Vapourware Wyrdsong - open world historical fantasy RPG set in medieval Portugal from former Bethesda, Obsidian and BioWare devs

[The Wall]

being an actual RPG and all

Nigger, we know zero gameplay stuff about this. Unless your Grandma is an RPG, given she's the narrator. Don't you heartless atheist Czech take care of your elderly or they have to steep so low in order to have food?

 

[Infinitron]

If the same team that made Wastelanders is working on anything else I'd buy it at the drop of a hat.

https://www.eurogamer.net/talking-t...bout-their-new-studio-and-occult-rpg-wyrdsong

Talking to the former Fallout 76 lead about their new studio and occult RPG Wyrdsong​

Something Wicked this way comes.


Jeff Gardiner, a Bethesda veteran of 15 years and most recently the project lead on Fallout 76, has announced a new studio and open-world occult RPG with it.

The studio is Something Wicked Games and the project is Wyrdsong, pronounced "weirdsong", or at least that's how Gardiner pronounced it on a phone call to me. It's going to be set in Portugal around the forming of the Knights Templar.

Something Wicked was co-founded with Obsidian veteran Charles Staples in April this year, who led design on Outer Worlds. And the studio is funded by NetEase courtesy of a $13.2m "seed" investment, which means it's not all the money Something Wicked will need but a wadge to get going with.

The aim is to go pretty big, then - to do the sort of single-player, open-world RPG you'd expect from Gardiner's and Staples' backgrounds. It's a game Gardiner says will have around 70 people working on it, once they staff up from 13, and is still years away - there's no date attached to it nor do they want to put one on.

In other words, it's super-early in the development process. This announcement is as much to alert people to the existence of Something Wicked Games, and attract talent there, as much as anything else. All there is to see of Wyrdsong is an animated trailer with a limited amount of artwork, but which exudes a dark and ominous atmosphere - the kind of thing they're going for in the game.

"Wyrdsong is a preternatural, occult, historical fantasy game," Gardiner explains to me. "We're setting it in Portugal around the 12th century. Portugal is the origin of the Knights Templar - a lot of people don't realise that. There's a lot of discussion about where they actually originated. A lot of documentation seems to indicate that the Templars originated there.


I don't know who this is, but I like them. Concept art for Wyrdsong.

"We're going to dig into that mythological history of the Templars, going into the creepy vibe of the trailer. We're going into the darker elements, the secret society and occult elements of Templar history."

Without prompting, he adds: "You're going to be able to play whatever you want, wherever gender identity, we're not forcing- This is a fantasy setting based around Portugal just for the architecture and the sweeping landscapes and the coastline and the Arid mountains."

The Templars, you see, can be a problematic symbol because of their associations with far-right and fascist groups, particularly in England. "It definitely is on our mind," Gardiner says when I mention it. "We want to play into, again, the fantasy idea of what the Templars are. Again, you can play any gender Templar you want, any race Templar you want - we're not getting into that. We're not a historically pure game ... But I do agree that has been a tough conversation."

The other tough conversation revolves around the game Gardiner previously led: Fallout 76. And it's not so much that it wasn't ready to launch, at all, and shouldn't have, so much as the conditions under which people allegedly worked. A Kotaku report this summer painted a picture of mismanagement, crunch, and a project which burned people out - "ate them", to borrow one quote.

If Gardiner was one of the people overseeing that, how can he expect people to want to work for his new outfit Something Wicked Games?

"My personal perspective...." he says when I ask about crunch: "I worked hard on 76 and it demanded a lot of us. At the same time, I was, again, very grateful and honoured for the time I had there.

"I think there was a difficult perspective on that game [launching] in a difficult state. So people sort of remember the harder times when things didn't come out as well, if that makes sense? I've had several kids - obviously not me personally but my wife! - and you don't remember how hard they are. When you have the second, it's like, 'What were we thinking? This is so hard!' So it's easier to remember when things didn't go well. Again, I just have nothing but good things to say about Bethesda and I appreciate my time there."


Concept art from Wyrdsong. It's certainly dark.

Something Wicked Games will have "very narrow five-hour core hours", Gardiner tells me, and "no-work Fridays" where staff get together to play games (they're currently playing Valheim). And he's keen to encourage critical feedback through "open and honest conversations", though whether junior members will feel confident enough to air their opinions there, I don't know.

To spell it out: "We are not a crunch studio," he assures me.

"Let me just be clear: I'm a big believer in staffing projects properly, scoping them appropriately to fit within the time and budget you've given them. And then if things get difficult, making smart cuts and decisions to prevent these problems. And also, NetEase and I agreed - we have set no hard milestones or timelines so that offers us the freedom to make smart decisions now to avoid these difficulties later. I'm a big believer that scheduling is a tool, not a weapon."

Everything else about Wyrdsong, such as who we'll be in the game and the adventure we'll be on, is under wraps.

https://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-4-a...-team-up-to-make-new-open-world-rpg-wyrdsong/

Fallout 4 and New Vegas veterans team up to make new open world RPG Wyrdsong​

Jeff Gardiner (Skyrim, Fallout 4) and Charles Staples (Fallout: New Vegas) are cooking up a fantasy RPG at a new studio, Something Wicked Games.

For years Fallout fans have been clamoring for another team-up between Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment to produce a new Fallout game. That's still not in the cards (despite Microsoft now owning both studios), but an announcement at Gamescom's Opening Night Live might be the next best thing.

Bethesda veteran Jeff Gardiner, lead producer and project lead on open world RPGs like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, has formed a new game development studio called Something Wicked Games. Joining Gardiner is Charles Staples, design director on Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds and lead level designer on Fallout: New Vegas. That's a lot of Fallout DNA in one studio.

Along with the announcement came an animated teaser trailer for the new studio's first game, and it's not a Fallout-like post-apocalyptic shooter. Something Wicked is making a gothic RPG called Wyrdsong, which is a "dark preternatural, semi-historical open world RPG set in Middle Ages Portugal," Gardiner told me during a Zoom call last week.

Details about Wyrdsong (pronounced 'weerd-song') are pretty sparse at the moment. The game is in "early pre-production" and Gardiner isn't ready to share much more about it. While it's being built in Unreal Engine 5, he wouldn't even confirm if it's a singleplayer game. He did open up a bit about the choice of setting, however.

"So the last vacation I took before Covid was to Portugal," Gardiner said. "And as I'm sure everyone is aware, in Covid you really remember that last vacation."

Along with his visit to Portugal, Gardiner found inspiration for Wyrdsong in the country's past. "I started reading an alternative history book about the Templars, that postulates that they actually originated as part of the forming of the nation state of Portugal," he said. "And as I'm reading this book, I realized a lot of these locations or places I have visited in Portugal, so there's some synchronicities and serendipities there."

Gardiner also cites Elden Ring as a "huge inspiration" for the Wyrdsong team, saying he initially bounced off the Dark Souls series before realizing the games weren't about punishing the player but rewarding patience. And while Wyrdsong might look nothing like Fallout, that doesn't mean the post-apocalyptic RPG won't have some influence on it, too.

"I think the focus is on the lessons, not the setting and the theme of Fallout, but the RPG nature of those games. 'There's choice and consequences' is an easy thing to say. But we want to make sure the player feels those lessons we took from those games, in terms of how to craft an unbelievable story, and yet give the player the freedom to sort of make their own decisions within that story, and sort of engage with it or not," Gardiner said.

"Charlie and I are big believers of giving players tools and letting them have fun in the game the way they want to. If they want to just grind through the main quest and then step away, that's great. If they never want to touch the main quest, and they just want to go into the corners of the realm and scour for caps and and screws. That's great, too."

Something Wicked currently has approximately 15 employees, and as production moves forward on Wyrdsong Gardiner expects to expand that number to thirty in the next few years and potentially up to 70 by the time the game is ready for release. "And we were lucky enough to get a seed funding round of $13.2 million from NetEase," said Gardiner.

As you might have guessed, there's no release date or even a release year announced for Wyrdsong yet. In the meantime, you can visit the official website here.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/wyrdsong/announcement-trailer

Ex Elder Scrolls, Fallout dev announces new historical RPG Wyrdsong​

Jeff Gardiner, who's worked on Bethesda games dating back to Oblivion, has revealed his newly formed studio, Something Wicked, which is working on Wyrdsong

Former Fallout 76 project lead Jeff Gardiner, who left Bethesda a year ago telling fans to “stay tuned” for what’s next, has now revealed that he’s founded a new games studio and that it’s working on a historical-fantasy RPG game called Wyrdsong. The teaser trailer debuted at Opening Night Live at Gamescom.

Gardiner’s new studio is called Something Wicked, and he’s brought together talent from Bethesda, BioWare, and Obsidian to shape its first game, Wyrdsong. The teaser trailer shows falling stars during a solar eclipse, and as the shot pans down, we see a knight wearing a Templar cross on his tabard, standing on a castle rampart.

Suddenly, the corona of the sun peeking out from around the moon closes like an eye, casting the scene into darkness. It reopens, blazing blue energy lighting a different version of the tableau: here the knight is replaced by a dark, horned figure, and thorny branches twist over the walls.

“Wyrdsong is a dark, preternatural or occult, historical fantasy,” Gardiner tells us. “It’s an open-world RPG set in middle ages Portugal. We want to ground the player in a reality that they’re sort of familiar with, because it’s from history, but at the same time introduce elements of fantasy as the player goes through it.”

Gardiner says the basic idea Wyrdsong is being designed around is that “the brain is not a passive receptor of information; you are a co-creator in your reality.”

“I’m really digging into this idea that’s in a lot of more modern fantasy and science fiction about multiverses and metaverses, and how these worlds interact and overlap with each other,” Gardiner says. “And there’s this ability for an individual to somehow gain knowledge of those worlds, and then be able to continue to live in this historical fantasy world and find some kind of power beyond that they can bring into the world with them.”

Gardiner says the inspiration for the setting came during his last vacation trip before the COVID-19 pandemic, when he and his wife traveled to Tomar, Portugal. It’s a small town just over 100 kilometres north of Lisbon, packed with 12th century castles and churches that display a range of architecture that includes Baroque, Manueline, Gothic, and Renaissance.

The town itself, Gardiner learned, was also planned as a headquarters for a branch of the Knights Templar, the mysterious order of religious warriors at the centre of countless conspiracy theories.

“We just sort of go places and rent little stick-shift cars and drive around,” Gardiner says. “I didn’t even realise how much the Knights Templar influenced the origin of Portugal as a nation-state, and that region as a whole.”

The Gardiners drove south to the town of Sintra, where they found another Templar stronghold – this one built over a set of ancient Celtic monoliths.

Throw in a local Masonic temple, and you’ve got a fully operational pitch for a new Dan Brown novel. Gardiner says that while a lot of the conspiracy theories surrounding these groups are pooh-poohed by proper historians, it makes for a wildly entertaining alt-history setting in a game.

“I wanted to dig into the idea that what these alternative history people are saying is actually true, and that the Templars were able to tap into some kind of alternative reality,” he tells us. “What would that look like in a role-playing game, where the player can experience this?”

Gardiner says an idea that tied in with this was the ‘unreliable narrator,’ and suggesting to the player that their own experiences in the game might not be real – or at least, not universally real.

There have been other influences Gardiner’s picked up along the way, too. He says he’s a big fan of Piranha Bytes Gothic RPG series, as well as the classic Ultima games (Ultima III and Ultima IV in particular). Another big influence, he says, is Robert Eggers 2015 movie The Witch, about a family of 17th century Puritans in New England who head out on their own to live in the wilderness and encounter a malevolent entity – or do they?

“You think these people are sort of going crazy, and they’re all in the woods together, and they’re feeding each other’s insanity,” Gardiner says. “And you find at the end, the head fake, is that this might have been real. You still don’t really know.”

Gardiner says he appreciated the research Eggers devoted to The Witch’s setting – the story was based on actual journals kept at that time by people in similar circumstances, grounding a supernatural story in a very real and believable setting.

Wyrdsong is still very early in its development, and so Gardiner isn’t ready to commit to a lot of the particulars about how the game will look or play – it’s not clear, for instance, whether this will be another first-person game, like the many RPGs he worked on at Bethesda. However, he’s putting together a team of seasoned genre vets to do it: Something Wicked includes folks like Charles Staples, who helped design Fallout: New Vegas, Alpha Protocol, and The Outer Worlds while working at Obsidian.

“I’m a big believer in attracting great folks who are really excited about working on a game like this, and giving them the autonomy to figure out how to make it,” Gardiner says. “What great ideas do you have, how can we fit them in? That magic was captured very successfully in my previous jobs, and I want to continue that at Something Wicked Games.”

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Fallout 76: Wastelanders Producer (2020)

 

[The Wall]

Without prompting, he adds: "You're going to be able to play whatever you want, wherever gender identity, we're not forcing- This is a fantasy setting based around Portugal just for the architecture and the sweeping landscapes and the coastline and the Arid mountains."

The Templars, you see, can be a problematic symbol because of their associations with far-right and fascist groups, particularly in England. "It definitely is on our mind," Gardiner says when I mention it. "We want to play into, again, the fantasy idea of what the Templars are. Again, you can play any gender Templar you want, any race Templar you want - we're not getting into that. We're not a historically pure game ... But I do agree that has been a tough conversation."

Ok, close the thread. I'm not even kidding

Holy Fuck! Infinitron What you and your people have done to gaming and culture is unforgivable

 

[gurugeorge]

Wyrdsong? A stupid name. Wyrd, does it even mean anything?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyrd

And wtf does Portugal have to do with that, one wonders?

Weird.

Again, you can play any gender Templar you want, any race Templar you want

Jesus wept.

 

[The Wall]

Yes, Infinitron. You'll pay one day. For everything

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Without prompting, he adds: "You're going to be able to play whatever you want, wherever gender identity, we're not forcing- This is a fantasy setting based around Portugal just for the architecture and the sweeping landscapes and the coastline and the Arid mountains."

The Templars, you see, can be a problematic symbol because of their associations with far-right and fascist groups, particularly in England. "It definitely is on our mind," Gardiner says when I mention it. "We want to play into, again, the fantasy idea of what the Templars are. Again, you can play any gender Templar you want, any race Templar you want - we're not getting into that. We're not a historically pure game ... But I do agree that has been a tough conversation."

Ok, close the thread. I'm not even kidding

Holy Fuck! Infinitron What you and your people have done to gaming and culture is unforgivable

They have lost a customer and I will not be giving them infinitron's Jew gold.

 

[TT1]

Finally a setting based on European Brazil

 

[Roguey]

Something Wicked currently has approximately 15 employees, and as production moves forward on Wyrdsong Gardiner expects to expand that number to thirty in the next few years and potentially up to 70 by the time the game is ready for release. "And we were lucky enough to get a seed funding round of $13.2 million from NetEase," said Gardiner.

Yeah, uh, good luck making enough of a game with that to get another publisher interested in spending tens more on the rest.

And what is NetEase?

NetEase, Inc is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce.

Oh, okay, this is a China Game.

 

[karoliner]

I really hope Putin stars the nuclear war. There is nothing left to save.

 

[Skdursh]

CGI trailers should be punishable by 2 years hard-labor. Gameplay or get fukt.

 

[Antigoon]

And what is NetEase?

NetEase, Inc is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce.

Oh, okay, this is a China Game.

Doesn't look like NetEase is taking much control over the project, otherwise you wouldn't have black tranny Templars

 

[rusty_shackleford]

how come they always use ytpipo culture & history then put brown & black people in it?
is there a reason they can't use brown & black people culture and history? Is there something wrong with it?

 

[Antigoon]

Devs are white, they would get destroyed using any original African setting.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

Seems interesting enough. Wish they showed gameplay. Cinematic trailers are retarded.

Sadly we don't yet possess the technology to show gameplay that doesn't exist.

Primitives

 

[Lady Error]

Wyrdshit will be shit. /thread

 

[Darth Roxor]

Without prompting, he adds: "You're going to be able to play whatever you want, wherever gender identity, we're not forcing- This is a fantasy setting based around Portugal just for the architecture and the sweeping landscapes and the coastline and the Arid mountains."

The Templars, you see, can be a problematic symbol because of their associations with far-right and fascist groups, particularly in England. "It definitely is on our mind," Gardiner says when I mention it. "We want to play into, again, the fantasy idea of what the Templars are. Again, you can play any gender Templar you want, any race Templar you want - we're not getting into that. We're not a historically pure game ... But I do agree that has been a tough conversation."

Ok, close the thread. I'm not even kidding

i have to admit, i haven't been this triggered in a very long time

impressive

 

[oscar]

An Expeditions style RPG in the Portuguese Golden Age would be major incline if anyone had the nuts and vision to make it. Fighting samurai, Ming Chinese and of course the dastardly Dutch and English. Jesuit priests and Chikunda slave-warriors as party members. Trade, exploration, diplomatic missions and fighting all sorts of pirates and natives.

Even the confused name of this game hints (tragically confirmed by the above quotes) that these guys have a weak historical interest (yes Germanic paganism is such a good fit for Medieval Portugal) and they're going a sanitised fantasy route instead.

 

[lukaszek]

apache helicopter templar

 

[luj1]

Without prompting, he adds: "You're going to be able to play whatever you want, wherever gender identity, we're not forcing- This is a fantasy setting based around Portugal just for the architecture and the sweeping landscapes and the coastline and the Arid mountains."

The Templars, you see, can be a problematic symbol because of their associations with far-right and fascist groups, particularly in England. "It definitely is on our mind," Gardiner says when I mention it. "We want to play into, again, the fantasy idea of what the Templars are. Again, you can play any gender Templar you want, any race Templar you want - we're not getting into that. We're not a historically pure game ... But I do agree that has been a tough conversation."

Ok, close the thread. I'm not even kidding

Holy Fuck! Infinitron What you and your people have done to gaming and culture is unforgivable

just wow

templars as right wing fascists

cringe

 

[Cricket McBangle]

Has any game that was advertised as "from the industry veterans who worked on [insert beloved game or games]" ever turned out any good

 

[lukaszek]

Has any game that was advertised as "from the industry veterans who worked on [insert beloved game or games]" ever turned out any good

hard to say, codex didnt reach consensus on poe

 

[perfectslumbers]

Funniest part of the trailer was developed by the industry veterans who made all the worst RPG's you can possibly think of.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

how come they always use ytpipo culture & history then put brown & black people in it?

Who said we're white?

your average poortuguese fidalgo

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Wyrdsong? A stupid name. Wyrd, does it even mean anything?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyrd

And wtf does Portugal have to do with that, one wonders?

They probably just used it because the name sounds cool