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Tom Hall and Brenda Brathwaite kicking old school rpg

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We should get a special forum for kickstarter, sheesj.

Tom Hall (Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, ROTT, Anachronox) and Brenda Wrathwaite (Wizardy, Jagged Alliance) opened a kickstarter to create an old school RPG (possibly 2).

Yeah, I know, another old school RPG kickstarter. But it's Tom Hall, so it's going to be awesome. Anachronox is still one of my favorite game(worlds) ever made.

http://www.kickstart...ite-and-tom-hal

It is bit weird though, because they are part of lootdrop. And lootdrop is more or less independent, and self funded.

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Kickstarter is starting to be a night of the living dead scenario for the game industry.

pass.

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I'd be more inclined to kickstart a Commander Keen sequel. ):

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I'd be more inclined to kickstart a Commander Keen sequel. ):

THIS!

We have tons of old school RPGs, when was the last time you played a game like Commander Keen?

Can we at least have Dope Fish as a class?

I'm not sure, but 1.000.000 is probably the highest Kickstarter goal I've seen. This means it has to be TWICE as awesome as Tim Scafer's game, if my made up made is correct.

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Steve Gaynor retweeted this sentiment, with which I find myself in agreement. I mean, sure, it's nice that there are two big names attached, but the hilarious lack of details is pretty crazy. The pitch is basically just "OLD SCHOOL RPG" and nothing else. Contrast that with Obsidian's pitch, which has had metaphysical musing about souls since day 1, and it's hard to get overly enthused. This one is just a bunch of quotes about how awesome Brenda and Tom are. I mean, at least give us some details about the game, like "will it be isometric" or what. If they make their goal then maybe the game will be fantastic, but first they have to hit the goal, and I wonder if coasting on name recognition and "OLD SCHOOL RPG" is going to be enough to get them a million bucks.

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I wouldn't back a Commander Keen sequel, but I would back the hell out of a Anachronox sequel. Like many others I'm rather annoyed by the lack of information on this project. I'm not much interested in the perspective they're going for but rather the setting of the gameworld. Is it going to be another fantasy RPG? Or maybe a bit more Anachronox-esque, i.e. cyberpunk. I'm really hoping for something else than the traditional fantasy RPG.

The only reason I'm backing this project is because Tom Hall is involved in a major role.

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Absolutely baffling. What is the actual game they're going to make? In what way is this going to scratch an 'old school RPG' itch that dozens or hundreds of other RPG's don't? Are they saying that within the deluge of big budget RPG's, western RPG's, Japanese RPG's, Roguelike RPG's, hybrid RPG's, etc, etc, there isn't a single one that comes close?

I appreciate that they love making a type of game and they want to get onto the Kickstarter bandwagon. But, damn.

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eh, y'all are a bunch of cynics. I'm in for the minimum bid that gets a digital copy due to the Ian Bogost pullquote if nothing else:

Only you can prevent Brenda and Tom from making another Facebook game.

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I'm still upset it's not a Commander Keen sequel (spiritual or otherwise). You can't fucking invoke the name of God and not expect me to be disappointed when it's only a minor deity. ):

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Just not feeling it.

Now, if say Lord British himself showed up, and said he wanted to make a spiritual sequel to the original Ultima games. Then I'd "shut up and take my money!"

But I never played Anachronox or Wizardry. Though as I understand it Wizardy bears similarity to Might and Magic series, not a series I was particularly fond of; even if my experience with them was limited too before I was twelve. I still enjoyed Sonic and Tie Fighter and Sim City in that same time period, so I'm not putting any stock into "maybe it's better now that I'm older!" either.

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I jumped on this like a nine-cent revolver in a Mississippi Saloon, but now I feel bad because I realise I probably shouldn't have. The only reason I did was that it said Tom Hall was behind it, and I really remember loving Anachronox, and I never finished it and feel bad about that, so it's like a form of redemption almost.

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I don't like old-school computer RPGs, but I do like the idea of Tom Hall and Brenda Brathwaite working on a big, cool project that they're excited about.

I don't know if that's enough to get me a-pledgin', but I'll be watching their progress.

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I actually used the watch feature to make sure I backed a marshmallow project, so I can attest to its effectiveness/efficiency/efficacy/effectivicity.

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Just not feeling it.

The way they describe the game I'm not sure the creators are feeling it:

THE CHARACTERS

Characters: Create a group of up to 4 characters, choosing from multiple races and professions.

Skills: Balance your characters' strengths, weaknesses and skills, knowing each of them affects play.

Progression: Gain experience and gain levels to hone your characters to your exact liking.

What is this, a description of a 99 cent game on the app store?

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But I never played Anachronox

I don't know how well it holds up, but you really should give it a try: http://www.gog.com/gamecard/anachronox (only $6)

Game mechanically it's not a gem, it's basically an RPG with jRPG style fighting. But the story, the writing, the overal world design is excellent.

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It does not hold up. Especially the whole, doesn't have an ending part. Or the being kind of shit to play part.

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It would probably be a better game without the RPG combat, since it's kind of half-assed and without it the game becomes a pretty neat point and click adventure.

Mostly it's all about the writing and world design anyway. It might not hold up, but my memory of the atmosphere is still one of the strongest impressions I've gotten from a game.

It's really too bad Daikatana sunk Ion Storm.

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The cutscenes are nice and all, but it was really wandering through the world and finding all of the weird little jokes hidden in random dialogue that made the game. The cutscenes are mostly just great because of how they build on the context set up by the rest of the game.

Last night, while strolling home, someone was following me. I could tell by the sound of his dainty footfalls that he was a ruffian of the most degenerate sort.

Just as he came within my grasp, I unleashed high-octane beefiness upon him! I broke him. Snap for snap. Bone for bone. I held him like a giant paintbrush, spelling out my name on the wall with his blood.

Self-defense is sweet.

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Parody of Kickstarter y/n?

Man I hope so. I was confused and put off by such a generic pitch from such a creative duo. Love both of those two and I would love something meaty from them, but uh yeah... really? "Old School RPG?" On Kickstarter? How many of those have I backed now? If it's not an explicit parody, it's an implicit one.

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Key updates on our RPG: 1st-person perspective, 4 character party, Unity engine, fantasy/sci-fi setting and theme.

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I'm already intrigued by the fantasy/sci-fi setting, but I will only back this project if the final game will be called An Old School RPG or An Old School RPG: Origins.

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Sometimes, I'm wondering if I'm mistaking what I think industry veteran aspirations should be for what they actually are.

My initial vision of game veterans' Kickstarter was that they were going toward crowdfunding to undertake projects which, because they were conceived by people that have been 20+ years in the industry, were more personal, mature and thus less marketable than current industry output.

But there's been a string of Kickstarter by people I otherwise respect which look like they are trying to make a game that their 15 year younger self could have designed.

I'm not saying it's bad, but it makes me wonder if the game industry (or the community of game making people) somehow prevents growth and evolution.

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It would probably be a better game without the RPG combat, since it's kind of half-assed and without it the game becomes a pretty neat point and click adventure.

I've had that same thought about many games. I would love adventurized versions of the Infinity Engine games, for instance, or for a very different example, Persona 3. I play all such games on the easiest available difficulty setting (and cheat if possible) in order to minimize the amount of time spent in combat.

What I want to be doing is poking around dialog trees and fiddling with objects in the environment.

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