Game News Torment: Tides of Numenera Alpha Systems Test Launched

[Infinitron]

Video of the alpha:

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

So...even though this is the KS I pledged the most money to, I haven't been following it very closely. Mainly because it's the KS I've been most excited about, least apprehensive about and haven't wanted to spoil the freshness of what will be my very first playthrough (I literally knew *nothing* about PS:T before I first played it). That said, I skipped about for a few seconds through that video. Excited by what I did briefly see.

Question though: Does anybody have any guesses as to a realistic date for beta release (let alone official release)?

 

[Serious_Business]

YOU MIND WAKES IN DARKNESS

Story of my goddamn life

 

[Darkzone]

Video of the alpha:

His reading of the text is annoying and without it the atmosphere could have been much better presented.

 

[Jedi Exile]

That's a lot of text. Not sure if I want to read *that* much, to be honest...

 

[J_C]

That's a lot of text. Not sure if I want to read *that* much, to be honest...

My thoughts exactly. I hope they don't fall into the trap of writing verbose conversations, just because the game is for people who like reading. PST hit the perfect mark with its length of dialogue, you don't have to top that.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[J_C]

Is that for me? :D Because really, they have to balance the quantity of dialogues, they can't go overboard just because the game is a PST successor.

 

[Ulrox]

That's a lot of text. Not sure if I want to read *that* much, to be honest...

I guess you've gotten used to modern games with voice acting and such...? These old games require you to fire up your imagination instead, it may be a bit hard at first if you're not used to reading is my guess.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Guys, if you don't like text, there's games out there for you. Bard's Tale, Grimrock, Diablo etc.

This game is for those of us who like story, dialogue, skill checks, reactivity etc. Don't ruin it for us.

 

[J_C]

Guys, if you don't like text, there's games out there for you. Bard's Tale, Grimrock, Diablo etc.

This game is for those of us who like story, dialogue, skill checks, reactivity etc. Don't ruin it for us.

Please, I'm begging to you, don't come with this bullshit. Every time someone is complaining about the length of a dialogues, someone comes with this bullshit "Oh, if you don't like to read, go play Diablo!". Nobody said that they want to ruin this for you, we are all about reactivity and skillchecks, and don't have a problem with reading. But you really think that there shouldn't be a balance with dialogues and gameplay?

 

[Zed]

JC you need tos hut the fuck up I swear I will kill you

 

[Athelas]

That's a lot of text. Not sure if I want to read *that* much, to be honest...

My thoughts exactly. I hope they don't fall into the trap of writing verbose conversations, just because the game is for people who like reading. PST hit the perfect mark with its length of dialogue, you don't have to top that.

I suspect these small rumblings are but the first of what will be an avalanche of butthurt, disappointment and disillusionment.

 

[J_C]

JC you need tos hut the fuck up I swear I will kill you

Fuck you!

 

[Delbaeth]

Well if you don't like it, you still have Edgar Allan PoE.

Spoiler

Seriously though, I believe that many of us baked Numanuma this, because they wanted to read, I mean, to read a lot.
How many games have 'Walls of text' these days ? Or even for decades ?

Ok, many don't have the time or the will to play that kind of games. While I won't come with actionish things, there are a lot of games with 'balanced' texts. So why taking the risk to displease those who desperately want that kind of games, only to have another RPG like many others?

It's like adding romances.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Please, I'm begging to you, don't come with this bullshit. Every time someone is complaining about the length of a dialogues, someone comes with this bullshit "Oh, if you don't like to read, go play Diablo!". Nobody said that they want to ruin this for you, we are all about reactivity and skillchecks, and don't have a problem with reading. But you really think that there shouldn't be a balance with dialogues and gameplay?

Have you played the alpha (or read the text in the LP) though? Because I have played it, and I didn't feel like the writing was too lengthy.

It seems to me that 1. the dialogue is too long and 2. there is no balance between dialogue and gameplay are two separate arguments. The latter is true, because the alpha doesn't have any gameplay yet, and it remains to be seen how they balance it in the full game. The former, in my experience, is false, because the writing is engaging, the choices in the character creation matter, and the amount of text is for me just right to capture the PS:T experience. I think you forget how lengthy some of the dialogue at the start of PS:T (in the Mortuary) was.

 

[Jaesun]

Can we please just ban JC from this and the adventure game forum?

 

[J_C]

Have you played the alpha (or read the text in the LP) though? Because I have played it, and I didn't feel like the writing was too lengthy.

It seems to me that 1. the dialogue is too long and 2. there is no balance between dialogue and gameplay are two separate arguments. The latter is true, because the alpha doesn't have any gameplay yet, and it remains to be seen how they balance it in the full game. The former, in my experience, is false, because the writing is engaging, the choices in the character creation matter, and the amount of text is for me just right to capture the PS:T experience. I think you forget how lengthy some of the dialogue at the start of PS:T (in the Mortuary) was.

Oh I haven't played it, and I'm not saying that there is a problem with the game. I'm just saying that I HOPE that everything will be OK on this front.

 

[Esquilax]

Have you played the alpha (or read the text in the LP) though? Because I have played it, and I didn't feel like the writing was too lengthy.

It seems to me that 1. the dialogue is too long and 2. there is no balance between dialogue and gameplay are two separate arguments. The latter is true, because the alpha doesn't have any gameplay yet, and it remains to be seen how they balance it in the full game. The former, in my experience, is false, because the writing is engaging, the choices in the character creation matter, and the amount of text is for me just right to capture the PS:T experience. I think you forget how lengthy some of the dialogue at the start of PS:T (in the Mortuary) was.

Nevertheless, I understand the sentiment behind it. When playing PoE, sometimes the writing was verbose and lengthy, but just not very good. It felt like an encyclopedia, as others on the Codex said. I'm pretty sure that this won't be a problem with TToN, but I do agree that we shouldn't conflate wordy, lengthy writing with good writing.

 

[J_C]

Can we please just ban JC from this and the adventure game forum?

Please just ban me from the Codex, because it seems nobody understands the basic problems I have with games.

Me: I hope they will have just the right ammount of text in the games, just in PST!
Retards: FUUU , ban J_C, he will ruin the game for us because he doesn't want to read.
Me: Wha... I just want them to balance text and gameplay, just in PST
Retards: bbaaaaaaan him, he will ruin everything.
Me: But I don't...
Retards: nnooo you idiot!

Nevertheless, I understand the sentiment behind it. When playing PoE, sometimes the writing was verbose and lengthy, but just not very good. It felt like an encyclopedia,

Exactly. Of course if PoE does this, it is shit, but if I fear that Torment will do this, it is allright.

 

[Darkzone]

The problem is that the one who made the video is trying to read it loud. The text don't feel at all like a lengthy chore or like an encyclopedia or like 18 pages of the description of solaris. It was ok and contributed much to the atmosphere of the alpha.

 

[Infinitron]

To me, long-form writing is an aesthetic all of its own. It doesn't need to justify itself with rules like "only write a lot if you have something interesting to say" - it just is.

I don't care that reading about how the shopkeep scratches his nose before greeting my character has no bearing on the game's plot. Stuff like that is just part of the whole.

 

[Jedi Exile]

I think you forget how lengthy some of the dialogue at the start of PS:T (in the Mortuary) was.

Mortuary wasn't as text-heavy as TTON alpha. Also, in Mortuary there were dialogues with multiple responses, not just long walls of text. A better comparison would be the Sensorium, which was probably one of the inspiration for character creation in the new Torment. As for now, there is too much text and not enough gameplay. Hopefully in the actual game the balance between them would be restored.

 

[Neanderthal]

Do you think they could have made the stat boosts more...natural? I mean like willing the slabs to rise and make you a path equals intellect, jumping from one to the next uses speed, or doggedly climbing up them flags might, or something like that. What you do is who you become rather than deciding on it in those little shown adventures.

Then again the flashbacks created a lot of atmosphere and gave a look at what the world was like, so familiarising the player as a bonus.

 

[Serious_Business]

Please just ban me from the Codex

Ah yes.

I see you are being emotional. Very good.

Go on. Express yourself my friend