Preview Tyranny GDC 2016 Previews

[Excidium II]

w0t

(a) They haven't said a word about the sequel in the past six months. Radio silence. Usually if a sequel is a sure thing it gets constantly referenced during public relations-centered events.

(b) expanding competition.

They are just promoting one game at a time, Tranny was announced because White March was done with. No reason to announce PoE 2 while also hyping Tranny.

 

[Hegel]

The lore is bland, and the game has almost no traction. Did they hit the 1 million milestone already? How much did they make.

 

[Infinitron]

Here's your PoE 2 (probably): http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...discussion-thread.84849/page-117#post-4364392

 

[Excidium II]

ETA 2018?

 

[Kem0sabe]

Considering that obsidian doesn't own the ip, that paradox is finding development, what kind of deal does obsidian have in place in terms of actually making money off this? Or is this a project just to keep their people working?

 

[Jedi Exile]

My main question about this is whether Pillars is over as a franchise.

Of course not. Feargus is just trying to use PoE engine to make as much RPGs as possible with Paradox money. He needs to keep Obsidian afloat. I am sure there will be PoE 2, and maybe more. Remember Icewind Dale games? Josh once said it was like a 'workhorse for Interplay', because it was easy to make new games in a short period of time.

Maybe you will allow to make a turn-based spin-off, eh, Feargus? Just as an experiment? D:OS did sell really well for a low-budget game...

 

[StrongBelwas]

Considering that obsidian doesn't own the ip, that paradox is finding development, what kind of deal does obsidian have in place in terms of actually making money off this? Or is this a project just to keep their people working?

Obviously short of looking at the contract we don't know the details for this deal, but if I remember correctly I don't think Obsidian has ever earned royalties for a Publisher-funded game (Maybe NWN 2?) They get to make the game, publisher keeps them from starving to death, maybe if they are lucky they get a bonus, that has always been the way for them.

 

[Hegel]

Obsidian lacks two fundamental elements which I feel are precursory into making a D:OS like game: balls and talent.

 

[Excidium II]

Considering that obsidian doesn't own the ip, that paradox is finding development, what kind of deal does obsidian have in place in terms of actually making money off this? Or is this a project just to keep their people working?

Obviously short of looking at the contract we don't know the details for this deal, but if I remember correctly I don't think Obsidian has ever earned royalties for a Publisher-funded game (Maybe NWN 2?) They get to make the game, publisher keeps them from starving to death, maybe if they are lucky they get a bonus, that has always been the way for them.

They must obviously get some profit to invest in the company, I don't think they're on those desperate times anymore to pick a project just to not have to lay off anyone.

They also benefit from the fact Tranny is on same tech PoE 2 is going to use.

 

[Mustawd]

Considering that obsidian doesn't own the ip, that paradox is finding development, what kind of deal does obsidian have in place in terms of actually making money off this? Or is this a project just to keep their people working?

Huh? They get paid contract fees to develop it. What else would you expect? Not everything has to be a home run. Even Larian made random ass games to pay the bills. If anything Obsidian is getting the benefit of experience in making another RPG that they don't have to risk their company over and give their team some well needed training for POE2.

 

[Flou]

The lore is bland, and the game has almost no traction. Did they hit the 1 million milestone already? How much did they make.

They will most likely hit 1 million in sales during some Steam sale event later this year.

 

[Tigranes]

Getting paid to make X game and using that money to make X game is basically how all publisher-funded projects work, sadly.

 

[Flou]

Considering that obsidian doesn't own the ip, that paradox is finding development, what kind of deal does obsidian have in place in terms of actually making money off this? Or is this a project just to keep their people working?

Contract fees for one, chance to further build their experience and the engine, showcase what they can do and possibly royalties if the game sells well depending on the contract.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Huh? They get paid contract fees to develop it. What else would you expect? Not everything has to be a home run. Even Larian made random ass games to pay the bills. If anything Obsidian is getting the benefit of experience in making another RPG that they don't have to risk their company over and give their team some well needed training for POE2.

I thought that entire business model didn't work that well for obsidian, considering they have been doing it since they started and have come more than once close to closing doors because of it.

 

[Abu Antar]

Having read some previews, I feel like they were failry pointless in the informion department.

I like most of the things that I have read. Classless, party based. Choice and consequence is a priority. If it's anything like Alpha Protocol, I can see myself playing this many times. I hoped for turn-based but I can live with rtwp. It will be interesting to see how the game is balanced with only 4 party members.

The setting sounds interesting.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Excidium II]

Getting paid to make X game and using that money to make X game is basically how all publisher-funded projects work, sadly.

Then how the hell they make money?

 

[StrongBelwas]

Getting paid to make X game and using that money to make X game is basically how all publisher-funded projects work, sadly.

Then how the hell they make money?

That is how they make money. Anything surplus comes from bonuses most of the time or surplus from milestone payments somehow. As long as they have enough to get a pitch demo done so they can get the next game financed they can, theoretically speaking, keep the lights on. The increasing difficulty of that is why companies like Obsidian are becoming increasingly rare beasts and everyone has been getting bought up by publishers over the past few years.

 

[Mustawd]

Getting paid to make X game and using that money to make X game is basically how all publisher-funded projects work, sadly.

Then how the hell they make money?

That is how they make money. Anything surplus comes from bonuses most of the time or surplus from milestone payments somehow. As long as they have enough to get a pitch demo done so they can get the next game financed they can, theoretically speaking, keep the lights on. The increasing difficulty of that is why companies like Obsidian are becoming increasingly rare beasts and everyone has been getting bought up by publishers over the past few years.

Yeah, that reminds me of Obsidian's bonus for getting a specific metacritic score for F:NV (which they missed IIRC).

 

[Infinitron]

I assume that Feargus and the rest of the owners pay themselves a decent salary out of the project budgets which they can reinvest in the company if need be. They've probably done that before in leaner times.

 

[Excidium II]

Getting paid to make X game and using that money to make X game is basically how all publisher-funded projects work, sadly.

Then how the hell they make money?

That is how they make money. Anything surplus comes from bonuses most of the time or surplus from milestone payments somehow. As long as they have enough to get a pitch demo done so they can get the next game financed they can, theoretically speaking, keep the lights on. The increasing difficulty of that is why companies like Obsidian are becoming increasingly rare beasts and everyone has been getting bought up by publishers over the past few years.

Of course, with that terrible business model. Game development is hell, I think everyone must regret going this route.

 

[Tigranes]

It's a terrible business model for every developer. Troika's troubles, where they had to successfully pitch a new game as soon as the old game finished (or before) to keep doors open, is shared by almost every developer. And that's why milestones become ways for publishers to blackmail developers with their very existence, because if they reject the milestone they can stop payments meaning you can't pay your developers today.

The entire industry needs a rule change so we stop having this idiotic situation where everyone gets laid off all the time, but it doesn't seem to be possible anytime soon.

(This is why I have some sympathy for Feargus: slam dunks aren't a luxury, he needs the South Parks and Armoured Warfares for Obsidian to even continue existing, whereas Troika was lucky to even make three games the way they did things. Of course, one might argue it's better to do that and die out. I'd prefer to see them become smaller and work with small/mid-budget RPGs like POE and Tyranny, and really focus on making them better.)

 

[Excidium II]

(This is why I have some sympathy for Feargus: slam dunks aren't a luxury, he needs the South Parks and Armoured Warfares for Obsidian to even continue existing, whereas Troika was lucky to even make three games the way they did things. Of course, one might argue it's better to do that and die out. I'd prefer to see them become smaller and work with small/mid-budget RPGs like POE and Tyranny, and really focus on making them better.)

That'd be p. cool, except for the 100-something people losing their jobs I guess.

 

[Azarkon]

It's a terrible business model for every developer. Troika's troubles, where they had to successfully pitch a new game as soon as the old game finished (or before) to keep doors open, is shared by almost every developer. And that's why milestones become ways for publishers to blackmail developers with their very existence, because if they reject the milestone they can stop payments meaning you can't pay your developers today.

The entire industry needs a rule change so we stop having this idiotic situation where everyone gets laid off all the time, but it doesn't seem to be possible anytime soon.

There's always the option of going independent and paying Steam a cut instead.

 

[Roguey]

Either the combos will be useless and not worth the hassle or their abuse will be mandatory to complete "Nightmare" difficulty without painfuly grinding your teeth to dust. I highly doubt they will manage to Balance™ them so they'll be somewhere in the middle

One of the previews mentioned that the combos will likely only be once-per-encounter to preserve

The combos were just something they threw in to justify the ridiculous health pools. DA combat is boring.

That's II/Inquisition-style combos. DA:O had a combo that completely bypassed HP, one that provided a much-longer stun, one that would create/stop a grease fire, etc. It was a rudimentary attempt at what Larian fully realized with Divinity: Original Sin.

See, he already expresses his preference on 4-member parties. I don't mean to be a buzzkill, but some refined gentlemen above already got some Dragon Age vibes, and I am starting to feel them too.

That said, Tyranny can be a good game even without good combat. PoE2 can't.

Lowering the number of party members you can control is practically mandatory when you significantly increase the amount of micromanagement required for each (I think very few people would want to play an IE-style game with six spellcasters where combat is tuned so all of them have to cast spells in every fight). It's not necessarily something that could be considered dumbing down.

 

[Excidium II]

Lowering the number of party members you can control is practically mandatory when you significantly increase the amount of micromanagement required for each (I think very few people would want to play an IE-style game with six spellcasters where combat is tuned so all of them have to cast spells in every fight). It's not necessarily something that could be considered dumbing down.

Then they better have a new system for PoE 2 that allows for more versatile self-sufficient characters because PoE would have been p. frustrating with only 3 slots to fill with 11 companions. With more slots you have more room to use the guys you like even if it's not as optimal party setup.