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Odd Gods - phase-based spacetime travel RPG about the 1990s

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
From an Australian indie studio Inn Between Worlds, directed by one of the writers of Ultima 5 fan remake Lazarus:

08b1f7_4de72bef3f1b49c1a6b5ad4cb188c93b~mv2_d_2438_1984_s_2.webp


08b1f7_1a76f8943f2d46939b270b3b81c70267~mv2.webp


08b1f7_7f57aad44f0e4f138e89d73eede5e2ec~mv2.webp


08b1f7_628b762bf9ea47f8bcda0225ffd15ee7~mv2.webp



More screenshots: https://www.inn-between-worlds.com/media



08b1f7_5f8f7a9352d745139ef9e275acf5f7c2~mv2.png


Odd Gods is a 90s-style RPG about the 1990s. An isometric tactical role playing game about subcultures, music, spacetime travel, and facing your pop culture demons.

Odd Gods is an indie cRPG in early development from Inn Between Worlds, a new studio formed by industry vets in Melbourne, Australia.


Features

There is no chosen one. A grungy, low fantasy story set at the end of the 1990s.

Classic 'isometric' camera on 3D characters and scenes.

Colourful, 'low budget B-Movie' Art style

Subculture class system based on 1990s archetypes (Skateboarders, Goths, Ravers, Jocks, Nerds etc).

Music Genre 'alignment' system (Mainstream, Alternative, Underground).

Party-based turn-based combat system ('Same Phase' system with no RNG, no % to hit, just tactics).

Narrative features branching paths and multiple endings.

Hand-crafted exploration, narrative and combat content. No level-scaling, no procedural generation, no random encounters.

Original subculture soundtrack recorded with period instruments (where possible).

90s-era difficulty. Odd Gods is not a game for the faint of heart, but the system is 'fair'. Friendly fire is on by default. No bullet sponges. Permadeath, mostly.

Take modern weapons back to older eras (Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern) and vice-versa, but keep an eye on your ammo count and penicillin, for example.

.... No elves, no magic swords, orcs, or any of that guff.

Estimated length: 12hrs including side content:
(a) we're a small indie studio and don't have the capacity for more
(b) we actually want players to finish the game.


Coming soon to PC

08b1f7_736dcb570a0242bda92781a620e4d8ec~mv2_d_6000_4500_s_4_2.webp

https://www.inn-between-worlds.com/oddgods



Alpha preview: https://www.finder.com.au/odd-gods-hands-on
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Bantichai

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
332
Location
Australia
Holy shit, what witchery in this! Another Australian indie studio. This makes what... 5 I think in the entirety of Australia. We are truly witnessing the golden age of indie gaming in Australia.
 

Jimmious

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
5,132
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Yup it looks pretty, with nice features and is small enough :)
 

Grumpy Grognard

Inn Between Worlds
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Messages
103
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Grizzled Gnoll's Gorge
this whole 90s nostalgia and incessant pop culture references popping up in copious amounts aggravate me

the 90s were depressingly shit

It's interesting you say that. I find the 90s fascinating, as a decade - from a cultural, political, economic and technological perspective.

You've got the end of the cold war/fall of the berlin wall to kick it off. Massive corporate power and rampant commercialism, while on the flipside - rebellious subcultures, an explosion of creativity in music and grassroots politics for example not seen since the 60s or 70s. Massive anti-globalisation protests (battle of seattle, for example). The dawn of the digital/information era - remember that for most people, the 90s was experienced pre-internet. It was the last vestige of pre-internet culture, in a sense.

Although I would say that, because I'm a dev on the project. But seriously - I do find it fascinating. People have such different memories of the era. Part of what the game is about is asking questions about that stuff.
 

Grumpy Grognard

Inn Between Worlds
Developer
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
Grizzled Gnoll's Gorge
Holy shit, what witchery in this! Another Australian indie studio. This makes what... 5 I think in the entirety of Australia. We are truly witnessing the golden age of indie gaming in Australia.

We just got back from PAX Aus - where the game did really well on the showfloor ('they' said a hardcore isometric CRPG demo that takes 30 minutes to finish, with branching paths, no tutorial, dev-tuned combat and 'highbrow' concepts wouldn't do well - they were wrong). There are a shitload of indie devs in Australia. Inn Between Worlds (our little 'studio', although calling it a studio seems a bit pretentious) is just one of... dozens? I can find out how many.

And so far as interest in CRPGs - lines were chockers 3 days straight. We had to turn people away, bring on extra booth staff to compensate for media attention, and people were booking a turn on our crappy laptops (propped up on milk crates, no less) days in advance. Security would come past after the showfloor closed, and we'd beg them to let our players finish (which they did, mostly, with grace).
 

Grumpy Grognard

Inn Between Worlds
Developer
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
Grizzled Gnoll's Gorge
this whole 90s nostalgia and incessant pop culture references popping up in copious amounts aggravate me

the 90s were depressingly shit

It's interesting you say that. I find the 90s fascinating, as a decade - from a cultural, political, economic and technological perspective.

You've got the end of the cold war/fall of the berlin wall to kick it off. Massive corporate power and rampant commercialism, while on the flipside - rebellious subcultures, an explosion of creativity in music and grassroots politics for example not seen since the 60s or 70s. Massive anti-globalisation protests (battle of seattle, for example). The dawn of the digital/information era - remember that for most people, the 90s was experienced pre-internet. It was the last vestige of pre-internet culture, in a sense.

Although I would say that, because I'm a dev on the project. But seriously - I do find it fascinating. People have such different memories of the era. Part of what the game is about is asking questions about that stuff.
in my country the 90s were full of crime and drugs and alcoholism and shady businessmen buying out post-Soviet state industries for pennies only to end up dead a month later

to feel nostalgia for what was essentially dark ages is mind-boggling

Argentina (from your profile)? I understand (superficially) that it was pretty bloody awful, to make the understatement of the year. Always wanted to visit, though. Argentina's been suggested as a possible location in the campaign, for what it's worth.
 

Bantichai

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
332
Location
Australia
Holy shit, what witchery in this! Another Australian indie studio. This makes what... 5 I think in the entirety of Australia. We are truly witnessing the golden age of indie gaming in Australia.

We just got back from PAX Aus - where the game did really well on the showfloor ('they' said a hardcore isometric CRPG demo that takes 30 minutes to finish, with branching paths, no tutorial, dev-tuned combat and 'highbrow' concepts wouldn't do well - they were wrong). There are a shitload of indie devs in Australia. Inn Between Worlds (our little 'studio', although calling it a studio seems a bit pretentious) is just one of... dozens? I can find out how many.

And so far as interest in CRPGs - lines were chockers 3 days straight. We had to turn people away, bring on extra booth staff to compensate for media attention, and people were booking a turn on our crappy laptops (propped up on milk crates, no less) days in advance. Security would come past after the showfloor closed, and we'd beg them to let our players finish (which they did, mostly, with grace).

That's awesome to hear :)
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
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Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
tfw you're a Codexer about to call out another pretentious indie hipster game but then see it's being developed by a literal Grumpy Grognard
 
Last edited:

Grumpy Grognard

Inn Between Worlds
Developer
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
Grizzled Gnoll's Gorge
('Same Phase' system with no RNG, no % to hit, just tactics).

So - yeah. We have an original combat system - not an infinity engine-derived copy ;) While we were developing it though, we did see some similarity with Copper Dreams (a game which I'm a big fan of personally, not to mention Serpent in the Staglands).

People seem to like our system so far though (based on Pax/press impressions so far). It feels a bit Fallout 1-esque according to some players, although that's a compliment I don't feel comfortable with, if you ask me. Hopefully we can get something out soon so you can make up your own mind ;)
 

Jimmious

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 18, 2015
Messages
5,132
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Yup it looks pretty, with nice features and is small enough :)

From an obvious battle brothers fan - that's high praise. Thanks =)

Haha cheers man.
I'm always curious to see implementations of "same phase" combat systems. In theory they are the best but I don't think I've seen anyone work really well in practice. I'm really willing to be surprised though and I love the aesthetic already.
Up to how many NPCs can I have in my party?
 

Grumpy Grognard

Inn Between Worlds
Developer
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
Grizzled Gnoll's Gorge
Yup it looks pretty, with nice features and is small enough :)

From an obvious battle brothers fan - that's high praise. Thanks =)

Haha cheers man.
I'm always curious to see implementations of "same phase" combat systems. In theory they are the best but I don't think I've seen anyone work really well in practice. I'm really willing to be surprised though and I love the aesthetic already.
Up to how many NPCs can I have in my party?

I hear ya. I grew up playing 7 years war wargaming with my Dad, which used what is basically a 'same phase' (need a better term than that) system, on a massive scale, with a few cool twists. Same system was used to train military officers. I spent some time experimenting on paper with minis to see how the principles held up on a smaller scale (for both melee and ranged combat, 1v1 and party versus party etc). Pretty happy with the result so far =)

Party size... unngh. Tricky one. We've pencilled in 4, although the system functions for parties of any size, really. I'd like for it to be larger, although I find a party size larger than 8 to get unwieldy.
 

Grumpy Grognard

Inn Between Worlds
Developer
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
Grizzled Gnoll's Gorge
this whole 90s nostalgia and incessant pop culture references popping up in copious amounts aggravate me

the 90s were depressingly shit

It's interesting you say that. I find the 90s fascinating, as a decade - from a cultural, political, economic and technological perspective.

You've got the end of the cold war/fall of the berlin wall to kick it off. Massive corporate power and rampant commercialism, while on the flipside - rebellious subcultures, an explosion of creativity in music and grassroots politics for example not seen since the 60s or 70s. Massive anti-globalisation protests (battle of seattle, for example). The dawn of the digital/information era - remember that for most people, the 90s was experienced pre-internet. It was the last vestige of pre-internet culture, in a sense.

Although I would say that, because I'm a dev on the project. But seriously - I do find it fascinating. People have such different memories of the era. Part of what the game is about is asking questions about that stuff.
in my country the 90s were full of crime and drugs and alcoholism and shady businessmen buying out post-Soviet state industries for pennies only to end up dead a month later

to feel nostalgia for what was essentially dark ages is mind-boggling

Argentina (from your profile)? I understand (superficially) that it was pretty bloody awful, to make the understatement of the year. Always wanted to visit, though. Argentina's been suggested as a possible location in the campaign, for what it's worth.
I'm from Poland

Fair enough.
 

Grumpy Grognard

Inn Between Worlds
Developer
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
Grizzled Gnoll's Gorge
Holy shit, what witchery in this! Another Australian indie studio. This makes what... 5 I think in the entirety of Australia. We are truly witnessing the golden age of indie gaming in Australia.

We just got back from PAX Aus - where the game did really well on the showfloor ('they' said a hardcore isometric CRPG demo that takes 30 minutes to finish, with branching paths, no tutorial, dev-tuned combat and 'highbrow' concepts wouldn't do well - they were wrong). There are a shitload of indie devs in Australia. Inn Between Worlds (our little 'studio', although calling it a studio seems a bit pretentious) is just one of... dozens? I can find out how many.

And so far as interest in CRPGs - lines were chockers 3 days straight. We had to turn people away, bring on extra booth staff to compensate for media attention, and people were booking a turn on our crappy laptops (propped up on milk crates, no less) days in advance. Security would come past after the showfloor closed, and we'd beg them to let our players finish (which they did, mostly, with grace).

That's awesome to hear :)

I was very surprised... ;) Dead Monarchy looks cool btw, I've been following the project a bit, nice work.
 

CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,548
Yup it looks pretty, with nice features and is small enough :)

From an obvious battle brothers fan - that's high praise. Thanks =)

Haha cheers man.
I'm always curious to see implementations of "same phase" combat systems. In theory they are the best but I don't think I've seen anyone work really well in practice. I'm really willing to be surprised though and I love the aesthetic already.
Up to how many NPCs can I have in my party?

I hear ya. I grew up playing 7 years war wargaming with my Dad, which used what is basically a 'same phase' (need a better term than that) system, on a massive scale, with a few cool twists. Same system was used to train military officers. I spent some time experimenting on paper with minis to see how the principles held up on a smaller scale (for both melee and ranged combat, 1v1 and party versus party etc). Pretty happy with the result so far =)

Party size... unngh. Tricky one. We've pencilled in 4, although the system functions for parties of any size, really. I'd like for it to be larger, although I find a party size larger than 8 to get unwieldy.
8 would already be :obviously:.
 

Bantichai

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
332
Location
Australia
Holy shit, what witchery in this! Another Australian indie studio. This makes what... 5 I think in the entirety of Australia. We are truly witnessing the golden age of indie gaming in Australia.

We just got back from PAX Aus - where the game did really well on the showfloor ('they' said a hardcore isometric CRPG demo that takes 30 minutes to finish, with branching paths, no tutorial, dev-tuned combat and 'highbrow' concepts wouldn't do well - they were wrong). There are a shitload of indie devs in Australia. Inn Between Worlds (our little 'studio', although calling it a studio seems a bit pretentious) is just one of... dozens? I can find out how many.

And so far as interest in CRPGs - lines were chockers 3 days straight. We had to turn people away, bring on extra booth staff to compensate for media attention, and people were booking a turn on our crappy laptops (propped up on milk crates, no less) days in advance. Security would come past after the showfloor closed, and we'd beg them to let our players finish (which they did, mostly, with grace).

That's awesome to hear :)

I was very surprised... ;) Dead Monarchy looks cool btw, I've been following the project a bit, nice work.

Always nice to meet another Aussie Dev, great to hear that you had a huge turn out at PAX. Thanks for the vote of confidence, I still have a long way to go, but hearing success from another Aussie Dev gets me going. You killed the art, I really like it!
 

Alienman

Retro-Fascist
Patron
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
17,046
Location
Mars
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Is the combat like Laser Squad Nemesis?

Looks interesting and good luck.
 

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