Torment: Tides of Numero Uno

[Blarghagh]

Your new number one thread to talk about inXile's spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment!

 

Last time we were talking about the differences in kickstarter and development approach between Obsidian and inXile regarding to how well TToN and PoE are working out.

[Keyrock]

Numero Uno?  You didn't use this opportunity to make a highly timely Numa Numa joke?  True Neutral, I am disappoint. 

[Blarghagh]

I made a pun out of it being the number one thread for TToN talk! I did what I could!

[melkathi]

There is always next time. Just means Keyrock has to post more to get the next thread started sooner.

[ilhdr]

About the stretch goals, Sawyer on that other forum clearly stated that this wouldn't mean any delay on the final release.

 

But I agree that the communication on this was terrible.

[Shallow]

Not really sure how I feel about Torment, it might be good, but it seems far more likely it'll be almost a copypaste of Planescape: Torments storyline, in a different setting, with an art style I don't think is all that amazing.

[Marceror]

Not really sure how I feel about Torment, it might be good, but it seems far more likely it'll be almost a copypaste of Planescape: Torments storyline, in a different setting, with an art style I don't think is all that amazing.

I don't think that's overly likely. Some of the most creative minds in the gaming biz are working on this game, and they've had many years of ideas since PST. I'm expecting plenty of new ideas.

 

Take The Bloom for example. It sounds very different from anything in PST. Same goes for the crises system and tides. The castoff idea I suppose has some similarities, but it's also appears to be quite different.

 

I think we want at least some similarities, but a copy and paste? Doubtful.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

I think there will be some similarities but also a lot of differences. I'm looking forward to it.

[AGX-17]

I am looking forward to Tourette: Pride of Numerator, the spiritual successor to Planescrape: Tournament.

Edited September 29, 2014 by AGX-17

[trulez]

After seeing how mediocre WL2 turned out to be my expectations for Torment have been lowered significantly.

[kgambit]

44k+ $ short and only 28 hours to go - not looking good for The Gullet.   

[Marceror]

After seeing how mediocre WL2 turned out to be my expectations for Torment have been lowered significantly.

As far as I'm concerned WL2 is one of the best cRPGs around, and after some more patching it should only get better.

 

And this guy calls it mediocre? I guess there's a critic for everything.

[Hurlshort]

Heh, Wasteland 2 turned out a thousand times better than I expected.  I really went in thinking it was going to struggle with gameplay and be unpolished, but it is a gem.  

 

It actually probably is enough to convince me to buy Torment when it comes out.

[Labadal]

Updated Our Journal (35): The Gullet Extended, Gold Tide Rising

1 comment

 

TL;DR: Gullet Stretch Goal extended to October 31; Gold Tide novella released; Monte Cook Games videos and more.

 

Hi, Thomas here. I'd like to start out today's update with a huge "thank you!" for the immense outpouring of support we received for our stretch goal to add the Gullet into the game. We received some incredibly generous pledges from many backers, including an anonymous donor ($1665), Pookie ($1271), Najiok ($900), Hiro Protagonist ($750) and even a pair of $750 pledges from our very own Colin McComb and Kevin Saunders.

 

Unfortunately, we fell somewhat short of our goal (about 15%, or $35,000) to see the Gullet added to the final game. However, we did not want to see this great effort of yours go for naught, and we also realized based on comments about this stretch goal as it closed that awareness had not spread widely enough. Some people suggested extending the deadline, in part to allow word to spread to where it didn't before.

 

So, we're moving the stretch goal deadline for the Gullet to the end of Tuesday, October 31. Just over $30,000 to go!

 

Coincidentally this is also when we will be closing a number of add-ons from our Kickstarter period. So while new backers are more than welcome you may also want to consider some of our add-on options! And to remind everyone: please specify your add-ons by Tuesday, October 31!

From the Depths: Gold Released

 

We've released the first of our From the Depths novellas. If you need a refresher: the From the Depths stories are a series of novellas being written by people involved in Torment: Tides of Numenera and Numenera itself. While not required reading to play, they provide a richer understanding of the Torment world and characters as well as the Tides.

 

If the Digital Novella Compilation was part of your Tier, or if you pledged for the $15 add-on, then you can retrieve Adam's novella it RIGHT NOW at our site. It's available DRM-free in all the most common eBook formats (epub, mobi, azw3, and PDF).

 

The first one we're releasing is written by our Design Lead Adam Heine, and set in Ossiphagan – which was the subject of the lore piece in update 34. It is one of the five From the Depths novellas that give specific insights into the nature of the Tides, with Adam's focusing on the Gold Tide. An excerpt:

 

Luthiya gripped the ragged edge of the rock, her heart beating thrice as fast as it should've been. A wide river of magma coursed fifteen meters below them, and within it—or were they above it?—floated a dozen or so humanoid shapes. They were golden and ethereal, like wisps of flame, though there was nothing to burn. In another place and time, they might've been beautiful, but Luthiya couldn't see past the fire. Fire meant destruction. Death. The Tabaht.

 

"What are they?" she breathed. And why is Ama excited about these . . . things?

 

"Fire wights," Ama said.

 

"Wights?!" Luthiya hugged herself tightly, remembering old Shue ghost stories in which the dead returned from Abaddon to feed on the living.

 

Ama touched Luthiya's arm. "Hush, child. I'm not ready for them to know we're here. Fire wights is a misnomer, based on how the Ossiphagans saw them. These creatures are very much alive." 

 

"Which brings us back to the question," Luthiya said, more quietly."What are they?"

 

Ama sighed, as though Luthiya should already know. "Old, of course. Probably not of this world at all. They're extremely intelligent, if somewhat difficult to communicate with. I wonder if the thermebus would be useful in . . ."

 

Ama continued talking to herself, and Luthiya ground her teeth. The nano often did this: babbling to herself as though Luthiya weren't there or couldn't understand what she was saying. Normally, Luthiya would let her run on—she'd learned a lot of useful things that way—but there were more important things right now. "Are they dangerous, Ama?"

 

"What?" Ama looked at her and blinked, obviously having forgotten Luthiya was there. "Oh, no, child. They are not fire any more than they are undead. They aren't even hot, though they can become so. They communicate through a form of temperature variation. One could spend another three or four lifetimes trying to under—"

 

"Ama," Luthiya said as politely as she could behind clamped teeth. "Why are they exciting?"

 

Her face lit up as she said, "I don't know."

 

"What?"

 

"There's something important about this place, Thiya. I feel it, and it has something to do with the wights." There was a spark in her eyes Luthiya had never seen before. Joy . . . but scarier. "I think we can help them."

 

"Help them?" The nano was always strange, but this was beyond that. It was one thing to spend hours staring at some metal orb that hung by its own power, but Ama seemed unusually detached from reality at the moment. "We're having enough trouble helping our—"

 

"Look!"

 

ma pointed as some of the wights came together in a circle. Flamelike coils stretched forward from their bodies. Arms, Luthiya thought. The wights plunged their arms into the magma, then the circle began to spin. The magma spun with them, as though the wights were stirring it.

 

As Luthiya watched, the magma changed color from red, to orange, to gold. The wights rose into the air and a tower of golden magma rose out of the river with them. She gasped. How is that even possible?

 

The magma continued to rise. Some of the wights remained at the base, coaxing more magma into the tower, while others guided it toward the cavernous ceiling. Finally they reached the roof where a smaller circle of wights had formed and was molding the magma into the ceiling itself.

 

Luthiya wasn't sure when it changed, but the magma became a shimmering black, a pillar of twisted glass that hadn’'t been there before. "Like the chantry," she said in awe.

 

"And the bridges," said Ama, smiling down at her. "Think what we could do with their help. We could rebuild this city."

Monte Cook Games Videos

 

Monte Cook Games has released a set of "How to Play" videos which serve as excellent introductions into the Numenera pen and paper game. If you're unfamiliar with the game's world and rules – or even if you're not – the How to Play Numenera video is definitely recommended viewing. Less relevant to our backers, but still a fun and interesting watch, is the How to Play The Strange video. Both feature Monte Cook, Shanna Germain, Bruce Cordell and Jen Page. Give 'em a watch!

Ask George Ziets

 

Lead Area Designer George Ziets has continued answering questions on his Tumblr, which as always you can find rounded up on our own Tumblr. Here's George on the Sorrow:

 

The Sorrow (formerly known as the Angel of Entropy) has been hunting castoffs like the player for quite some time. Some castoffs have managed to evade its attention so far, while others have been tracked down and mercilessly destroyed. The Sorrow will be a major antagonistic force in the game. Since you – and all the other castoffs, for that matter – aren't strong enough to stand against it directly, you've got to find another way to deal with it.

 

For the moment, I can't say any more than we've already revealed in updates, but the question of *why* the Sorrow is hunting the castoffs will definitely be revealed over the course of the story.

 

And on the Bloom:

 

For narrative reasons, the Bloom zone takes place entirely in the creature's interior, but you may get to see some Bloom exterior in the Sagus Cliffs zone. I can't say for sure because Sagus Cliffs hasn't been completely designed yet, and I don't know which scenes will make the cut… but I agree that it could be fun to depict, so we'll see what happens.

 

We're laying out our playable space in “scenes” – discrete locations or levels where gameplay takes place. It's essentially the same as in the Infinity Engine games. In PST, examples of scenes would be Ragpicker's Square, the NE Hive, the Dead Nations, the second floor of the Mortuary, etc. The Bloom zone is divided into a number of scenes, which are meant to portray those sections of the Bloom that the player can access. In theory, there are other parts of the Bloom that the player will not see in this game.

Bedlam

 

And finally, we wanted to give a shout-out to the Bedlam Kickstarter. Based on The Banner Saga's engine and with inspiration from FTL and XCOM, this title mixes a fast-paced "blitz" turn-based battle system with elements of rogue-like games and RPGs for what promises to be a pretty unique and engaging experience. With $96K funded of their $130K goal and a week to go, they are close to the finish line, so give the project a look if that sounds cool to you!

 

Thomas Beekers,

Line Producer

 

 

I hope they make it.

[Marceror]

They will.

[ilhdr]

What will they do with the money without reaching the goal?

Edited October 18, 2014 by ilhdr

[Marceror]

Wrap party in Hawaii. But they'll reach the goal, so no alohas for them.

[Hurlshort]

Hiro is a celebrity!

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Hiro is a celebrity!

We should pester him for autographs to sell on eBay frame and hang in offices.

[Marceror]

I saw his name pop up on the top donor list a few nights ago and was like, look at that big bawler go!

 

I was going to donate $750 too, then I realized what I had were pesos, not dollars.

[Lexx]

What will they do with the money without reaching the goal?

Continue working on Torment. With the money, without the Gullet.

[IndiraLightfoot]

They will reach the goal! We just have to up our pledges a little more, with an add-on or so.

 

Well, Hiro excepted, I reckon, with his humongous upped pledge...

 

And the more I get to read about the weird areas, the stories behind them, the creatures, the mechanics, I'm getting pumped and amped and just chuffed to bits!

 

@Hiro: A heartfelt thanks for helping make a game that I and thousands of others really, really look forward to. 

[Hiro Protagonist II]

It was a signed print I pledged for. Colin McComb and Kevin Saunders from the dev team did the same by pledging for a signed print as well. Looks like I'll have something to frame and put on the wall in my home office/games room. It's great to see inXile extend the date and it appears on track to reaching it. Great decision by inXile and it appears they really want it in as much as the backers.

[prodigydancer]

They will reach the goal!

Looks like they will. For a while it all seemed like the project was (nearly) dead - I guess because inXile was focused on getting WL2 ready for launch. But with the recently released gameplay video and KS updated there's finally something to discuss and people who were previously undecided become new backers.

 

And I must admit TToN managed to pique my interest. Maybe I'll give it a chance after all.

Edited October 18, 2014 by prodigydancer

[Marceror]

It was a signed print I pledged for. Colin McComb and Kevin Saunders from the dev team did the same by pledging for a signed print as well. Looks like I'll have something to frame and put on the wall in my home office/games room. It's great to see inXile extend the date and it appears on track to reaching it. Great decision by inXile and it appears they really want it in as much as the backers.

Hmm, the signed print actually sounds pretty awesome.