The Void from Ice-Pick Lodge

[Gambler]

https://www.tension-game.com/index_en.php




https://af.gog.com/game/void_the?as=1649904300

Spoiler

Creators of Pathologic announced their new title.

Many people thought Pathologic to be weird for weirdness sake. It wasn't. The fact that it wasn't have been blatantly obvious from the release of the very first trailer (which immediately convinced me that I'm buying the game).

Turgor looks weird in a bad way. It reminds me of those obscure console titles... The ones which are hailed as art by the people who believe that thinking about art is a crime against humanity. I hope I'm wrong and the game won't be like that, though.

 

[The Rambling Sage]

The Second Comming! The Second Comming!

That said, it sounds quite bizarre - And weird in a Dream-Like way. I can't say i am disgusted by the idea, even if i share your concerns about it being weird just for weirdness sake. Time will tell, i guess.

Now:

The gameplay sounds interesting, in that every action you take, from talking to fighting, consumes an amount of the main resource and the effects are altered depending on wich "type" of that resource you have consumed... or something like that.

It is somewhat depressing that the old and now famous declaration about their next game being about naked girls turns to be right, after all. I always thought it was supossed to be a joke.

I like the "Rune" drawing system to declare actions. It seems similar to what both Arx Fatalis and Black & White did for magic, only now implemented to every single action on the game.

The world is gorgeous - but then i love chaotic, nightmarish landscapes.

The "moral" element sounds like Bioshock upgraded, consuming "thingie" instead of Adam and from naked hot girls (and everything else that crosses your path) instead of little girls. It remains to be seen how much will it influence and shape the experience. In any case since the game has been in development for some time already it is mostly a coincidence, i believe.

The nature of the "thingie" (i forgot the name) seems to be created to have philosophical and poetic elements mixed with the gameplay. Again, it remains to be seen how much will those things influence and shape the gameplay.

All things considered those guys could box a DVD full of low budget brutal teen snuff and i would give them a chance. Pathologic was the most creative, inteligent, and imaginative game in the last years.

I trust them, for now.

 

[Micmu]

How cute, but will they make an English version, too, or will they feed it through Babelfish like they did it with Pathologic?

 

[SuicideBunny]

hm........
http://www.tension-game.com/competition_en.php

 

[cardtrick]

hm........
http://www.tension-game.com/competition_en.php

Yikes. And people call The Witcher immature . . .

On the other hand, if this is really demonstrating the algorithm they'll use to detect runes, it seems quite solid; certainly much more forgiving than, for example, Arx Fatalis.

 

[Balor]

Well, talking about jrpgs - it seems to have a lot of 'dating sim' under it's belt.
However, the 'lol, boobies!' part does not seem the core element of the game - after all, it's Ice-Pick lodge, not Illusion Software.
I'm really looking forward to try it out.

 

[SuicideBunny]

me too, but the boobies promotion kinda... dunno... cheapens(?) it...

 

[JarlFrank]

Naked ladies? I'm sold.

But the game looks definitely good, and what I heard about Pathologic in another thread here sounds good too so I might try out both.

 

[Section8]

Wow, all that funky concept art... and all they've got to show for it is some poser porn renders.

 

[Balor]

Got it, gave it a whirl.

When we are talking about a game from makers of Pathologic, you can be pretty sure what to expect... being thrust into a dying world, that has strange laws, even stranger populace and a goal number one - survival. Which is definitely not easy.
Unlike their first game, the second installment of 'survival adventure' is actually beautiful. At least, when it comes to sisters and scenery (usually, it's a sick and dying beauty, though). When it comes to brothers, it's a beauty that would make Hieronymus Bosch uneasy (and a bit envious).
Anyway, it's great to see all that 'leet graphics', bloom and bump mapping being used for higher purpose (bump mapped nipples? Oh yes.)

As for actually playing it, I didn't get far. In fact, I think I'll have to replay right now, because of screwed-up beginning (I guess everyone will experience this on his first playthough, unless loaded up on FAQS. RTFM will not help - it least it didn't help me ). My first encounter with the Brother was pretty scary and, unfortunately, very lethal cause I didn't expect it and had pretty much zero Palette.... there is no way I can win, hence my planned restart. Spend too much time mucking about, too.
Free advice - feed sisters only after loading up on gold in your Hearts as much as possible for maximum effect, and better spend all your first Color on the trees. Don't let your first harvest put you off - next couple harvests would be at least twofold.

 

[Durwyn]

It's already released in english lang ?

 

[Balor]

No idea. See my location .

 

[Durwyn]

This is why I asked
I'm completly sold on the art direction of this game.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

I still can decide what I should get first: Tension or King's Bounty. Both look amazing, but a poor university student like me can't afford buying two games in one week. Any advice?

 

[Balor]

It depends what are you looking for, pure entertainment value, or high-brow artsy enjoyment.
I don't think I have to qualify which is which .

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

This is precisely what makes the choice so hard: both are awesome, but in completely different ways. I'll probably end up flipping a coin.

 

[asper]

I like the "Rune" drawing system to declare actions. It seems similar to what both Arx Fatalis and Black & White did for magic, only now implemented to every single action on the game.

Uh oh... This sounds quite annoying to me. "Every single action of the game"? Carpal tunnel syndrome ftw.

Constantly drawing patterns with your mouse... I thought that drawing thing in B&W was quite bad as well. And it's unnecessary, why not just use an ergonomic push of a keyboard button.

 

[Balor]

"Every single action of the game"? Carpal tunnel syndrome ftw.

Are you really that stupid or only really good at pretending?
When you are just looking around in pretty much any game with mouse controls, you are making SAME GESTURES!
So, you'll get your carpal syndrome anyway, ha-ha. Or go and play X-box. (Not to mention you'll have to stop browsing internet and switch to a command line OS... but remember, you'll get RSI this way! Mwahaha!)

And besides, drawing in BnW was a gimmick indeed. In Tension, it's a cornerstone. Immersion might become a swearword due to stupid hype nowadays, but here it does mean something.

P.S. Why 'every single action', btw?
It's exactly like Arx Fatalis, only you cannot store spells, and it's used in coversations to draw 'questions' and 'feed' Sisters. Does not happen too often... it's pretty expencive.

 

[asper]

"Every single action of the game"? Carpal tunnel syndrome ftw.

Are you really that stupid or only really good at pretending?
When you are just looking around in pretty much any game with mouse controls, you are making SAME GESTURES!

The same gestures? Moving the cursor to the edges of the screen to "look around", or drawing boxes around units in a RTS, is different from drawing spirals, circles, triangles, or other patterns with it. That's much more strenuous. For normal operations you move the cursor in straight lines - drawing circles constantly in a game isn't the same.

 

[Balor]

"Every single action of the game"? Carpal tunnel syndrome ftw.

Are you really that stupid or only really good at pretending?
When you are just looking around in pretty much any game with mouse controls, you are making SAME GESTURES!

The same gestures? Moving the cursor to the edges of the screen to "look around", or drawing boxes around units in a RTS, is different from drawing spirals, circles, triangles, or other patterns with it.

How different, exactly? You have medical research data that moving mouse in circles and triangles somehow is much worse then just in lines when it comes to carpal syndrome? Are you a medic? Care to provide a link?
I suspect that you just said a stupid thing and don't have the guts to admit it. And besides, most symbols in Tension are pretty easy. Also, most of the time you do NOT have to draw really fast (that might indeed cause extra strain... if much less then in, say, CS or strategy tournaments), because speed measures how much Color you spend, and the more Color - the greater the effect.

 

[asper]

"Every single action of the game"? Carpal tunnel syndrome ftw.

Are you really that stupid or only really good at pretending?
When you are just looking around in pretty much any game with mouse controls, you are making SAME GESTURES!

The same gestures? Moving the cursor to the edges of the screen to "look around", or drawing boxes around units in a RTS, is different from drawing spirals, circles, triangles, or other patterns with it.

How different, exactly? You have medical research data that moving mouse in circles and triangles somehow is much worse then just in lines when it comes to carpal syndrome?

No, I don't, I assumed making a lot of small intricate movements was heavier on the hand than making large, easy ones. Strange assumption?

I'll grant you the carpal syndrome thing, but I also said it sounded annoying to me. Glad you disagree, since you've actually played the game.

And besides, most symbols in Tension are pretty easy. Also, most of the time you do NOT have to draw really fast

Ok.

 

[Balor]

No, I don't, I assumed making a lot of small intricate movements was heavier on the hand than making large, easy ones. Strange assumption?

Yes. Because small intricate movements usually don't involve wrist at all. It's done via fingers.
And only slightly annoying part of the game is 'lymph management'. I wish there would be a an option to draw as much as possible with shift+click or something. At least you can draw all 'nerve' into Palette by double-click...

 

[opium fiend]

Is this thing out? In English?

edit: OK, I found out that the English version is a couple of months away, and it'll have some new features as well as some gameplay differences. Anybody knows more about it? Why would I wait for that instead of plating it now with the English subtitles?

 

[opium fiend]

Ok, got the Russian version and both awed and creeped out blablabla. Also, I don't understand what the fuck am I supposed to be doing, can someone hook me up with the English subs patch?

 

[Balor]

I highly suspect that 'gameplay difference' will amount to 'censorship'.

No idea about 'english subs'. The game has quite a bit of conversation, and it's definetely not easily translated - I can see why it's taking them so long.