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

[evdk]

Finally, this does not run at 3 FPS!

Alpha was VERY alpha for me.

 

[Infinitron]

Neanderthal Are you "Biggrin"?

 

[Neanderthal]

Aye, thought i'd ask devs, as if you don't ask then you don't get eh?

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

Have they said anything on final game length yet?

Fargo said 40-50 hours (for someone who doesn't skim through and reads properly) on the IGN stream.

'Shortish', yeah...

 

[Maxwell's Demon]

Spoiler

If we're going to get all technical and try to parse this logically... the thermosphere starts at around 53mi/85km above sea level (yes I looked it up). If the PC woke up high enough to know he fell from that very specific layer of the atmosphere, he'd both suffocate and freeze to death before he hit the ground.

Spoiler

You forgot about the "cocoon" that was torn away by air resistance.

 

[DosBuster]

My god, I think the game is rendering at a resolution of 3840x1280 on a 1920x1200 resolution. Take a look into your output_log.txt in the data folder and see if this is the same for you.

 

[Zed]

Torment didn't have a single normal character. Animated dead, floating skull, ancient samurai elf, demonic babes, a TV set, etc. These characters look extremely boring in comparison. They look no different than the average IRL art student. I hope the remaining characters are a little more spectacular.

 

[DosBuster]

I have a feeling there is going to be more to the companions than what we see at the moment, I do agree that the appearances of the Planescape universe were more weird and compelling but Numenera still has a vast array of strange species to draw from too.

 

[StaticSpine]

Well I haven't been far into the game, so the only thing I can say about the writing is (from my "special" perspective): It has too many words that I don't know. I'm not a native English speaker, but I've been reading exclusively in English for the last couple of years now and I've watched ~3000 movies in English. And this many unfamiliar words - that doesn't happen very often to me. Only with fancy writers like Gaiman and such. And I don't consider this a positive thing, obviously. I don't think the descriptions becomes more vivid by use of thesaurus, instead I think it's somewhat "try-hard" when you write like that. Well, obviously I'd say that, since I'm the one who has to minimize the game every minute or so and google words.

Anyway, I'm not blaming anyone here. It's my shortcoming, not yours.

I agree with my vatnik colleague. Hopefully inXile will be able to bring a decent localization this time.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

How's the combat?

 

[veevoir]

How's the combat?

How's fucking everything *except* for the UI?

Well I haven't been far into the game, so the only thing I can say about the writing is (from my "special" perspective): It has too many words that I don't know. I'm not a native English speaker, but I've been reading exclusively in English for the last couple of years now and I've watched ~3000 movies in English. And this many unfamiliar words - that doesn't happen very often to me.

Have a similar issue. I *do* know a good chunk of those words, but it still makes reading teh hard. I don't know if it is just the beginning or whole game that has text peppered with overly flowery descriptions full of rare, eloquent words. It only makes it look like intellectual wankery ("look at all those awesome words I know, ah my awesome oratory skills, my grandiloquence! ") than a honest description.

I know inXile team wants to make this good literature and good writing, but everything is nice when used in *goddamn moderation*.

For now what I saw from IGN preview looked like SR:HK with more fancy words used.

 

[Fairfax]

After digging through the beta's files, it's now possible to match the names and the descriptions, and also which companions were written by MCA and Pat Rothfuss.

(Obvious spoilers)

Spoiler

Aligern [concept by Colin McComb, written by Nathan Long]

• a fallen priest who pulls his writhing tattoos from his arms to spill horror upon his foes.

Callistege [Colin McComb and Adam Heine]

• a nano who toyed with the fabric of space one too many times and now lives a fractured existence, living parallel lives in multiple universes and timestreams all at once.

Erritis* [Chris Avellone]

• A boy young man who seeks only adventure and glory, who leaps blindly into the most ridiculously dangerous situations imaginable and--surprisingly--emerging from them brighter and more powerful than he was before... but whose existence is a torment its own.

Matkina [Colin McComb and Adam Heine]

• a cold, calculating jack with a blade in her pocket and acid in her soul, who caries mind-altering mists around her neck, and who has found a way to control light and shadow.

Oom [???]

• Aka The Toy, a changing ball of goo.

Rhin [Pat Rothfuss]

• A young girl (kid) that's apparently on the run/hiding from slavers. The PC has the option to sell her at some point.
• "a sybil whose visions of the world refract through her madness and who can see your other castoff siblings for what they are." (Only option left for this description)

Riastrad [???]

• "Do you know a glaive named Riastrad? A big man wearing armor that flows and changes? Walks like he's asleep?"
• "Do you know a glaive named Riastrad? He wears armor that flows like liquid metal."

Tybir [Nathan Long]
The Specter [Colin McComb]

• An ultradimensional traveller who peers through the veil of flesh to the life forces beneath, and who is capable of snuffing those forces with a thought. (I think? Could be Riastrad, not sure yet)

*Formerly Rritis in the alpha files.
Here's his portrait:

 

[Infinitron]

Beta LPs:

 

[Daedalos]

Lol @ people complaining that there's no MYSTARRIYZZ, because the beta sets up the setting and intro a little bit. OH NOEZ#RER we knowww tuu much nao. shit gaem, -10 / 500^900.

There's plenty of mystery in the game, and plenty of exploration.

 

[DosBuster]

So, how do you rest in this game?

 

[Daedalos]

So, how do you rest in this game?

Sleeping. You can sleep at differences places in different areas. But sleeping has consequences, and sometimes u can do it easily, sometimes not. Other than that, there's quick rest in combat and crisis encounters.

So find a place where you can rent a place to sleep or so in Sagus Cliffs

 

[PhantasmaNL]

So... does anybody get the bug, that you can't wake up after the intro? Had it twice now, what the fuck :/

Same here. Nothing happens, character doesnt wake up, can only zoom in/out, move the mouse pointer or tab to desktop.

Must be a bug.

 

[Prime Junta]

Okay, very early impressions of the beta (somewhat repeating myself from the news thread), since MRY and possibly other Exiles are reading.

(1) Too many adjectives. Get an editor to cut them by half and the writing will be greatly improved.
(2) Way, way too much information too early. Don't even name The Sorrow at this point, let alone define those scary shadow things as 'Sorrow fragments.' It's enough to know that something is after me and wants me dead, and the less I know about it at this point the scarier it will be. Same thing applies to the Tides: just let me interact with those critters without explaining what each of the Tides actually is; I want to discover that gradually as things go. And about lots of other things.
(3) Don't saddle me with Aligern and Callistege this early. I want to feel disoriented, lost, lonely, and confused; this way, I've got these two helpful characters giving me an orientation course straight out of the gate. Or else make them them a lot less informative and helpful. If you have to, have them argue sotto voce with each other on what to do with me, instead of presenting their cases politely and waiting for me to decide.

In short, MOAR MYSTARY. PS:T was all about a gradual unfolding of the mysteries of Sigil, the Planes, and TNO's past.

There will be more as I get deeper into the beta for sure.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Leaving aside the mystery reveal, do you feel so far that the locations, characters, monsters... well, the setting itself is interesting? Anything that makes you go "shit, I want to know more about this!"?

 

[veevoir]

Leaving aside the mystery reveal, do you feel so far that the locations, characters, monsters... well, the setting itself is interesting? Anything that makes you go "shit, I want to know more about this!"?

Yeah, a bit. After they leave starting building the very first area makes me go "WTF is that shit, needs so much clicking on". It looks like warehouse with sci-fi channel discarded tv show props.
Though add to that the whale and the weird goes to 11.

PST was weird, but in some way internally consistent. I hope this will also be the case..
Although Numenera by design suffers from mcguffin/deus-ex-machina stuff overload - all those sonic screwdrivers numenera devices that can solve or break the plot, just lying around. And that can be bad for internal consistency if you create a world so alien that all the rules we know fly out of the window.

 

[DosBuster]

Wait, how do I initiate resting? I'm at the cult of the changing god's camp but I can't quite figure out how to rest, is it a UI thing or a conversation option?

 

[Prime Junta]

Leaving aside the mystery reveal, do you feel so far that the locations, characters, monsters... well, the setting itself is interesting? Anything that makes you go "shit, I want to know more about this!"?

It's too early to tell. I'm reserving judgment until I'm deeper in the beta. Regrettably real life is keeping me from playing RIGHT NOW but I will get some hours in later today.

 

[Echo Mirage]

Wait, how do I initiate resting? I'm at the cult of the changing god's camp but I can't quite figure out how to rest, is it a UI thing or a conversation option?

Talk to the leader guy at the clock. You can ask him to rest. But he wants 20 shins for it.

 

[DosBuster]

Ah, I guess I have to fix the clock first?

 

[Echo Mirage]

Ah, I guess I have to fix the clock first?

I think so. But the kid at the entrance to the area mentions another place to rest that may do it for free. But I don't recall it's name.