slopesandsam

My advice: You're best taking it to twitter to pepper the associated parties with this question. Hope you find out and come back and let us know if you do. I'm not a twitterer, unfortunately.

Add to that list of artists Tony Diterlizi. I know PS:T was almost certainly heavily inspired by his artwork from the source books, but the graphics of the era couldn't really capture it.

Back in the 90s, I used to be blown away every other month by some new game with better, more realistic graphics. Photorealism seemed like the ultimate ideal for computer games. But at some point in the last decade (probably around the time graphics got good enough that anyone attempting photorealism found themselves dipping into the Uncanny Valley) I decided that I much prefer stylised art. A good recent example would probably be the two Dragon Age games. Dragon Age: Origins was a great game, but it looked horrible, because they'd gone for a realistic-as-possible look with an engine that just wasn't up to the task (although I personally think that even on an engine that is up to the task, photorealism doesn't look very good). Dragon Age 2, a considerably inferior sequel, looked much better because they'd gone for a far more stylised - almost cartoony - look. Especially for the character models. In fact, I personally think they should have taken it a few steps further down the stylisation road. Ultimately, I'd love a fantasy game that looked like a hand-painted cover from a fantasy book. An RPG that looked like a Michael Whelan, or John Howe, or Frank Frazetta painting. One of the only things I liked about Diablo 3 was that the environments did kinda look like you were running around in a painting (too bad the rest of the game was so uninspiring). Just wanted to float my opinion, see if it lined up with anyone else's.

I guess the follow up question to my first one is: Is the PS:T successor still in the (hypothetical) pipeline?

As far as I can tell, there hasn't been a definitive answer to this one. I know Chris Avellone said that this potential Planescape: Torment spiritual successor would likely not be the Obsidian Kickstarter project, but there seems to be some indication that it actually is. Or maybe not, and this is a much more traditional fantasy game. Or even that the two have been merged. Not that I'll complain either way, or reverse my pledge, but I would like to know where to set my expectations. I'll be more than happy to play any PC oriented RPG (more than a decade into the new millennium and I still don't own any kind of console - so I'm fairly disappointed in the direction RPGs have gone in) that adheres to the design ideals of that Golden Age in the 90s. But I'd prefer to play something Placescapian. Something that has the same weirdness, the same mythological melting-pot flavour, and the same depth (If I had to choose between an expansive world or a smaller but more dense one, like the city of Sigil, I'd obviously choose Sigil - both at once would be nice, but if I had to choose). And while I'm always willing to tackle great fantasy, I also feel that there's so much traditional fantasy around (not just games, but books, movies, and even TV now) that I have to pick and choose. Which is a great luxury. But there's still only one PS:T. Even the New Weird books by the likes of China Mieville don't hit the right tone. (If you're a PS:T fan and you want a reading recommendation, try the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance - the setting is rather different, but they have the same decaying, tragic-but-comic vibe that PS does. Also, the magic will probably seem familiar as well; Dying Earth was the original inspiration for the D&D magic system, right down to the Excellent Prismatic Spray.) Anyway, I didn't mean to turn this into an essay about my personal tastes. I just wanted to know if there is an answer to the question in the subject. Is there an interview (since the Kickstarter started) or a post or something that I've missed?

I have never bought or used a house inside of an RPG. I always wondered what people who did did in there? Do they just sit quietly and enjoy their house by staring at one of the walls? Is there a computer in their house where they can explore a virtual world?