Hinterland announced

[Starwars]

So just caught this on RPGWatch, and I think it sounds great. It's not a "pure" RPG, but a curious mix of citybuilding and RPG. The developer (Tilted Mill) have made Children of the Nile and Caesar IV in the past, and are now going indie with this game. It will be available for download next month or so (!), and will cost $20.

 

Check the official site:

http://www.tiltedmill.com/hinterland/

 

And a mini Q&A:

http://fidgit.com/archives/2008/07/tilted-...ut-into-the.php

 

As someone who loves both citybuilding and RPGs, I will definetely be keeping me eye on this one. And a fresh move to announce the game so close to its release.

[newc0253]

despite what i said about disliking RTS/RPG hybrids on the DA thread, i think this looks pretty interesting.

[Musopticon?]

Woah, Soldier's Son rpg!

 

I'm definitely looking forward to this.

[samm]

What a stupid name for a game *g* But it seems to become a very interesting game indeed. Thanks for sharing, I'll keep my eyes on it!

[Atreides]

I'll check this out for sure. I've got high hopes for Tilted Mill. If they make a Jap city builder I'll play it forever and ever. Well almost.

 

Plus they're also quite willing to try new things out which is encouraging. Dungeon Keeper builder ftw.

Edited July 12, 2008 by Atreides

[Monte Carlo]

The tag line is "Loot - Level - Build" which is pretty much manna from heaven as far as I'm concerned games-wise.

 

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll almost certainly be giving it a go.

 

Cheers

MC

[The.Donut]

This looks quite interesting...I'm getting a definite King of Dragon Pass vibe from reading the official site.

[The.Donut]

Preview up on Gamespy:

 

Gamespy Hinterland Preview

[SteveThaiBinh]

I've just been playing through Caesar IV, another of Tilted Mill's games. I really enjoyed it, but I must say I got tired of starting a new city again and again. I remember thinking I would much rather take a single city through a long period, dealing with various troubles and world events. Perhaps this will be a step towards this? In any case, I'm definitely getting this.

[samm]

So they're making it 6 hours long. WTF? One day of fun? No buy :/ Or did I misinterpret what I read and they aim for 6 hours per level, and there will be more than one level? Or they're randomly generated on game start, including quests etc?

Edited August 11, 2008 by samm

[Starwars]

Replayability will be a design goal, so one playthrough will be about 6 hours. Appearantly a lot of it will be randomized.

 

6 hours doesn't sound like a lot when you hear it, but many builders and strategy games are mainly fun at the start I feel. There are many such games (that don't feature a narrative) where I restart the game after a few hours, since the early parts is the most fun.

Hinterland seems to have that "early vulnerability" thing as a design-goal, I quite like that.

 

So yeah, I've no problem myself with a 6 hours game if the replayability is there.

[SteveThaiBinh]

That's exactly the problem with the Caesar games, though. It's fun and challenging at the start as you plan out the city and deal with early threats, but then the city starts running itself and stops posing serious challenges, and then it's just a matter of fulfilling the requirements to end this particular chapter, then you start the next city from square one. If I play NWN2+MotB I know I'm creating a character that I'll still be with 40-50 hours later. Reset to zero after six hours won't hold my interest at all.

[newc0253]

6 hours doesn't sound like a lot when you hear it, but many builders and strategy games are mainly fun at the start I feel.

sorry but 6 hours is a frakking short game by any standards, unless it's galaga or pong.

 

6 hours for an RPG ain't a damn game. it would be embarrassingly short for a frakking premium mod.

[Starwars]

Well, it's not a RPG. I could understand if you have a narrative going, because something like that needs to take some time for itself to play out (even so I don't think you need extraordinary lengths, Mask of the Betrayer was great despite it being short).

 

IF the game is focused, fun throughout and with plenty of replayability, then I'll take that any day over games which lose momentum (which is a majority of longer games if you ask me) as they go on for a longer time. I have doubts myself whether they'll manage it satisfactorily, but there is nothing wrong with the general idea of it if you ask me. Of course, if replayability is not something you sort of "value" to the point of being a selling point (it's a big one for me personally), then I completely understand.

 

And of course, it will be cheaper than a "standard" game

[Volourn]

"Mask of the Betrayer was great despite it being short)."

 

MotB was about 20 hours. Heck of a lot longer than 6 hours.

[Starwars]

Yeees... And it also featured a rather heavy narrative. My point is that a game that features a heavy story need not last forever like many RPGs do, and that a game that features no or almost none (which I think is the case of this game) could be even shorter. At least if it does offer a lot of replayability.

[newc0253]

Well, it's not a RPG.

really?

 

because the folk at Tilted Mill sure are keen to talk up its RPG elements - just check out the Hinterland website:

 

features: Fantasy role-playing and character development

 

Hinterland gives depth and context to the RPG experience, by allowing you to do something more meaningful with the spoils from your RPG adventures.

 

now maybe that's just hype to market their game to folks who like CRPGs but it's also the kinda hype that will bite them in the ass, when CRPG fans get burned by a game that maxes out at the 6 hour mark.

 

IF the game is focused, fun throughout and with plenty of replayability, then I'll take that any day over games which lose momentum (which is a majority of longer games if you ask me) as they go on for a longer time.

yes, but five minutes of the greatest RPG in the world is still only five minutes.

 

you think it's a coincidence that the fantasy genre favours trilogies and endless series rather than short stories? or that there's a constant demand for epic levels in games like D&D? CRPG fans don't want to invest time into building a character and following a story only to have it grind to a halt a few short hours later. shorter adventures and episodes have their place, but typically as part of a larger story. Hinterland sounds like a fun way to kill a couple of hours, but it seems like a big mistake for the devs to put the RPG elements of their game front and centre when they know their game ain't long enough to provide the follow-through.

Edited August 12, 2008 by newc0253

[Starwars]

To tell the truth, I had not even looked closely at the presentation at their website, just really looked at interviews and such. Yes, perhaps it is indeed a mistake to market it like a RPG in the way that they're doing. I definetely don't get an impression from the interviews that they're pushing it as a RPG there though, or at least not as a type of cRPG we have come to know in recent years. More of a roguelike mix with some strategy/building elements.

 

So yep, perhaps the marketing is off. But I still feel that a game that doesn't contain the narrative or storyfocus that we often see in cRPGs can definetely afford to be shorter and replayable instead. Perhaps I'm an odd man out, but if I play something like Civ IV or whatever, chances are that I will get the feeling of wanting to restart after 8-10 hours or so (even playing at a fairly slow pace) and that is a game which I assume had a fairly big budget/team attached to it. This goes for many other games as well.

 

But then again, I also feel that the crowd which will buy this game will most likely look up the game beforehand, or find out about it through previews. I don't think there'll be many surprised faces saying "omg, only 6 hours of gameplay?!?!" after playing it, but perhaps I'm wrong.

 

I also guess it's how much you play. I play about 2 hours per day, so if the 6 hour mark is correct (to tell the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if it goes a bit beyond that since many devs hold back a bit when announcing playtimes) then a playthrough would last me about 3 days. That seems perfectly acceptable for me, and like I said, would've likely warranted a restart in many games which feature strategy/building/simulation elements.

Edited August 12, 2008 by Starwars

[Moatilliatta]

Hinterland to go gold in about a week. In case some of you don't know.

 

@The Hinterlands is short for an RPG debate.

 

As I've understood it Hinterlands is as much an RPG as Diablo, which is an RPG by the way.

Loot, level and build with fast paced RPG combat and strategic base building!

Notice that it doesn't mention narrative or anything but simply tells you that you'll have non-generic characters (level), stuff from fallen enemies (loot) and a city to build (build).

 

It'll probably be a different more in depth take on the same subject as Majesty.

 

Edit: A forum thread that you guys might find interesting:

The 6 hour game time thing.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Moatilliatta

[samm]

Thanks for the update

[mr insomniac]

6 hours doesn't sound like a lot when you hear it, but many builders and strategy games are mainly fun at the start I feel.

sorry but 6 hours is a frakking short game by any standards, unless it's galaga or pong.

 

6 hours for an RPG ain't a damn game. it would be embarrassingly short for a frakking premium mod.

although not a RPG, Portal was only about 3 hours at most, with limited replayability, and it was an amazingly fun game, imho. If this game is all about replayability, then who knows... $20 isn't a bad price for that.

[newc0253]

although not a RPG, Portal was only about 3 hours at most, with limited replayability, and it was an amazingly fun game, imho. If this game is all about replayability, then who knows... $20 isn't a bad price for that.

i've been rethinking the 6hr thing since i finished Spore (the first RTS i've played in a long time) and decided to play Civ 4 (which is maybe the first turn-based game i've played since Civ 3).

 

playing those games, i can see there's definitely an overlap between world-builder games and CRPGs that Hinterland would naturally seek to exploit: both genres appeal to building up a character/civilization and both can be strong on exploration (replaying Civ, i'm reminded how the most appealing part of the game is early on, uncovering the map).

 

so, yes, a 6hr game is fine for the strategy genre. but it's still no more than a small mod for an RPG, though. whether Hinterland will successfully appeal to CRPG fans depends on what it feels most like. the more i read, the more it looks to be a strategy game with RPG elements, rather than a CRPG with strategy elements.

 

that ain't a bad thing, though. 1e D&D always promised a strong world-building element once you got past 9th level and i reckon a lot of folk who liked the Stronghold sidequests in BG2 or the Crossroads Keep element of NWN2 liked it because it tried to make good that aspect of the game. we'll see if Hinterland pulls it off.

 

p.s. Portal wasn't a long game but it definitely took me longer than 3hrs.

[Moatilliatta]

It's possible that they'll try to expand upon the amount of hours a game takes with expansions later on for those who can't get enough.

 

I also think I'll wait a day or two to see if early reports say that there is good replayability as It'll need that to be worth $20.