Torment Torment: Tides of Numenera Pre-Release Thread [ALPHA RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Rake]

I hate the binary dark/light stuff.

Avellone hates it as well...

Play KOTOR2

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

the Force is shit

I fully agree with this.

 

[Ninjerk]

There was a d20 sourcebook that did some good things with the Force.

 

[Infinitron]

When Brian "Col. Kilgore" Fargo says it's safe to surf, it's safe to surf: http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/07/a...argo-holds-court-amid-his-kickstarter-riches/

 

[Athelas]

A magic system can't be any good when its foundation basically entails 'glowing blue swords are cool'.

 

[tuluse]

When Brian "Col. Kilgore" Fargo says it's safe to surf, it's safe to surf: http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/07/a...argo-holds-court-amid-his-kickstarter-riches/

Is Nouveau XCOM the only point of reference for turn based games allowed anymore?

I like how the comparison actually creates a factual inaccuracy because W2 is action point based.

 

[NotTale]

For recent well-known turn based games, you're pretty much looking at Civ and XCOM.

I'm sure they could mention Arcanum, ToEE, or even Geneforge, but then the article writers and half the readers wouldn't know what the hell they're talking about.

 

[Infinitron]

@ksaun Will ToN take any cues from PS:T in terms of overall visual appearance? For example, PS:T was notable for having characters that were both larger and more detailed than those in the "mainline" Infinity Engine games.

Unimportant "commoner" NPCs in particular were much more detailed in PS:T than in Baldur's Gate, including having more, well, animated animations:

I think it had an impact on the game's atmosphere.

 

[ksaun]

@ksaun Will ToN take any cues from PS:T in terms of overall visual appearance? For example, PS:T was notable for having characters that were both larger and more detailed than those in the "mainline" Infinity Engine games.

Unimportant "commoner" NPCs in particular were much more detailed in PS:T than in Baldur's Gate, including having more, well, animated animations:

I think it had an impact on the game's atmosphere.

That's a good point. This is still an open question, but our initial inclination is smaller characters on screen because of the cost savings. The larger the characters, the more work required to reach a given level of visual quality (in both models and animations). So (to some extent), the larger we have them appear on screen, either the more they will cost to create or the lower their quality will appear.

Having smaller characters equates to being zoomed out further, which also means we can do more with the environments. More interesting tactical situations are also possible. (We could support multiple zoom levels but again it's a cost consideration.)

But we're still early in our experimentation.

 

[Infinitron]

@ksaun Will ToN take any cues from PS:T in terms of overall visual appearance? For example, PS:T was notable for having characters that were both larger and more detailed than those in the "mainline" Infinity Engine games.

Unimportant "commoner" NPCs in particular were much more detailed in PS:T than in Baldur's Gate, including having more, well, animated animations:

I think it had an impact on the game's atmosphere.

That's a good point. This is still an open question, but our initial inclination is smaller characters on screen because of the cost savings. The larger the characters, the more work required to reach a given level of visual quality (in both models and animations). So (to some extent), the larger we have them appear on screen, either the more they will cost to create or the lower their quality will appear.

Having smaller characters equates to being zoomed out further, which also means we can do more with the environments. More interesting tactical situations are also possible. (We could support multiple zoom levels but again it's a cost consideration.)

But we're still early in our experimentation.

They don't have to be super large, but the fact that they're more "custom" (due to having less character customization options, less armor and weapon permutations, etc) means that they should naturally be more detailed than, say, Project Eternity's characters.

 

[80Maxwell08]

So out of curiousity if Wasteland 2 ends up being a big hit what will happen to Torment's budget? Will it stay the same in order to keep the scope in check or will it expand a bit?

 

[Gulnar]

I hate the binary dark/light stuff. I am more into Cyberpunk and Hard Sci-fi. So this could easily be a personal bias.

This is good, since in kotor 2 the 'binary' concept of the force is both breaked and played around.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

I hate the binary dark/light stuff. I am more into Cyberpunk and Hard Sci-fi. So this could easily be a personal bias.

This is good, since in kotor 2 the 'binary' concept of the force is both breaked and played around.

Yeah really liked Kreia's dialogues so far.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

So out of curiousity if Wasteland 2 ends up being a big hit what will happen to Torment's budget? Will it stay the same in order to keep the scope in check or will it expand a bit?

Most of it directed towards a third RPG, I'd hope, with a few scraps given to Torment to patch up unexpected holes rather than try to get carried away with the scope.

 

[Rake]

http://www.montecookgames.com/putting-the-play-in-roleplaying/
Infinitron

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.montecookgames.com/putting-the-play-in-roleplaying/
Infinitron

What

This is about the PnP game, not Torment.

EDIT: Oh, I see, there's some stuff there that we've talked about in the past. Well then, that's nice.

 

[Brotherman Bill]

Wtf, he makes no sense. In his own game, you have almost no choice on character level up, almost all of it is determined at the beginning.

 

[Infinitron]

Wtf, he makes no sense. In his own game, you have almost no choice on character level up, almost all of it is determined at the beginning.

I don't think he's talking about abstracted "character building" here at all - whether on character creation or on level-up. For example, he cites AD&D as an example of a "play-focused" system, and almost everything is determined at the beginning there as well.

It's about gameplay unshackled by rules and systems. This stuff is really more relevant to PnP than a CRPG.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Wtf, he makes no sense. In his own game, you have almost no choice on character level up, almost all of it is determined at the beginning.

I don't think he's talking about abstracted "character building" here at all - whether on character creation or on level-up. For example, he cites AD&D as an example of a "play-focused" system, and almost everything is determined at the beginning there as well.

It's about gameplay unshackled by rules and systems. This stuff is really more relevant to PnP than a CRPG.

Actually, Numenera's character creation is like an antidote to my char creation OCD. I spent hours in the character creation screen at underrail alpha, the first time.

Also, IMO for a narrative focused game like torment, Numenera seems more suitable than say DnD...whose meat is combatfaggotry and lootwhoring.

 

[Excidium]

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Or it could be total streamlined shit. I am just trying to be positive...despite evidence to the contrary.

I meant d20 system... not DnD setting.

 

[Excidium]

I know. Which is ironic considering Monte designed d20 and Numenera doesn't hide its roots

 

[Blaine]

If the setting and fluff material are compelling, they can always be transposed to GURPS....

I still haven't received my hard copy of Numenera.

 

[t]

Do you guys have any idea on when the add-on system is going to work?

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

I know. Which is ironic considering Monte designed d20 and Numenera doesn't hide its roots

I didn't know Monte was responsible for the abomination that is d20. I pledged for a pdf of the corebook

The Numenera mechanics is going to be shit. (like the setting though)