Josh Sawyer plans to develop a historical RPG after Project Louisiana

[Infinitron]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/article.php?id=10274
 

Is there anything stopping you from doing historical RPG? Do you consider PoE a historical RPG cause it functions more like a historical fiction than a typical fantasy story?

I need to devote my attention to the project I’m currently directing, but it is my intention that the [/background]next project I direct (after this one) will be a historical RPG. It’s something I’ve been talking to Feargus every once in a while for the past couple of years and he’s been supportive.

]I don’t consider PoE to be a historical RPG in any way. When I say “historical RPG” I mean something set in Earth’s history – inclusive with fantasticvariations, like Darklands and Ars Magica.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2016 by Infinitron

[Revan91]

That would be very interesting. Hopefully Feargus will actually let him do it.

[Leferd]

Who owns the rights to Darklands?

 

Roman or Byzantine setting would also be cool.

[Zoraptor]

Retroism owns the publishing rights to Darklands. Since Night Dive mentioned it as one of the titles that could potentially get a remake similar to the System Shock remake currently in progress it's likely that they own the IP outright.

 

Retroism = Tommo + Night Dive, for publishing purposes.

[Leferd]

Well, it's not like they need a specific Darklands license to make an RPG set in the Holy Roman Empire.

 

Also intrigued by a post apocalyptic "Dark Ages" setting after the sacking of Rome.

 

The trick is to find a time period and setting that's not standard mainstream medieval, yet still accessible enough to attract buyers.

[Quillon]

And when I heard "Historical RPG" I thought about Kingdom Come Deliverance. Now I see he really meant medieval fantasy BUT set in the real world. Yeah that's the fresh idea we need. Meh. 

[Jajo]

Taking into account Sawyer's background in history  and fondness for Darklands - colour me hyped.

[Flouride]

I hope they leave magic out of it

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Could be good, could be bad. I'd definitely welcome a horror RPG in the vein of The VVitch.

[rjshae]

A Victorian era dark fantasy could be good. A little steampunk, some faerie influences, and a mix of rationalism with romanticism.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

A Victorian era dark fantasy could be good. A little steampunk, some faerie influences, and a mix of rationalism with romanticism.

 

A Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell rpg?

[Rosbjerg]

Maybe a revisit to the ol' Lionheart franchise?

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Maybe a revisit to the ol' Lionheart franchise?

 

 

On one hand, the first installment was utter ****e.

 

On the other hand, it was also not made by Obsidian.

 

Hmmm....

[Labadal]

Whatever it is, make something new.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Cowboys vs. Aliens videogame adaptation. You heard it here first.

[Infinitron]

Anything but steampunk.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Infinitron

[majestic]

Maybe a revisit to the ol' Lionheart franchise?

 

I'd buy that instantly if they managed to make the entire game like Barcelona.

[eimatshya]

I quite enjoyed the setting of Lionheart, even if they did sort of compress history to get various historical figures together in the same year. So, yeah, a setting like that could be cool, especially if the game was better.

 

Personally, I'd prefer something other than medieval Europe, though. Spain just prior to the First Punic War, the ancient middle-east, feudal Japan (hopefully in a better game than Throne of Darkness), classical Meso-America, the Empire of Majapahit, something set in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. the Ashanti Kingdom or the Ethiopian Empire), or... I don't know practically anything that hasn't received much attention from western RPG developers. Jade Empire is one of my favorite Bioware games, not because it's especially fun, but because the setting was something new and engaging. Medieval Europe is full of interesting history, but we've been doing it for so long; I'd just like to try something else for a change.

 

That said, as Sawyer's background seems to be in European history, I suspect that's what we'll get.

[Leferd]

I quite enjoyed the setting of Lionheart, even if they did sort of compress history to get various historical figures together in the same year. So, yeah, a setting like that could be cool, especially if the game was better.

 

Personally, I'd prefer something other than medieval Europe, though. Spain just prior to the First Punic War, the ancient middle-east, feudal Japan (hopefully in a better game than Throne of Darkness), classical Meso-America, the Empire of Majapahit, something set in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. the Ashanti Kingdom or the Ethiopian Empire), or... I don't know practically anything that hasn't received much attention from western RPG developers. Jade Empire is one of my favorite Bioware games, not because it's especially fun, but because the setting was something new and engaging. Medieval Europe is full of interesting history, but we've been doing it for so long; I'd just like to try something else for a change.

 

That said, as Sawyer's background seems to be in European history, I suspect that's what we'll get.

 

I would prefer something more inherently more esoteric as well. But I'd also want Sawyer to make the game that HE wants to make...as a creative dude irrespective of market conditions or the hivemind tastes of mass consumers --as niche a market cRPGs are anyways.

[eimatshya]

I would prefer something more inherently more esoteric as well. But I'd also want Sawyer to make the game that HE wants to make...as a creative dude irrespective of market conditions or the hivemind tastes of mass consumers --as niche a market cRPGs are anyways.

 

 

True, I wouldn't want him to feel pressured into making a game he's not interested in. There's too much trend chasing in the industry already.

 

That said, trying something you're disinterested in can lead to great things as well. At first, Chris Avellone didn't want to make a Star Wars game, but we ended up with KotOR II out it. So who knows?

 

Anyway, after Sawyer has made his passion project, maybe he could consider making a sequel in a non-western setting? Like, your character from the first game gets shipwrecked in Africa or something. I can dream.

[eimatshya]

Anything but steampunk.

 

I generally find steampunk pretty uninteresting, but I did quite like Arcanum, so you never know what will turn out to be fun.

[Oerwinde]

I'd like Bioware to do a steampunk game. I don't see Obsidian doing a whole lot of AAA games in the near future, and Bioware's cinematic style would better show off the aesthetic.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Any historical CRPG sounds great...on paper! :/

Even fantasy historical CRPGs, like Age of Decadence, for instance, suffer from what I sometimes call boredom creep. Essentially, the setting gets very stale very fast. It doesn't matter if it's like super quality 3D with excellent animations via motion capture (I was part of that Kingdom Come KS, but I do doubt it will give me hours upon hours of unadulterated fun). In all likelihood, it will suck sooner than later; Say, 3-5 hours into the game.

 

One exception could be if you managed to make a very RPG-heavy game, sort of Name of the Rose - The Computer Game, which takes a lot of time and writing skill, I'd wager.

[FlintlockJazz]

I quite enjoyed the setting of Lionheart, even if they did sort of compress history to get various historical figures together in the same year. So, yeah, a setting like that could be cool, especially if the game was better.

 

Personally, I'd prefer something other than medieval Europe, though. Spain just prior to the First Punic War, the ancient middle-east, feudal Japan (hopefully in a better game than Throne of Darkness), classical Meso-America, the Empire of Majapahit, something set in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. the Ashanti Kingdom or the Ethiopian Empire), or... I don't know practically anything that hasn't received much attention from western RPG developers. Jade Empire is one of my favorite Bioware games, not because it's especially fun, but because the setting was something new and engaging. Medieval Europe is full of interesting history, but we've been doing it for so long; I'd just like to try something else for a change.

 

That said, as Sawyer's background seems to be in European history, I suspect that's what we'll get.

To be honest, the 'fantasy europe' we get in most games has very little in common with real life history.  A proper historical setting in the High Middle Ages or the Renaissance would have surprisingly little in common with the traditional fantasy you see, and would in fact be very alien (even when they are not set in western themed settings most fantasy settings still work from certain premises that make the world a lot less alien than it would be).

[Flouride]

Any historical CRPG sounds great...on paper! :/

Even fantasy historical CRPGs, like Age of Decadence, for instance, suffer from what I sometimes call boredom creep. Essentially, the setting gets very stale very fast. It doesn't matter if it's like super quality 3D with excellent animations via motion capture (I was part of that Kingdom Come KS, but I do doubt it will give me hours upon hours of unadulterated fun). In all likelihood, it will suck sooner than later; Say, 3-5 hours into the game.

 

One exception could be if you managed to make a very RPG-heavy game, sort of Name of the Rose - The Computer Game, which takes a lot of time and writing skill, I'd wager.

 

I think it's definately possible to make an interesting game in historical Europe. Though I guess if political intrigue and plotting isn't something you find interesting... It just requires a lot of good writing  and with great c&c it could really showcase what a ****ed up period of time it was. Just don't have it fully based on history and there's some room to maneuvur with the writing and plot. Just look at what History Channel has done with Vikings when they've taken some freedom with the historical facts.