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KickStarter STASIS 2: BONE TOTEM - new isometric adventure in Stasis universe set in deep sea installation

Darkozric

Arbiter
Edgy
Joined
Jun 3, 2018
Messages
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I tried "Beautiful Desolation" after "Stasis: Bone Totem," as I actually missed its release and completely forgot about it. It's also brilliant; I even felt a kind of Madeleine de Proust nostalgia as it reminds me of a long-gone era of reading comics like "Métal Hurlant" or some of Moebius' artworks. It's both alien and familiar at the same time, and it's definitely another universe worth exploring. Moreover, the plot is quite daring and non-Manichean. It's truly an exceptional game too.
I could see them doing a Fallout like game too, but it's probably too resource-intensive for little payback. Plus, there's the elephant in the room: any RPG will be compared to Baldur's Gate 3. I wouldn't mind an action horror game like Resident Evil, but I'm not sure if it's their target audience. Remember, most of us are fossils with much slower reflexes than before.
Well, better late than never they say. Beautiful Desolation is good but exceptional is a bit of a stretch imo. It needed a bit of extra love in the problem solving department.
But I'm pretty sure that if pyke decides to revisit the setting, he will up his game, Bone Totem is a proof of that.

As for the RPG department, I've dismissed this idea a long time ago. I'm ok with whatever they decide to make.
A "Resident Evil" Stasis could also work, and financially-wise is probably a better choice than a first person dungeon crawler, since there is a much bigger audience for this type of games.

Nigga, we're getting old, but we're not old enough to not be capable to handle a Stasis action game.
 

Pyke

The Brotherhood
Developer
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
1,223
Location
South Africa
Wow, this game was huge.

Pyke Some questions that come to mind:

The ritualistic murder on the DS15. Was that done by a Xiib'hanal? One of the logs mentions something inhuman coming out of the diving bell. But if so, what happened to it?

The Cayne vessel that evacuated the DS15, the Sebastian. One of the logs seems to imply that something may have happened to it after it left, but it's unclear. Did something happen to it?

Also, I suppose Hadley is the "Mother" mentioned in the Cayne theology? How long did it take Cayne Corp to turn into a global cult anyway?

So sorry for missing out on these! It's been a little crazy my side of the world lately. :D
The ritualistic murder on the DS15. Was that done by a Xiib'hanal? One of the logs mentions something inhuman coming out of the diving bell. But if so, what happened to it?

It was. And in my mind it was still stalking the decks of the DS15 - or perhaps it tried to dive back over the edge and drowned?
We did have a super early game mechanic where you could be hunted by something which would lead to ingame deaths and a cool motion tracker - and quite a bit of the story beats had this in mind. Thats why at most parts of the game there is a strong antagnonistic presense... the tumor creature, the scrubbers, the insect that bursts from the escape pod, and the ritualistic scalper.

You can actually see how it would have worked here:

https://twitter.com/StasisGame/status/1698010758364250392

While we ended up taking that out - we kept most of the 'things' that they would have to deal with at some point, and it actually worked out quite well in keeping the feeling of danger in the game.

The Cayne vessel that evacuated the DS15, the Sebastian. One of the logs seems to imply that something may have happened to it after it left, but it's unclear. Did something happen to it?

It was scuttled... if it was purposful, or just Karma, I'm not sure. :D
Also, I suppose Hadley is the "Mother" mentioned in the Cayne theology? How long did it take Cayne Corp to turn into a global cult anyway?

Yeah - Hadley lives on as The Mother.

World Timeline (these are from our internal Wiki to keep things in order):

1949 - Asia-Pacific pact (APP) prepares the C571 facility.

1950-2000, it is revealed that the APP formed after the second world war had continued Josef Mengele-like eugenics experiments outlawed by the Advisory Committee on Human Experimentation. These Unethical human trials led to many scientific breakthroughs and a rapid rise of the AP-Pacy countries as a unified super-power

The Asia-Pacific pact forced NATO and its allies into a financial cold war. This East vs West movement thrusts the world into dark times of mistrust.

1983 - Hendry Cayne is born

2000-2010 - A localized famine and new bird flu variant (ARG) , resistant to all drugs - devastated the region, killing a billion people. The Asian Pacific block capitulates as it sues for aid and an agreement is reached in which it is forced to pay reparations for their damage to the world economy.

2013 - Cayne Mining Limited (CML) was established by Hendry Cayne.

2015 - CML is appointed to debt recovery in the East Asian Pacific through mining asset administration for a 40 year contract.

2020 - Expropriation begins - In Hokkaido Japan, CML utilizes robotics to exploit deep mineral deposits though to be unreachable.

2040 - Hidden a mile below the surface in a bunker, CML discovers the C571 research facility and its library of experiments.

2041 - The extent of the unethical experiments found at C571 are purposefully leaked to worldwide outrage at the APP.

2042 - The press relabels the rise of the APP as a eugenics war and post-fact the aged leaders and ex-presidents of six countries are executed for crimes against humanity. Hendry Cayne is thrust into the limelight and assures the world that all forboden findings at C571 have been destroyed. His political career begins.

2043 - Hendry Cayne, though his corporate connections propose a worldwide ban of genetic modification research and human experimentation and its derivative technology citing the recent AP-pact revelations.

2044 - CML in conjunction with several NATO members establishes a biotech division to clandestinely continue the C571 experiments. CML and her associates establish several proxy companies and begin to profit immensely from new drug research.

2055 - APP debt repayment is now complete, CML withdraws from Japan.

2077 - CML publicly announces the Pan-Pacific Research amendment which negates the 2949 agreement, to legitimize the continued exploitation of the C571 research and remove the veil of secrecy. A host of media pundits agree that this is what the 100,000 victims of C571 would have wanted. Unbeknown to the public that this has been undertaken for almost 3 decades already.

2078 - The immense coffers of wealth that Cayne now controls has no limits and facilitates CML to expand its portfolio into pharmaceuticals, matter manipulation, space exploration, and a host of other exotic technologies.

2079 - Cayne receives the “Father of Humanity” award for his philanthropic contributions and contributes to science. He is worshiped as a deistic figure, sprouting a church and human-centric religion with Cayne as the benefactor.

2083 - Hendry Cayne is 100 years old and the Church of Cayne is officially recognized as a world religion with 100,000 members made up of the world elite class. Hendry Cayne now influences most of the world's bureaucrats and news media ensuring an almost facisitic control over society.

2085 - Inter-Solar exploration begins.

2090 - CML rebrands as a single mega-conglomerate, Cayne Corporation becoming the world's largest and most valuable company and Hendry Cayne the world's first multi-trillionaire.

2091 - The Church of Cayne now boasts a million members

2092 - Almost all employees work for a Cayne subsidiary and are debt slaves to the company. Joining the Church of Cayne allows up to 50% debt reduction.

2100 -The Tower is built and deployed (Later renamed the Groomlake)

2115 - Charles Cayne is ‘born’ a genetic clone but highly unstable and partially crippled.

2110 - The Church of Cayne now boasts a hundred million members. The tithe is 10% of our salary which is deducted automatically. Death results in passing of your debt to family members to be distributed evenly.

2121 - Hendry Cayne dies.The world mornes,

2134 - 50 Years of the Church of Cayne at 500 million devout followers making it the fastest growing religion of all time, it is no longer branded a cult and such heretical talk will result in absolute debt recall and indentured jail time.

2165 - The Events of STASIS 1

2170 - The Events of CAYNE - Hendry Cayne is reborn.

2171 - Hendry Cayne Day is made an official world wide holiday and all personal to company debt is reduced by 10.

2182 -2185 - The Events of STASIS 2

So - roughly 100 years to go from minor fringe religion to full blown global corporate theocracy.
 

Be Kind Rewind

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck Zionist Agent
Joined
Mar 14, 2021
Messages
595
Location
Serbia
The Cayne vessel that evacuated the DS15, the Sebastian. One of the logs seems to imply that something may have happened to it after it left, but it's unclear. Did something happen to it?
Implied? Doesn't a log outright state that it went to shit because they found items from the vessel floating around or something?
 

Infinitron

I post news
Patron
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
99,451
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
The Cayne vessel that evacuated the DS15, the Sebastian. One of the logs seems to imply that something may have happened to it after it left, but it's unclear. Did something happen to it?
Implied? Doesn't a log outright state that it went to shit because they found items from the vessel floating around or something?

He saw floating items, but that's not definitive proof that the ship sunk. Hence implied.

So what happened there, was there a Veles outbreak onboard?

2110 - The Church of Cayne now boasts a hundred million members. The tithe is 10% of our salary which is deducted automatically. Death results in passing of your debt to family members to be distributed evenly.

2121 - Hendry Cayne dies.The world mornes,

2134 - 50 Years of the Church of Cayne at 500 million devout followers making it the fastest growing religion of all time, it is no longer branded a cult and such heretical talk will result in absolute debt recall and indentured jail time.

2165 - The Events of STASIS 1

OK, this is suprising because I don't remember seeing cultic stuff in the original STASIS. Bone Totem gave me the impression that the cult of Hendry Cayne sprung up due to his rebirth/resurrection.
 
Last edited:

Pyke

The Brotherhood
Developer
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
1,223
Location
South Africa
There are some hints about the religious stuff ( The final scenes being quite 'cathederal' like in their design, the monument in the museum, etc. ) but admitidly we leaned more into it with the sequels!
 

Infinitron

I post news
Patron
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
99,451
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
There are some hints about the religious stuff ( The final scenes being quite 'cathederal' like in their design, the monument in the museum, etc. ) but admitidly we leaned more into it with the sequels!
It's okay Chris, embrace the retcon!

 
Last edited:

Mortmal

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
9,489
I tried "Beautiful Desolation" after "Stasis: Bone Totem," as I actually missed its release and completely forgot about it. It's also brilliant; I even felt a kind of Madeleine de Proust nostalgia as it reminds me of a long-gone era of reading comics like "Métal Hurlant" or some of Moebius' artworks. It's both alien and familiar at the same time, and it's definitely another universe worth exploring. Moreover, the plot is quite daring and non-Manichean. It's truly an exceptional game too.
I could see them doing a Fallout like game too, but it's probably too resource-intensive for little payback. Plus, there's the elephant in the room: any RPG will be compared to Baldur's Gate 3. I wouldn't mind an action horror game like Resident Evil, but I'm not sure if it's their target audience. Remember, most of us are fossils with much slower reflexes than before.
Well, better late than never they say. Beautiful Desolation is good but exceptional is a bit of a stretch imo. It needed a bit of extra love in the problem solving department.
But I'm pretty sure that if pyke decides to revisit the setting, he will up his game, Bone Totem is a proof of that.

As for the RPG department, I've dismissed this idea a long time ago. I'm ok with whatever they decide to make.
A "Resident Evil" Stasis could also work, and financially-wise is probably a better choice than a first person dungeon crawler, since there is a much bigger audience for this type of games.

Nigga, we're getting old, but we're not old enough to not be capable to handle a Stasis action game.
Calling it exceptional is not an exageration , The game's aesthetic is truly unique, and it takes you back to the '80s and '90s, reminiscent of Exxos games from that era. That, in itself, is quite a rarity in today's gaming landscape. Furthermore, the plot, especially in quests involving the Chizayama and the Yanasi, is daring and delivers unexpected twists, something you don't often see, and cant see, in modern games. The game's atmosphere masterfully blends primitive culture and super high technology, creating a captivating and distinctive experience. While there are still adventure games being released, none quite match the level of uniqueness you find in Beautiful Desolation. It's more reminiscent of classics like "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream."
As for the action game template in the YouTube video, it seems promising. I am also curious about how a Stasis game would translate to VR. it's quite challenging to find worthwhile VR experiences,specially with quest 2 flooding us with sholvelware, and there's a significant opportunity for developers to create compelling and immersive VR horror games.
 

Darkozric

Arbiter
Edgy
Joined
Jun 3, 2018
Messages
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Not disagreeing with your take, but when I'm playing an adventure, I want to be challenged.

Beautiful Desolation didn't fulfill that aspect, at least for me.
 

Mortmal

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
9,489
Not disagreeing with your take, but when I'm playing an adventure, I want to be challenged.

Beautiful Desolation didn't fulfill that aspect, at least for me.
That's true; the puzzles in Bone Totem are more intricate and challenging. However, it can be challenging to truly engage old farts like us.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,545
A corporate/cult combination is a terrifying and plausible combination.
Although some aspects are so hilariously over-the-top it's hard to believe, like the stupidly dangerous Coca Cola equivalent of CAYNE corp.
 

agris

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Apr 16, 2004
Messages
6,925
Although some aspects are so hilariously over-the-top it's hard to believe, like the stupidly dangerous Coca Cola equivalent of CAYNE corp.
i love it, it gives the world an 80s action movie vibe like Robocop or similar
 

Lyre Mors

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
5,411
Wow, pretty surprised they used AI art in this. Like, really surprised. Almost seems like a self-originating heresy of sorts coming from such an amazing artist as Chris Bischoff.
 

HoboForEternity

LIBERAL PROPAGANDIST
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Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
9,397
Location
liberal utopia in progress
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
1694841348541.jpeg
 

Tyranicon

A Memory of Eternity
Developer
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
7,664
I didn't mind the AI bits and I'm fully aware that there is a certain crowd, especially on Twitter, that goes full pitchfork mode over even the vaguest hint of AI-produced art.

That being said, like Mandalore I did find the AI-gen artwork to be completely superfluous. I would've especially liked traditional artwork portraits (which could still be animated with AI tech) for the journal segments.

But overall it's a real nothingbuger on what is a great game.
 

Darkozric

Arbiter
Edgy
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Jun 3, 2018
Messages
1,828
"Just get it off, nobody likes it"

He sounds butthurt
 
Last edited:

lightbane

Arcane
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Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,545
didn't mind the AI bits and I'm fully aware that there is a certain crowd, especially on Twitter, that goes full pitchfork mode over even the vaguest hint of AI-produced art.
Right, the ongoing butthurt strike of Hollyfail and now some game devs, that explains why Mando viscerally hates the presence of AI art.
I thought it was part of the game and nothing to make a fuss about, as freaky shit is part of the game world.
 

Darkozric

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Edgy
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Messages
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He could've just said as a "professional" my ass reviewer, that he didn't like the AI usage and end it there.

But no, he must make a fucking statement and sound like a cucked butthurt. Even the pitch of his voice make me want to smash his bones.

Who the fuck does he think he is to order "just get it off", if I was pyke I would've thrown even more AI shit after that, just to make twitter faggots like him go full butthurt schizo.
 

Gumsmith

Educated
Joined
Feb 22, 2021
Messages
126
How the AI generated portraits looked didn't bother me but I was really wishing they'd stop their constant jittering about halfway through the game, still images would've been less noticeable.

I didn't connect the dots that the computer pictures were also AI generated but I did get a strong feeling that looking at them was a complete waste of time, :incline: if they're gone.
 

None

Arbiter
Joined
Sep 5, 2019
Messages
2,011
The portraits aren't ai generated. They're handpainted from 3d scans and animated using rosebud.
 

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