What kind of future settings is Obsidian planning?

[Hurlshort]

Actually we've had a few discussions over the years about Shadowrun and the excellent Genesis and SNES games that were set in the universe. It would be great to see an RPG in that universe. I always thought a Jagged Alliance style combat engine would be a fantastic fit for it.

[Gfted1]

A-ha! Thats the Shadowrun I played, the Genesis version. I remember getting stuck at a vampire in some club. Years later I saw I was supposed to stun him with the camera flash or something like that.

[SirPetrakus]

A-ha! Thats the Shadowrun I played, the Genesis version. I remember getting stuck at a vampire in some club. Years later I saw I was supposed to stun him with the camera flash or something like that.

I had no idea there was a Genesis shadowrun game. And I owned a Genesis. But I didn't have that many games I'll take a shot at the Genesis one.

[Rostere]

Just take few ounces of Max Ernst, mix thouroughly with Nash's and Spare's renderings of WW1, and pour the finished art design over a solid story with a few interesting sociopolitical and psychological perspectives in a highball glass. Garnish with some of Lovecraft's early works and (optionally) the mythos of an extinct civilization.

 

The medieval and WW2 settings (for example) have been done a hundred times, I think developers right now should be looking after entirely new settings. We all know how well Fallout mixed art, design and fashion of entirely different themes (Mad Max, Art Deco, 1950s) to create a solid concept for a setting that has become very popular. More entirely new ideas, please! Just mix enough, and it WILL blend!

[Rosbjerg]

A Lovecraft 1920'ish as previously mentioned would rock! Especially if OE decided to go full-scale M rated with it..

 

That would be beyond words..

[Rostere]

A Lovecraft 1920'ish as previously mentioned would rock! Especially if OE decided to go full-scale M rated with it..

 

That would be beyond words..

 

I agree.

 

However, although Lovecraft's fiction is an incredibly good source for inspiration, a game based entirely on one/ several of his texts would send at least me beyond the wall of sleep (pun intended). Don't get me wrong, I like his style and I have basically everything he ever wrote at home, but CoC:DCotE convinced me that you need to go beyond these stories and instead try to understand and capture the general feeling in the texts, not the specific narratives, places or characters. It's like, a game that takes place in Tolkien's Middle- earth would be cool, but the actual game based on the book is still very un- cool.

[SirPetrakus]

After spending a few weeks of reading H.P. Lovecraft's books, I had a really disturbing dream about Cthulhu and at the end of it I, naturally, died. So I wake up and instead of screaming like a sissy girl, I said to myself; "Dude! You've GOT to take a break off of Lovecraft!"

 

That being said, Obs could really work wonders with the CoC setting. Truth be told, there are so many setting we would like to see Obs give a shot at, they would have to release 4-5 games a year to keep us content. If only it were that easy.

Edited December 15, 2008 by SirPetrakus

[Tigranes]

There is a Lovecraftian RPG in the works, called Cyclopean, at the Iron Tower Studios (mainly known for Age of Decadence).

 

Never liked the setting myself, but it sounded like they were pretty faithful to it.

[Walsingham]

Check this:

 

World of Darkness, set in modern day Pakistan. Jihadist vampires, werewolf mujaheddin from back in the day, CIA, Indian thaumaturges, boats, planes, mountains, and nuclear weapons. A Hindu God of armageddon trapped inside the Bamiyan buddha...

[Rostere]

World of Darkness, set in modern day Pakistan. Jihadist vampires, werewolf mujaheddin from back in the day, CIA, Indian thaumaturges, boats, planes, mountains, and nuclear weapons. A Hindu God of armageddon trapped inside the Bamiyan buddha...

 

I definitely want to see that game.

[Morgoth]

Film Noir is what I crave for. Some sort of a Detective tale (forensic investigation mixed with RPG) that is set in some "Dark City" like setting.

[SirPetrakus]

Film Noir is what I crave for. Some sort of a Detective tale (forensic investigation mixed with RPG) that is set in some "Dark City" like setting.

Dark City was awesome, but I hardly believe that you'd get anything closer to that than Shadowrun. *rolls Diplomacy to convert Morgoth to the cause*

 

It's no 'Big Sleep' but it has all the elements needed to make a good film Noir. The SNES game was pretty darn close.

Edited December 17, 2008 by SirPetrakus

[Hell Kitty]

I don't want no elves 'n **** in my cyberpunk.

 

Actually to be honest I'm be pretty friggin' happy with a Shadowrun RPG. Or some Cthulhu mythos. Or Walsingham's idea, turns out he's not completely useless, who'd have thought.

Edited December 17, 2008 by Hell Kitty

[DAWUSS]

I think it would be preferable if another WW2 game is made a generation later.

 

For the past few years, I think most of the people are getting weary of WW2 games as a setting. The interest for WW2 games had been low for the past few years since the release of Saving Private Ryan movie being sole responsible for the surge of WW2 interest. Hence why Call of Duty 4's setting is a sudden jump towards modern military times to cater people's dulled taste for WW2 games.

 

 

WWI then?

[Morgoth]

I'd be very intrigued by a WW2 RPG that doesn't try to tell another war hero tale or some soldiers bravery a'la BiA. But something that plays in a major city (Vienna, Berlin, Paris or London) where you're part of an underground resistance and have to gather vital information and so on. Including lots of assassinations, blacklisting, bribing, detective elements and romances and all that stuff. A real recreated place with it's own districts and character, with tons of roleplaying possibilities. And Film Noir style art direction.

Seriously, if Obsidian has the balls to make a modern-day Spy RPG, they could pull this off as well.

Edited December 18, 2008 by Morgoth

[Amentep]

I'd be very intrigued by a WW2 RPG that doesn't try to tell another war hero tale or some soldiers bravery a'la BiA. But something that plays in a major city (Vienna, Berlin, Paris or London) where you're part of an underground resistance and have to gather vital information and so on. Including lots of assassinations, blacklisting, bribing, detective elements and romances and all that stuff. A real recreated place with it's own districts and character, with tons of roleplaying possibilities. And Film Noir style art direction.

Seriously, if Obsidian has the balls to make a modern-day Spy RPG, they could pull this off as well.

 

An intriguing idea.

 

It also made me think that an immediate post-war Europe setting ala The Third Man could be interesting as a setting too.

[Rostere]

I'd be very intrigued by a WW2 RPG that doesn't try to tell another war hero tale or some soldiers bravery a'la BiA. But something that plays in a major city (Vienna, Berlin, Paris or London) where you're part of an underground resistance and have to gather vital information and so on. Including lots of assassinations, blacklisting, bribing, detective elements and romances and all that stuff. A real recreated place with it's own districts and character, with tons of roleplaying possibilities. And Film Noir style art direction.

Seriously, if Obsidian has the balls to make a modern-day Spy RPG, they could pull this off as well.

 

That sounds like a great idea for a game. I think Poland would be the ideal setting for this kind of game, since most of the atrocities were committed on the eastern front. Or perhaps somewhere in the Baltic states, because of the greater internal schisms there (some factions would be fighting for the Nazis, some for the Soviets, and some just for independence).

 

WWI then?

 

It is my opinion that partaking in the actual war would not create an interesting game experience (trenches, anyone?). WW1's imagery though, as I noted before, is something that still has not been used in any game this far (if you don't count Iron Storm. Probably the worst game with the best setting in the world, or something), to any real extent. Landscapes that are shredded by artillery for several miles, giant underground fortresses surrounded by mazes of trenches and barbed wire, hills of corpses riddled by machine gun bullets and horribly disfigured by mustard gas... I think scenes from WW1 have a very distinct feeling to them. When game designers wanted to use the imagery of the 19th century without having the game take place in the actual 19th century, they created steampunk. I think it's time to extract the essence of WW1 in the same way (WW1- punk?).

[Morgoth]

WW1 casualities were mostly a soldier's tragedy. And as Rostere already said, trench warfare was used on most fronts, for more or less. Not very interesting. WW2 however also entails a tragedy of civilians, and how it penetrated civilian life on a daily basis. That's the stuff what drama and good stories are made of. Hence, a WW2 setting could be really interesting, if it uses this humanic drama as a mainframe for the story, or confined to a community in a city heavily affected by the war. Alas, nobody really showed the will yet to engage into such an enterprise, instead we get to see another war-hero tale, or some stupid Zombie-Nazis.

Edited December 18, 2008 by Morgoth

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Like you would know anything about penetrating on a daily basis.

 

But I find intriguing how WW2 is largely neglected as a setting for a proper role-playing game. Arguably, most settings for cPRGs are in one way or another based on Tolkien's stuff, which were inspired by the world wars. Orc forces mobilizing for war, large exodus, "a war to end all wars"... These are virtually the backbone of fantasy literature and gaming, and are analogous to most of the war's events.

 

I'm wondering if the lack of attempts at such a cRPG has either to do with developers not realizing this, the abhorrent notions of political correctness (that, for instance, made it so no nazis should appear on LEGO Indiana Jones), or a combination of both.

[Morgoth]

I'd say it's a combination of both. First, most developers are still behaving like they're helpless pawns of the publisher, thus they'll continue to eat directly out of their hands. No creative risk there, Sir. And then there's of course the lack of will or creativity to deviate so far from the cosy fantasy/Sci-Fi settings we've seen all the time in CRPGs. Even if I'd be the Creative director of a hypotetical company with plenty of ressources and support available, I'd still cringe at the idea of designing such a game from scratch. No orks and lands of Arkania bull**** there that helps you out to start with, and no Star Wars cheese to give you a start either. Characters, setting circumstances and plots that have to be completely created from scratch. But I'm sure Obsidian could pull that off, they have plenty of great designers.

 

Only game I played recently that really amazed me was Metal Gear Solid 4 that had some surprisingly offensive content. I mean, the game starts with a cutscene that involves naked French woman and tentacles. More of that I say!

 

Oh and you know what I meant with penetrating you pig you lol!

Edited December 18, 2008 by Morgoth

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I suspect it's also to do with just how much you craft or explore the setting. War games are generally abstract representations of war - from strategy to action war games, the main concern is never to let players on the atrocities (unless you're playing the likes of KZ Manager). It's easier to break down and simplify concepts such as artillery, resources and objectives; and by association, make them appealing. There's close to no appeal in having players trudge through concentration camps, gulags, racial discrimination and genocide. The tank goes "vroom" and "boom". The Sturmgewehr 44 goes "BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA". You want to see those in action. By contrast the emaciated victims in some walled-in Jewish quarters go "uhgn". No one wants to see those.

 

The guts to do a real life spy game like Alpha Protocol is somewhat different than the guts required to rub in players' faces in the kind of atrocities commited back then.

 

 

EDIT: Yes, I know. Just messing with you

Edited December 18, 2008 by Diogo Ribeiro

[Morgoth]

As I've written before, there's still a ton of potential in a WW2 backdrop for conflict and human drama without the PC being actively involved in eradicating Jews or assuming the role as a KZ Obersturmbahnf

Edited December 18, 2008 by Morgoth

[Rostere]

For everyone who's interested in life as a partisan/ spy during WW2 I'd recommend the movie "Come and See" and the russian TV- series "Seventeen Moments of Spring". Or maybe everyone have heard of these already.

[Hydrogen]

Rostere, I hadn't heard of either.. thanks for the suggestion.

[DAWUSS]

I suspect it's also to do with just how much you craft or explore the setting. War games are generally abstract representations of war - from strategy to action war games, the main concern is never to let players on the atrocities (unless you're playing the likes of KZ Manager). It's easier to break down and simplify concepts such as artillery, resources and objectives; and by association, make them appealing. There's close to no appeal in having players trudge through concentration camps, gulags, racial discrimination and genocide. The tank goes "vroom" and "boom". The Sturmgewehr 44 goes "BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA". You want to see those in action. By contrast the emaciated victims in some walled-in Jewish quarters go "uhgn". No one wants to see those.

 

 

1: I think the gamers need that uncensored reality now and again.

 

2: Something like that could do wonders to character development. A great storyteller could use such a setting/scene/theme to really get into the mind of the player character and his/her companions.

 

... and yeah, I'm coming off

that I just listened to.