Game News "What can change the nature of a game?" - Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter is LIVE

[Zed]

Alright, I have some ideas for the first stretch goals:

1.5 mil: Guido Henkel poses for the box art.
1.6 mil: Guido Henkel poses for the box art, in make-up.
2 mil: Chris Avellone makes another approval video.
3 mil: Brenda Romero as co-designer.
3.5 mil: Brenda Romero relieved as co-designer.
4 mil: George Ziets at the beach photo-shoot calendar.

 

[Stabwound]

This is pretty surprising; the game sounds very appealing to me, but I had no idea Planescape was so popular. At first I thought it was pretty lame of them to use the "Torment" name like this but it looks like it paid off for them.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Do you guys think that the success of the kickstarter is based on the Torment brand?

Or is it because In Exile produced some pretty good looking Wasteland 2 gameplay videos already, so people are relatively confident that these games will actually come out?

 

[Brother None]

mindx2 will not be happy.

I promised him it wouldn't be a problem, so if something is sold out that he wants I'll personally intercede to make sure he gets it. A promise is a promise!

 

[likaq]

Fargo son as publisher is absolutely fantastic.
Both Wasteland 2 and Torment 2 pitch videos are superb.
I love this " publishers are shit, they deserve to die, fuck them" attitude.

 

[Castanova]

It had a very good gameplay. The gameplay was centered around exploration of the setting and the plot. You know - doing all those quests, learning about various factions and your plight, solving puzzles, going through dialogue trees, making choices, etc. PS:T is a prime example of the gameplay being used as a medium for telling a story.

So, while reading a novel, flipping to the next page is gameplay? Because that's what nearly every system in PS:T represents -- flipping to the next page of the story. Almost every dialog tree revolves around dispensing lore. There are a couple dialogs here and there where you need to have been paying attention. But those are few and far between.

 

[Dexter]

I don't know. I'm not feeling the love yet, especially with Wasteland 2 so far away and nobody having the chance to even play a playable Alpha or Beta...
They'll have to do a lot to impress me and get me to pledge on this one, but apparently I'm kinda alone in that.

And have they said anything about the actual game yet or has it been mostly marketing buzzwords? Making it 3D would be a deal-breaker anyway since Planescape relied on its art style a lot.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Only 100 $250 boxes left. Better grab one now, guys.

Those at $110 will go pretty soon too. Whatchugonnado then, BN?

 

[FeelTheRads]

So, while reading a novel, flipping to the next page is gameplay? Because that's what nearly every system in PS:T represents -- flipping to the next page of the story. Almost every dialog tree revolves around dispensing lore. There are a couple dialogs here and there where you need to have been paying attention. But those are few and far between.

You know... I always though you were sort of a mondblut. But then, I saw you actually liked Heavy Rain.

So yeah. Guess if Torment had QTEs to replace each and everything you do then it would have been fine.

 

[Rake]

Torment wasn't a huge hit back in the day but it was critically acclaimed like no other game. And for 12+ years it continues to sell well. The number of fans out there must be big. I know people who don't play games at all but are into novels that consider Torment a masterpiece.

 

[Infinitron]

Fargo son as publisher is absolutely fantastic.
Both Wasteland 2 and Torment 2 pitch videos are superb.
I love this " publishers are shit, they deserve to die, fuck them" attitude.

lol, that's not his son. He's a child actor they hired.

 

[Sitra Achara]

In before Codex of the Inconceivable

(which I'll also be in for...)

 

[Wizfall]

Do you guys think that the success of the kickstarter is based on the Torment brand?

Or is it because In Exile produced some pretty good looking Wasteland 2 gameplay videos already, so people are relatively confident that these games will actually come out?

The good W2 demo helps a lot IMO, at least for some of us.
I would have not been interested otherwise.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

I don't know. I'm not feeling the love yet, especially with Wasteland 2 so far away and nobody having the chance to even play a playable Alpha or Beta...
They'll have to do a lot to impress me and get me to pledge on this one, but apparently I'm kinda alone in that.

And have they said anything about the actual game yet or has it been mostly marketing buzzwords? Making it 3D would be a deal-breaker anyway since Planescape relied on its art style a lot.

I think Brother None mentioned that 2d backgrounds will be a stretch goal. Seeing how the pledges are coming in like there's no tommorow and this could turn out to be even more succesful than Project Eternity, I think there is a high chance they will use 2D backgrounds.

Personaly, I'd prefer that as well, but 3D is not a dealbraker for me. Mask of the Betrayer was great despite being made in one of the shittiest 3D engines imaginable.

 

[Hamster]

Damn it, i rolled 1 on itelligence test.


I completely forgot that Kickstarter charges your card at the end of campaign, not immediately.
There was nothing preventing me from pledging for 95$ limited tier.

 

[likaq]

Fargo son as publisher is absolutely fantastic.
Both Wasteland 2 and Torment 2 pitch videos are superb.
I love this " publishers are shit, they deserve to die, fuck them" attitude.

lol, that's not his son. He's a child actor they hired.

I did not know.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Behold the power of marketing preparation. It just proves what a well-thought pitch can achieve. In fact is possible that after the first big 4 kicstarters come out and are good, the second generation of games (W3, P:E2, next Shadowrun,Avellone's kickstarter etc.) will gather 10 millions without publiser's support. Then we can have great games all year round.

Hopefully they'll make enough money as to not need more kickstarters. Anything they sell is pure profit, especially on digital platforms which don't take as big of a cut as retail. For example, a bit of napkin math shows that if Obsidian sells 600k copies of P:E on Steam, they earn about twice what they got from the kickstarter.

Really, I don't think of kickstarter as an alternative funding model; rather, the name describes what it should be quite well. Hopefully these games will sell decently enough, and this will show developers that there is a viable business model somewhere between $5-10 indie games and publisher-funded AAA monsters. Of course, making these kinds of games won't sustain a large studio like Obsidian, but diversification never hurt anyone. It's similar to what Larian is trying to do by self-publishing Dragon Commander and Original Sin. If you're not hell-bent on only making quadruple A multiplatform, cinematic titles, there seems to be a lot of benefit to cutting out the middleman. Especially if you have a bunch of talented people in your team, who will greatly benefit from the creative freedom self-publishing affords.

 

[undecaf]

2D backgrounds is a nonissue to me -- would look better for sure, but not really something I'd sweat about.

 

[Whisky]

Damn it, i rolled 1 on itelligence test.


I completely forgot that Kickstarter charges your card at the end of campaign, not immediately.
There was nothing preventing me from pledging for 95$ limited tier.

It's okay, I did worse. I pledged for the $115 tier when the $95 one was available.

 

[mindx2]

mindx2 will not be happy.

I know. He's going to be missing out. I should have asked him what tier he wanted and hold one for him. But even now with the KS going so fucking crazy It would probably get taken the second I backed out of it.

Don't fret my friends. I snuck onto a computer at work this morning and grabbed one of the first $250 tier spots. My only dilemma was should I go with the $500 tier, I would really love to have this signed box next to my Wasteland 2 signed box.

 

[Jaesun]

OK cool mindx2!

 

[Cowboy Moment]

mindx2 will not be happy.

I know. He's going to be missing out. I should have asked him what tier he wanted and hold one for him. But even now with the KS going so fucking crazy It would probably get taken the second I backed out of it.

Don't fret my friends. I snuck onto a computer at work this morning and grabbed one of the first $250 tier spots. My only dilemma was should I go with the $500 tier, I would really love to have this signed box next to my Wasteland 2 signed box.

It soothes the soul after that horrible Thief debacle yesterday, does it not?

 

[mindx2]

mindx2 will not be happy.

I promised him it wouldn't be a problem, so if something is sold out that he wants I'll personally intercede to make sure he gets it. A promise is a promise!

You are still a true even if you've sold your soul.

 

[Hamster]

Damn it, i rolled 1 on itelligence test.


I completely forgot that Kickstarter charges your card at the end of campaign, not immediately.
There was nothing preventing me from pledging for 95$ limited tier.

It's okay, I did worse. I pledged for the $115 tier when the $95 one was available.

 

[Sam Ecorners]

FWIW,

W2 first day total: 470K
PE first day total: 705K
DFA first day total: 176K
DFA second day total: 988K

So yeah, it's well on its way to make over 4mil