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

[prodigydancer]

in the time it takes to make that fall, you could read an entire novel

And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, 'Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, 'Do bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it.

Spoiler

Just couldn't resist.

 

[FeelTheRads]

FeelTheRads is right, it reads like a text adventure/interactive fiction.

wut?

Also it looks like my parents' computer is not good enough for this. I can't do shit in the first scene, it's like I'm running it on a 486. Will have to wait for Friday/Saturday.

 

[Infinitron]

FeelTheRads is right, it reads like a text adventure/interactive fiction.

wut?

I kinda like that part. Reminds me of the style of Andrew Plotkin

 

[Fairfax]

That bit reads like the boxes a DM has to read out loud in PnP adventure modules. Not my cup of tea.

 

[Bubbles]

Using the word "occlusion" is completely normal, but "composition" is the word that sets your character's sirens blaring?

Hmmm. The word occlusion is purely descriptive and could be something else ("You see something near that"), but 'composition' is part of an artistic metareference ("It's an interesting composition"). So it's not really the word per se that puzzles the protagonist.

FeelTheRads is right, it reads like a text adventure/interactive fiction.

If I ever happen to get hit by a car, I'll make every effort to think "Ooof! What incredible solidity!" I just hope there won't be any rapid howls cutting (however briefly) through the agony that will be filling me.

 

[FeelTheRads]

FeelTheRads is right, it reads like a text adventure/interactive fiction.

wut?

I kinda like that part. Reminds me of the style of Andrew Plotkin

Ah, yeah. No problem for me with the bit of text I've seen so far, I like it. If only they didn't fuck up the first scene in the game.

 

[Darth Roxor]

is that a new Rhapsody of Fire song?

 

[Excidium II]

Can someone give an example of credible solidity?

 

[FeelTheRads]

If I ever happen to get hit by a car, I'll make every effort to think "Ooof! What incredible solidity!" I just hope there won't be any rapid howls cutting (however briefly) through the agony that will be filling me.

Or alternatively you have someone narrating it for you, like it's the case here.

 

[Bubbles]

Or alternatively you have someone narrating it for you, like it's the case here.

Why would I?

 

[Excidium II]

Or alternatively you have someone narrating it for you, like it's the case here.

Why would I?

Don't you want someone adverbingly describing everything that happens to you?

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9_QiPIUoMk

Around 27 minute Colin makes a statement suggesting there would be more ToN (content/games?) after the release.

 

[Stainless Veteran]

is that a new Rhapsody of Fire song?

Not enough barbarians and uses of "holy" adjective. But you're right, it kinda does sound like your average fantasy power metal song intro.

 

[MRY]

Can someone give an example of credible solidity?

 

[Fairfax]

The intro should've been a narrated Mere, and the whole moving pillars at 15fps area should've been scrapped right after the alpha.

 

[ArchAngel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9_QiPIUoMk

Around 27 minute Colin makes a statement suggesting there would be more ToN (content/games?) after the release.

An exploration based Numenera RPG would be a blast to play.

 

[Starwars]

I played through the character creation/tutorial bit just to get a feel for things. Not gonna play anymore until release though.

-I think it's actually way too slow at the start. Yes, I do get that this is a game for people who like reading, but in PS:T you at least get busy exploring the Mortuary right away and try to find your way out. You're on the move kinda, actively exploring. In this, there's just a *lot* of text right at the start and you're stuck in two tiny areas for quite a while. That part of it is not very exciting unfortunately. I guess/hope it frees up when you get to the Sagus Cliffs but I do hope that you won't just have a feeling of walking from text dump to text dump. Part of what made PS:T so great was that, no, it didn't shy away from having a lot of text at times, but exploring Sigil was still a pretty smooth experience. It didn't feel like the game was hitting you on the head with a lot of text just for the sake of it. It just feels like a rich world. I hope they won't "overwrite" this one.

-The crisis at the start was pretty bad, slow and quite boring. Again, tutorial stuff of course but still...

-The writing is generally good though. It feels a bit too "fancy" at times but still really enjoyable to read.

-The text adventure bit with the drawn backgrounds was awesome, I really enjoyed that. Definitely more akin to what I wanted from the PoE scripted interactions. I also enjoy the use of sounds in it.

-I can't stand the movement of the main character. Give me a straight up run right away, gah.

Overall, I found it moving way too slow and the whole beginning will be a shitfest to replay for sure. But on the other hand, the story did get a grip on me and I'm quite confident that they'll craft a great story from this.

Cautiosly hopeful.

 

[Lord Andre]

Actually the writing is always at the limit of braking apart by way of try hard overload and yet it never goes into the red. That's no mean feat to keep it there and it shows that the writers are true professionals. Also, it's obvious it has gone through the editing phase. The codex has never had troubles analyzing game systems but when it comes to writing half of us have shit taste. Just look how many people think Twitcher or PoE have good writing.

 

[Bubbles]

All three Witcher games have good writing.

 

[MRY]

I think it's actually way too slow at the start. Yes, I do get that this is a game for people who like reading, but in PS:T you at least get busy exploring the Mortuary right away and try to find your way out. You're on the move kinda, actively exploring. In this, there's just a *lot* of text right at the start and you're stuck in two tiny areas for quite a while. That part of it is not very exciting unfortunately. I guess/hope it frees up when you get to the Sagus Cliffs but I do hope that you won't just have a feeling of walking from text dump to text dump. Part of what made PS:T so great was that, no, it didn't shy away from having a lot of text at times, but exploring Sigil was still a pretty smooth experience. It didn't feel like the game was hitting you on the head with a lot of text just for the sake of it. It just feels like a rich world. I hope they won't "overwrite" this one.

Could you be a little more specific about the text here? One thing that is tricky with the comments I've seen is that they complain about too much text "at the start" but "the start" could mean a lot of things, and it encompasses a few different segments:

(1) Falling.
(2) Interacting with the orbs/mirror.
(3) Talking to the Specter.
(4) The Tidal Mere. (Which did you get, out of curiosity?)
(5) Talking to the Specter again.
(6) The Aligern and Calistege conversation.

I realize that the answer may be "it's too much all taken together" or "each and every one of those is too much." But since you said you liked the Mere, I'm wondering if it might be more specific, like the falling sequence felt too long or something. The more precise the criticism, the more confidence I have that it can be fixed.* At this point, there's no doubt that "the first part is overwritten and too slow" is on the whole team's radar, but a more pinpoint target would be nice.

(* Note, I can't say whether anything will be changed. The people dislike something doesn't necessarily mean that it's broken, and there are factions on every side of every issue. I just have fairly low confidence of things being fixed when they're described in general terms like "the pacing feels off." This may come from my day job reviewing legal briefs, where I've found that comments like "this section isn't very persuasive" tend to elicit no improvement.)

 

[Fry]

I can't stand the movement of the main character. Give me a straight up run right away, gah.

Of the things which aren't currently bugged and are (presumably) working as intended, this annoys me the most. PC breaking into a run and stopping just feels bad.

 

[Lord Andre]

All three Witcher games have good writing.

case.in.point.

As a side note, I do not think the beginning is too wordy or slow and the falling sequence is nice. On top of that, as comparison, the mortuary is the most boring part of PST and even more boring on replays. The pace only picks up once you're out.

 

[Infinitron]

I can't stand the movement of the main character. Give me a straight up run right away, gah.

Of the things which aren't currently bugged and are (presumably) working as intended, this annoys me the most. PC breaking into a run and stopping just feels bad.

I told you Dobos!!

 

[Excidium II]

Tell me this isn't like SRR and you can actually force run.

 

[Starwars]

I think it's actually way too slow at the start. Yes, I do get that this is a game for people who like reading, but in PS:T you at least get busy exploring the Mortuary right away and try to find your way out. You're on the move kinda, actively exploring. In this, there's just a *lot* of text right at the start and you're stuck in two tiny areas for quite a while. That part of it is not very exciting unfortunately. I guess/hope it frees up when you get to the Sagus Cliffs but I do hope that you won't just have a feeling of walking from text dump to text dump. Part of what made PS:T so great was that, no, it didn't shy away from having a lot of text at times, but exploring Sigil was still a pretty smooth experience. It didn't feel like the game was hitting you on the head with a lot of text just for the sake of it. It just feels like a rich world. I hope they won't "overwrite" this one.

Could you be a little more specific about the text here? One thing that is tricky with the comments I've seen is that they complain about too much text "at the start" but "the start" could mean a lot of things, and it encompasses a few different segments:

(1) Falling.
(2) Interacting with the orbs/mirror.
(3) Talking to the Specter.
(4) The Tidal Mere. (Which did you get, out of curiosity?)
(5) Talking to the Specter again.
(6) The Aligern and Calistege conversation.

I realize that the answer may be "it's too much all taken together" or "each and every one of those is too much." But since you said you liked the Mere, I'm wondering if it might be more specific, like the falling sequence felt too long or something. The more precise the criticism, the more confidence I have that it can be fixed.* At this point, there's no doubt that "the first part is overwritten and too slow" is on the whole team's radar, but a more pinpoint target would be nice.

(* Note, I can't say whether anything will be changed. The people dislike something doesn't necessarily mean that it's broken, and there are factions on every side of every issue. I just have fairly low confidence of things being fixed when they're described in general terms like "the pacing feels off." This may come from my day job reviewing legal briefs, where I've found that comments like "this section isn't very persuasive" tend to elicit no improvement.)

It's a bit hard to be specific to be honest. I think the Falling segment definitely goes on for too long considering what it is. I also found the Spectre to be not at all interesting so that obviously didn't help. But I think that it all would've benefitted from having more "breathing room" or something in between. Again, in PS:T you're let loose in an open interior. You choose your interactions, and you run around and explore the Mortuary. In T:TON, you don't do that, you just take a few steps before that next text interaction.
I think it *may* also be that you're dealing with the memory stuff right away. The idea of starting the game falling to your presumed death is great and intriguing, but following that you immedietly get to deal with strange and abstract concepts instead of being more "hands-on" with the world at first if that makes sense. But yeah, I think the biggest deal for me is still how the game flows there, it feels a bit suffocating at the start. Maybe shortening the texts would be good, it's hard to say, but I think my main problem is just the way it's structured. Again, I would've preferred having an area that you could move around more in and explore.

I think I got the golden tide mere (if I understood how the colors work). It was the one where I was sick and dying and people wanted me to give my cash to their various causes. I really loved that segment, it worked really well. I'm not sure if the presentation made the difference for me but that had me hooked much more than the orbs, tanks and that stuff. Maybe I just liked having that "human" element at the start, I dunno. I do like the weird stuff but maybe I'm more of a fan of having the abstract stuff come later on or something.