Vapourware Basilisk Games (Eschalon) working on a first-person sci-fi RPG

[Major_Blackhart]

So this is still being done?

 

[LESS T_T]

Proper announcement probably coming in late Spring, and possibly the game will be released this year o_O: http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13024

Sorry I am a day or so late with my annual "thanks for a great 2017, and hope everyone has an even better 2018" message. But here it is none the less!

Although we're not selling as many copies of Eschalon as we used to, we still are and we get new players every week. To all our new customers in 2017, thank you for your support and helping to push us through to the next game. And a big thank you to people who have donated to us! We received almost $500 in donations in 2017, and that money goes directly into the production of our next game. It's helped us pay for some additional graphics and sound effects so far.

Speaking of our next game, it is still coming along nicely, but I don't have an announcement date planned yet. I've just started collecting clips to add to a trailer, but there are 2 or 3 key areas that I want to include in the video and those areas haven't even been started yet. It'll be a few more months before I'm there, so we're probably looking at the formal game announcement in late spring. I want the release date to be no more than 6 months out from the game's announcement, so that will be a factor as well.

Finally, thank you to all our regulars who keep stopping by from time to time. I promise to show you some cool stuff in 2018!

 

[LESS T_T]

Some forum posts:

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=12967

I just noticed that the 'TRP' is now a 'TRC', huh?

Yes, this is why we don't release too much info early on. So even though the storyline has been finished for a long time now, some details come to light when the world actually gets built. In this case, the "P" word in the title actually didn't fit the game as well as it did in the design document. It's not that big of a deal, it's just that I felt like it might open up questions as to why I named it that; why I used that word. So, I changed it and actually like it much more. The logos have already been updated.

Since I'm here and everyone always asks "what are you working on now?" ... This week I have been working on getting some new features into the combat round and trying out different combat music tracks. Last week was mostly bug fixes and redesigned an enemy. Next week will be level building.

Who is providing the music for TRC? The music for Eschalon was wonderful, and I know you really care about how that ambience affects the game. Any hope of "Glorian" providing some tracks?

Yes, Glorian is absolutely incredible. He's one of the best composers I've ever known. He's worked with Hans Zimmer and has been doing AAA game music for a few years now. The truth is, I really can't afford him anymore, but luckily he is a fan of Eschalon and has offered to do the title track for me, and his partner could make additional tracks for us more cheaply.

I have not reached out to him yet because I am trying to get the overall style / mood locked down first. I've been working with quite a few other people who have contacted me about wanting to help with music, and have been getting all kinds of music samples to try out. Once I get an overall style locked down, I'll see if Glorian and his partner can create a few tracks for the game, based on the samples and tracks that I've already approved.

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13048

I totally understand that the isometric look is where our roots are at. I have already been looking at a possible return to isometric after TRC, playing around with engine ideas in my spare time. Working with Unity now has made me realize what an incredible isometric engine could be made inside it, and I regret not taking the extra time to port Book III over to Unity back when I was working on it. I cut too many corners with Book III because of BlitzMax limitations, which Unity does not suffer from.

Anyway, despite our next game (TRC) not being isometric, it is still very much an old-school CRPG at heart. It's still turn-based and has a very "Eschalon" feel, but from a new perspective. Also, for me, working in a sci-fi environment is so refreshing after the years I spent inside a classical fantasy game world.

I guess I have to prepare for summoning aweigh.

 

[Infinitron]

LESS T_T I think you may have linked to the wrong thread there.

http://basiliskgames.com/are-you-going-to-be-at-gdc/

“Are you going to be at GDC?”

About this time every year, we get dozens of requests to meet up at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Fransisco. Unfortunately, we are not going this year. We’ve got too much going on here, working on our next game, to give up a week to watch other people talk about how to make games.

Perhaps next year!

 

[LESS T_T]

I think you may have linked to the wrong thread there.

Yeah, fixed it.

Btw from the thread I originally linked: http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13024

Great to hear there is hope to see the new game this year. now I hope to live long enough to play it.
I'v been playing III for a couple of years with different characters, honing skills and having a great time.
Cuebramola.
94 years and still above the ground.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Escalon is a great and underrated series. And I love whoever made the music, that was wondrous.

 

[Xeon]

I hope the story for their new game is good, I liked the Escalon series but the story wasn't that great and felt cut or rushed.

 

[Haba]

And I love whoever made the music, that was wondrous.

Multiple people, some licensed tracks were quite surprising. I thought they'd nicked a few songs from Bjørn Lynne, but turns out they bought the permission from some site.

 

[JarlFrank]

Eschalon was a way way way too slow game, god that walking speed is so slow it takes ages to traverse a map.

 

[Viata]

So, any pics?

 

[Infinitron]

http://basiliskgames.com/update-please/

Update, please!

Thanks for all the email, Facebook and Twitter “update requests” you people send us; we see them, but we rarely give individual responses to each request. We’re sorry for being quiet for so long.

Our current game-in-development (the sci-fi RPG) has been coming along very well. The game world continues to grow. The rules system continues to get tweaked. The few people who have been lucky enough to see the game have given us overwhelmingly positive feedback, which makes us feel good. We are working overtime to get the game to a publicly-presentable state.

Unlike the Eschalon series, which we showed off from the very beginning with alpha screenshots and gameplay descriptions, this current game is being built in total secrecy until it is ready for a proper announcement to be made. The game has enough unique features that we don’t want to show off too early for fear of elements changing before release, or even our ideas being sniped.

As soon as we are ready to announce the game, we’ll give everyone a heads-up that it’s coming so you can be the first to see the gameplay trailer and screenshots. However, please be patient! I promise, we more restless to show off our game than you can imagine, but there’s still a lot of work to do. In the meantime, stop by our forums and let us know what you’re currently playing!

 

[Xeon]

"our ideas being sniped"
This sounds kinda funny, its like they are about to come up with an original concept that was never thought of before or something.

I hope the game will be good overall.

 

[LESS T_T]

http://basiliskgames.com/looking-for-3d-character-artists/

Looking for 3D Character Artists

We’re looking to work with some freelance artists who specialize in 3D character modeling, including rigging and animating. Blender to Unity workflow. Send us a link to your online portfolio and we’ll contact you for a quote!

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13056

I have been playing some of the new Final Fantasy, but I'm not too much into the storyline. It's definitely more of an R&D type of play through.

Not too long ago I finished Might & Magic X: Legacy, which I really liked even though it wasn't well received critically. It felt like a classic RPG and I had quite fun with it.

I also am playing some Doom (the 2016 version) because it is a marvelous game to study- the interface and visual effects are flawless.

 

[Viata]

The only thing one can study from DOOM is how to make a shit game.

 

[LESS T_T]

Progress update from mid-June. Now he's aiming for a Fall announcement: http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=13151

Update - June 17

I was just sitting here drinking coffee and thought "I should post an update on the forums". So I am.

Nothing worth posting to the front page, just a message letting you core fans know that I am working hard as ever on the new game. We've made some great progress, though game content just feels like it takes forever. Like, I spend weeks working on one area, and when it's complete I look back on it and think "damn, I just spent 4 weeks on an area that might represent 20 minutes of gameplay". But I do think the content creation process is speeding up, as I am able to reuse some objects and elements from different areas of the game.

And then there's the perfectionist in me- this past week I spent most of my time updating some character animation that bothered me.

I really need to learn to let cosmetic issues rest until I am done with core game content, but in my defense I wasn't sure if this animation would end up in the trailer and I want it to look cool.

Let's see, since the last update I've also worked on combat visual effects as well as some physical effects (like getting stunned or disabled). I'm also starting to make combat stat tweaks as some imbalances are starting to show (mostly tweaking the Eschalon-era combat functions to support a 4-member squad).

Oh, and I added a notification (a little star icon in an item's description) for when you find a item that is better than the lowest equipped comparable item in your squad. So let's say a two of your squad members are using beam weapons, and you find a new beam weapon which is better than what one of the members is using, it'll have a gold star in the description. I did this because in traditional fantasy RPGs, we've all become pretty used to knowing that two-handed sword is better than a long sword, but in a sci-fi game, how do you know if the SP7 'Sucker Punch' Rifle is better than the Multibeam Shotgun (other than picking it up and having to swap compare stats)? Now you get a little star icon to help you.

So yeah, there's still a lot to do but I am making headway. I was hoping to have a trailer / game announcement this summer, but it is looking like this fall right now. We'll see.

 

[LESS T_T]

Heh there was a call for tester in July: http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=13172

Here's the situation:

We're making a sci-fi RPG that is different in many ways to anything that has been done before. Because of this, it is absolutely essentialthat we make sure the gameplay experience is accessible to as many players as possible. While a lot of "inside" people (colleagues in the video game business, friends, and family) have given us positive feedback, we have yet to get feedback from anyone who will be playing the game- our potential customers.

We would like to offer someone an exclusive experience: play 30 minutes of our game and let us know what you think. Give us your good and bad comments. Suggestions for improvements. Find a bug or two. Heap praise on us for our brilliant design, or sling sh!t on us for our confusing mess of a game...we want all of it. We need it all.

The lucky person will learn what the game is titled and experience about 30 minutes of pre-alpha gameplay (representing the demo section of the game).

The lucky person will need to be: exceptionally trustworthy, preferably a long-time fan/customer of Basilisk Games, very experienced in RPGs of all kinds, and able to keep it secret and private until we are ready to make an official announcement. Oh, and right now it is only a Windows game- sorry Mac and Linux people. We will port the game to other platforms once we hit the beta stage.

If you think you are ready for such an important and huge responsibility, respond to this thread. Tell me why you want to be considered. What were the last 5 games you've played? Did you beta test for me in the past?

We'll pick someone (probably via private message) in early August.

[Edit #1] Oh, I should also say that TRC is NOT an isometric, sprite based engine. It is not the next-gen Eschalon engine. This game will require (at least) a mid-level gaming PC and a decent graphics card. The engine is full 3D with modern GPU effects via DX11/OpenGL. So dusting off a 10-year-old PC with 2 gigs of Ram probably won't work. As a gamer, being somewhat comfortable in a first-person view would be helpful.

I've got someone lined up for the August test. Sorry, it's nobody who responded here, but it is someone who has helped test before and has been lurking around here for many years. They contacted me via PM.

I will likely take comments and suggestions from this person, update what I feel needs to be updated, and probably have a new set of eyes take a look at the game in September. So please, post here if you want to be considered for the September slot! If this continues to work out, I may bring someone new on board each month for a fresh perspective until I reach formal beta.

The new game is not isometric and it's not fantasy, so I expect I'll alienate quite a few long-time fans with it. Still, it's what I've wanted to do for years so either I'll sell enough to keep going or Basilisk Games will be just another dead indie studio.

 

[Roqua]

The new game is not isometric and it's not fantasy, so I expect I'll alienate quite a few long-time fans with it.

I find this hard to believe.

I know there are people that won't play games unless they are AAA fancy graphics, but I didn't know there were people so in love with isometric view they wouldn't play a game because it didn't have it. I also never met anyone who loves fantasy but hates sci-fi, or vice versa, so much they refuse to try a game, watch a movie, or read a book from the other genre.

I hate games that are not FP or over the shoulder third person with locked cursor but has spinning cameras. It annoys the fuck out me. I hate dicking around with the camera. I hate it passionately. But I still buy the games that have this - I just whine like a bitch about it. There isn't enough games with the mechanics and systems I like to ignore any because the devs decided to waste my time with a horrible swirly camera that does nothing but add the most annoying mini-game ever (fucking with a camera) and annoy the fuck out of me.

Fixed camera games are clearly superior in all possible ways something can be superior - but kids love spinning cameras for some reason so we put up with it.

 

[tindrli]

but.. but.. will it include farming?

 

[Heretic]

First leak when?

 

[Ranarama]

I've already started leaking

 

[V_K]

Damn, LESS T_T, why are you so slow? We could have sent a spy!

 

[Grauken]

He had to walk three whole rooms to push the post button

 

[Vault Dweller]

Heh there was a call for tester in July: http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=13172

Here's the situation:

We're making a sci-fi RPG that is different in many ways to anything that has been done before. Because of this, it is absolutely essentialthat we make sure the gameplay experience is accessible to as many players as possible. While a lot of "inside" people (colleagues in the video game business, friends, and family) have given us positive feedback, we have yet to get feedback from anyone who will be playing the game- our potential customers.

We would like to offer someone an exclusive experience: play 30 minutes of our game and let us know what you think. Give us your good and bad comments. Suggestions for improvements. Find a bug or two. Heap praise on us for our brilliant design, or sling sh!t on us for our confusing mess of a game...we want all of it. We need it all.

The lucky person will learn what the game is titled and experience about 30 minutes of pre-alpha gameplay (representing the demo section of the game).

The lucky person will need to be: exceptionally trustworthy, preferably a long-time fan/customer of Basilisk Games, very experienced in RPGs of all kinds, and able to keep it secret and private until we are ready to make an official announcement. Oh, and right now it is only a Windows game- sorry Mac and Linux people. We will port the game to other platforms once we hit the beta stage.

If you think you are ready for such an important and huge responsibility, respond to this thread. Tell me why you want to be considered. What were the last 5 games you've played? Did you beta test for me in the past?

We'll pick someone (probably via private message) in early August.

[Edit #1] Oh, I should also say that TRC is NOT an isometric, sprite based engine. It is not the next-gen Eschalon engine. This game will require (at least) a mid-level gaming PC and a decent graphics card. The engine is full 3D with modern GPU effects via DX11/OpenGL. So dusting off a 10-year-old PC with 2 gigs of Ram probably won't work. As a gamer, being somewhat comfortable in a first-person view would be helpful.

I've got someone lined up for the August test. Sorry, it's nobody who responded here, but it is someone who has helped test before and has been lurking around here for many years. They contacted me via PM.

I will likely take comments and suggestions from this person, update what I feel needs to be updated, and probably have a new set of eyes take a look at the game in September. So please, post here if you want to be considered for the September slot! If this continues to work out, I may bring someone new on board each month for a fresh perspective until I reach formal beta.

The new game is not isometric and it's not fantasy, so I expect I'll alienate quite a few long-time fans with it. Still, it's what I've wanted to do for years so either I'll sell enough to keep going or Basilisk Games will be just another dead indie studio.

Indie developers and their silly secrets. One tester's input is pretty meaningless if the goal is to get proper feedback. He needs 10-15 people at least.

 

[Grauken]

Writers who haven't written anything are also usually worried about somebody stealing their ideas, but usually once published this idiocy goes away, one would think with three whole, utterly derivative games under their belt they wouldn't worry about this

 

[Big Wrangle]

Never got into the Eschalon games, but if this is something he actually wanted to make as he says it could work. But as VD said, he needs more testers than that. Unless the game is at stone age pre-pre-pre-pre-not-even-alpha or something.