Next Obsidian Kickstarter

[kirottu]

 

 

which is in the works, but could probably

use some more cash.

It isn't. Game is confirmed dead.

 

 

Exactly. As long as the Mandragon fellow (or whatever he is called) holds the license you won't see a Wheel of Time movie, tv serie or a damn video game. The guy is a complete hack.

 

 

Maybe he tries to kickstart a iphone game once again for 500.000$.

[Marceror]

Like a Jagged Alliance with mechs?

 

I'm not counting the panzerklein from Silent Storm

 

Yeah, I'd buy that too

I'm not sure how close it is to Jagged Alliance as I've never played it. I did take a peak at a lets play hoping to give you a better answer. There are some similarities. Might be easier if I just describe.

 

In MechCommander you traditionally play as an up and coming a mercenary commander. You job is to direct a team of mech-warriors in the field over a series of missions. You tend to start with mostly green pilots and perhaps a couple of regulars. You also tend to have just a few light mechs that aren't particularly impressive -- generally they have only short and medium range weaponry, and not the good stuff.

 

Before a mission (usually) you have time to choose which mechs you want to take into the field, and you are limited by a maximum drop weight tonnage. So do you want to take fewer heavier mechs or more lighter mechs? Or a mix? You can usually customize the mechs with the weapons you have on hand, and try to establish a load out that is a good complement to a particular pilot's skills. You can also choose to add more armor in lieu of additional weaponry and many mechs can be outfitted with jump jets (jump that thing over walls, or right behind an enemy mech for a flanking attack).

 

In addition to light and medium mechs, there are also heavy mechs, and the extremely powerful assault mechs. Your pilots can specialize in different mech weight classes, and they will be more efficient if they pilot that sort of mech. They can also specialize in different classes of weapons in order to gain an accuracy bonus with them. There are other specialties such as jump jets, scouting, sensor specialist, and toughness (reduces chance of dying if a pilot is forced to eject from their mech). Over time your pilots increase in rank (green, regular, veteran, elite and ace) and gain additional and more advanced skills.

 

Ammo management is a factor for weapons that require ammunition (machine gun arrays, autocannons, missiles, etc). You can also equip lasers, plasma rifles, etc. which don't use ammunition, but generate more heat for your mech. Always the trade offs.

 

Your goal isn't just to win missions, but also to pick up salvage. If you can defeat an enemy mech-warrior without utterly destroying his mech, you may be able to add the chassis and weaponry to your personal inventory.

 

What I really love about MechCommander is squad dynamics. You generally want to have your scout, who will pilot a light mech that can move at high speeds. Having a sensor specialist with long range sensors is invaluable. You will also want to have some heavier mechs to be your punching bags, and ensure you have a nice mix of short, medium and long range weaponry. And you can have anywhere from 1 to 16 mechs in the field at the same time (though 4 - 8 is more the norm).

 

When resources permit, you can call in airstrikes, resource trucks, and other boons. And there's plenty more. So yeah, if that sounds like Jagged Alliance with Mechs than there you go. To me it just sounds like a whole lot of tactical gameplay awesomeness.

[gladestone]

They can't do kotor. Disney owns the rights to star wars. They picked some thing a few years back not sure what happen there.

[ShadySands]

Thanks for that Marceror

 

I should have paid more attention in the first place as I had played and enjoyed MC2 way back in the day and completely forgot it was real time and not turn based like JA

[C2B]

They can't do kotor. Disney owns the rights to star wars. They picked some thing a few years back not sure what happen there.

Actually EA owns them (At least for non-mobile videogames)

[Marceror]

Thanks for that Marceror

 

I should have paid more attention in the first place as I had played and enjoyed MC2 way back in the day and completely forgot it was real time and not turn based like JA

Back in the day I played plenty of MechCommander, the expansion and even more MechCommander 2, including numerous fan made campaigns, including the excellent Exodus campaign by Magic. In fact, in 2012 I even completely rewrote the manuscript for the Exodus campaign for Magic, since writing was not his strong suit. It was a pretty decent story I think, tacked on to an amazing campaign. But I think he got so overwhelmed with all the changes he was trying to institute into the game that he never got around to releasing it.

 

Maybe one day. At any rate, I would pretty much kill for a "spiritual successor" to MechCommander. And would be plenty happy if it was turn based or RTwP as the originals were.

[Bos_hybrid]

Like a Jagged Alliance with mechs?

 

I'm not counting the panzerklein from Silent Storm

 

Yeah, I'd buy that too

 

I would kickstart the hell out of an Obsidian Front Mission.

[cb.spike]

I hope they are still planing to do one...

[ShadySands]

With PoE delayed into 2015 I think we won't be hearing anything any time soon

[Dagon]

Just an idea, but since they are in good relationship with inXile, and both companies are using the same Obsidian tools, how about Wasteland spin-off, with more fallouty mechanics  with Tim Cain as Project Director and Chris Avellone as Creative lead.  Wasteland: New Vegas 

[Aoyagi]

 

They can't do kotor. Disney owns the rights to star wars. They picked some thing a few years back not sure what happen there.

Actually EA owns them (At least for non-mobile videogames)

 

 

Actually they have an exclusive rights to them, ownership is still at Disney.

[C2B]

 

 

They can't do kotor. Disney owns the rights to star wars. They picked some thing a few years back not sure what happen there.

 

Actually EA owns them (At least for non-mobile videogames)

 

Actually they have an exclusive rights to them, ownership is still at Disney.

Thats what I meant (Though in more detail)

[H0RSE]

I hope they try their own.

 

I wish for a game inspire by Arcanum or something out of this world. Fantasy, but totally crazy.

Arcanum was such a cool concept - the setting, the magic meets technology theme, it would be awesome to see an updated game take on something like that.

[Oerwinde]

An Arcanum spiritual successor would be awesome. It did so much right with its setting and non-combat stuff that its a shame the really bad combat overshadowed it.

[Osvir]

Another suggestion:

- Open World like Skyrim, TES, GTA or similar (Even like Civilisation, Crusader Kings etc.)
- First Person and Top Down Elements
- Dynamic Progression (Procedurally Generated Areas, Random Loot)
- Single Player High-Fantasy, Steampunk, Cyberpunk, Modern (doesn't really matter what sub-genre)

Background:
I restarted Skyrim, and decided to play entirely different. Instead of becoming the Dragonborn I went straight to the college and became the Arch-Mage. Looking at the game from that perspective made it extremely much more interesting and soon I had forgotten the Main Quest line and instead I was just the Arch-Mage of Skyrim. Eventually, when there was nothing more I could do on this quest, I stopped playing.

An idea spawned, and I tried my outmost with mods to reach this level of detail but alas, I couldn't get it to work nor did I find exactly what I wanted.

Narrative Concept:
Imagine that you are a God in Skyrim, and that all of the NPC's are already in place. There is no Character Creation, but instead you pick one of the NPC's anywhere in the world and you "possess" them. As you do this, other NPC's would react to this depending on their status in the world. If you go down in an Anti-God town, your character might be hunted with torches almost instantly, in another town the NPC's might praise your coming and kneel down before you.

Progression Concept:
After you have possessed someone, you can go anywhere and depending on your actions you'll affect regions. The game is layered in 2 states.

Layer 1: The Character Perspective
Very much standard in Skyrim, for instance, you control a character and you move them in the world (Exploration, Combat, Quests etc. etc.)

Layer 2: Strategy World
Midst playing in FPS as your character, a Crusader Kings AI (a Faction AI) on top. Factions will wage war against each other, whilst you are traveling the world, diplomatic envoys, caravans, trading. But you could also aim to take control of one of the factions, and steer them in your ambition.

So if we were to look at Skyrim, becoming the Arch-Mage wouldn't simply mean becoming the Arch-Mage cosmetically, but you'd also gain some power in politics. Gather soldiers, take over cities, order soldiers and slowly take over the world or do what you want to do.

You could also decide to play the game like Skyrim, be an adventurer, a mercenary, or perhaps something as simple as being a Captain in an Army or similar.

In essence #1: A game where you start as an Adventurer, and having open ended options to either become a Hero/Villain, or becoming a Political Leader.

In essence #2: Imagine if World of Warcraft factions actually were controlled like an RTS by Players, and battling other factions whilst Character Players were running around in the world. EVE Online and DUST 514 mentality, in a single player game.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Osvir

[Malekith]

Another suggestion:

 

- Open World like Skyrim, TES, GTA or similar (Even like Civilisation, Crusader Kings etc.)

- First Person and Top Down Elements

- Dynamic Progression (Procedurally Generated Areas, Random Loot)

- Single Player High-Fantasy, Steampunk, Cyberpunk, Modern (doesn't really matter what sub-genre)

 

Background:

I restarted Skyrim, and decided to play entirely different. Instead of becoming the Dragonborn I went straight to the college and became the Arch-Mage. Looking at the game from that perspective made it extremely much more interesting and soon I had forgotten the Main Quest line and instead I was just the Arch-Mage of Skyrim. Eventually, when there was nothing more I could do on this quest, I stopped playing.

 

An idea spawned, and I tried my outmost with mods to reach this level of detail but alas, I couldn't get it to work nor did I find exactly what I wanted.

 

Narrative Concept:

Imagine that you are a God in Skyrim, and that all of the NPC's are already in place. There is no Character Creation, but instead you pick one of the NPC's anywhere in the world and you "possess" them. As you do this, other NPC's would react to this depending on their status in the world. If you go down in an Anti-God town, your character might be hunted with torches almost instantly, in another town the NPC's might praise your coming and kneel down before you.

 

Progression Concept:

After you have possessed someone, you can go anywhere and depending on your actions you'll affect regions. The game is layered in 2 states.

 

Layer 1: The Character Perspective

Very much standard in Skyrim, for instance, you control a character and you move them in the world (Exploration, Combat, Quests etc. etc.)

 

Layer 2: Strategy World

Midst playing in FPS as your character, a Crusader Kings AI (a Faction AI) on top. Factions will wage war against each other, whilst you are traveling the world, diplomatic envoys, caravans, trading. But you could also aim to take control of one of the factions, and steer them in your ambition.

 

So if we were to look at Skyrim, becoming the Arch-Mage wouldn't simply mean becoming the Arch-Mage cosmetically, but you'd also gain some power in politics. Gather soldiers, take over cities, order soldiers and slowly take over the world or do what you want to do.

 

You could also decide to play the game like Skyrim, be an adventurer, a mercenary, or perhaps something as simple as being a Captain in an Army or similar.

 

In essence #1: A game where you start as an Adventurer, and having open ended options to either become a Hero/Villain, or becoming a Political Leader.

 

In essence #2: Imagine if World of Warcraft factions actually were controlled like an RTS by Players, and battling other factions whilst Character Players were running around in the world. EVE Online and DUST 514 mentality, in a single player game.

Nope. Do not want.

But if they managed a Skyrim killer i would be happy for Obsidian even if i wouldn't play the game.

[rjshae]

I would love some SciFi rpg, with upgraded PoE's stronghold mechanics for spaceship, which could be used as a transport al'a kotor, with more open world approach taken from fallout 1-2 , tactical turn based combat (again Fallouts but also Jagged Alliance) and placed on beautiful prerendered backgrounds of Pillars engine.  Maybe they could fit somehow Avellone's Star Wars pitch?

 

I'd like to run my own den of stinking decency on an asteroid base; attracting all of the recently reformed galactic scum and villainy to build a trading post selling holographic dream vacations and strange alien pets as souvenirs. Plus a transport line to bring the paying customers to my exotically-decorated domecile, and a refurbished star destroyer to deter the psychodrug-riddled bands of ravaging pirate brigands infesting the region. Oh, and a fully automated factory for building a line of sexy geishabots too... and a hipster galactic radio station with a freeky wierd jock spinning the tunes. All in the name of interstellar freedom and democracy.

[Agiel]

An Arcanum spiritual successor would be awesome. It did so much right with its setting and non-combat stuff that its a shame the really bad combat overshadowed it.

 

Kind of hoping that eventually Tim Cain, Obsidian and InXile together with Jason Alexander (no, not George Costanza) managed to get the Arcanum IP from Activision (I can picture Bobby Kotick's reaction: "Wait, we have what?"). Arcanum was an unfortunate case of an utterly fantastic world and an extremely promising character system squandered with badly implemented combat and merely interesting but poorly developed characters.

 

One of the most memorable gaming experiences I had (even if it was one that I kind of got cornholed in) was on my first playthrough going full retard with magic and the train conductor plain refusing to let me on the train... before I had the teleport spell.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Agiel

[rjshae]

Is there a market for an Arcanum-inspired game? Besides a small but dedicated following, I haven't seen much interest. Perhaps the sales of T:ToN will provide a hint, as that seems to be somewhat similarly eclectic mix of sci-fi and fantasy. There's also the Shadowrun Returns series, which I suppose is likewise related as it includes fantasy in a technological setting.

[cb.spike]

So what should be goal of next kickstarter? To me it looks like the times of multi million game kickstarters are over. Do you think Obsidian will be interested in smaller amount of pledge money? Let´s say 500k ? 

[Malekith]

cb.spike, on 21 Oct 2014 - 12:06 PM, said:

So what should be goal of next kickstarter? To me it looks like the times of multi million game kickstarters are over. Do you think Obsidian will be interested in smaller amount of pledge money? Let´s say 500k ? 

1.500.000 starting goal. Not only multi million kickstarters aren't over, the final budget is going higher and higher with each big name game.

[cb.spike]

 

cb.spike, on 21 Oct 2014 - 12:06 PM, said:

So what should be goal of next kickstarter? To me it looks like the times of multi million game kickstarters are over. Do you think Obsidian will be interested in smaller amount of pledge money? Let´s say 500k ? 

1.500.000 starting goal. Not only multi million kickstarters aren't over, the final budget is going higher and higher with each big name game.

 

 

Care to elaborate? Only kickstarter for game that got more then one milion this year was Kingdom Come. And it was such sucess because they had sh*tload of things to show. 

[Malekith]

cb.spike, on 21 Oct 2014 - 3:23 PM, said:

 

Malekith, on 21 Oct 2014 - 2:48 PM, said:

 

cb.spike, on 21 Oct 2014 - 12:06 PM, said:cb.spike, on 21 Oct 2014 - 12:06 PM, said:

So what should be goal of next kickstarter? To me it looks like the times of multi million game kickstarters are over. Do you think Obsidian will be interested in smaller amount of pledge money? Let´s say 500k ? 

1.500.000 starting goal. Not only multi million kickstarters aren't over, the final budget is going higher and higher with each big name game.

 

 

Care to elaborate? Only kickstarter for game that got more then one milion this year was Kingdom Come. And it was such sucess because they had sh*tload of things to show. 

 

SR<W2<PoE<TTON<Obsidian's next kickstarter.

This year there wasn't a "big name dev" kickstarter, plus most people are waiting to see the games they have already backed come out. I believe Obsidian's next kickstarter will be an even greated success than PE was.

[PrimeHydra]

The PoE expansion and sequel. Is this even a question

[AwesomeOcelot]

 

 

cb.spike, on 21 Oct 2014 - 12:06 PM, said:

 

So what should be goal of next kickstarter? To me it looks like the times of multi million game kickstarters are over. Do you think Obsidian will be interested in smaller amount of pledge money? Let´s say 500k ?

1.500.000 starting goal. Not only multi million kickstarters aren't over, the final budget is going higher and higher with each big name game.

 

 

Care to elaborate? Only kickstarter for game that got more then one milion this year was Kingdom Come. And it was such sucess because they had sh*tload of things to show.

 

That's because the companies that can get large totals are already working on one or two Kickstarters already, there's few large independent devs because publishers have been killing them for over a decade. There can't be Kickstarters from a small group of large independent devs every year, they're taking 2-3 years to make each game. The reason you got a strong 2012-13 is because the large independent devs created their first Kickstarter, they're not going to create more Kickstarters while still deep in development of their first. The slowing of large Kickstarters does tell us that the pool of large independent devs that are going to start their first Kickstarter is small.

 

This year we've had one large Kickstarter fail, Uber's Human Resources, but that says a lot more about Uber than it does about Kickstarter. Devs that have made a game their backers are satisfied with, aren't going to have trouble funding their games. I'm not going to be backing a Tim Schafer lead game any time soon, considering Broken Age has been badly managed and Act 1 was disappointing. On the other hand Brad Muir has been a great lead on Massive Chalice, and I'd back any game DoubleFine tried to Kickstart if Lee Petty was lead.

 

The only thing that could slow Kickstarter growth is publishers, with less power over independent devs, they might actually consider funding good games.

Edited October 22, 2014 by AwesomeOcelot