Torment Torment: Tides of Numenera Beta Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[StaticSpine]

Tier 1

Best RPG
Torment: Tides of Numenera (Paradox)

We played some great RPGs at PAX West, including the incredible Divinity: Original Sin 2 (which is also really damned good). But Torment: Tides of Numenera’s first hands-on gameplay with the nearly finished campaign was nothing short of phenomenal. Combining the beautiful hand-drawn world style of Pillars of Eternity with the insanely inventive writing and world building of InExile and well… you have a recipe for success. Pitch in great strategic turn-based combat, dozens of hours of content, and you’ve got the makings of an instant classic. Let’s hope the final game plays as well as the first 40 minutes.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.gamereactor.eu/articles/453153/Brian+Fargo+is+swinging+for+the+fences+with+Torment/

Brian Fargo is "swinging for the fences" with Torment
We talked with inXile's CEO at Gamescom 2016 about their upcoming RPG, the culture of crowdfunding and all things InXile.

Torment: Tides of Numenera has been in development for a while now, with a backer beta previously giving us a first taste of the game (currently available in Early Access), and at Gamescom 2016 we caught up with CEO of inXile Entertainment Brian Fargo.

We asked him about what developing Torment has been like, and Fargo said "every project for me at the studio I think of in terms of would I launch my company with this game, is it good enough, is it quality enough, is it something we could be so proud of that we could start an entire company around it? Now unless we can answer yes, then I don't think we should be doing it and so this one's no different. We want it to be something we can be proud of. With RPGs people play them for a decade after they're out, even two decades, and so we typically go big on these things, sometimes too big and make our own lives very difficult, and this one's no different, but [...] all the RPGs we've been involved with we tend to swing for the fences and this one creatively is amongst the deepest and it's among the biggest in terms of narrative. There's over a million words and 60 to 70 hours. It's more content than all the Star Wars films added up together - it's massive."

We asked more specifically about the count of a million words and what this means for the game, especially in relation to their previous projects.

"It's a certain barometer. You never know what content's on critical path versus what's not so you can't exactly go on a word-for-word ratio of how big the game is but when you're stepping up into those kinds of words there's going to be a lot of reactivity, and the thing about a good roleplaying game is the cause and effect and the things that you can do in the world that affect things in a meaningful way and unless you're willing to commit to putting in a ton of content that they're not going to see on a first-time passthrough, then you're not really doing real cause and effect [...] it really just speaks to our commitment to make a certain type of roleplaying game."

Fargo went on to talk a little bit more about inXile as a company especially after the release of Wasteland 2 using crowdfunding. "It's been a complete rebirth of the company because of crowdfunding. We wouldn't be making these kinds of games, we wouldn't have the kind of talent that we have working for us now, we wouldn't have the growth that we're having so it was a game-changer for us [...] with inXile we started in 2002 and the industry was in upheaval. Back then you either got a contract with a publisher or maybe did a flash game, there wasn't a lot of choice. Then Steam came along around 2005, then the iPhone was in 2006 or so, then that flipped to free-to-play, then Facebook games came along and they were very popular, huge for a year or two."

"So we were trying to find our feet, to find a business model that allowed us to make the games we wanted and survive, so it was not easy trying to find that. We tried to publisher route, didn't really like that. Before Kickstarter we were wondering what we were going to do and as soon as I saw Tim Schafer I said that's it and so I dropped everything. We saw Tim Schafer's campaign and we launched a month later. We stopped everything to make that happen and so it's been a godsend for sure ever since. We love working with the fans directly. It's been great for us not just from a money perspective but from a feedback perspective and a support perspective. If we make them proud for backing us and make a great product they're the first ones to shout from the rooftops how great it is and we need that support too."

With crowdfunding, there also comes a tendency to reveal more about the game during the development process, something that doesn't bother Fargo too much. "I don't mind talking about what we're doing and I'd rather get the feedback before I launch the game rather than after I launch the game where I can't do anything about it, that's a big part of it. In general I like to manage development in a certain way and so with crowdfunding I can do whatever I want, nobody's telling me exactly how to do things. We all have our own style and so we get to bring in people that we really like, that we think makes sense, we could try to hit the iteration cycle fast and all the things that I think make for a healthy product development psychology."

These changes to the industry, Fargo explained, also mean a change in the relationships between developers and publishers. "The relationships couldn't be any more different. If you go to a publisher, pitch them a concept and they're going to finance the entire game, you're going to get a certain type of deal and a certain kind of relationship. If I go to a publisher and I say 'hey listen, I'm going to pay for half the title because of crowdfunding, us investing our own money and we've already proven there's awareness there' [...] it's a very different conversation for how the deal looks and how you're treated and everything else and Techland's a great example. They've been wonderful. It's more like a partnership rather than a partnership of indentured servitude."

With this also comes the change that publishers are now coming to developers rather than the other way around. "They're watching the excitement out there," Fargo said, "and you look at, for 60,000 or 70,000 people to step up and give you their money and backing to make it, there must be something there they really want and I think it becomes a Litmus test. That's why when people say 'you always do crowdfunding' I say yeah because I like that Litmus test. I'd much rather work on a game that people are excited about and want to buy ultimately than I would something that just doesn't resonate with them and so for me I always wanted to be part of it."

He did say, however, that he thinks "that crowdfunding's going to change. We're working with Fig and equity crowdfunding, so that's different because we're going to see how good this time, if the game does well we're going to share some of the profits with you. That's good because it's more sustainable, because if I'm making money for my backers at the same time then I can do this for the rest of my life, because straight-up crowdfunding, Kickstarter, becomes difficult because it's hard to get people enthused to back games all the time, especially because in many cases they haven't even had a chance to play the last two they backed because they're busy. 40% of games on Steam get bought and never get played so you could surmise it [that] 40% of Kickstarter games backed don't get played [...] if I'm making them money - that's a different conversation."

On the topic of crowdfunding, The Bard's Tale IV was crowdfunded last year and we asked where that is now. "We're going to be showing some stuff coming up pretty soon," Fargo responded. "Visually I think all this isometric stuff is great, I love what they're doing, Torment's a beautiful product, but this is coming down more first or third person and visually we're going to show off what we can do when we start entering that realm and it just looks outstanding."

In terms of developing that and Torment, he said "we're always working on one and a half or one and three quarter titles at a time because people start to peel off of a product, writers, artists, whatever, so I'm always trying to keep the train rolling and keep the titles coming and keep everybody busy and so that's why we're always juggling, keeping one product alive while we're wrapping up another one."

"The good thing is that Torment is in the home stretch here. I was talking to the writers and within a month most of them will be done, there will be really nothing for them to do and our effort now is really just on bug fixing and localisation."

When we asked whether any older franchises may get revisited in the future, Fargo was hesitant. "I'm more interested in doing something new also. I think having a mixture of existing titles with new ideas is good for us and interesting. We're kind of finally starting to get to a point where we can start entertaining that, but you have to get your library built, you have to get the momentum, get the trust that you know what you're doing and have followers that buy what you do, and they're willing to take a chance, because if they've had a couple of great experiences with our roleplaying games it's a lot easier to get them to buy a new title or a new concept that they've never heard of before. So we're building our way towards that."

Torment is due for release in 2017 for Linux, Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

 

[FeelTheRads]

"Visually I think all this isometric stuff is great, I love what they're doing, Torment's a beautiful product, no really guise I really totally understand why somebody would want this kind of look in current year when instead you could have something that looks as outstanding as Bard's Tale."

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.everybodyplays.co.uk/pre...aracters-and-Earth-in-the-distant-future/2437

Torment: Tides of Numenera Preview: Quests, characters and Earth in the distant future
Harking back to the golden age of role playing games, Torment is looking incredible.

Some games don't age that well, but Planescape: Torment is a name that players still speak with hushed breath even today. Still widely regarded as one of the greatest role playing games of all time, this PC exclusive basically redefined an entire genre when it launched back in 1999, crafting a dark, and twisting narrative focused around player choice that still holds up well today (for proof, just check out its 4.9/5 on GOG.com, with over 10,000 votes). Along with Baldur's Gate, it was one of the main pillars of the "golden age" of PC role playing games.

As technology has moved on, though, crafting a role playing game with the same scale has become uneconomical at best, as games moved into full 3D - and so, as is often the way with these things, when inXile decided the time was right to make a successor to Planescape: Torment, the team went to Kickstarter instead. They ended up with the #3 best funded gaming kickstarter of all time, and had everything they needed in place to get the gang back together, and start making the game the team had long dreamed of making. As the game's lead writer, Colin McComb explained "One day, in 2013, Brian called me up and said 'Colin, come and make the successor.' And I said 'Brian, let me change my underwear'". Colin then proceeded to wax lyrical about the team that's working on the game - Chris Avellone, one of the leading voices on the original is on-board to offer his guidance; Mark Morgan, the composer for Fallout 1 and 2 is providing the music; while Pat Rothfuss, a man Colin described as the "number two living epic fantasy author of all time, behind George Martin", is helping out with the writing, making it nothing if not an all star team.

Of course, all of this won't mean anything to you if you haven't played the original game (and if you haven't, you're in good company, as almost ashamedly, we actually haven't either) - but all you really need to know is that Torment: Tides of Numenera is looking incredible, it's coming to PC, Xbox One and PS4, and there are so, so many reasons to be excited. It's probably best if we start things off with a trailer to set the scene, so here's a quick look at what Colin describes as "our single player, story driven, sci-fi, fantasy RPG - set on earth, one billion years in the future..."

Of course, a billion years is a long time, and in that time, eight civilisations have risen and fell, leaving behind a world that's probably best described as "science fantasy". This isn't all shiny metal and polished dystopian corridors, but instead feels a little bit more organic, perhaps a little bit steampunk, with some weird fantasy-style elements thrown in. In the game's plot, humanity left Earth at some point in the distant past, and they've now returned, for reasons that are yet to be revealed, to find the world they left behind has changed quite substantially in their absence. All around you, you'll find remnants that the long forgotten civilisations have left behind - technology that you'd never dreamt of - and that you can't possibly hope to understand. As Colin explains, "Arthur C Clark once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", as so it's safe to say the game has a sufficiently fantasy feel.

When it comes to the story itself, though, the team chose to write a plot that revolved around a rather philosophical sounding concept - "what does one life matter?" In Torment, you aren't technically an archetypical hero - you're just some dude, on a planet he doesn't recognise, billions of years in the future - but what can one man achieve, if he puts his mind to things? "We didn't want to tell a story that's like 'hey guys, you've got save the princess', or 'hey guys, the bad guy's coming, he's going to take over the world'. We wanted to tell a story about you - about your choices, about your legacy, about what you leave behind. And fortunately, that's our strength as a studio. inXile believes the best RPG is one that changes the world around you, that the world should react to you, and the world should respond as though you have a meaningful impact - because you do.".


Dare you enter the sphincter of doom?

There have been a lot of games that have said that over the years, but Colin seems certain that Torment will be one of the games that really makes it come true. For starters, when it comes to the dialogue options alone, you're rarely just limited to one or two, obvious "good" or "bad" conversation options - instead, you'll be given more like six or seven, with each leading your encounters in a drastically different direction. Sometimes you can talk your way around combat by intimidating your opponent, or reasoning with them (with the game showing you your chances of success before you attempt it) - but your dialogue options are only one small part of the humongous galaxy of choices you'll find ahead of you, as Colin explains.


What could these massive stargate-style things do? Who knows?

"You can die to unlock ghosts in your mind of people you've encountered in the real world, and you can press them for secrets they would not reveal to you otherwise. You can enter someone's memories and change their past - not just their memories, but their actual reality, and when you emerge from their memories, reality will change around you. You can sell your companions to slavers - everybody loves doing that! You can unlock a puzzle box with a key literally made out of music. You can help a giant robot give birth - and you can then steal their babies and use them as explosives. You can get cybernetic implants fitted, without anaesthetic, in the middle of a town square. If you don't have enough health, people will simply watch you scream, bleed and die. You can travel to a world of crystal inhabited by beings of light, and discover these are the last remnants of consciousness of a super-computer that killed itself out of loneliness as it circles a dying star in a dying galaxy." Just your average, common or garden role playing game stuff then(!)


Decisions, decisions...

Firing up the game on an Xbox One, we got to saw how the decisions you make will affect your game in practice, as our party were dropped off on an ancient burial ground, where no sooner had we stepped out of our ship than we discovered we'd been followed here by a gang of murderous cultists. As you'd probably guessed by the whole "murderous" thing, they weren't here to chat, and instead try and intimidate us into going and hunting someone down for them. Unfortunately for them, we're having none of it, and so we decide to send in our bruiser to intimidate them (chance of intimidation: 100%) - and as if by magic, already, our actions have had a consequence. Straight from the off, your actions here can lead down two very different paths - while we could have dealt with the murderous cultists there and then, our decision to let them go might come back to haunt us later on, as free to go about their business, the cultists would report back to their boss, and tell him we're here...


Who'd have though telling murderous cultists to stick it might have repercussions?

Much as you'd expect, you aren't alone in your quest across the future-Earth either, and you'll be able to forge your own party of followers, each of which has their own backstories and personalities. While some are softly spoken, others will have no qualms telling you if you're making a decision they don't like, adding an extra layer of storytelling to the proceedings. Every now and then, if you have the right party member with you at the right time, you'll also unlock special, character specific quests, that let you learn more about your buddy's backstory. The idea is to make it so each play through is significantly different, based on the choices you make.

So, that's the conversations and quests sorted - what about the combat? As Planescape: Torment was based on Dungeons and Dragons rules, Torment: Tides of Numenera takes its cues from a similar tabletop setting, and the battles here are actually turn based. At the start of each round, you'll have the ability to move your character a set distance, and either attack, or use an ability, with the hit chance and damage being determined by (virtual) rolls of dice behind the scenes. We'll just be keeping our fingers crossed the system turns out easy enough to pick up and play!

So, in a cosmically sized nutshell, that's Torment: Tides of Numenera - and if you aren't excited after reading this, the chances are you've probably lost your soul somewhere along the way. Set for release on Q1 2017 on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4 and Xbox One simultaneously, this has shot to the top of our most wanted games for 2017 - and we hope it's done the same for you too.

 

[Infinitron]

Hmmm I missed this one: http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/453223/Torment+Tides+of+Numenera+is+colourful,+different+experience/

Torment: Tides of Numenera is "colourful, different" experience
Spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment will reimagine the look and feel, according to creative lead Colin McComb.

Gamereactor recently had a chat with Colin McComb, creative lead on Torment: Tides of Numenera, to learn more about the title that's being pitched as a spiritual successor toPlanescape Torment and how it differs from its predecessor.

Planescape Torment was hailed by critics as one of the greatest story driven RPG's of all time and is most definitely a hard act to follow, but that is exactly what the new Torment game is intending to do. Drawing on the original as inspiration, Tides of Numenera will be set in a new universe created by Monte Cook.

"It's similar to Pillars of Eternity like Obsidian put out about a year ago" said creative lead, McComb. "It's a party-based, isometric RPG."

Although the game will adopt the classic presentation style of the original it will also differ in many ways from its classical inspiration. McComb described the new setting for the game saying "Numenera is a dying Earth style setting similar to Michael Moorcock's Dancers at the End of Time or Jack Vance's Dying Earth or Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. It's essentially Earth a billion years in the future with many civilisations having risen and fallen in the time since."

McComb also discussed the focus on conversation in the game, as opposed to the more combat driven affair of the original and how this has helped to bring it to console saying: "Conversation is an essential part of this game, there is a whole lot of reading, we've got a million words in this game. We wanted to make this game not about killing people and taking their stuff."

Designed to be more about exploration, adventure and learning things, Tides of Numenera slightly deviates from Planescape and aims to deliver a more narrative experience through character depth. In fact McComb stated that you do not exactly get experience for killing things in the game, which reinforces the focus on exploration and discovery.

"Planescape Torment was a lot about the metal and the rust and I guess the dustiness of things breaking down," said McComb. "We wanted to provide a slightly different experience because we also wanted to move away from the green and the grey that seems to be permeating so many games, we wanted to make a colourful, different, interesting experience."

Tides of Numenera has been developed closely with the community after a successful Kickstarter and has now moved into Early Access. McComb had this to say about the goal of the project in relation to what the fans want:

"We are very very intently focused on making a thematically satisfying story for our players, something that will make them think and imagine, I guess answer the question, what does one life matter?"

Torment is due for release in 2017 for Linux, Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/453293/Torment+treats+companions+like+real+people,+but+no+romance/

Torment treats companions like "real people", but no romance
"You can abuse them so much that they will leave your party, you can sell them, you can feed them to the Bloom..."

Gamereactor recently got to speak with Colin McComb, creative lead on Torment: Tides of Numenera, to learn more about the role companions play in the game and the options for interacting with them.

Tides of Numenera, although drawing inspiration from the original, is defiantly looking to reinvigorate it. One of the more interesting aspects of the new Torment game is the way party members are utilised and how this slightly differs from similar titles such as Pillars of Eternity, which lets you play multiple characters.

With quite an open ended design Tides of Numenera tries to give the player freedom. The player can use that freedom to do right or wrong as they see fit, but McComb stressed that neither traditional moral ideal was particularly enforced.

"We don't want to tell the player what to do, we believe that the best game is a game where the player gets to pick what they want to do without being railroaded into their choices, so we will let you do what you want to do in this game, but you will pay the consequences for what you have done," said McComb.

Interestingly the game will have no alignment system. Instead it will have a set of five psychic energies called the Tides, which are not necessarily opposed to each other, which means there will not specifically be the usual good, neutral or evil based choices players are used to.

This ideology also carries over to the player's interaction with party members, with the game giving you the freedom to treat them as you please. McComb had this to say in relation to the games methodology when it comes to companions;

"We want to treat them like real people" Said McComb. "You can abuse them so much that they will leave your party, you can sell them, you can feed them to the Bloom...you can make them love you as well, you can help them as much as you can, you can turn them from the bitter broken people that they are."

Although you have an endless amount of options when it comes to interaction with party members McComb wanted to reiterate that you will not have romance opportunities with companions saying: "We have no romance in this game, you will not be having sex with your companions."

Tides of Numenera will release in 2016 for Linux, Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

 

[Neanderthal]

You're just fuckin wi Lurker King now aren't you? Poor kids arse must be red raw.

 

[Infinitron]

You're just fuckin wi Lurker King now aren't you? Poor kids arse must be red raw.

These Gamereactor interviews are actually pretty good. Will newspost when they put the videos on YouTube

 

[Stainless Veteran]

Hmmm I missed this one: http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/453223/Torment+Tides+of+Numenera+is+colourful,+different+experience/

Torment treats companions like "real people", but no romance
"You can abuse them so much that they will leave your party, you can sell them, you can feed them to the Bloom..."

Gamereactor recently got to speak with Colin McComb, creative lead on Torment: Tides of Numenera, to learn more about the role companions play in the game and the options for interacting with them.

Tides of Numenera, although drawing inspiration from the original, is defiantly looking to reinvigorate it. One of the more interesting aspects of the new Torment game is the way party members are utilised and how this slightly differs from similar titles such as Pillars of Eternity, which lets you play multiple characters.

With quite an open ended design Tides of Numenera tries to give the player freedom. The player can use that freedom to do right or wrong as they see fit, but McComb stressed that neither traditional moral ideal was particularly enforced.

"We don't want to tell the player what to do, we believe that the best game is a game where the player gets to pick what they want to do without being railroaded into their choices, so we will let you do what you want to do in this game, but you will pay the consequences for what you have done," said McComb.

Interestingly the game will have no alignment system. Instead it will have a set of five psychic energies called the Tides, which are not necessarily opposed to each other, which means there will not specifically be the usual good, neutral or evil based choices players are used to.

This ideology also carries over to the player's interaction with party members, with the game giving you the freedom to treat them as you please. McComb had this to say in relation to the games methodology when it comes to companions;

"We want to treat them like real people" Said McComb. "You can abuse them so much that they will leave your party, you can sell them, you can feed them to the Bloom...you can make them love you as well, you can help them as much as you can, you can turn them from the bitter broken people that they are."

Although you have an endless amount of options when it comes to interaction with party members McComb wanted to reiterate that you will not have romance opportunities with companions saying: "We have no romance in this game, you will not be having sex with your companions."

Tides of Numenera will release in 2016 for Linux, Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

I wonder why not though. Based on their contract with Techland, obvious desire to attract only Tier 1 journos and namedroping not only PST, but also BG series, it seems that they want also to draw at least older Bioware fans (and probably that "I'm such a nerd, tee-hee!" younger hipsters). And those people sure do love their romances, although maybe not as a sole game mechanics and focus. But I remember all Viconia VS Aerie sperging of the halcyon days, and there were really many of them on various forums.

Not to mention Annah and Fall-From-Grace in the "spiritual predecessor". Oh, and the prostitutes.

 

[Roguey]

Well there's "you can make them love you as well," followed by the caveat of "you will not be having sex with your companions"

In our new progressive era, prostitutes are out. There weren't any in Dragon Age Inquisition or Fallout 4. As far as I know, Pillars of Eternity is the only non-garage dev title keeping the spirit alive. (oh and Witcher 3; of course Poles are immune to such ideologies)

 

[Infinitron]

Well there's "you can make them love you as well," followed by the caveat of "you will not be having sex with your companions"

In our new progressive era, prostitutes are out. There weren't any in Dragon Age Inquisition or Fallout 4. As far as I know, Pillars of Eternity is the only non-garage dev title keeping the spirit alive. (oh and Witcher 3; of course Poles are immune to such ideologies)

He didn't say anything about sex with prostitutes.

But yes, the older hipsters (typified by Josh Sawyer) have come to see RPG companion romances as gross and emotionally exploitative. The Codex has had an alliance of convenience with them against romances. Will it last, or will the Codex become pro-romance?

 

[Roguey]

He didn't say anything about sex with prostitutes.

Are there any in the backer beta?

But yes, the older hipsters (typified by Josh Sawyer) have come to see RPG companion romances as gross and emotionally exploitative. The Codex has had an alliance of convenience with them against romances. Will it last, or will the Codex become pro-romance?

No one was on DoubleBear's side when they decided to make a romance-less visual novel in spite of the fact that collecting husbands and wives is the only reason people go through them.

 

[FeelTheRads]

I'm all for romances as long as they're the "fuck Bishop's wife and daughter and then kill him"-kind.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

Well there's "you can make them love you as well," followed by the caveat of "you will not be having sex with your companions"

In our new progressive era, prostitutes are out. There weren't any in Dragon Age Inquisition or Fallout 4. As far as I know, Pillars of Eternity is the only non-garage dev title keeping the spirit alive. (oh and Witcher 3; of course Poles are immune to such ideologies)

Heh. I just can't understand it, there is a significant portion of SJWs romanticizing sex work, why purge them from games then. When gaming was demonized by older cuckservatives like Jack Thompson and his ilk industry haven't self-censored as much.

He didn't say anything about sex with prostitutes.

But yes, the older hipsters (typified by Josh Sawyer) have come to see RPG companion romances as gross and emotionally exploitative. The Codex has had an alliance of convenience with them against romances. Will it last, or will the Codex become pro-romance?

Well, not only Sawyer, haven't MCA professed hating to write romances also? Seems more Obsidian thing (or ex-Black Isle in general) than "older-SJW" thing honestly.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Wasteland 2 had hookers, no?

 

[Roguey]

Wasteland 2 had hookers, no?

Yeah, but that was 2014. Let's see what Wasteland 3 has.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Wasteland 2 had hookers, no?

Yeah, but that was 2014. Let's see what Wasteland 3 has.

You know, now that I thought about it, I went to a brothel in (I think) Rodia, and there was a goat in one of the hooker rooms. You couldn't fuck it though - I tried.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

You know, now that I thought about it, I went to a brothel in (I think) Rodia, and there was a goat in one of the hooker rooms. You couldn't fuck it though - I tried.

We also had fuck sounds in Hollywood brothel . So much emphasis on brothels and hookers in that game. You also have an encounter with one brothel being attacked by nuns.
But back on TToN: How many references will we get about hookers

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

I just watched X-MEN Apocalypse and I do think Storm (in the beginning) looks a lot like the female character from TToN (cast off).
Also the main villain from the movie resembles the story of the changing God by transferring the consciousness from one body to another.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Can see it now.... Question for Thomas: Would you still say Fargo is a "douche" and "not a good manager", or has working for him changed your mind? Also, what are your views on the pros and cons of invading Poland?

 

[Ivan]

 

[Fairfax]

Well there's "you can make them love you as well," followed by the caveat of "you will not be having sex with your companions"

In our new progressive era, prostitutes are out. There weren't any in Dragon Age Inquisition or Fallout 4. As far as I know, Pillars of Eternity is the only non-garage dev title keeping the spirit alive. (oh and Witcher 3; of course Poles are immune to such ideologies)

Heh. I just can't understand it, there is a significant portion of SJWs romanticizing sex work, why purge them from games then. When gaming was demonized by older cuckservatives like Jack Thompson and his ilk industry haven't self-censored as much.

He didn't say anything about sex with prostitutes.

But yes, the older hipsters (typified by Josh Sawyer) have come to see RPG companion romances as gross and emotionally exploitative. The Codex has had an alliance of convenience with them against romances. Will it last, or will the Codex become pro-romance?

Well, not only Sawyer, haven't MCA professed hating to write romances also? Seems more Obsidian thing (or ex-Black Isle in general) than "older-SJW" thing honestly.

Yes, MCA hates romances as well. I think part of the reason older CRPGs devs hate romance are the PnP roots. Modern RPG romance is something only autistic LARPers who write smut fanfic would want to do in a PnP session. It would be stupid, creepy and awkward for everyone.
Hookers, however, have always been (and should be) very common. No need to RP it that far. Just some dialogue, a couple of rolls and sometimes an improvised event by the DM (she robs you! she wants to kill you! etc).

The other problem is how they're usually designed, of course.

 

[Excidium II]

I just want to bang.

 

[Infinitron]

Popamole interview: http://prankster101.com/articles/interview-with-chris-keenan-of-torment-tides-of-numenera/

Interview with Chris Keenan of Torment: Tides of Numenera

With a successful Kickstarter campaign already under its belt, inXile Entertainment recently secured itself publishing support from Techland – the developer turned publisher whose Dying Light game garnered it serious acclaim last year. And with Torment: Tides of Numenera due out in early 2017, both inXile Entertainment and Techland Publishing have their work cut out to ensure that their spiritual successor lives up to the legacy of critically lauded Planescape: Torment.

Even though inXile Entertainment doesn’t own the rights to Planescape: Torment, the developer has still managed to secure development contributions from a number of notable individuals that were involved with the 1999 game – from designer Chris Avellone to soundtrack composer Mark Morgan. And whilst Plansescape: Torment came out on PC, Mac and Linux only, Torment: Tides of Numenera is looking to increase its portfolio of platforms by releasing on both home computers (PC, Mac, Linux), and consoles (XBox One and PlayStation 4). And in order to discuss this, I spoke to Chris Keenan (Vice President of Development, inXile Entertainment) and got to ask him as to how his development studio is looking to make Torment: Tides of Numenera more console-centric. Enjoy!

Is Torment: Tides of Numenera a sequel to Planescape: Torment?

We call it a thematic successor. It doesn’t take place in the same Planescape universe, as the original game. It does carry a lot of the same themes though. The storyline is a deep, thematic, compelling story. Planescape: Torment is a very philosophical game. We wanted to tell that personal journey. So the tag line of the game is what does one life matter? And it is about your journey, your legacy, and what you leave behind in the world. As well, a lot of the general game mechanics are extremely similar to Planescape: Torment.

One example is how we handle death in the game. In the original, you would be able to die, and that wasn’t the end of your journey necessarily. It kind of opened up additional content. We also have the same in this game. In the beginning, in the first crisist which you fight – which is essentially a turn-based combat – you’ll be able to go through the combat. We’ve actually tuned it to be a little harder than you would in a normal tutorial. And when you go through the combat, if you die there, you’re actually moved to a completely new location where you wake up and now you have a different branch to that story than if you actually went through it the first time and finished that combat.

Planescape: Torment was a game that was quite big in a lot of ways. I know that you’ve stated that Torment: Tides of Numenera has a lot of the same gameplay conventions and mechanics that are utilized in Planescape: Torment. But have you tried to incorporate modern gameplay mechanics where possible?

Yeah, of course. I think the main thing for us was that we tried to stay true to the feeling of the original. So of course we kept a lot of those similar themes and mechanics throughout the game. As far as modernising it, if you go back and you play a lot of those older games, sometimes they’re a little rough. They’re not extremely accessible. A lot of that is due to…

They’re quite clunky actually…

Yeah, a little clunky. A lot of that is due to UI and inputs. So with this one, of course, we’re using modern conventions with all the UI. We did bring it to console, and that’s a big design challenge, being that this game has been focused on PC, Mac, Linux for the better part of the last three years. So to put it on a console, what we did is we decided that in no way were we going to make any concessions and dumb down our UI for the middle ground. It certainly cost us more money, but what we did is we built two separate UIs, one for controller based and one for keyboard and mouse. So if you’re on your PC and you want to play with the controller, you can actually plug in a Steam controller or an XBox controller and use that other UI on your PC version.

Console players expect modernised gameplay mechanics. At the same time, console players don’t necessarily play PC-oriented titles. What challenges have you had, taking into account both of those two audience demands, that Torment: Tides of Numenera would be a title that would be financially feasible in the console market – where it wouldn’t necessarily be a waste of you and your publisher’s time?

Sure. To answer that, go back to our previous game that we did before this. It was Wasteland 2. And it’s a very similar game, isometric top-down, lots of words, lots of reactive content, all about choice and consequence, and turn-based battles as well. So when we finished Wasteland 2, we decided that we wanted to see if this was viable to put on console. So we started doing some prototypes of controls to make sure that before we actually committed to it, we felt we had something that was interesting. We studied games like… There were a lot of great games that started off PC-centric and then moved over, games like X-COM. Diablo comes to mind as a recent one. So we studied those games and tried to implement the best feel and UI that we could. And it actually worked really well. So Wasteland: Director’s Cutcame out on consoles. And we took a step back and went, “Okay, is this something that…?” There are not a lot of games like it. You’re right. “So is that because there’s potentially an opportunity in the market? Or is that because games of this type don’t work?” And we were very happy with the sales on Wasteland. So once we figured that out, we decided that we would go ahead and give it a shot for Torment. And we took all the lessons that we learned in Wasteland and built upon those to make Torment also have a console version.

Torment: Tides of Numenera is going to have multiple endings. And the $4 million that you generated via Kickstarter is great. Techland is also helping you to publish the game, so that means an extra influx of resources – mostly money, really. But even with that taken into account, and with all the multiple endings that you’ve got planned, have you had any difficulty in implementing them as part of a cohesive and convincing storyline? And if so, given the project’s ambitious nature, has there been anything that you’ve basically had to leave on the chopping board?

I think any time you’re looking at a game this large… I mean the game does have a million words in it. There was a good deal of stuff that we wrote and decided that for one reason or another, it wasn’t quite right for the game. Thematically, it didn’t fit. It was potentially an area that didn’t make sense with the other zones. So we kept what we felt was the strongest core of the game, and that does include a ton of different endings. Even in the first minute of the game, you can have the Game Over screen if you’re not properly paying attention and learning what the text is telling you. So there’s a huge amount of unique endings in the game. I’m not sure of the exact number, but we feel that we’re okay with the players having some Game Over screens here and there throughout. Also, death is handled in a way that it’s not the end of your journey in a lot of instances. It actually unlocks and opens up new content. Sometimes you actually have to die to continue part of the main story as well.

Is there a “best” ending?

Is there a best ending? I guess it depends on what you think is the best ending. It is a personal journey, and it does ask a lot of questions. And we allow you to kind of use different elements of people’s personality, whether it’s pride or angst or fear. So how you play your character in the game is going to define what you want to do within it.

Any future DLC planned?

There is no DLC that we have planned. That was something that we pitched early on to our backers. We told them, “We want to give you a complete experience. We aren’t going to sell armour or anything like that.” So it is a full game.

Thank you.

 

[J_C]