KickStarter Consortium: The Tower - now available on Early Access

[Alienman]

I loved the first game. I really hope they make it. You kickstarter experts here, do they stand a chance?

 

[ArchAngel]

They did do more than 10% in day one. I read somewhere that those projects usually make it.

 

[almondblight]

They need $13k+ a day to make it, and they're down to ~$7k on day 3 and 4 (and will probably drop more, if it follows the normal pattern). It's not impossible, but they're going to need youtubers/other KS to give shout-outs and push this over the finish line (Fargo should have given this a shout-out in the last Torment update instead of Hero's Song). That's how The Mandate was able to make it when it's trajectory looked like it was going to fail.

 

[Bubbles]

Maybe we should add Consortium to the Codex Curator to give them more exposure?

 

[ArchAngel]

Considering Codex likes Deus Ex and this follows similar design ideas that would be good.

It is going to be a futuristic Underworld Ascendant

 

[DwarvenFood]

It would be cool if it would make it, maybe Codex can do a newspost about it.

 

[Caconym]

"trending toward 95% of goal"

Looks doable, fingers crossed.

 

[Doktor Best]

Looks good. Dont know how the first game slipped under my radar, as its representing a genre that is in my opinion particulary lacking in content. Gonna throw 3 bucks in to see what this is all about.

 

[Bubbles]

Looks good. Dont know how the first game slipped under my radar, as its representing a genre that is in my opinion particulary lacking in content. Gonna throw 3 bucks in to see what this is all about.

Be sure to post your impressions here.

 

[DwarvenFood]

Hey Infinitron maybe some Codex love for this one ? (ie. newspost or something..) could market it as true DX successor ;p

 

[ArchAngel]

You need to offer more to the news Jew to get anything back.

 

[Berekän]

I recently played and finished the first game, after they gave it for free on steam. It's an... interesting game, don't like the "you're a guy playing a guy playing another guy" kind of games but whatever, this one at least tried to make some kind of subplot out of it.

I really liked the feel they tried to give to the game, making it a C&C simulator where you get to meet all the tripulation from a sci-fi future plane, all of them doing their tasks and you get to interact with them and stuff. It fell a bit flat on it's face however, since you couldn't really interact with them outside of the points where the game tells you to do it and it leaves you wanting to know more about them. Especially when at some point you get a mission that requires you to know a bit more about the tripulation. And it's also very buggy.

Overall I felt like it could've been a excellent game if they ironed a bit the rougher edges, will replay and see how it fares in a second playthrough 'cause I think a big strenght of the game is there, but I'm interested to see what their team can achieve with a little more experience under their belt.

 

[Outlander]

They gave a short interview over at wccftech:

Interdimensional Games, a small Canadian developer, has very ambitious plans for CONSORTIUM: The Tower. The sequel to CONSORTIUM, it is meant to be the second game in a planned trilogy; the studio is trying the crowdfunding route on Kickstarter right now, with 22% of the $CAD 450K minimum goal pledged so far and 24 days remaining.

CONSORTIUM: The Tower is not quite your average video game. It’s played in first person, but it’s meant to be deeper than a shooter: according to the developers, it should be possible to complete the entire game without ever raising the gun. Interdimensional Games describes it as a sci-fi immersive simulation where players will take control of Bishop Six, a CONSORTIUM officer who’s been tasked to resolve a hostage situation in Churchill Tower, London, 2042.

That’s why, in a nutshell, the developers refer to the game as Deus Ex meets Die Hard. Intrigued yet? Wait to hear more details from Gregory and Steven MacMartin, brothers and project co-leads.

• First an aircraft, then a tower – in the middle of a winter storm, no less. What were the inspirations behind the choice of these locales for the CONSORTIUM games so far?
• The locations pretty much came organically from the core story we want to tell. Once we decided that the Consortium live and work on board aircraft perpetually in the sky, it just made sense that the first game be set on Zenlil. And then the Churchill Tower, or more specifically the Power Facility, became the top choice location for what will be a pretty fundamental piece of the iDGi puzzle. Plus, if we’re going to have the player skydive down and onto a location, it can’t hurt to be an epic skyscraper!

• I’ve watched the “Impact on the World” video and while it was fun, I do have a concern: will the press always get wind of whatever actions you take as Bishop Six? It doesn’t seem like the CONSORTIUM would exactly allow the outside world to know everything going on in a critical mission like this one.
• That’s the interesting thing about their world, and about how the Consortium operate within it. They are technologically interconnected in ways we can’t even imagine, and Consortium officers are considered major pop culture celebrities. There are countless Consortium-based video games (“be a Bishop in V.R.!”), movies, and shows. A Bishop is the equivalent of a major movie star, with legions of fans all over the world. Pawn 12 on board Zenlil, for example, collects the digital equivalent of Consortium trading cards, and is utterly obsessed with all things Bishop. This all spawned from the Consortium King’s policy that their missions be entirely public record. Following every official mission, the King releases his field operative’s CMC log to the world. This means a full audio/visual feed directly from the Bishop’s eyes. Whenever a new CMC log is released, it is watched by billions of people within days. The public can’t get enough. Some would even say that this was a deliberate effort by the King to sway governmental favour through public support… and to ultimately ensure that the Consortium become the only remaining militaristic force on Earth. Now, during a live mission the public only see what the press can see. This consists mostly of periodic updates from the Consortium Queen (if the mission is high-profile enough to warrant it), and whatever they can figure out for themselves. For example, the press have cameras watching the rooftop and will at first see your every move (unless you utilize stealth). But this will change as you dig deeper into the Tower, mostly out of reach from the press. That said, you will still be given the chance to be interviewed over your conversation manager on “live T.V.” Say whatever you want, then sit back and watch the world’s reaction.

• Will CONSORTIUM: The Tower take place over the span of a single night? Also, is there a time limit (hidden or explicit) on defusing the hostage situation?
• Yes it will, and perhaps even into the next day, but no longer than that. We’re trying very hard to keep from giving away story spoilers (an extremely difficult endeavor when using crowdfunding!), but I will say that while no explicit “time limit” exists, things do escalate depending on what you do, how you do it, and how long it takes you. That is at least if the hostage situation doesn’t suddenly become second fiddle to something far more important!

• I understand that it will be possible to even betray Bishop Six’s own organization in CONSORTIUM: The Tower. However, can the protagonist investigate on his own (for instance by exploring the environment and finding clues) before making this choice? Also, will it be possible to turn against the CONSORTIUM without taking the murderous approach seen in the pitch video?
• The people actively working against the Consortium very much want you in their pocket. Right near the beginning of the game you’ll be contacted by them, and they will immediately begin their attempts to show you “their side of the story.” At the same time they’ll be testing the waters with you to ensure you’re capable of being what they need you to be. This means asking you to do things for them both on the Tower, and within Consortium ranks. They may ask you to attempt and create a divide between two main characters, so for example you have to go and find a way to make the Boyle twins turn on each other. Or have the Queen turn against Knight 15. Or maybe they’ll have you convince a Pawn on board Zenlil to do something for you that ends up aiding a hidden away mole/traitor. Or you could decide to gather information about these mysterious benefactors, and then spill the beans to your crew – double agent style. So yes, there will *absolutely* be a way of turning against the Consortium without taking the murderous route. In fact, the “mysterious benefactors” are equally horrified by the act of you being a murderous lunatic. They are normal, well adjusted human beings with their own cause and purpose, not cartoon bad-guys devilishly joyed by your evil deeds. They only let the murdering slide because they believe, unlike the Consortium, that they need you and have no choice. I should say that they need the interdimensional traveler (you!), and not so much the Bishop.

• For those interested in playing this game mostly as a shooter, do you intend to make combat tighter (with improved AI, for instance) in order to make it a satisfying experience all the same?
• We have an update planned that will get into this, but yes. This is actually one of our primary goals with this game. The biggest criticism leveled against Consortium is that it has overly complicated combat mechanics for a game that barely has any combat… not to mention when there IS combat it’s confined to an extremely tight space with no room to breathe. This is all because we built the combat system in Consortium with the full-scale Tower in mind. In hindsight we probably shouldn’t have gotten so detailed, but in the end it’s going to help us much more easily build the Tower. Thanks to the amazing (and plentiful!) feedback we’ve received over the past two years, improvements to the combat system have become rather obvious. Our goal is to ensure that the “combat route” within The Tower be fun, intense, and best of all uniquely Consortium. For those wanting the full-on “Call of Duty Experience,” you can pretty much choose to have mass amounts of bullets do your talking, and never speak a word to anyone. The most obvious improvement with combat in The Tower will be the varying locales. Large, open and interconnected spaces with a great use of verticality will allow for a huge range of tactical situations. Being able to make use of Bishop gear to fly, super jump and run fast will make players feel truly super human in combat. In addition, a great deal of polish will be going into feedback systems to make combat feel more visceral.

• You’ve mentioned that CONSORTIUM: The Tower will be considerably longer than its predecessor. Can you give us an approximate number, like 7-8 hours on average?
• We are only in the late stages of pre-production, and so it’s honestly hard to say. BUT considering the story beats we have planned, and the greater emphasis on combat, stealth, and exploration, the game will inherently be at least 3 or more times longer than an average run of Consortium. But then we’ve found that an “average run of Consortium” is honestly about 3-7 hours. It’s a huge range due to the nature of the game, and the player’s ability to easily skip mass amounts of content without even realizing it.

• During a recent impromptu AMA on Reddit, it was said that controller support isn’t yet in the game and it would only be added to the PC version after the console port. Does that mean that the full release will happen on PC first and consoles later?
• We were referring to the first Consortium in that discussion. Controller support will be a priority for The Tower and will be available upon initial release.

• Are you interested in adding support for PlayStation VR on PS4? What do you think of Sony’s VR device?
• We think it’s pretty cool, and it’s certainly good that the PS4 has such a large install base to start with. We are very interested in making a custom VR mode for The Tower, but the priority is to make an awesome “normal” game first and foremost.

• Do you plan to use the Xbox One Game Preview program to allow backers to play an “Early Access” version of the Xbox One version?
• Possibly, but it’s not definitely planned. To be honest, the ideal situation would be to have a large enough budget to build the entire game without needing to charge people for an unfinished version of it.

• Since the game is scheduled for the second half of 2017, will you add DirectX 12 support to CONSORTIUM: The Tower? What about Vulkan?
• We will support whatever Unreal 4 supports; we won’t be doing any custom graphics work beyond what is officially supported by the engine. So if the engine supports those things, The Tower will as well!

• With the switch to Unreal Engine 4, I was honestly expecting a bit more in terms of graphics. I’ve read that there will be improvements in this regard before the release – could you go into detail about those? Will they include enhanced animations?
• The animations collectively seen in the pitch are the area we spent the least amount of time on during pre-production, so yes they will be much improved in the finished version. As far as graphics in general are concerned… we are a very small indie team with a tight budget trying to push the boundaries of seamlessly blending storytelling and gaming. We are proud of the unique style established in our first game, and feel that we’re taking the visuals in The Tower to the next level, while still staying true to a style that best suits our story and gameworld.

• What happens if you don’t reach the minimum goal on the Kickstarter campaign? Do you have a backup plan, or will it just take longer to make CONSORTIUM: The Tower?
• We’ve honestly put all of our eggs into this basket and will have no choice but to shelve the project indefinitely if we do not reach our goal. This very much is a passion project for us, and we will get it made eventually, but Kickstarter was our only viable funding option at this time. If the market decides it doesn’t want us to make the game now, we are prepared to accept that and put it on the backburner until a later date when other options present themselves.

• Thank you for your time.

http://wccftech.com/consortium-the-tower-interview-when-deus-ex-meets-die-hard/

 

[ArchAngel]

Damn this is nice interview, also sad how the game has no other options except the KS succeeding. I hope people join the KS, it is truly DX like game.

 

[Infinitron]

Hey Infinitron maybe some Codex love for this one ? (ie. newspost or something..) could market it as true DX successor ;p

You need to offer more to the news Jew to get anything back.

Okay, okay, geez http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...rson-immersive-sim-now-on-kickstarter.106615/

 

[Infinitron]

Possible free game for anybody who pledges now? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/idgi/consortium-the-tower/posts/1491543

We have a radical plan brewing...

Hello everyone,

Other than comments on the main thread, I know we have been mysteriously silent. This IS NOT because we've given up hope and are resigned to the fairly obvious state that this particular campaign is headed for....

We have been working furiously on a rather radical plan. The key to this plan, though, is that you backers hold onto your pledges. The only way you will be charged any money here is if the campaign suddenly has a couple hundred thousand CDN dollars pumped into it, which, while technically not impossible, is rather unlikely.

So, all we can say is TRUST US - resist the urge to cancel your pledge, we have found a way to continue full steam ahead and you will learn of this plan approximately 12 hours before the end of this campaign (or earlier)....

Believers that hold onto their pledges will have the most to gain from this new strategy. Keep the faith everyone!!!

Sincerely,

-iDGi and The Tower team

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/idgi/consortium-the-tower/posts/1496413

Greetings all!

On behalf of everyone here at iDGi, THANK-YOU for your awesome support, encouragement and hard work spreading the word on our crowdfunding efforts so far!

We’ve learned a lot over the past few weeks, and gathered over 4400 of you who believe in what we’re trying to do with The Tower. We weren’t successful on Kickstarter, but this isn’t the end of the road. We’ve always said that no matter what this is a game that is going to get made, and that still holds true.

The Radical Plan?
So, what is our radical plan to save this campaign? Well - we were hoping to completely blow the lid open on the entire plan today, but unfortunately we aren’t allowed to just yet. The official announcement will be coming in a press release next week, but the gist is simple: The moment that the clock runs out here, this crowdfunding campaign will officially enter an intermission period. We have found a way to resume this campaign in just a few weeks’ time outside of Kickstarter or PayPal. You were the first supporters of The Tower, and as a special thank you we’ve got a bit of an extra treat.

Pledge now, you are eligible to become a SUPER BACKER...
Each and every one of you who has pledged at the Consortium Initiate level or higher on Kickstarter will not only be able to keep your pledge and rewards when the intermission period ends, but will eligible to become a SUPER BACKER with us.

What’s a Super Backer? It means that in the future all games released by iDGi in the Consortium Universe will be free for you. Forever. This will apply to all pledges made up until the ending of our Kickstarter campaign, so if you’re sitting at the $5.00 pledge, or on the fence about pledging, you’ve only got a limited time to take advantage of this. There will be some more information next week on how this will work from a technical standpoint.

We realize it may seem strange to back a campaign that isn’t going to succeed, but all will be revealed next week.

It's community time!
In the meantime, a new public forum is about to be launched for The Tower, and Consortium in general, and we invite you all to join us there! It’ll be a good place to interact with the developers, and help us build the Consortium Community. We also have some Twitch streaming plans in the works for the near future, including some playthroughs of classic games, or even potentially going head to head with the iDGi developers!.

If you have any questions or thoughts, we will do our best to answer, but keep in mind that we can only say so much right now.

We are really just getting started here...onwards and forwards!!

Sincerely,

- iDGi and The Tower team

 

[Infinitron]

Well, it failed with 182K CAD. I pledged $25 because why not. Will I get a free game out of that? That would seem like a bad move on their part (they need every backer they can get), but we'll see.

 

[ArchAngel]

Well, it failed with 182K CAD. I pledged $25 because why not. Will I get a free game out of that? That would seem like a bad move on their part (they need every backer they can get), but we'll see.

No, but when campaign resumes if you became backer again you will then be granted super backer status and all games beyond that are going to be free.

 

[Infinitron]

Well, it failed with 182K CAD. I pledged $25 because why not. Will I get a free game out of that? That would seem like a bad move on their part (they need every backer they can get), but we'll see.

No, but when campaign resumes if you became backer again you will then be granted super backer status and all games beyond that are going to be free.

But the Kickstarter update clearly says:

Each and every one of you who has pledged at the Consortium Initiate level or higher on Kickstarter will not only be able to keep your pledge and rewards

Of course, there are ways they could spin that, but this is the most obvious reading.

 

[ArchAngel]

That does not mean that you will not pay for that.
Keep pledge means you will still need to pay for what you pledged on KS.

 

[Tigranes]

Kickstarter: where you take debt from your own future earnings.

 

[Infinitron]

Fig it is! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/idgi/consortium-the-tower/posts/1503056

Hello everyone!

We've spent much of the past week recuperating from the first half of this crowdfunding effort, but we promised you all a full update this week on how we're planning on resuming this campaign. To put it simply, we're headed to Fig on March 22nd! If you’re unfamiliar with Fig, follow This Link to learn more about how their process works.

For everyone in the $20 level and higher, you will be receiving an email the moment we launch on Fig that will include a custom URL for you. Following this URL will take you to directly to our campaign on Fig and allow you to pledge the same amount (this includes all Early Bird pledges) and claim the same rewards. By doing this, you will officially become a Consortium: The Tower Super-Backer, and will be entitled to receive all Consortium Universe games we ever make for free.

One thing that will be different for the Fig campaign is that it will be priced in US Funds. For backers from the US this mean that your pledge will look the same as it was on the Kickstarter, but for everyone else the dollar amounts will be a little lower. For example, an Earliest Bird Consortium Initiate pledge of $20 on Kickstarter will show as $15 on Fig for someone outside the US. Don’t worry though, this won’t affect your Super-Backer privileges.

One really cool thing about going with Fig is that we receive all the money pledged. This means that everything you awesome people contribute as part of the campaign to realize The Tower will go directly to our budget (minus bank charges).

In the next few days we’re going to have a new forum available to help grow the Consortium Community, and starting in a week or so we’ll be streaming on Twitch some of our game nights, and developer overviews of some classic RPG’s that inspired us. Expect an update next week that will introduce those, and give some more information on how to access the forum and a schedule for streaming.

Here is the full press release on the subject.

Stay tuned!

- iDGi and The Tower team

http://corporate.interdimensionalgames.com/2016/02/26/consortium-the-tower-is-jumping-to-fig/

CONSORTIUM: THE TOWER IS JUMPING TO FIG

Interdimensional Games Will Enable Fans to Share in the Potential Success of the Game Through Equity Crowdfunding

SAN FRANCISCO, February 26, 2016 – Interdimensional Games (iDGi), makers of the 2014 hit title CONSORTIUM, have decided to take their fundraising efforts from Kickstarter to Fig (www.fig.co) for their sequel Consortium: The Tower. The rewards and investment crowdfunding campaign will launch on March 22 and will be looking to secure $300,000 in rewards and equity funding.

“We are excited about CONSORTIUM: The Tower being chosen for the Fig platform,” said Gregory MacMartin, CEO of Interdimensional Games. “The Tower is our dream project with almost a decade of planning and R&D behind it, including our first game CONSORTIUM. The folks at Fig have recognized this, and by transitioning our campaign onto their platform Fig Publishing will be able to invite investors to join in realizing our project and participating in its potential success in the market.”

CONSORTIUM: The Tower is a single-player, first person science fiction simulation game created using the Unreal 4 Engine, and is set almost entirely within the hyper-futuristic Churchill Tower, an immense skyscraper in the heart of London, England. The Tower begins on December 21st, 2042 within an alternate dimension on the brink of world peace. The Tower incorporates all of the core mechanics, interface systems, gear and dynamic fourth wall shattering concepts for an all new scope. What should have been a straightforward mission to rescue civilian hostages from terrorists turns into a global debacle involving a deeply rooted conspiracy where Consortium Officer Bishop Six will be forced to question his allegiances and the morality of meddling across the bounds of existence. Acting as Bishop Six, players can choose to fight, sneak, explore or talk their way through an interactive story driven by their own actions and decisions.

“CONSORTIUM: The Tower is the type of game that is perfect for Fig. Interdimensional Games understands that fans want the option for more than just a t-shirt and a copy of the game when they financially support a game’s development. They want the opportunity to play a bigger role in its development and share in its potential success,” said Justin Bailey, CEO of Fig. “Our goal at Fig is to be able to pave the way for a sustainable ecosystem through investment crowdfunding, and by giving developers the funds they need for development, and being a great game co-publisher for them, we can further help in the potential success of the game.”

Fig is the first and only platform that offers both rewards and investment-based crowdfunding for independent developers in the gaming space. As part of its service offerings, Fig has announced that going forward it will waive all fees for the rewards portion of their campaigns, starting with Consortium: The Tower.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Consortium: The Tower campaign in the coming weeks and visitwww.Fig.co for more information.

 

[Excidium II]

Fig it is! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/idgi/consortium-the-tower/posts/1503056

For everyone in the $20 level and higher, you will be receiving an email the moment we launch on Fig that will include a custom URL for you. Following this URL will take you to directly to our campaign on Fig and allow you to pledge the same amount (this includes all Early Bird pledges) and claim the same rewards. By doing this, you will officially become a Consortium: The Tower Super-Backer, and will be entitled to receive all Consortium Universe games we ever make for free.

Free games forever for $20? Desperate much?

 

[ArchAngel]

Fig it is! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/idgi/consortium-the-tower/posts/1503056

For everyone in the $20 level and higher, you will be receiving an email the moment we launch on Fig that will include a custom URL for you. Following this URL will take you to directly to our campaign on Fig and allow you to pledge the same amount (this includes all Early Bird pledges) and claim the same rewards. By doing this, you will officially become a Consortium: The Tower Super-Backer, and will be entitled to receive all Consortium Universe games we ever make for free.

Free games forever for $20? Desperate much?

Only those in Consortium universe, which means the 3rd part of their planned trilogy.