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Development Info Guido Henkel returns to cRPGs with Thorvalla?

Mrowak

Arcane
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Messages
3,947
Project: Eternity
I'm very stoked to have Mr. Henkel post/pop-in, I hope that we can keep relations positive and perhaps see more about the game in the coming days.

It... it almost seems like with crowd-funding we have seen a renaissance of cRPGs. I really hope this isn't the raising of hopes for the crushing defeat to follow.


Slow down, boss. For now it's just smokes and mirrors. We shall wait and see. Personally, I feel a slight bout of Kickstarter sickness. I don't think I will support any Kickstarter project in the months to come, even though technically I have the money.
 

FeelTheRads

Arcane
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
13,716
I certainly won't view point buy as some sort of advancement of the genre as if it took a stroke of genius to achieve, however.

Pretty much. It's as much "advancement" and "fixing" as Sawyer's "Imma fixing RPGs by replacing resting with cooldowns".
 

Jasede

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
24,793
Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
For what it matters I think rolls in an RPG are interesting in P&P or IRC roleplaying but have no place in a videogame. Failing because of luck isn't fun to most people. Herp, I have a 90% chance to make this speech check, but failed. Better reload. I think thresholds are the way to go.

If I made an RPG it'd have skillchecks like so:

High skill: always pass, except for storytelling purposes (example: auto-failed persuade checks in Obsidian games because player failed to notice character in question isn't open to persuasion)
Moderate skill: chance-based; you've got a fair shot but that's it. risk could be worth it or it could be disastrous.
Low skill: always fail
 

LeStryfe79

President Spartacus
Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Messages
7,503
Location
Codex 2012 Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Well the real problem with rolling in crpgs is savescumming then, which can be alleviated through other methods. But, you know, it's all about producing a good balance of game play mechanics. It's not as if one absolute or the other necessarily makes for a better experience. I can get on board any number of game systems so long as it's well made, interesting, and hopefully a bit of a challenge.
 

NecrosD

Novice
Joined
Aug 8, 2012
Messages
32
Damn if this is ends up been as good as it could be it definitely will be my most awaited for title especially if they merge the best elements of RoA/BaK - only issue I'm seeing so far is in respect to not like dice roll mechanics since makes it look like it may not have turn based combat. However if they can create a good real time system it won't be bad just probably not appeal to me as much
 

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
16,320
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
If it's going to be Bak-like, it's definitely not going to be like Star Trail or Blade of Destiny, since BaK had full exploration and directional control. Maybe Shadows over Riva.

A pity, since ST was the most unique of the RoA trilogy.
 

Murk

Arcane
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
13,459
Slow down, boss. For now it's just smokes and mirrors. We shall wait and see. Personally, I feel a slight bout of Kickstarter sickness. I don't think I will support any Kickstarter project in the months to come, even though technically I have the money.

Well, a lot of the games are already in progress and have sufficient funding to be released, at least as according to the developers.

I too am wary of the bubble bursting but for now, one can hope... one can want to hope.
 
Self-Ejected

HobGoblin42

Self-Ejected
Patron
Developer
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
Messages
2,417
Location
Munich
Codex 2013 Codex USB, 2014
I really hope the Kickstarter fatigue is just a subjective impression and will not hurt the process of Thorvalla. And I am sure Guido also followed the pathetic history of Brenda's Old-School campaign. At least after that we all know how NOT to do an RPG pitch on KS.
 

crafthack

Educated
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
43
what, they removed the travel map from Shadows over Riva because some gamers complained about?! I sure hope mr Henkel has grown some tougher skin since his attic days or the kickstarter backer feedback will wreak havoc on his new game
 

Jasede

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
24,793
Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
You know what makes me angry?
Last call. I didn't even have five Long Island Iced Teas yet.
Also their Cosmos were awesome.
 

crafthack

Educated
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
43
One thing we can tell you, however, is that the game will in part be inspired by trading card games. Don’t misunderstand, however. Thorwalla is not a card game! Instead, it functions much more like a traditional RPG with turn-based combat. The difference will be in that the cards represent, supplement and enhance the characters’ abilities, much in the way traditional character attributes do.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT
 

artakserkso

Educated
Joined
Aug 4, 2012
Messages
82
That was my reaction as well, but I plan to greet any of The Man's ideas with an open mind.
 

Jarpie

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Messages
6,603
Codex 2012 MCA
They are apparently giving exclusive game item to the backers of 25 dolllars and up, not so sure is that a good idea.
 

Gord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
7,049
Well, I trust that Guido Henkel has enough brains not to make those in-game rewards game-breaking or imbalanced.
 

Cosmo

Arcane
Joined
Nov 6, 2010
Messages
1,387
Project: Eternity
Skyrim + a world dynamic described with the same words used in Project Eternity, + cartoonish illustrations and card game mechanics ?
As much as i like Guido Henkel, the description makes this project seem awfully derivative.
He really should emphasize how it's supposed to stand out in today's CRPG landscape (and take the kickstarted ones into account since he's a little late to the party) and the traditionnal fantasy references behind the project (both in games and litterature).
 

crafthack

Educated
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
43
That was my reaction as well, but I plan to greet any of The Man's ideas with an open mind.
I can't keep an open mind when I read "card-trading", it just brings images of those yearly MTG games into my head
I feel so down now, I mean why not have a completely nostalgia glasses project, a computer game simulation of pen and paper, I mean what kind of "new" things could you possibly put into an RPG which wouldn't make it worse? There's nothing really to improve on, the inventory systems, interface have already pretty much been perfected in previous games
 

artakserkso

Educated
Joined
Aug 4, 2012
Messages
82
Because that just wouldn't be Guido Henkel. We have his innovations and thinking out of the box to thank for NLT/RoA and P:T... amirite?
 

majestik12

Arcane
Joined
Aug 2, 2007
Messages
2,196
CCG-like approach might work for dialogue. Depending one your skills, you could have a "deck" of options, such as Bluff, Intimidate, Reason, Flatter etc, or even something more particular, such as Strawman Argument. The number of "cards" would then represent how many arguments of a given type you are able to come up with during a conversation. IMO, that sort of abstraction makes sense. Some people are better at logic, some are better at making jokes or isulting people. Actually, I think that could turn out to be a decent alternative to [Diplomacy 100] to Win mechanics.

Edit:
Combat might work in a similar way too. Here's an example. A Boxer is well trained at puching but has no trained at kicking and grappling, so he gets a lot of Punch cards, and can buy extra punches cheaply, but no free Kick and Grapple are in his deck by default, and the price of buying such cards is higher than for Punch cards. An MMA dude is trained in either punching, kicking and grappling, but he is less proficient in punching than the boxer. So his deck has all types of cards, but Punch cards are more expensive then for the boxer. A karate dude would have cheaper Kick and Punch cards, but more expensive Grapple. As with the dialogue, the cards could represent not general types of attack, but all sorts of particular combat maneuvers.

This is an abstraction that actually allows to create a number of pretty diverse and well-defined fighting styles.
 

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