I leave the content of the game up to you (though a new IP would be nice), but for the format I would love to see an RPG in the style of the Infinity Engine games. I suggest that because with a project funded through kickstarter you want to be cost-effective, and that format I suspect would give you the best return on your dollar. Here's why:
1 - Visuals: as opposed to graphics. Infinity Engine games don't have great graphics by today's standards, but they do have great visuals, thanks to the painted 2d backdrops, which contain a ton of scene and mood-setting detail. I would guess that compared to a 3D game, a @d isometric one would give a great visual return per artist-hiring dollar invested.
2 - Dialogue: I'm not necessarily against fully-voiced RPGs but I do think they make it more difficult to manage dialogue in games. A game like this I don't think would have to apologize for not being fully voiced. This means you could have more story depth per dollar invested.
3 - Gameplay: I always thought that a hidden strength of the Baldur's Gate series was that it had it's gameplay systems essentially pre-designed. Second edition wasn't exactly the most elegant system, but it had a huge library of classes, monsters, and encounter design knowledge over the arc of 20+ long levels that the BG series benefited from.
4 - Nostalgia value: A kickstarter project is gonna be trading in on this, and promising the next Fallout/BG2/Planescape will get people interested.
For all these reasons and more, a 2D, isometric, Infinity Engine-style game is the way to go. Make it happen!
If Obsidian + Kickstarter = ?
in Chris Avellone's Blog
A blog by Chris Avellone in General
Posted
I leave the content of the game up to you (though a new IP would be nice), but for the format I would love to see an RPG in the style of the Infinity Engine games. I suggest that because with a project funded through kickstarter you want to be cost-effective, and that format I suspect would give you the best return on your dollar. Here's why:
1 - Visuals: as opposed to graphics. Infinity Engine games don't have great graphics by today's standards, but they do have great visuals, thanks to the painted 2d backdrops, which contain a ton of scene and mood-setting detail. I would guess that compared to a 3D game, a @d isometric one would give a great visual return per artist-hiring dollar invested.
2 - Dialogue: I'm not necessarily against fully-voiced RPGs but I do think they make it more difficult to manage dialogue in games. A game like this I don't think would have to apologize for not being fully voiced. This means you could have more story depth per dollar invested.
3 - Gameplay: I always thought that a hidden strength of the Baldur's Gate series was that it had it's gameplay systems essentially pre-designed. Second edition wasn't exactly the most elegant system, but it had a huge library of classes, monsters, and encounter design knowledge over the arc of 20+ long levels that the BG series benefited from.
4 - Nostalgia value: A kickstarter project is gonna be trading in on this, and promising the next Fallout/BG2/Planescape will get people interested.
For all these reasons and more, a 2D, isometric, Infinity Engine-style game is the way to go. Make it happen!