Game News Chaos Chronicles, Turn-based Fantasy RPG Announced

[kaizoku]

Oh, my! Didn't realize they are the same guys. Are you going to pull that shit with asking fans if they prefer RT or TB, than do as you like, again? Or maybe skip that step this time, HobGoblin42? In b4 RT with pause.

No matter what bullshit excuse you come up with (it was the producers fault, waaa), as far as I'm concerned, you don't get any good will or benefit of the doubt. I suggest Codex stops all coverage of this shit, as they don't have any gameplay to show. It's all just plans, stories and "good intentions" and we all know what happened the last time. Don't be naive idiots and let them use you for cheap promotion.


When they commit to TB and show us the combat gameplay, then you can proceed to

FFS!

he already answered that.
JA:BIA was paid work
and with the money and experience they gained they can finally make the game they want

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ntasy-rpg-announced.75131/page-2#post-2241031

 

[kaizoku]

HobGoblin42: You say the ruleset isn't D&D, but the classes you listed are the classic classes of D&D4e, especially the warlord and warlock, which are not present in Pathfinder or any other rpg. Why is this? If you are making your own rules, why copy D&D exactly? Why not have cool classes that D&D doesn't (in core anyway) like Dark Knight (aka Blackguard aka Anti paladin) with cool abilities, and stuff like that.

Note, that is not reinventing the wheel, you can still have your classic classes like Paladin and Fighter, just that these 'cool' classes will make your product stand out and attract more ppl, maybe get better reviews and increase sales while still providing the same tactical gameplay goodness.

We decided to take those classes because they cover the set of classes of traditional CRPGs very well. Since the player is fighting against evil hordes, there is no playable evil class like a BlackKnight/AntiPaladin available. D&D (first edition) was the root of most CRPGs and when in doubt we are going the same path.

mmm... does that mean you'll not be able to do evil biddings and join the dark side?

 

[HobGoblin42]

Regarding C&C: a very difficult element in Computer Games. Dragon Age and Mass Effect tried to make us believe the player has real C&C - but behind the scene he hadn't.

Our game will be a world game RPG; you will explore a forgotten realm and beside tactical challenges (yes, it will be TB and there is no discussion about that!) there will be many stories and secrets to discover.

Nonetheless, the player will have some moral decisions but those will not affect the destiny of the whole universe.

 

[Marsal]

FFS!

he already answered that.
JA:BIA was paid work
and with the money and experience they gained they can finally make the game they want

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ntasy-rpg-announced.75131/page-2#post-2241031

Like he's going to say otherwise. How can you be so naive? What is this game? "Unpaid work"? Work of love? Not even you can be that stupid to believe that.

Don't be a gullible idiot like always and think for a second. Let go of the cock until they provide evidence of the game really being what they say it is, in form of a gameplay video. Good will can't be regained by words alone after the JA fiasco.

 

[Roguey]

What's with the elves and dwarves, orc and goblins? The gameplay potential is interesting but did you really have to go for boilerplate high fantasy like practically every other fantasy RPG?

 

[HobGoblin42]

mmm... does that mean you'll not be able to do evil biddings and join the dark side?

You are free to get in trouble with town people and your rogue can steal from drunken peasants in the tavern if you want to do so.

But no, you are not able to join the dark side - because the evil forces will fight you whatever alignment your characters have. And beside that, even the worst outlaw (chaotic evil) fears the ancient bane that corrupted the realm centuries ago.

 

[kaizoku]

Marsal and Roguey why do you guys have be dumbfucks all the time.

That means there is no publisher involved, they're subsidizing it from they own pocket.
Evidence? They already said it will be TB hex grid, both here and on their site.

It's a D&D based game and an homage to the old games.

 

[ironyuri]

mmm... does that mean you'll not be able to do evil biddings and join the dark side?

You are free to get in trouble with town people and your rogue can steal from drunken peasants in the tavern if you want to do so.

But no, you are not able to join the dark side - because the evil forces will fight you whatever alignment your characters have. And beside that, even the worst outlaw (chaotic evil) fears the ancient bane that corrupted the realm centuries ago.

I'd like your name better if it were HoboGoblin (you can keep the number 42 at your discretion).

 

[Roguey]

Marsal and Roguey why do you guys have be dumbfucks all the time.

That means there is no publisher involved, they're subsidizing it from they own pocket.
Evidence? They already said it will be TB hex grid, both here and on their site.

It's a D&D based game and an homage to the old games.

I don't see why that means it has to take place in a stock high fantasy setting with all that entails. Old D&D had more than just Greyhawk/the Forgotten Realms as settings.

 

[Grunker]

you choose your class on character creation and that's it

No gish? Not even multi-classing? :O

I guess the reason is very simple: we are not very familiar with Pathfinder, but with D&D and traditional CRPGs. And Pathfinder is inspired by the same roots, so I think the look&feel of the combat and character system in Chaos Chronicles will be similar.

God fucking dammit you so should have went with Pathfinder. It is simply the most polished version of D&D in existence. That's too bad.

Yes, just one example: the party can accomplish quests from the local townhall to clear Goblin camps nearby. After that, the citizens of that town become friendlier (which results in better prices and new city options) and the travelling in that region safer.

So no - you don't have reputation system. The example is one quest with one effect similar to the effects of a reputation system. Not that I care. Kill shit good and all that.

Also, fuck your shit Marsal. JA:BIA is fucking unforgivable, but I'll not get embraced by the 'dex to the point where I'm in capable of being excited. This shit sounds good, so with skepticism I'm allowing myself to hope. No way he can get all those things right unless some of it is true.

 

[Grunker]

Marsal and Roguey why do you guys have be dumbfucks all the time.

That means there is no publisher involved, they're subsidizing it from they own pocket.
Evidence? They already said it will be TB hex grid, both here and on their site.

It's a D&D based game and an homage to the old games.

I don't see why that means it has to take place in a stock high fantasy setting with all that entails. Old D&D had more than just Greyhawk/the Forgotten Realms as settings.

I agree with you that the setting seems like uninspired crap, but that really doesn't matter too much for me in a game like this.

 

[HobGoblin42]

What's with the elves and dwarves, orc and goblins?

We will post first screenshots of the playable races on our blog soon, but surprisingly we have the traditional High Fantasy setup: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, HalfElf and HalfOrc. They all come with different faces and body anatomies in the game (and class restrictions as well). And of course beside other monsters you will fight Orcs, Kobolds and Goblins.

The gameplay potential is interesting but did you really have to go for boilerplate high fantasy like practically every other fantasy RPG?

Our aim is to recreate a classical fantasy RPG and not to create a new kind of fantasy game within our own universe. We love Tolkien, D&D and CRPGs like Ultima, Phantasie, Wizardry and Pool of Radiance to name a few.
Today, there are already plenty of so called "innovative" fantasy games (mostly MMOs) with their own character systems, races, classes and imaginery worlds. But we stick to High Fantasy and beside Skyrim, Dragon Age (part one!) or Legend of Grimrock we couldn't really enjoy our affection in CRPGs lately (and even those games didn't offer the combat we would like to play in CRPGs).

 

[DraQ]

Everyone can join! The flexible experience level system allows rookies to explore the world of Chaos Chronicles alongside experienced players.

I also hope that:

Out-of-game online features! Players can meet up via social media platforms.

Doesn't mean that there will be any sort of mandatory online component.

Other than that it looks interesting, although I'm no fan of D&D, and I've always thought typical "fight the evuulz" plots or settings with all kinds of chaotic evil shit serving no other purpose than being XP fodder horribly trite.

Screenshots certainly do look very appealing.


HobGoblin42:
A few questions:

1. D&D sure has a few weak points, are you planning to do anything about, say, HP inflation as level increases, which rendered high level D&D very boring and awfully deterministic?

2. What's your take on alignment system (chances are I won't like the answer whatever it is, but let's hear it)?

3. You seem to be going with typical D&D base stats, what's with stuff like Wis, which I always considered an awful and fuzzy conflation of a lot of stuff into a single attribute?

4. Any plans to introduce some elements that couldn't be summed up as bog-standard cloned FR stuff?

5. Any plans to spice your game with some unexpected twists to tired old D&D tropes?

6. Why the decision to go with grid-based system (I'm not asking about TB, just grid instead of continuous space available for movement)?


Also, we are *well* aware that ME and DA didn't really implement any meaningful C&C. When talking about C&C we tend to think more along the lines of Fallout 1&2, or something smarter, relying more on world "noticing" changes in states and less on scripting.

 

[Grunker]

HP inflation as level increases

:O

Are you mad, DraQ? D&D3.5 is notorious for it's one-shot level 15+ gameplay, were it not for counter actions. The first high level D&D character to get beyond defences and start dealing HP damage usually wins very quickly. 4th edition and perhaps to some degree AD&D have HP-bloat, but 3.5? No way in hell. Sure, it's not GURPS or WHFRPG, but that kind of wound-brutality isn't really fit for a crawler, eh?

Also; almost none of your questions are gameplay-related, right? What are you expecting from this game, exactly?

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

tbh I always thought DnD 3e had HP bloat too. You now, a 10d6 fireball isn't so scary when the characters are running around with 200 HP. Imo 2nd e was better in giving full HP only the first 9 levels.

 

[felipepepe]

I guess the reason is very simple: we are not very familiar with Pathfinder, but with D&D and traditional CRPGs. And Pathfinder is inspired by the same roots, so I think the look&feel of the combat and character system in Chaos Chronicles will be similar.

I would have liked to see a CRPG using Pathfinder, and definetly many others would too, giving a huge awareness boost to the game, but I understand this is a love project of yours and it's already a godsend ray of hope in this era, so I won't bitch about that.

But I will bitch about not having multi-class! Why not?

 

[Grunker]

tbh I always thought DnD 3e had HP bloat too. You now, a 10d6 fireball isn't so scary when the characters are running around with 200 HP. Imo 2nd e was better in giving full HP only the first 9 levels.

Who casts a 10d6 fireball when your opponents have 200HP?

At that point you have much more efficient magic.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

OK. A 25d6 Horrid Wilting isn't so scary when the enemy melee dudes are running around with... >200HP. Better?

 

[kaizoku]

We will post first screenshots of the playable races on our blog soon, but surprisingly we have the traditional High Fantasy setup: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, HalfElf and HalfOrc. They all come with different faces and body anatomies in the game (and class restrictions as well). And of course beside other monsters you will fight Orcs, Kobolds and Goblins.


Our aim is to recreate a classical fantasy RPG and not to create a new kind of fantasy game within our own universe. We love Tolkien, D&D and CRPGs like Ultima, Phantasie, Wizardry and Pool of Radiance to name a few.
Today, there are already plenty of so called "innovative" fantasy games (mostly MMOs) with their own character systems, races, classes and imaginery worlds. But we stick to High Fantasy and beside Skyrim, Dragon Age (part one!) or Legend of Grimrock we couldn't really enjoy our affection in CRPGs lately (and even those games didn't offer the combat we would like to play in CRPGs).

Skyrim you say
well... nobody is perfect

I suspect you and your colleagues will enjoy this game: http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/
I haven't tried it myself yet, but it has been highly praised by the more "hardcore" cRPG players. It is based on D&D 3.5 (Pathfinder if I recall)




BTW, what will be the character level span of this adventure?

 

[Jaesun]

paging Jaesun
surprised to haven't seen any comment from you, did you miss the thread or isn't this your cup of tea?

I'm cautiously fapping. Need more info and need to see gameplay.

 

[HobGoblin42]

Everyone can join! The flexible experience level system allows rookies to explore the world of Chaos Chronicles alongside experienced players.
Out-of-game online features! Players can meet up via social media platforms.

Those are not our words and you won't find them on our webpage (so just ignore them). The game is definitely not for everybody, because without any experience in pen&paper or tactical turn-based combats you won't survive the first battle. Chaos Chronicles will target hardcore RPG players and we want to serve this niche audience well without making any compromises. And we don't have any plans to integrate social media stuff, but for a lot of reasons we must run a Chaos Chronicles page on facebook. You know, viral cross marketing bla bla bla.

1. D&D sure has a few weak points, are you planning to do anything about, say, HP inflation as level increases, which rendered high level D&D very boring and awfully deterministic?

We use those parts of D&D which are working for us, but in contrast to pen&paper computer games can have more complex calculations (coverage and line of sight for example). The player party will never be godlike like in higher levels in D&D (4th ed.) We will have our very own hitpoint development throughout levels to keep the combats challenging even on high levels.

2. What's your take on alignment system (chances are I won't like the answer whatever it is, but let's hear it)?

Character alignment will not be as prominent as in pen&paper roleplaying sessions, because our focus definitely lies on world exploration and combat. But you will get varying responses from NPCs depending on your alignment that could result in different options.

5. Any plans to spice your game with some unexpected twists to tired old D&D tropes?

Our game is probably more Dark Fantasy than D&D, and beside that Dragons are not the prominent creatures in our world. So, there will be some story and world elements that are not already known from the D&D universe.

6. Why the decision to go with grid-based system (I'm not asking about TB, just grid instead of continuous space available for movement)?

Because we wanted to transfer combat rules of existing pen&paper games and old-school CRPGs. We all had played ToEE and evaluated their approach but at the end we decided to use a grid. I think, our blog will talk about that in detail.

 

[DraQ]

Also; almost none of your questions are gameplay-related, right? What are you expecting from this game, exactly?

I'm expecting to learn what to expect.

Skyrim you say
well... nobody is perfect

Well, I'm enjoying Skyrim as well.
Most of my criticism of it is based off comparisons of its mechanics to TES<=3, some on shitty writing, especially in questlines, plus scaling and dungeon linearity.

It's still a serviceable and enjoyable game or even RPG.

For the record, I thoroughly despise oblivion.

 

[HobGoblin42]

BTW, what will be the character level span of this adventure?

Definitely not beyond Level 15-18, that's for sure. But if we are lucky to continue our work with sequels, you'll get your previous party on higher levels.

 

[catfood]

Any plans to release an editor?

Also you mentioned the release date is somewhere in the 1st quarter 2013. When did you start working on this anyway?

 

[DraQ]

Thanks.

We use those parts of D&D which are working for us

Which is what I'd like to learn first and foremost.

but in contrast to pen&paper computer games can have more complex calculations (coverage and line of sight for example).

Indeed, and adopting to new medium is definitely commendable (that's one of the reasons I don't really like grids in cRPGs - TB has many uses beyond just making game playable using pen and paper, grids less so).

Character alignment will not be as prominent as in pen&paper roleplaying sessions, because our focus definitely lies on world exploration and combat. But you will get varying responses from NPCs depending on your alignment that could result in different options.

Ok, but alignment system is hardly unambiguous on one hand (and thus open to interpretation), while often considered too rigid and limiting on the other even when accounting for interpretations when used to actually evaluate actions of individuals within the system (which is my main reason for not liking it - too ambiguous to be considered a proper formal description, while still having the disadvantage of one in practice).

This is why I'm interested in interpretation and implementation of it in your game.

Our game is probably more Dark Fantasy than D&D, and beside that Dragons are not the prominent creatures in our world. So, there will be some story and world elements that are not already known from the D&D universe.

Good to hear.

What prompted this question was the talk about clearing goblin camps. One of the things that have always miffed me about D&D based games was the multitude of sapient races, majority of which apparently serve no purpose and have no consequence to the setting other than being gleefully slaughtered for XP by adventurers.

Having grown on partial subversions of D&D-like tropes like Witcher stories and novels, and having played games twisting the hell out of D&D tropes (despite being D&D games - I'm speaking of PS:T obviously) I tend to look forward to exceptions, clever twists and generally playing with and baiting player into following genre conventions, then bashing him upside the head for this.

Because we wanted to transfer combat rules of existing pen&paper games and old-school CRPGs. We all had played ToEE and evaluated their approach but at the end we decided to use a grid. I think, our blog will talk about that in detail.

Looking forward to read about it.