Incline Strangeland - new adventure game from Wormwood Studios

[MRY]

https://www.wadjeteyegames.com/games/strangeland/




https://af.gog.com/game/strangeland?as=1649904300

Spoiler

So, it feels quite weird posting about two games in development -- since a fundamental law of warfare is never to divide your forces in view of the enemy -- but anyway, here is Strangeland:

http://www.wormwoodstudios.com/2018/03/announcing-strangeland.html



The obvious question is whether it will delay Fallen Gods; I think the answer is no. Any delay has already happened, and in any event, I don't really work linearly; Strangeland time would've been Freecell or Hex Empire screw-around time rather than Fallen Gods hard-work time, since it was developed amidst procrastination.

I think it's reasonable to assume we'll finish it by the end of the year. The immediate inspiration for me was the death of my grandfather, almost immediately after the death of my grandmother (whom he'd been caring for in her late-stage dementia), though I wouldn't say that the game is really about that. As you can see, Vic has gotten even more amazing as an artist, which is good, as I suspect my talents have faded in proportion since Primordia.

--EDIT--

Now with Steam page:

 

[jfrisby]

 

[Tom Selleck]

So who is Wormwood exactly? Is it Victor? Is it you? You and Vic? That scary face is too scare for me, so I can't play it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

 

[HoboForEternity]

2018 best year

 

[Darth Roxor]

The cover art is bretty guud I have to say.

 

[Daedalos]

Wow, this looks surprisingly interesting, Mark. I will buy. You won me over with Primordia, and this looks really special.

The artwork and design alone looks fantastic and fresh.

 

[LeStryfe79]

I bet the game ends up fantastic, but that trailer is no good. It wins over fans of your previous work but does nothing to expand your audience. A random passerby would have no idea what kind of game it is and you end up with diminishing returns.

Anyway, as a Codexer, I felt it important to talk shit.

:terrorist:

 

[lightbane]

Tormentum 2: Extra Metal Edition! ??

 

[J_C]

The cover art is bretty guud I have to say.

With the exception of that Microsoft Word style title.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The cover art is bretty guud I have to say.

With the exception of that Microsoft Word style title.

wow such nitpicking and blind hate just for the sake of being contrarian and edgy

 

[MRY]

So who is Wormwood exactly? Is it Victor? Is it you? You and Vic?

It's like the Wu-Tang Clan. The original members are me, Vic, and James -- we released Primordia. Then James released Until I Have You. Then I've been developing Fallen Gods, mostly with a different crew (although Vic did UI work and is doing item graphics). Then the three of us got together gain for Strangeland.

LeStryfe79 Who knows? I'm not a marketer. I'm not sure another point-and-click adventure, smaller than Primordia and still featuring puzzles and an inventory, released after the indie boom, would ever reach a larger audience than Primordia. Fallen Gods might expand our audience, though perhaps it'll just lose audience.

 

[J_C]

The cover art is bretty guud I have to say.

With the exception of that Microsoft Word style title.

wow such nitpicking and blind hate just for the sake of being contrarian and edgy

Exactly. What the hell is this place? It almost feels like the Codex.

 

[MRY]

The funny thing is that Vic still has a sore spot from not being allowed to have an illegible, graffiti-tag style "Primordia" for that cover, and yet without my pleading used a legible font for Strangeland. Now you are going to create a 100% likelihood this cover will now be changed to something unreadable. Thanks, team. :D

Also, Victor Pflug, get here and collect some cheers.

 

[CptMace]

Primordia was one of the best gaming experience I had these last years, may Strangeland be just as fascinating and hopefully even better.

 

[MRY]

Thanks! I suspect that Primordia had a novelty to it that will be hard to replicate -- not so much that its ideas were startlingly original, but Vic's art has a particular look and my writing has a particular style, and I'd guess like anything else they wear out their novelty. Still, I think visually at least it's going to be an upgrade over Primordia. Not so sure about story/design, and it's certainly shorter.

Also, we got nice coverage on RPS. I was pleasantly surprised, since they missed Fallen Gods and didn't like Primordia.

 

[Viata]

What a beautiful art. But the main character's stance seems kinda weird, like he is emotionless, is it intentional?

 

[MRY]

Yes.

EDIT: I realize that was a little cryptic; to some degree there might be animation shortcomings, but the protagonist is meant to be pretty downtrodden and lost.

 

[Victor Pflug]

What a beautiful art. But the main character's stance seems kinda weird, like he is emotionless, is it intentional?

You could say he's in a kind of stupor - strait jackets (like he's donning) are restrictive even when undone, that said - there are things in this trailer that are due another polish before we demo gameplay

 

[Victor Pflug]

The funny thing is that Vic still has a sore spot from not being allowed to have an illegible, graffiti-tag style "Primordia" for that cover, and yet without my pleading used a legible font for Strangeland. Now you are going to create a 100% likelihood this cover will now be changed to something unreadable. Thanks, team. :D

Also, Victor Pflug, get here and collect some cheers.

Hahaha noooo - I'm totally over the logo for Primordia - the one we went with has grown on me now.

Yes, give me those sweeet props.

Or maybe wait till you play it. :D

 

[Victor Pflug]

The cover art is bretty guud I have to say.

With the exception of that Microsoft Word style title.

It's actually a road sign style font - I was trying to bite a bit of style from Twin Peaks hehe

 

[Blackthorne]

Victor's design aesthetic is just so damn good. The art draws you in, in almost an uncomfortable way that intrigues me. I'm interested to see where this one goes, thematically - it sounds very compelling. I love the trailer - and I totally get the Twin Peaks font choice for the poster. I dig it. A good typeface can really set the tone for something, and I like a good, stoic Sans Serif font used properly.

Very excited for this one!


Bt

 

[SausageInYourFace]

The art direction does indeed look very compelling!

 

[Wapcaplet]

LOL at the press coverage I've seen which tries to push aside the poor reviews that said press outlets gave Primordia:

RPS:

I loved Primordia, though (moreso than Nathan Grayson did, it seems), Wormwood’s short, sweet and perfectly paced puzzle adventure.

PCGamer:

Despite the rather dismal 55/100 score we awarded Primordia in our 2013 review, I thought it was excellent.

 

[MRY]

Different folks at the same site. Nice of them to give us a little coverage all the same, though it’s interesting that almost no one seems to click through from their sites to our post.