Game News Monty Markland Kickstarting an Apocalypse Now RPG(!), Josh Sawyer onboard

[MLMarkland]

Will there be combat XP?

No, no xp for combat. There might be combat avoidance XP. We've discussed that idea. Everything we do we attempt to ground in the specifics of the movie, world and characters.

Captain Willard is a self-confessed assassin who has already killed six people. He is specifically picked to go on what is probably the most controversial and dangerous assassination mission of this hypothetical reality war. He is in the special forces (Airborne).

He only fires his weapons twice in the movie (Tiger & Sampan).

So, to us, the logical answer is that this character, as played by you, should benefit from and want to avoid unnecessary combat as much as possible.

 

[Vault Dweller]

That does sound pretty cool. What should we expect in terms of stats and skills?

PS. Can you give us a hypothetical example of an encounter that would show how Willard would handle it, while avoiding combat, and emphasize the survival horror nature of the game?

 

[Cool name]

looking at the current numbers I worry you guys really shot yourselves in the foot with the launch.

at the risk of sounding "OMG it's [current year]!", it's not 2012 anymore. people have been burned by enough shit crowdfunding projects that opening without providing a VERY clear idea of what kind of game it's going to be is going to inspire far more apprehension than optimism. when paired with the fact that it's being based off of a movie that most people are unlikely to see as easily turned into a game, that's going to set off all kinds of cashgrab alarms.

for evidence of this, all one needs to do is look at this thread, or comments on several of the news articles about the kickstarter. people saying "is this gonna be CODpocalypse now?" "How is this different from spec ops the line?" etc.

you've provided a lot more detail now, but realistically a lot of people who read the initial articles aren't likely to bother investigating further, and that's a lot of potential backers lost.

I'm not sure why you went the way you did with the launch. you seem like reasonably smart guys, so I can only assume you all got caught up in the enthusiasm and forgot the public hadn't seen the pitch work yet. a shame, since the more details come out, the more interesting this is sounding. I hope the project makes it despite this.

tl;dr- after years of subpar kickstarter results, a vague pitch with a number of red flags and no buildup hype is gonna have a hard time.


also MLMarkland why did you rate my waifu post 'funny'? I was 100% srs and now I'm starting to doubt your genuine commitment to the cause of more blonde, colonialist, possibly slave-owning waifus in video games

 

[Tramboi]

The update #6 about characters and relation systems is really worrisome. The problem of dialog in most games is SO NOT about having more stats and simulationism.
If they want all this to be meaningful, they will have to write an ENORMOUS amount of content. Quality will not improve.
For the first time in my life, I consider unbacking a project because of an update.

 

[imweasel]

No, no xp for combat.

:c

The kills in this scene are worth at least 10 million XP alone.

 

[MLMarkland]

also MLMarkland why did you rate my waifu post 'funny'? I was 100% srs and now I'm starting to doubt your genuine commitment to the cause of more blonde, colonialist, possibly slave-owning waifus in video games

Apocalypse Now is funny and serious at the same time. Colonel Kilgore was originally named Colonel Karnage. Finding that narrow balance between serious and funny is part of my gig here. 99.99999999% of game directors would have hid under their bed when they read your post.

Agree that we have to hammer the trendline every day now because of the soft launch. No illusions about that. The Hammering Is Massive, I Assure You.

The update #6 about characters and relation systems is really worrisome. The problem of dialog in most games is SO NOT about having more stats and simulationism.
If they want all this to be meaningful, they will have to write an ENORMOUS amount of content. Quality will not improve.
For the first time in my life, I consider unbacking a project because of an update.

Don't worry about Rob, he writes a lot, too much sometimes and too much writer in him sometimes, but he's a great writer and he'll lead the team.

I can simplify and sum up his update in seven words:

"We want to make NPC reactions 3-dimensional"

That does sound pretty cool. What should we expect in terms of stats and skills?

PS. Can you give us a hypothetical example of an encounter that would show how Willard would handle it, while avoiding combat, and emphasize the survival horror nature of the game?

Thanks, sorry talking to a lot of people at once.

[alpha order]
ATTRIBUTES
agility
conditioning
intelligence
judgment
karma
leadership
strength

[alpha order]
SKILLS
barter
cook
demolitions
engineering
gambling
hand-to-hand
medic
melee weapons
pillage
recon
repair
scavenge
small arms
stealth
support weapons
survival
throwing
trap

EDIT: Will post a description of moment-to-moment soon.

 

[MLMarkland]

I'm back. First I had to get our main website launched (which required an enormous number of bureaucratic hurdles with the European Union)

We've raised $164,735 in 36 hours and keep trucking.

https://apocalypsenow.com/pledge

We will raise about as much or more on our site in the first 48 hours than we did on Kickstarter in three weeks.

We were never supposed to just launch the Kickstarter, our bad. But now we've got the main event online.

Pledge on our site. Our most trusted web developer built it to the highest standards and will be fixing any bugs we finds ASAP.

Early Backers will get a free tier upgrade. (And if people from RPG Codex email or message me I'll flag you for a bonus reward item too -- that's only for you miscreants).

Number 1 priority is putting out an extended gameplay video.

Nuke the site from orbit it is the only way to be sure.

[Will reply to every individual comment in this thread and the other over course of tomorrow morning]

 

[Turtle-Zone 3000]

Is this going to be the Star Citizen of RPGs?

 

[MRY]

Our most trusted web developer built it to the highest standards

I still can't tell whether this whole thing is performance art designed to revitalize the franchise in anticipation of a reboot.

 

[ArchAngel]

I am not sure if this all is just an elaborate joke.

 

[thesheeep]

I am not sure if this all is just an elaborate joke.

Would you be more or less likely to pledge if it was?

 

[ArchAngel]

I am not sure if this all is just an elaborate joke.

Would you be more or less likely to pledge if it was?

I would not pledge in any case.

 

[Aenra]

Worry number 1:
Nerds doing War. Almost bound to end up cringe-worthy. It's like when i get back home and people ask me if it's like Black Hawk Down, only repeatedly...
Worry number 2:
2017 nerds doing War. As if the above wasn't enough, we now have PC, equal opportunities shit and librul agendas to be wary of. Sincerely curious to see how big your balls are and more to the point, how mature you are (heavy topic, War). Nerds and maturity hardly co-align (don't tell i'm being harsh just yet, read number 3 first and you'll get my point)
Worry number 3:
Lack of combat xp and what it signifies. Nerds doing War in a combat-heavy RPG can be O.K., as the unspoken agreement between you and the dev team is that you're playing just so you can kill shit. When however they tell you that 'it won't be that kind of game', you're back at 1) and 2)
Worry number 4:
Cluelessness. War you may not know, but games and gamers (mentality, expectations) you supposedly do. Where is the assurance that "no man, we know all this, we've got it"? Nowhere. Pasting a pic of Coppola hardly qualifies.
Worry number 5:
Incosistencies. Bad no matter where or when, doubly so when you find them in a pitch as short, vague and superficial as this one (it's one thing to find a contradiction inside a 15 pages long text, another to spot it in a half-page, half-assed general pitch; yes?). Case in point: For a game that has little to no combat XP, there sure is a lot of text about it, there sure is no bolded part relating said lack of traditional xp gaining. Why not state so clearly? You think everyone's gonna read the Codex to find out..? Or are you purposefuly keeping that in small print?
Worry number 6:
For a game asking upwards of 5mil, there sure is fuck all to tell me, let alone convince me, where it's going/is needed. Your 'about the game' page is a half a screen long, overly general, more concept than statement. I was honestly looking for that next page button to read further, cause no fucking way these assholes believe this can convince me. Right?

Worry number... nah fuck it, called it right there.
Why did i then bother to type all this? 'Cause the concept is worthy. But concept alone is just air and air's still free. I don't know if you guys are lazy, incompetent, or lacking the responsibility/maturity to organize your shit, but either way, same outcome. You think i'm the only one going along these lines, well you keep on dreaming.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

What in the ass? They were asking for $900k on Kickstarter, could barely scrape $150k. They cancelled, made their own website, and are now asking for $5,9 million - yes you're reading that right, $5,9 million.

Even colonel Kurtz would say that these people are completely insane.

 

[MLMarkland]

Worry number 1:
Nerds doing War. Almost bound to end up cringe-worthy. It's like when i get back home and people ask me if it's like Black Hawk Down, only repeatedly...
Worry number 2:
2017 nerds doing War. As if the above wasn't enough, we now have PC, equal opportunities shit and librul agendas to be wary of. Sincerely curious to see how big your balls are and more to the point, how mature you are (heavy topic, War). Nerds and maturity hardly co-align (don't tell i'm being harsh just yet, read number 3 first and you'll get my point)
Worry number 3:
Lack of combat xp and what it signifies. Nerds doing War in a combat-heavy RPG can be O.K., as the unspoken agreement between you and the dev team is that you're playing just so you can kill shit. When however they tell you that 'it won't be that kind of game', you're back at 1) and 2)
Worry number 4:
Cluelessness. War you may not know, but games and gamers (mentality, expectations) you supposedly do. Where is the assurance that "no man, we know all this, we've got it"? Nowhere. Pasting a pic of Coppola hardly qualifies.
Worry number 5:
Incosistencies. Bad no matter where or when, doubly so when you find them in a pitch as short, vague and superficial as this one (it's one thing to find a contradiction inside a 15 pages long text, another to spot it in a half-page, half-assed general pitch; yes?). Case in point: For a game that has little to no combat XP, there sure is a lot of text about it, there sure is no bolded part relating said lack of traditional xp gaining. Why not state so clearly? You think everyone's gonna read the Codex to find out..? Or are you purposefuly keeping that in small print?
Worry number 6:
For a game asking upwards of 5mil, there sure is fuck all to tell me, let alone convince me, where it's going/is needed. Your 'about the game' page is a half a screen long, overly general, more concept than statement. I was honestly looking for that next page button to read further, cause no fucking way these assholes believe this can convince me. Right?

Worry number... nah fuck it, called it right there.
Why did i then bother to type all this? 'Cause the concept is worthy. But concept alone is just air and air's still free. I don't know if you guys are lazy, incompetent, or lacking the responsibility/maturity to organize your shit, but either way, same outcome. You think i'm the only one going along these lines, well you keep on dreaming.

We'll see what people think about my balls, my understanding of human nature, war, violence, moral terror & insanity over the course of this project and many more in the future.

Thank you about the concept, I agree.

100% Agree on getting more design info out.

There is an extended gameplay video coming and I want to release the prototype and the GDD within the first 90-180 days. We've got a 60 page GDD. I'm not in charge of everything. I'm the director. I'm here to control the quality and to get things right about the game, about the source material and about some of your worries. Releasing stuff on a timeline is more of a producer and exec question (but I do push for things and often get what I want).

Thank you for taking the time to seriously evaluate things, Aenra. I listen and pay attention to all of it on several hundred websites right now.

Anyone who thinks the goal was ever just $900,000 is paying attention to fake news.

The goal has always been $5.9 million.

The apocalypsenow.com website has been up for three weeks with the goal plastered in big font at the top of the page (we just started accepting pledges there within the last 48 hours and crushed Kickstarter).

For reference: http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...ypse-Team-Builds-Unique-Crowdfunding-Platform

January 27th is the date of the wire, so the media alert went out earlier and the site was live earlier than that. And the goal has always been on the site.

 

[Durwyn]

I'm the director. I'm here to control the quality and to get things right about the game, about the source material and about some of your worries. Releasing stuff on a timeline is more of a producer and exec question (but I do push for things andoften get what I want).

 

[MLMarkland]

I'm the director. I'm here to control the quality and to get things right about the game, about the source material and about some of your worries. Releasing stuff on a timeline is more of a producer and exec question (but I do push for things andoften get what I want).

 

[MLMarkland]

https://apocalypsenow.com/updates/update-3-gameplay-basics

There will be an RPG update in a few hours as well.

 

[MLMarkland]

https://apocalypsenow.com/updates/update-4-roleplaying-game-design-part-1-of-5

First of at least five RPG design updates. This one focused on the fundamentals of characters. Very few images for those logophiles ITT

 

[Jim the Dinosaur]

You can play the game in 16x9 aspect ratio or Cinemascope like the original motion picture at 2.39:1

is monty a chefe alt and is this American Hare: Redux?

 

[thekdawg21]

As an Atlantic City professional pit boss in a poker room, I know my way around cards. Omaha 8 or better was invented in 1982 and would be anachronistic to say the least.

 

[MLMarkland]

As an Atlantic City professional pit boss in a poker room, I know my way around cards. Omaha 8 or better was invented in 1982 and would be anachronistic to say the least.

Cool detail.

5-card stud then!

 

[thekdawg21]

5-card stud then!

Now that's the game of the times. Got all the things that a G.I. who might die tomorrow wants, gambling and fast resolution with some amount of skill that one of the smarter guys on the boat could exploit.

Fun poker fact: Omaha/8 is a split game which players can win the entire pot, 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8th. If you're 'winning' a quarter of a pot, you've almost always broke even or lost money. Not intuitive for the layman.

BTW: I also thought this was a joke/scam when I first read it, but your honest candor and lack of PR spin won me over into a donation. I'm also a huge fan of the film and the idea of a well done survival RPG that's not a roguelike is something I've wanted for many years. Hope you pull it off.

 

[MLMarkland]

5-card stud then!

Now that's the game of the times. Got all the things that a G.I. who might die tomorrow wants, gambling and fast resolution with some amount of skill that one of the smarter guys on the boat could exploit.

Fun poker fact: Omaha/8 is a split game which players can win the entire pot, 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8th. If you're 'winning' a quarter of a pot, you've almost always broke even or lost money. Not intuitive for the layman.

BTW: I also thought this was a joke/scam when I first read it, but your honest candor and lack of PR spin won me over into a donation. I'm also a huge fan of the film and the idea of a well done survival RPG that's not a roguelike is something I've wanted for many years. Hope you pull it off.

Thank you for the support. For real.

We'll hit $200,000 sometime this morning (US West Coast).

Obviously doing better on our own site than on Lickstarter.

My dad mostly played 5-card or sometimes 7-card stud. I learned Omaha while in Chicago for a year, it is interesting to know it's such a recent game.