Development Info Guido Henkel returns to cRPGs with Thorvalla?

[Wyrmlord]

I am guessing that there is at least one person in this forum whose dream game was Betrayal at Arkania.

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

First Chaos Chronicles, and now this.

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed

 

[Jasede]

He didn't mean a sequel, he meant a marriage of RoA and BaK.

Two of the greatest RPGs I've played, mind you.

 

[Jaesun]

Yes it would be a new IP.

 

[Murk]

Thorvalla? Seems like a clear reference to Thorwal.

 

[Wyrmlord]

He didn't mean a sequel, he meant a marriage of RoA and BaK.

Two of the greatest RPGs I've played, mind you.

Yeah, Neal Hallford would likely be involved in quest design, exploration, object/clue finding, and the general background/lore of the world.

And Guido Henkel might create an amazing ruleset, nifty mechanics, cool classes, and a good turn-based encounter system.

This is the marriage that would be really interesting.

By the way, I had no idea Neal Hallford was also involved in Isles of Terra, which is also one of my favourite games. It's one thing to have Betrayal at Krondor on your resume, but also Isles of Terra? That just leaves me speechless. Isles of Terra is another example of world design, exploration, and interesting encounters done right. Even if you ignore World of Xeen, Isles of Terra is quite the game in its own right.

 

[Brother None]

So its a hint that this game is unofficial TDE/ROA?

I guess. It's also a very German title, not sure how well it'll sell abroad. Ever notice how bad our European brethren are at titles? Even with Guido living states-side, he apparently can't shake the habit.

I'm very curious to see what Guido has to say on his ruleset/innovations. If he can sell me on the idea I'm all in, I'm a huuuuuge fan of Realms of Arkania, as cRPGs, and of DSA as a P&P so being inspired by it doesn't hurt.

 

[Guido Henkel]

Hi guys, I thought I'd just stop by and say Hello, here real quick. I love reading what you guys have to say and your thoughts and I admit I've been peeking in here full of curiosity for the past few days.

I chose the name THORVALLA because I instantly wanted to alert the Realms of Arkania fan base to take notice of the game and the fact that I am back. It is a wordplay on RoA's city of Thorwal and the word Valhalla. I merged them and thought it has a certain ring. It immediately conjures up Nordic imagery in my head and that's exactly what I wanted. I am not sure if it's really a very German title, at least to me it doesn't seem that way, but at the very least I feel it is a lot more colorful and evocative than some of the other names I've come across recently.

For those of you who speak German, there is a video interview interview with me today on PCGames.de, in which I talk some more about the project.

Again, thanks for all your interest and the valuable thoughts and concerns all of you have raised in this thread.

 

[Rhuantavan]

A german interview with Mr. Henkel has popped up on the internets. Anyone care to translate?

http://videos.pcgames.de/hdvideo/12...klusivInterview-mit-Guido-Henkel-zu-Thorvalla

 

[HobGoblin42]

For me , the most important keypoints of this interview are:

- the player starts with just one character and can recruit more NPCs during the game
- Thorvalla is not exactly "old school" (Guido doesn't like the term at all) but traditional
- Guido doesn't want to use the classical approach of pen&paper dice throwing mechanics
- $1 mio USD on Kickstarter, but Guido said even this sum is probably not enough to create a full-sized CRPG
- Guido mentioned that he returned to the game biz because with Kickstarter he can realize games without publisher (which he obviously doesn't really like)
- the production depends on pledges, it will only take place if enough fans are supporting it
- Guido will not be involved in some kind of a Planescape:Torment successor
- Thorvalla will not use the license of "Das Schwarze Auge" (Arcania)

 

[HobGoblin42]

@Guido: Es hat mich sehr gefreut zu hören dass du ein eigenes Projekt an den Start bringst! Viel Erfolg damit!

 

[Jarpie]

They really need to start drumming it for major media soon if they want to get 1 million dollarus.

 

[LivingOne]

^
This.Also bringing up BaK reputation among traditional fans (story often compared to Planescape but more open ended world)along with the titles they worked on should help,expecially considering it's not really that famous as far as major media goes.

Good luck.

 

[kaizoku]

$1,000,000 is a big number.
Let us all hope it can make it.

I really want to know more about the game.... character system, combat mechanics, perspective.
We'll have to wait for the KS and codex interview.

When do you intend to launch the KS project?



As for the name "Thorvalla", I don't see any problem with it. It's nordic inspiring.

 

[Jaesun]

Hell it could just use Pathfinder and I'd be happy with the system.

 

[kaizoku]

- Guido doesn't want to use the classical approach of pen&paper dice throwing mechanics

This reminds me of PE going for new mechanics...

The game will be turn-based, right? right? RIGHT?!

 

[hoverdog]

- Guido doesn't want to use the classical approach of pen&paper dice throwing mechanics

I don't like the sound of this. Guido Henkel or nealiios please explain

 

[Jasede]

I can probably guess.

Situation: locked door.

AD&D: You have a 20% to open the door. Reload/reroll until it opens. Tons of old games are like that. Keep trying until it works. It's not ideal for a videogame. Same with HP rolls or chance of scribing spells from scrolls.

Different scenario: Rolling a new character. Old-school D&D would have you roll 6 3d6 and bam, that's your character. In that order. So you rolled 12/10/10/10/10/10? Well... sucks to be you! Guess you'll have to be a shitty fighter. That or you can hit the reroll button but since we've all played the great old RPGs we know what that means: reroll a billion times to get the stats we want.

Edit:

I really hope you can make more than Eine Million Amigeld but I don't think you're quite "famous" enough for it. It sucks, RoA ought to be more well-known. Still, German RPG fans may turn out to be quite generous, DSA still has a very loyal following that remember the old games.

 

[Jasede]

@Guido: Es hat mich sehr gefreut zu hören dass du ein eigenes Projekt an den Start bringst! Viel Erfolg damit!

Bitte eine Version mit alter Rechtschreibung optional im Spiel haben.
<- leicht erregbare Altschwuchtel

 

[Murk]

I'm very stoked to have Mr. Henkel post/pop-in, I hope that we can keep relations positive and perhaps see more about the game in the coming days.

It... it almost seems like with crowd-funding we have seen a renaissance of cRPGs. I really hope this isn't the raising of hopes for the crushing defeat to follow.

 

[kaizoku]

I can probably guess.

Situation: locked door.

AD&D: You have a 20% to open the door. Reload/reroll until it opens. Tons of old games are like that. Keep trying until it works. It's not ideal for a videogame. Same with HP rolls or chance of scribing spells from scrolls.

Different scenario: Rolling a new character. Old-school D&D would have you roll 6 3d6 and bam, that's your character. In that order. So you rolled 12/10/10/10/10/10? Well... sucks to be you! Guess you'll have to be a shitty fighter. That or you can hit the reroll button but since we've all played the great old RPGs we know what that means: reroll a billion times to get the stats we want.

Edit:

I really hope you can make more than Eine Million Amigeld but I don't think you're quite "famous" enough for it. It sucks, RoA ought to be more well-known. Still, German RPG fans may turn out to be quite generous, DSA still has a very loyal following that remember the old games.

If he was referring to:
- using a point buy system instead of dice rolls, I'm more than happy with it. It's an improvement.
- having deterministic combat, it's a wait and see... maybe it's good, maybe it's bad.
- not having turns for combat... that will suck

 

[Jaesun]

Overractiondex

 

[LeStryfe79]

I love it when point buy is considered an innovation instead of a preference. Perhaps attack rolls should be point buy as well? I think it could work, and I fail to see the difference between skill checks and character generation checks. What is the difference? Is it arrogance? Entitlement? Maybe even laziness? All I know is that some of my favorite characters were random and had "poor" stats. It's my preference. It might not be everyone's, and I get it. I certainly won't view point buy as some sort of advancement of the genre as if it took a stroke of genius to achieve, however.

 

[Guido Henkel]

In order to fully understand what I am trying to do with the combat, I will have to lay it all out in detail for you guys. However, at this time I can't do that yet for a number of reasons—mostly that it will take some time for explanation, and because it requires some dry play testing before I will fully commit to anything. However, unless someone is entirely locked down in the tried-and-true-is-the-only-way approach, I think you guys will find it to be an interesting approach. I'll be able to tell you all more in the weeks to come, and I'll definitely listen and take your feedback into consideration. At the same time, I definitely want to take this opportunity to experiment a little and see if I can come up with some cool new mechanics that may be equally challenging and entertaining.

 

[Jasede]

Nobody said that. Calm down.
We're all for options here. Always have been.