

[crafthack]

kickstarter really seems to be slowing down or something, Ars Magica and Hero-U are going to fail, and some others are very sluggish and probably won't make it

But big names and previous experience mean a lot on KS, and this guy was also producer of PST, so it might work out well

 

[Brother None]

Nice find, VoD. Let's not forget Henkel also produced Planescape: Torment.

Also yeah, everything about this does scream DSA. A shame that it's not.

Angelo85 "single player" does not necessarily mean "single PC". It just means "no multiplayer".

But big names and previous experience mean a lot on KS, and this guy was also producer of PST, so it might work out well

He's not a household name though. It might work out if he had the DSA license, I'd think, especially in the German market, but perhaps I overestimate the strength that IP still has.

 

[crafthack]

yup no idea why he wouldn't want to use the Dark eye rules, there's no way any team could come up with and playtest a new ruleset which is just as complex as dark eye, in any kind of reasonable timeframe

 

[hoverdog]

cautiously fapping

 

[skuphundaku]

kickstarter really seems to be slowing down or something, Ars Magica and Hero-U are going to fail, and some others are very sluggish and probably won't make it

Well, I kinda understand the reflex of the late-comers to start now in order to ride the wave of KS popularity, but what they're dismissing (or not even considering in the first place) is that people donating on KS don't have unlimited funds. After more than 10 of worthy projects coming in quick succession, a lot of people are tapped out. No matter how awesome some of the new projects are, the pool of potential donors has shrunk and the only solution for them is to wait a little longer.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Possible success on Kickstarter for this project probably depends on the amount they're expecting. Millions? A few 100K?

 

[Gord]

yup no idea why he wouldn't want to use the Dark eye rules, there's no way any team could come up with and playtest a new ruleset which is just as complex as dark eye, in any kind of reasonable timeframe

Licensing cost I guess. Also, it does happen that exclusive rights are sold. What happened e.g. to the license that was used for Drakensang?

As for the playtesting, I wouldn't rule out that the system is something he has had lying around in some drawer for years, so there might not be too much initial testing necessary.

We'll see, I guess. I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

What happened e.g. to the license that was used for Drakensang?

Only thing I know is that Drakensang Online no longer uses the DSA license.
http://www.pcgames.de/Drakensang-On...view-zum-neuen-MMO-und-Teaser-Trailer-769632/

So I guess the license is vacant as far as cRPGs are concerned.

 

[Dexter]

kickstarter really seems to be slowing down or something, Ars Magica and Hero-U are going to fail, and some others are very sluggish and probably won't make it

But big names and previous experience mean a lot on KS, and this guy was also producer of PST, so it might work out well

Of course this couldn't possibly have anything to do with the projects themselves, for instance Hero-U looking like a social game or simply bad/unappealing presentation.

It's not like Star Citizen has gone above $3 Million just recently.

 

[Wyrmlord]

I remember when I opened the RoA manual and saw the photo of the long-haired metal singer-like developer of the game. I Googled Guido Henkel, and saw that he still keeps that long mane, even though he is heavily balding. Still the rockstar in your late 40s! That's pretty cool.

Anyway, with the developer having made mobile phone games for 8 years, and having last worked on a proper full feature game 13 years ago, I must say I have pretty much the same reaction as I had when I heard that the developer of the Bard's Tale remake, Demon Forge, and Choplifter was producing a post-apocalyptic RPG. I am not a cynic, but I do believe that a developer is as good as his last three games.

 

[crafthack]

kickstarter really seems to be slowing down or something, Ars Magica and Hero-U are going to fail, and some others are very sluggish and probably won't make it

But big names and previous experience mean a lot on KS, and this guy was also producer of PST, so it might work out well

Of course this couldn't possibly have anything to do with the projects themselves, for instance Hero-U looking like a social game or simply bad/unappealing presentation.

It's not like Star Citizen has gone above $3 Million just recently.

actually now I consider that, I think you're right, Ars Magica did look bad to me at first and I only pledged to it when they put out that "screenshot", I was afraid it was gonna look like the anime-style of their previous game.

And yeah Hero-U has a terrible art-style too, looks like a kid's game, and I only pledge because well I know who the people running it are, as in I'm familiar with Sierra adv games

But Star Citizen is getting shitloads because has high-quality graphics, nothing more really, that 'trailer' looked like it could be Halo in space, plus it's an MMO, no idea why it's even on Kickstarter you'd think a publisher would be all over it

What happened e.g. to the license that was used for Drakensang?

Only thing I know is that Drakensang Online no longer uses the DSA license.
http://www.pcgames.de/Drakensang-On...view-zum-neuen-MMO-und-Teaser-Trailer-769632/

So I guess the license is vacant as far as cRPGs are concerned.

there's an action RPG called Demonicon which is using Dark Eye universe, not sure if it's using the rules though as it looks like it'll be a button masher

 

[Morkar Left]

What happened e.g. to the license that was used for Drakensang?

Only thing I know is that Drakensang Online no longer uses the DSA license.
http://www.pcgames.de/Drakensang-On...view-zum-neuen-MMO-und-Teaser-Trailer-769632/

So I guess the license is vacant as far as cRPGs are concerned.

There is an DSA adventure in the works; Ketten der Satinav or something similar and an action-rpg. Technically licenses were given.


I remember an interview where Guido Henkel basically stated that they stopped making rpgs - and especially RoA games - because they don't made money with it. They had the biggest successful rpgs made - topsellers - and didn't earn that much. Mobile games seem to be more profitable or at least less stressfull.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

there's an action RPG called Demonicon which is using Dark Eye universe, not sure if it's using the rules though as it looks like it'll be a button masher

Yeah, now that you mention it, they're developing that thing for many years now. If they're not insolvent again.

 

[Brother None]

Yeah, Silver Style, or the studio that was Silver style, worked on Demonicon. It's been quiet for a long long time now though, so I'm not holding my breath. Didn't look too interesting anyway.

There is an DSA adventure in the works; Ketten der Satinav or something similar and an action-rpg. Technically licenses were given.

It's out, though I dunno about an English language port.

 

[majestik12]

My guess is that Hero-U would succeed if it looked more like a QfG game.

As for mr. Henkel... well, here's what I've been asking from Santa for past several years:
№1. BaK spiritual successor.
№2. A Guido Henkel CRPG.

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

I remember when I opened the RoA manual and saw the photo of the long-haired metal singer-like developer of the game. I Googled Guido Henkel, and saw that he still keeps that long mane, even though he is heavily balding. Still the rockstar in your late 40s! That's pretty cool.

Plus, he's also the Nameless One.

 

[crafthack]

Yeah, Silver Style, or the studio that was Silver style, worked on Demonicon. It's been quiet for a long long time now though, so I'm not holding my breath. Didn't look too interesting anyway.

There is an DSA adventure in the works; Ketten der Satinav or something similar and an action-rpg. Technically licenses were given.

It's out, though I dunno about an English language port.

Yeah it does, it's on steam

 

[FeelTheRads]

Plus, he's also the Nameless One.

He should totally do the Kickstarter video with TNO makeup.

 

[Jasede]

I don't care about technology. An RPG can be compelling and look like shit, look at KotC. What matters is that the shitty graphics don't get in the way of enjoying the game and/or that there's so much other good stuff in it that you can overlook them.

Jeff Vogel games, for instance, don't measure up to that standard for me.

 

[Kahlis]

Well, I'm immediately thinking of Thorwal and hoping that DSA and the Arkania series are his primary source of information - even though he's been relatively uninvolved in the industry lately, maybe his history in European RPGs will help immunize him a bit from the popamole. If he's planning to kickstart it though, I'm worried that a lot of people won't know who he is.