Torment Alpha has started *possible spoilers*

[Luridis]

I'm asking here because I'm sure there are others here who have backed it. I received an email for the alpha, but the links do not go to inexile-entertainment.com. Instead, they point to inexile.net, and I'm not sure if this is legit. The whois record reports a domain transfer in may of this year (inexile.net) and a server location in England.

 

Anyone hear about bogus emails related to Torment backers?

 

Cant EDIT: I changed the title to warn about possible spoilers. I know it's kind of like trying to stick our fingers in the dike, but I would appreciate it if folks would at least be care in our little corner of the net about spoilers. I know! I know! Good luck with that...

[melkathi]

I only have beta access so can't answer :/

[Luridis]

Yep, I can confirm it's started. "inexile.net" is one of their domains, confirmed by one of their developers.

[melkathi]

Have fun testing then

[Lexx]

Pretty sure it will be better for most (if not all) people to wait at least until the beta or even until the release... unless you are really hardcore and want to report bugs and whatever. It very likely won't really be playable other than that.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Lexx

[Bartimaeus]

(EDIT): I'M STUPID. HAVE A GOOD DAY.

 

For some reason, I thought we were talking about a Beamdog Enhanced Edition of Torment. It pays to wait (and think) a little right after waking up from a nap.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Bartimaeus

[Ganrich]

It's basically just a handful of conversations at the beginning of the game that is a character generator via in game dialogue. It is good about not breaking the fourth wall. It is close to the length of the first level of mortuary from PST, but smaller in actual area size, and it is all dialogue. You make choices that are derived from might, speed, and intelligence that will dictate your Castoff's Class (Glaive, Jack, Nano), and other character details.

 

EDIT: it is a memorable start, but not quite PST in that hopping off a slab to have a conversation with a floating skull is hard to top. However, I am definitely excited to see more.

Edited August 15, 2015 by Ganrich

[Nonek]

Yes I thought it was maybe a touch too verbose, after all brevity is the soul of wit, but saying that the atmosphere and descriptions were all quite well written. I especially liked the fact that one could easily die in the freefall opening through making an obviously poor choice, nice touch of reactivity there.

 

I liked the organic character creation but felt that it maybe could have gone further, and be more natural than the self reflection within the orbs.

Edited August 15, 2015 by Nonek

[Lexx]

What I wondered: Does this game support gamepads from the go or is it 100% mouse & keyboard?

[Ganrich]

@Nonek - By the end of the alpha you gain some attribute points and your "adjective" (Charming, Mechanic, mystic, etc. You don't get a "Noun" or class (Glaive, Jack, Nano) and neither do you get your verb. A character within the system follows the sentence where they are a "Adjective" "Noun" who "verbs". EG - I'm a Cunning(adj) Jack(noun) who wields a bow(verb) or a Mystic(adj) Nano(noun) who controls gravity(verb). So I definitely believe this isn't the entirety of character creation.

 

It is definitely wordy, but as a PST spiritual successor I don't know if that is a bad thing.

 

@Lexx - I haven't tried a game pad, but I expect that stuff to come post launch like Wasteland 2.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Ganrich

[Luridis]

In my report after playing I made the suggestion that, while I do like the RP start, that it would become tedious on repeated play-throughs. Not to mention people sometimes restart several times at the beginning to try different classes. I suggested they include a menu type character builder to appear when tutorials are disabled.

[Agiel]

@Luridis Seems very sensible.

 

Any combat at all? Seems like if they were doing an AST for a PS: T spiritual successor, the big thing to ensure was great this time around was the combat.

[Luridis]

@Luridis Seems very sensible.

 

Any combat at all? Seems like if they were doing an AST for a PS: T spiritual successor, the big thing to ensure was great this time around was the combat.

 

It was just a demo of character creation. The menu indicates there will be a small playable bit added later, which I will assume to contain some quests and combat.

[Ganrich]

Combat is supposed to come in a later Alpha, iirc.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Ganrich

[Cantousent]

I got my key and did the alpha, so I can also attest that it's ongoing. The area that they did is extremely small. No combat as Ganrich says, but it does let you play around. Mostly, it shows off dialogue and introduces what I have to believe are extremely important story elements. I was impressed.

[Keyrock]

How is the character creator?  Can I make a balding fat dude?

[Cantousent]

The only option at the very beginning is male or female. Other than that, everything is handled through a dialogue system that makes stat distribution part of the story progression. It's much more interesting than, say, the Elder Scrolls. I was impressed with how they handled it. At the end, the alpha states that in the release version, there will be an opportunity to play with the values. The actual skin color and basic build of the PC seemed to be set at the beginning, but I'm not sure, based on how the beginning unfolds, whether that stays the same. However, while this is all cryptic, I was quite happy with the way it was done but I don't want to spoil the game for anyone.

 

I ask that folks try to use spoiler tags for things that give away plot points for the beginning. I mean, it *is* an alpha for a highly anticipated game and as such it will get a lot of press, but I'd rather folks get their first taste of spoilerage from elsewhere rather than here. After the cat's out of the bag from other sources, there won't be as much to worry about.

[Labadal]

In the final game, you can manually change stats and stuff if they are not to your liking.

[Varana]

That's very good to hear.

While organic ingame character creation sounds like a good idea, it usually fails to stay interesting by the 20th time you run through creation. There's a reason why everyone kept or distributed Oblivion saves right before the sewer exit, or why the BG2 mod "Dungeon Be Gone" is a godsend.

 

Nice to see that the game's doing well.

[Cantousent]

It's hard to explain without giving out details, but the character creation is a lot like the Elder Scrolls setup, kind of like New Vegas in a way, but even more embroiled in the story in a personal sort of way. ...and it doesn't take long. I actually went through the process a few times because I *enjoyed* it. I was greatly impressed by the Alpha, and I haven't been following the development all that well. I just happened to approve a post in this forum and saw this thread. Between Wasteland 2 and what I've seen of Tides, I'm on the way to becoming an fan of the developer. I even joined the alpha forum, although I haven't actually read or posted anything there. This forum takes up enough time, let alone 2.

[ShadySands]

Is it still possible to get in on the alpha or is that a KS exclusive reward? I'm really curious about the character creation but don't actually want to test anything

[Cantousent]

Is it still possible to get in on the alpha or is that a KS exclusive reward? I'm really curious about the character creation but don't actually want to test anything

Hey, Shady, I can't link directly to their backer page because it's commercial in nature. However, I will link to the game page and it's easy to find their backer information there should you choose to do so. I'm at... Silver or something myself, but I'm also considering throwing more money at them. Mostly because I'm a big sucker, but also because I *do* think the game is looking pretty damned good!

 

https://torment.inxile-entertainment.com/game

[ShadySands]

 

Is it still possible to get in on the alpha or is that a KS exclusive reward? I'm really curious about the character creation but don't actually want to test anything

Hey, Shady, I can't link directly to their backer page because it's commercial in nature. However, I will link to the game page and it's easy to find their backer information there should you choose to do so. I'm at... Silver or something myself, but I'm also considering throwing more money at them. Mostly because I'm a big sucker, but also because I *do* think the game is looking pretty damned good!

 

https://torment.inxile-entertainment.com/game

 

Thanks, I'm in now

[Lexx]

Oh, just noticed the second novella is out already... Totally missed it. Downing it right now, hope I'll find the time to read it soon. The first one wasn't bad, imo.

[marelooke]

Especially noteworthy as far as I'm concerned is that the opening dialogue (the really first few screens of text) was also voiced and *did not massively annoy me* by being so. This is probably the first time *ever* that has happened (I generally find fully voiced dialogues in text heavy games horrendously annoying and usually wish there was a way to tune it down to only the first sentence or so, I'm looking at you PoE and D:OS)