Clockwork Revolution - inXile's steampunk time travel first-person action-RPG led by Chad Moore and Jason Anderson

[gurugeorge]

In theory, steampunk is great, particularly in terms of stylish visuals (as per the previews for this, to be fair, just as victoriana-ish design), but it always irritates my autism when they have things like robot servants. You just ain't got compact enough computing power to do that honey (though it's conceivable that some fiendish overlord might have a central steam computer that teleoperates robots via radio waves).

I think they could get some quite advanced stuff going though. I remember in one of Ken MacLeod's s-f stories, this group had developed a kind of clockwork computing to do space travel stuff (because the network they'd used had been compromised). If it's big enough, it might be possible (like a huge, vast space, bigger than the ones they had airships in). It would be very high maintenance, so it would need people to regularly scuttle around all over it, so it would have to have gangways and walkways all over the place. Hmm ...

I've just invented a steampunk scenario. I shall call it: Wonderworld.

I think really, to get any oomph out of Victoriana, you really have to mix it up with a bit of the arcane and occult. Foggy side streets, mysterious personages, and all that. I suppose that's why it just suits the techno-magic scenario.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

How does this gem have sub 700 views?

I know!

It's a shame though that with a fistful of exceptions, cRPGS by and by do not have good writing, stories or characters.

In fact is even worse - RPG have awful stories because are written by mostly awful writers. Exposing their "skill" in modern games is a great tragedy.

So a few things.

1. Despite a lot of cRPGs being barely disguised books, lots of RPG enjoyers still don't have a true grasp on writing quality.

2. The old wave of cRPG writers seem to be comprised mostly of people who wanted to share their TTRPG campaigns, or failed novelists.

3. The new wave of cRPG writers are people who watch Critical Role and/or former games journalists that weaseled their way into a real job.

4. 50-90% of writing in vidya will probably be automated within the next few years. "No way" you might say, but from what I've seen of how low writers are in the dev totem pole this is absolutely going to be true. This will have the catastrophic consequence of reducing the number of amateur-level writers, or those just starting out. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing in the long run is yet to be seen.

5. The future will be AI slop written for an under-educated mass of dopamine seeking youths trained to be cashcows.

So good news. That cyberpunk dystopia we've been expecting for a century now is right around the corner.

Oh, I believe you, because I know all of that. With one difference - I don't believe in endless AI development. It's too expensive. The future will be a mix of shitty AI and underpaid skillsess workers, IMO.

And masses will be defending this world.

 

[coldaqua]

Man, what the hell happened to Sam.

 

[conan_edw]

 

[Ryzer]

In reality, it will be another The Outer Worlds dumpsterfire.

 

[Roguey]

But neither Arcanum nor Bloodlines had engaging gameplay.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

Evil Whitey Lady vs. Good Black is Beautiful Woman. It will sell like hotcakes! Looks good though. We don't get enough steampunk in our games.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

So good news. That cyberpunk dystopia we've been expecting for a century now is right around the corner.

The cyberpunk dystopia we've been expecting since the 1980s already arrived in the 2010s, except with terrible aesthetics compared to iconic 80s cyberpunk such as Max Headroom:

This makes me nostalgic to re-watch that video of the evil, gay, fly-swatter wielding Max Headroom Arch Villain that hi-jacked the Doctor Who broadcast back in the day.

 

[Fedora Master]

But neither Arcanum nor Bloodlines had engaging gameplay.

They had compelling settings. This does not.

 

[Morgoth]

Bioshock Infinite dead ringer Clockwork Revolution more influenced by two other games, director says​

Arcanum and Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines.

Image credit: Xbox Game Studios


Published on 10 Jul 2023

Clockwork Revolution may look like BioShock Infinite, but game director Chad Moore has said the project is better described as the "love child" of role-playing games such as Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Moore said he has "always" described Clockwork Revolution as a mix of the two, due to its "deep world building, compelling narrative, crunchy RPG systems, engaging gameplay, and massive reactivity," on Twitter.

Moore's credits include both Arcanum and Bloodlines, as he was a lead artist and designer at developer Troika Games from 1999 to 2004. On his website, Moore states he was involved in narrative, content, and character design for both games.

 

[Ryzer]

I smell another uninspired knock-off piece of trash game.

 

[axedice]

Tim Cain himself joined a conversation in this forum about Underrail, saying they're aiming at similar levels of depth and interaction with their new game, hinting sort of a spiritual successor to Arcanum even.

And then they released the outer worlds...



I have zero hope from other Troika developers as well. Just like Obsidian, their time has passed. Maybe it was caused by the trauma of "flawed" gems never reaching adequate sales figures, maybe it is just age, but they're only interested in making shallow games within their comfort zone aimed at console players, and this was apparent even before the acquisition by Microsoft. If anyone can make a lovechild of Arcanum & Bloodlines, it will be new developers instead of these old goats.

 

[gurugeorge]

Tim Cain himself joined a conversation in this forum about Underrail, saying they're aiming at similar levels of depth and interaction with their new game, hinting sort of a spiritual successor to Arcanum even.

And then they released the outer worlds...



I have zero hope from other Troika developers as well. Just like Obsidian, their time has passed. Maybe it was caused by the trauma of "flawed" gems never reaching adequate sales figures, maybe it is just age, but they're only interested in making shallow games within their comfort zone aimed at console players, and this was apparent even before the acquisition by Microsoft. If anyone can make a lovechild of Arcanum & Bloodlines, it will be new developers instead of these old goats.

More likely it's the useless diversity hires they're forced to work with by HR departments.

Games can only be made well by autistic male Whites and/or Jews and/or East Asians. You can have one or two outlier females or shitskins, but that's yer lot.

End of story.

 

[Morgoth]

inXile > Obsidian.

 

[Fedora Master]

or Jews

 

[coldaqua]

Big words from Moore but I have more hope in this project than Avowed at this point.

 

[GhostCow]

Wtf is a crunchy rpg system? That sounds really stupid. Isn't crunchy suburban mom slang?

 

[Zombra]

 

[Roguey]

Wtf is a crunchy rpg system? That sounds really stupid. Isn't crunchy suburban mom slang?

A system with a lot of number crunching.

The term “number crunching” describes the act of processing numerical data. It generally refers to taking large amounts of related numerical data and organizing it into a more useful format. That organizing often includes running calculations and arranging data in charts, graphs and other visualizations.

 

[Ryzer]

So it will be like Borderlands then?

Good to know,

off to the iggy bin, you go.

 

[Decado]

As a mechanic in fictional worlds -- whether a movie, TV show, game, whatever -- time travel is the absolute worst. I have never read a time travel plot that has not dissolved into a tautology.

 

[Zombra]

Time travel is the absolute worst.

No way. Time travel can handily do what sci-fi is supposed to do; get you thinking from a new perspective.

Plus sometimes it's just great fun.

 

[Morgoth]

Man, what the hell happened to Sam.

He's a degenerate.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

I really need to play Outer Worlds because usually something so universally hated in the Codex nation turns out to be not nearly as bad.

 

[Ivan]

you'll only find mediocrity