Game News Russian studio Owlcat Games to develop Pathfinder CRPG, Chris Avellone onboard as narrative designer

[sser]

MCA should move out of the way and let me hopw roewur ne on this sword.

 

[deuxhero]

Hate to break this to you, but this game will be RTwP.

So RTwP is horrible now?

Its been shit since Darklands.

 

[Lady_Error]

Yet somehow 2 RTwP titles ended up in the Codex Top 5 of all time. Go figure.

And yeah, I'm sure it was "despite" the RTwP combat.

 

[Hamster]

Rage of Mages and Evil Islands? These games were quaint and adorable in year 2000, very nostalgic for me, and i'm of course glad thesу guys finally got out of f2p shovelware gulag, but i kinda doubt they have the skills to make a really good classical RPG.

 

[Dorateen]

Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale

This again. If developers are going to declare Infinity Engine inspiration, they ought to state what game they are talking about.

Because Baldur's Gate is not Icewind Dale, and neither of them are Planescape:Torment.

 

[l3loodAngel]

Wasn't the PoE2 figstarter quite successful, especially considering the criticism of PoE by parts of the core fanbase and the obscure crowd funding platform? The brand seems to dodge the KS fatigue.

PoE was good though.

Just as your posts.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Yet somehow 2 RTwP titles ended up in the Codex Top 5 of all time. Go figure.

And yeah, I'm sure it was "despite" the RTwP combat.

No, of course it was because of RTwP.

 

[Lady_Error]

BG2 combat is just fine. In fact, the mage fights were one of the strongest parts of the game that PoE is still struggling to recreate.

 

[Papa Môlé]

Tags: Chris Avellone; My.com; Owlcat Games; Pathfinder: Kingmaker

From out of nowhere the news came out today that we're getting a Pathfinder CRPG. Its title is Pathfinder: Kingmaker and the developers are Owlcat Games, a team within Russian publisher My.com, which is best known on the Codex for publishing former Obsidian tank MMO Armored Warfare. And that's not the game's only connection with Obsidian, because it turns out that (surprise surprise!) Chris Avellone is involved with it as well, in some sort of narrative design role. Very little known is known about the game right now. There's an official website with a single screenshot and a press release:

First cRPG Pathfinder Game in Development by Owlcat Games and Game Designer Chris Avellone

Owlcat Games studio is proud to unveil it is developing Pathfinder: Kingmaker – the very first isometric computer RPG based on the highly popular Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Additionally, helping shape the game’s narrative is Chris Avellone, who has worked on a variety of RPGs over the years, including Fallout 2,Fallout: New Vegas, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights 2, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker will take players on a tour through the infamous Stolen Lands, the dangerous and turbulent territories well known within Pathfinder fandom. The computer RPG will revisit familiar characters and well-known locations of the series’ lore as well as treat players to brand new adventures, deadly foes and unforeseen twists and turns. Fans of the fantasy pen-and-paper RPG will experience its epic, heroic universe in new ways while computer RPG gamers will discover their favorite genre in a more contemporary light.

"I’m a Paizo fan, and a Pathfinder fan. I like the setting, the art style, the adventure paths, the card game, and the iconic characters. I’ve enjoyed playing Pathfinder with my friends (we used to be part of an Ocean’s-11 style game), and I’ve enjoyed the comics, the world, and the overall setting," said Chris Avellone."I’m excited by the prospect of bringing Pathfinder to the computer RPG world, and hope gamers will enjoy playing in the Pathfinder universe."

Owlcat Games is working very closely with Paizo Inc., the company behind the world-famous pen-and-paper RPG, to ensure a truthful digital adaptation of Golarion.

“I am very excited to be working with Owlcat Games on the first computer RPG for Pathfinder,” said Lisa Stevens, Paizo CEO. “Kingmaker is one of my all time favorite Pathfinder Adventure Paths, and from what we've seen from Owlcat Games, it is in good hands and promises to be an amazing addition to the computer RPG field.”

Pathfinder: Kingmaker will challenge players as both adventurers and rulers as they will be able to claim explored lands and carve their own kingdom from the wilderness. Kingdom founding will go beyond simple stronghold-building to become a true reflection of the hero’s character and choices made throughout the game. Each kingdom will be a living thing shaped by alignment, choices, allies and the hero’s ability to lead his or her people.

Owlcat Games is excited to show its unique ideas for Pathfinder: Kingmaker during PaizoCon 2017 this month in Seattle. For more details about Pathfinder: Kingmaker, please visit the project’s official site: www.owlcatgames.com
​

Seems like it's still very early days for this game. According to Rock Paper Shotgun, the developers aren't even sure how they're going to fund it yet (despite working for My.com!). The website mentions the Infinity Engine games as inspirations, so I'm assuming it will be a real-time affair. The game looks pretty generic, doesn't it? I suspect this is not the sort of thing people were expecting Chris Avellone to work on as narrative designer after he ditched Obsidian.

We really need that meh rating back.

 

[Morality Games]

Jesus, almost an entire thread of people complaining about the merits of turn-based games versus real-time games with barely a mention of trannies.

I could almost cry. Maybe there's hope for the Codex after all.

so how about that Paizo and Obsidian partnership hahah

If Paizo could have found a way to pay Obsidian California development costs I'm sure they would have been happy to make a cRPG. But it was likely a WotC-Atari-Bioware situation where Paizo had the brand, Obsidian had the development, and a publisher who never appeared had the money.

Since the game is destined to have modest sales the only way to make it profitable is to use an Eastern European company.

But based on my.com's attitude even Eastern European companies are leery of their chances of making a profit on this.

 

[Sentinel]

Hey it's Chris whoring himself out for cheap marketing points again!

I haven't seen this episode before!

I'm sure this game by a bunch of no names will be amazing and it won't be revealed 6 months after release that Chris actually had close to nothing to do with it!

 

[Morality Games]

Well, Tim Cain was a no name when he made Fallout. So was Quentin Tarantino when he made his best movies, and pretty much everyone else.


The thing about having no name is you can't depend on it to do your share of the work, you actually have to contribute.

 

[Morality Games]

Tyranny shat on everything that made old school great and well old school. Now they found an escape goat a nostalgia bubble.

It's absolutely nostalgia tho. Just like Grimrock - first one sold what, a million? Mostly to 35-somethings who played crawlers in the early 90s and thought they still like them. So they bought LoG1 en masse and realized they really don't anymore. Didn't give a shit about LoG2 afterwards. Same for adventures or isometric RPGs. Initial enthusiasm turned into indifference. These genres never had the potential to sell in millions and never will.

I don't think it was nostalgia. There are two factors there:

- Both the Banner Saga and LoG have greatly benefited from being the first high-profile indie RPGs, getting tons of media coverage that the sequels didn't get.
- While I really liked LoG2, LoG1 was a very basic DM clone with less depth and features and a poorly designed character system on top of it. Dungeon Master 2 is a much better game in every way but the graphics. So it's possible that people played it and moved on, as only people who absolutely fucking loved a game would buy its sequel.

I think LoG got meaty media coverage only after it turned out to be such a shocking commercial success, not before. Your second point is wholly unconvincing to me. First, your rating of LoG1 subjective - I personally think LoG1 is a case of pupil surpassing all its teachers - second, DM2 is better to be compared to LoG2 and third, you'd only pass on LoG sequel if you disliked the game and you only disliked the game if you realized you don't really love dungeon crawlers anymore, not because LoG1 is a terrible game.

Nobody knows why there was such a huge difference in sales (including devs themselves). I have a theory that it got bundled with something people actually wanted to play, but it's anyone's guess and maybe there were multiple factors involved. Thus, I would refrain from using it as an example to prove anything.

Real answer is that most gamers have only one or two genres they play all of the time (usually action-adventure games). The other genres they only place once every couple years or maybe once in their entire life. Essentially, its the same as a gimmick (Dynasty Warriors 3 would be this for me -- I enjoyed it once but every subsequent game in that series and even that genre bored me). Similarly, I don't play puzzle games, but I did play the Portal series.

LoG was a game a more general audience enjoyed playing one time, but never again after that.

 

[Wayward Son]

Just caught this so *ahem*....

From what little I've read, sounds like a Pathfinder version of IWD. This makes it a definite buy for me.

 

[Morality Games]

I'm surprised nobody thinks this is going to go the route of Chaos Chronicles.

Anyway, from what I hear the Kingmaker module is an inclined bit of tabletop design, so it'll be a disappointment if this doesn't get made RtwP or turn-based.

 

[luj1]

Hate to break this to you, but this game will be RTwP.

Gonna be shit because of AoOs.

Irrelevant when you play as a Zen Archer.

Irrelevant when you max your tumble like any good min maxer would

You don't max tumble silly, you level it by increments of 5 which grant +1 hidden AC each

 

[Papa Môlé]

Hate to break this to you, but this game will be RTwP.

Gonna be shit because of AoOs.

Irrelevant when you play as a Zen Archer.

Irrelevant when you max your tumble like any good min maxer would

You don't max tumble silly, you level it by increments of 5 which grant +1 hidden AC each

That was a such a dumb idea to put in the game. Skills that boost combat defense, AC, or saves vs. spells, really? If you can't convert it to a crpg from pnp just leave it out.

 

[himmy]

I expect this game to be inferior to PoE in every regard except for the fact that it will be actually fun to play.

 

[ArchAngel]

I expect this game to be inferior to PoE in every regard except for the fact that it will be actually fun to play.

After SCL I don't expect anything but I do hope it will be good.

 

[Lady_Error]

I expect this game to be inferior to PoE in every regard except for the fact that it will be actually fun to play.

Sounds like you didn't play White March.

 

[Andhaira]

So they are adapting the Kingmaker Adventure Path; interesting, it is a good fit for a computer game, with oppertunties for domain/stronghold management and a vast territory to explore. Though since the game will be similar to IE games there will be maps rather than Skyrim style free roaming.

Hopefully this comes out, unlike Chaos Chronicles

HobGoblin42

 

[Andhaira]

I expect this game to be inferior to PoE in every regard except for the fact that it will be actually fun to play.

Sounds like you didn't play White March.

Was there really much of a difference? I also didn't play White March, but since its an expansion to the main game you still have to slog through that.

 

[Lady_Error]

They also patched up the main game pretty good, including combat. And yes, White March is major incline.

 

[ArchAngel]

They also patched up the main game pretty good, including combat. And yes, White March is major incline.

Don't lie, main game didn't receive any important changes that make the combat good or fun.
And from what I read White March just has some harder and better encounters but he base game behind it all is still same crap (engagement system, abilities having short durations and don't work outside combat, cannot exit combat once it starts, spells being mostly crappy compared to IE games and so on)

 

[mondblut]

MCA is doing Russian shovelware now?Oh how the mighty have fallen,inb4 the next MCA project is in the App Store/Google Play

It's likely a cameo appearance for the sake of marketing bullet list. Much like that JA2 writer doing merc bios in Brigade E5 (did anyone ever cared about that fact? guess he wasn't a rock star enough). A glorified "famous MCA endorses this" blurb.