Obduction: Rand Miller & Cyan Worlds Kickstarter

[toblix]

This is really exciting! According to Polygon, they're launching a Kickstarter for something I hope is either another Myst game, or something else related to non-violently exploring beautiful, immersive locations. They're also doing an ARG here, which I haven't looked at yet.

[Lu]

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

Oh man, oh man! If they have even half of the strange beauty in the Myst games, AAAH, totally excited!! Oh, and if they have Oculus Rift support then I will likely splurge in my pants.

[BigJKO]

Sweet deal!

 

I can't wait to see more, because I don't think I've ever seen a real-time 3D game from Cyan Worlds that I actually thought looked good..

[toblix]

That's the thing – the pre-rendered games were all beautiful, but of course they can't do pre-rendered today because most people are garbage and would complain, so they did Realmyst and Uru, which weren't the most beautiful things but looked fine. Now that they can pick sweet graphics middleware, they'll be able to realize their wildest dreams! Just look at something like Brothers, which is a goddamn beautiful-looking game, thanks to modern middleware.

 

Middleware, middleware, MIDDLEWARE, MIDDLEWARE!!

[Sno]

I think Real Myst is quite a beautiful game, actually. It's certainly held up better than Uru, for whatever reason.

This is definitely interesting news though, the six Myst games are absolutely my favorite adventure games.

I don't need this Kickstarter to be a new Myst game though, i'll be glad to just see Cyan doing something again.

[Lu]

The Kickstarter is live! A spiritual successor to the type of experience Myst provided? BACKED.

[toblix]

Also backed. Glad they're using UE4, too. My impression is it's the best looking of the middlewares (correct me if I'm wrong.)

 

I'm a bit worried about the lack of details or pledge levels – it seems a little scarce for over a million. Hopefully they've been reading up on hot Kickstarter strats, so they'll release nuggets of info to keep all the news sites interested.

[BigJKO]

Definitely backing this next month after payday.

toblix, I think UE4 is the most advanced of them (e.g, the particle system is super cool, hence the insane amount of it in the teaser). But how beautiful It looks is more up to how good the artists are than the middleware. And Cyan's artists seem to be doing a solid job in that department.

Not arguing, just wanted to expand on that.

[toblix]

Oh yeah, definitely. I hope you don't think I believe technology is the most important part of a game's visuals! I was just saying my impression is that UE4 still allows for more sophisticated visual technology than Unity3D, which I guess would be the only alternative, and that it's less likely that they'll hit upon limitations in that department. Cyan's games have always been visually focused, and I really hope the game will be pushing the graphics engine to its limits. So, I just want the highest limits. Now, importantly, my impression of the relative quality of Unity3D and UE4's graphics engines is not researched at all, and in my head I'm seeing «Off-Road Velociraptor Safari» vs «Gears of War» or something, which is obviously not representative.

 

But yeah, I know that human artists can contribute to as much as 40-50% of a game's beauty.

[BigJKO]

60%!!

[toblix]

Now you're arguing!

[BigJKO]

No we're not!

[Sno]

I will say, even with improving technology and tools, i think the Myst series scarcely ever achieved the same level of visual sophistication that was on display in Riven.

 

Even if UE4 is a powerful enough engine to do Riven-like visuals in real-time, they may not have money or manpower enough for the content generation that achieves such a goal.

Also, Obduction is at 400k! Woo!

[BigJKO]

Oof, yes. Riven was god damn amazing! I only played the demo.. But I remember being Blown Away when I first saw that sea creature at the beginning, crawling into the ocean. Or am I imagining that? I played it when I was a wee kid..

[toblix]

I don't remember any sea creatures in the beginning, but I do remember looking around the first island, being amazed at how real everything felt. The islands were, and still are (I played it not too long ago, and it's aged really well if you can handle the low resolution) extremely well modeled, textured and animated. I remember looking over at the big gold dome, with the sun reflecting off its rim, or over at other, remote stuff, knowing that I'd be able to go there sooner or later. The thing I remember as the most impressive thing, though, was how perfectly it all came together. Interacting with the various mechanisms around Riven, and hearing the grinding of stone or metal, or the creaking of old rubber or clanking of steam mechanisms, seeing the real-looking stuff move believably, knowing that stuff was interconnected and made sense – I guess it was the perfect game for my young nerd mind. Anyway. 43% done after 13% of the funding period. Looking good.

[BigJKO]

I am disappointed there was no sea creature. Maybe my child mind willed it into existence in one of the shore scenes.

[Twig]

I am pretty sure there was a sea creature in Myst, but I don't know about Riven? Also maybe I'm making that all up?

[BigJKO]

We've got a mystery on our hands.

[toblix]

Oh no, there's plenty of sea creatures in Riven. I just don't think they're present in the first part of the game.

[BigJKO]

Ahhhhhh.. that's it. I think the demo starts at a different place than the actual game. And I only ever played the demo..

[Sno]

Ahhhhhh.. that's it. I think the demo starts at a different place than the actual game. And I only ever played the demo..

 

You really should play Riven, it's the best Myst game.

[toblix]

Okay, I'm going to do something I've never done before; I'm going to be completely open and sincere about something:

 

 

I really want this kickstarter to reach its goal. Currently it's at 89% with a little over 3 days left. According to Kicktraq, it's trending towards 102%, which is pretty close. This makes me worried, and I want to do what I can to help the chances of success.

 

 

I've never asked for much; I accept that people don't back projects they don't care about or don't back at all for religious or on principle. I'm not going to ask anyone to go against what they believe in or spend money they don't have. Neither will I write some long appeal, explaining how awesome this game is going to be and that if you don't back it now you'll regret it either way.

 

 

No, what I'm going to do is warn you all: This kickstarter has better make it, or else.

[Sno]

I've been watching the kickstarter take pretty much daily, and i've been real on edge about its progress.

It seems like it might come down to a real, real narrow finish.

I'm confident it'll make it, but oh my god, for a kickstarter i want to see succeed so badly, it's scary how close it's coming.

Maybe it'll pull a MN9 and make half a million in the last twelve hours.

[toblix]

After my little speech, things are looking up, and the trend is rising again. Thanks, everyone!

[Lu]

My most earnest thanks, Toblix, for indirectly saving Obduction.

 

40k left with 3 days to go!