Disco Elysium Pre-Release Thread [GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Zombra]

Post will be obsolete soon because motorics is on the way, but based on the combat screenshot we have 1 motorics and 1 eye coordination but the success is still 40%, seems high since the values are the lowest.

You think 40% is good odds in a lethal gunfight, eh? You wanna come over tonight for a game of cards?

 

[agris]

Hey bros, what's the word on physical copies - is one planned? If so - what about a manual?

 

[Kasparov]

The Telegraph have good things to say about Disco Elysium:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/...dates-2018-ps4-xbox-one-switch/disco-elysium/

Could become one of the sleeper hits of the year

Hey bros, what's the word on physical copies - is one planned? If so - what about a manual?

So far it hasn´t been planned. In case we do decide to do a limited run of exclusive physical copies - we´ll make some noise about it.

 

[Kasparov]

We´re also doing a stream of Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire in a few hours.



I´m going to talk through my nose and indiscriminately click around on the screen because I still have the flu. Rostov - Disco Elysium´s Art Director - will hang around and George Ziets from InXile will drop by to chat with us. Don´t troll too hard, but you´re welcome to hang around the stream chat

 

[Nael]

Don´t troll too hard, but you´re welcome to hang around the stream chat

 

[ArchAngel]

We´re also doing a stream of Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire in a few hours.



I´m going to talk through my nose and indiscriminately click around on the screen because I still have the flu. Rostov - Disco Elysium´s Art Director - will hang around and George Ziets from InXile will drop by to chat with us. Don´t troll too hard, but you´re welcome to hang around the stream chat

What will be our secret word that you will recognize us with?
Playing an Obsidian game and hanging out with one of the main Inxile devs, you don't want to openly associate yourself with Codexers :D

 

[agris]

So far it hasn´t been planned. In case we do decide to do a limited run of exclusive physical copies - we´ll make some noise about it.

If you guys are seriously considering making physical copies, I would suggest a very limited run of higher value ones that contain, for example, a signed print of the game art. I've gathered from many kickstarter projects that the low-cost physical editions end up costing quite a lot of time and money to produce, such that studios lose money on them. Also, the quality is almost never up to player expectations. On the other hand, a very limited run of higher end physical copies can net you a nice profit, while using materials of quality that you're proud of.

For example, the Serpent in the Staglands book.

 

[Kasparov]

What will be our secret word that you will recognize us with?
Playing an Obsidian game and hanging out with one of the main Inxile devs, you don't want to openly associate yourself with Codexers :D

I hear you. All I can really do is hope that what happens in the Codex stays in the Codex.

I wish we´ll get to talk about video game design topics with George while I play some Pillars in the background.

I've gathered from many kickstarter projects that the low-cost physical editions end up costing quite a lot of time and money to produce, such that studios lose money on them. Also, the quality is almost never up to player expectations.

That´s one of the reasons why we haven´t planned for a physical copy. Designing and making a product like that is a lot of work and a gamble in the end.

 

[Cael]

I hear you. All I can really do is hope that what happens in the Codex stays in the Codex.

Hope, but don't count on it.

 

[Kasparov]

That´s a strange blog.

 

[agris]

I've gathered from many kickstarter projects that the low-cost physical editions end up costing quite a lot of time and money to produce, such that studios lose money on them. Also, the quality is almost never up to player expectations.

That´s one of the reasons why we haven´t planned for a physical copy. Designing and making a product like that is a lot of work and a gamble in the end.

That's reasonable, do it right or don't do it at all. Better than disappointing us and yourselves.

Some time prior to release, you might consider dropping a poll to gauge interest at various price points. If you only accept orders for a limited amount of time, then you've also guaranteed the sale of everything that's been made.

 

[lophiaspis]

Kasparov Marat Sar I'm really worried that you're underselling this. Niche forums and scattered writeups in PC gaming zines aren't outreach enough for something that appeals far beyond ultra hardcore RPG fans. Your trailer sucks. it doesn't convey the cool stuff you can do in the game at all. The most similar recent game to DE is Tyranny, how badly was that hurt by lack of marketing?

The issue is catching all those potential customers' attention. IMO, the best way to pitch this to the masses is: 'you play a cop who has voices in his head telling him to do crazy things'. Anyone that hears about a game like that will be interested, it doesn't need to be more specific about 'in the world of Revachol blah blah, using these RPG mechanics blah blah blah'. Most gamers only care about 'what can you do in the game'. And the most efficient way to get that message out there is to make some short live action YouTubes enacting iconic scenes from the game. If done well, these will be shared all over gaming and social media. All you need is some cheap good actors and film editors - should be easy for a bonafide art collective.

For instance you can have one YouTube vid where the cop is interrogating somebody, while in a fierce internal battle with Electrochemistry (which could be some dressed up actor or CGI - you figure it out) which tells him to take a drink to calm down, and he does, confusing the suspect, and then Inland Empire makes him spout some bizarre paranoid lines at the suspect, after looking up and to the sides as if the Skills are good and bad consciences sitting on his shoulders. And then Electrochemistry convinces him to snort a line of cocaine in front of the suspect, with predictable results. *Cue 70s style title cards and chintzy cop show music.* I'm no writer so this example sounds lame, but I hope you get the general idea.

If done right, this would be a marketing slam dunk. It could be as successful as the TF2 'meet the team' videos.

EDIT: Even the scene you posted where he has an internal monologue with his alcoholism about whether to lick the rum stain on the bar, would be absolutely hilarious as a live action short - the climax being a sexy closeup of his tongue caressing the stain as bystanders gawk in alarm. Your main concern at this point should be how to present your amazing interaction systems and writing to as many people as possible.

 

[luinthoron]

So far it hasn´t been planned. In case we do decide to do a limited run of exclusive physical copies - we´ll make some noise about it.

It would certainly be appreciated. Nothing keeps me away from a game like the lack of physical copies, although this game certainly deserves an exception to this rule. Still, a physical copy would always be preferable.

 

[Zombra]

Physical copies always seem weird to me nowadays. Kind of like buying movie tickets in a huge box and then saving the empty box after you see the movie. Weird people.

 

[luinthoron]

Physical copies always seem weird to me nowadays. Kind of like buying movie tickets in a huge box and then saving the empty box after you see the movie. Weird people.

The correct comparison would be a BluRay disc, not a movie ticket, though.

 

[Cael]

That´s a strange blog.

Strange or not, it highlights how one forum's drama can metasize like cancer to other places, especially when you have idiots involved.

 

[Lahey]

http://www.rpgfan.com/previews/Disco_Elysium/

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the sleazy, hand-painted detective RPG that was pitched to me as "a Hunter S. Thompson fever dream." In all honesty, what could one possibly expect from that? Developed by ZA/UM, a studio likely named for Zaum, the Soviet pre-Dadaist linguistic arts movement, I had a feeling I was in for something special.

While I waited for a kiosk at ZA/UM's very popular booth to become available, I chatted with community manager Danielle Woodford and game designer Robert Kurvitz, who both effused their affection for the timeless Black Isle RPG Planescape: Torment — a fondness I happen to share. Between the three of us, we agreed that combat was the least interesting part of the old Infinity Engine titles. Much like in tabletop, Planescape: Torment shined brightest when the player navigated its syrup-thick lore, shaping their protagonist in a way that was wholly unique to each playthrough. This, Kurvitz explained, is why each of Disco Elysium's combat encounters is an important story event decided through narrative-heavy skill checks and dice rolls, as opposed to a more traditional combat engine.

Initially, I'd taken our conversation simply as praise for Chris Avellone's knack for high quality, immersive narrative design, but once I was set up with the demo for myself, it quickly became apparent that Disco Elysium has no doubt also been inspired by Planescape: Torment's surreal brand of existential horror.

The demo began with text displayed on a black screen, read by a sinister voiceover. I found myself in a dialogue tree argument with my protagonist's own thought processes. His Ancient Lizard Brain tried to goad me into drifting peacefully through the inky blackness. As I challenged these thoughts, another voice came into play: The Limbic System. Speaking to these two soon made it apparent that our protagonist is struggling to come out of a drunken stupor to face the hangover from hell, and I was tasked with battling his natural instincts so he could rise to the occasion. After rolling some skill checks, the blackness began to recede as the world filled in from the edges inward towards my hero: a stout, middle-aged man clad only in his tighty-whities, laying face-down ass-up in a ruined motel room. He stumbled fuzzily to his feet; a reel-to-reel tape deck, sans tape, clicked and spun endlessly in the corner, a reel of choral music violently torn to magnetic ribbons on the floor nearby. I dressed my hero in a tacky leisure suit and glanced at a calendar on the wall. Apparently the year is `52, but to his horror, the protagonist found himself unable to determine what century it is — nor could he remember anything about himself, not even his own face.

While Disco Elysium's over-the-hill hirsute alcoholic protagonist is static, players are given a choice of four starting "classes" which govern his initial skills. There's Logician, a detail-oriented lateral thinker with terrible people skills; Sensitive, a charismatic empath who "might lose his mind"; Predator, a fascistic tough-guy who talks with his fists and "will definitely lose his mind"; and Detective, a jack of all trades/master of none who, though relatively proficient, is likely to miss out on the more interesting story threads that require a specialist approach. Being the type of player who gets the most out of interaction with other characters — not to mention one who feels too guilty to play the villain's part — I picked Sensitive. This choice came with its own caveats; as I wiped the filth from the bathroom mirror, my protagonist peered at his own visage to see a sleazy, forced smile; a grin permanently locked in place by some form of live rigor mortis. My character portrait became this unsettling grimace which doubled as a persuasion skill...albeit, one dependent on the temperament of the person I wished to use it on.

I stepped out into the motel lobby and attempted to gather some info on who I was and how I got here. As I accosted the other guests, I learned I was in the City of Revachol (an underworld paradise that's virulently anti-cop) to investigate a gruesome homicide. I headed downstairs to meet my new partner, Detective Kim Kitsuragi. Unable to give him my own name, I rolled a skill check to come up with a cool sounding pseudonym. I failed that one, and muttered an unconvincing "I'll tell you some other time." Kitsuragi filled me in that the victim's corpse has been hanging nude from a tree outside the motel for seven straight days and questioned what I'd been doing in that time. As my character was unable to answer, I found myself wondering about the game's title. Is this Elysium a physical locale, or a disco-loving purgatory in which jobs and roles must continue to be carried out to esoteric ends?

I didn't have an answer to that either, so Kitsuragi and I stepped outside to investigate the body. We came across two teenage street urchins throwing rocks at its exposed genitals. I attempted to intervene, but found myself on the receiving end of some virulently homophobic abuse. I attempted to talk some sense into them but didn't get very far. I was assured there was an alternative solution to their puzzle that didn't involve speechcraft, but I had to dash off to my next appointment before I could figure it out for myself. I can see what ZA/UM is attempting with these characters; their liberal use of slurs definitely made me feel like I was back in high school, though personally, that's not a feeling I'm keen to recapture. Admittedly, this has made me a little wary of how the rest of Disco Elysium's script is going to pan out, though I would be lying if I said I wasn't very enticed by the ins-and-outs of Revachol's ontological murder mystery.

Disco Elysium is unique, uncomfortable, and bizarrely alluring. Watch for it before the end of the year.

 

[lophiaspis]

I dressed my hero in a tacky leisure suit

So it's Leisure Suit Dirty Harry?

 

[Fenix]

Laughed hard.
" - Hey Infinitron why we have nothing on frontpage about our game?
....

- Infinitron?"

 

[vota DC]

Seems strange that a sensitive cop failed to give a false name. Or was just Kim that had a very high counterskill.

 

[ArchAngel]

Laughed hard.
" - Hey Infinitron why we have nothing on frontpage about our game?
....

- Infinitron?"

Maybe we need to get Chris Avellone to reprimand Infinitron for again not posting news. I am sure he could feel ashamed enough to stop being Inflamatron for a while and go back being a News Jew.

 

[luinthoron]

Seems strange that a sensitive cop failed to give a false name. Or was just Kim that had a very high counterskill.

Would expect him to actually know his new partner's name, even when he politely waits for him to introduce himself.

Which reminds me... Does the protagonist have a name or do we name him ourselves, and if the latter, have you thought of alternative false names to be used in case someone names their character something he'd actually come up with there?

 

[Fenix]

Maybe we need to get Chris Avellone to reprimand Infinitron for again not posting news. I am sure he could feel ashamed enough to stop being Inflamatron for a while and go back being a News Jew.

Now I'm sure some extortion involved, probably Management (tm) want a royalty....

 

[Lahey]

man the inevitable codex backlash against this game is going to be glorious.

8:00 if timestamp fails.

 

[Kasparov]

If you can get your hands on this, you´ll find that we have work cut out for us if we want to fill these breeches (to the brim): https://www.gamestm.co.uk/promotion/pc-gaming-show-returns-at-e3-11-june/