Cleve, I don't understand why you don't just re-release the old beta build (at a minimum) to encourage all your newfound fans and give them something tangible to mess with; I don't think anyone's going to try to play through an ancient beta version of the game and hold any quirks/bugs/incompleteness/changes against you. I'm not really into the whole kickstarter thing going on nowadays, but if I were, having the beta to play around with would almost instantly elevate your game out of the "I wonder if these people are just bullshitting me" realm that most of these other projects inhabit.
Since there seems to be hordes of people wanting to believe, and I have nothing better to do with a Shabbat morning, I decided to finally fire up the beta I procured years ago (either from right here on the Codex, or on #fallout - can't remember, but there have to be quite a few Codexers that already have it) and expose myself to the gibbering Lovecraftian insanity of a Neanderthal mind in an advanced state of collapse. As hinted at by Cleve recently, the product was surprising Disney-esque.
I didn't play through too much because I'm swamped with school work and I hate fucking around with DosBox, Fraps, and all the other attendant bullshit associated with bringing this post to you, but I did get some captures documenting a conversation with a fairy, and a video of some combat in action. I realize Cleve has already posted much more from recent builds, but the point is there's a functioning product that was out back in whenever the fuck this beta was distributed, and could be in the hands of some of people actually backing the project instead of my own, casually-interested and not-likely-to-preorder grasp.
Character generation doesn't seem to be included in this build; if you click on "Story" it gives you a description of the basic background of the world. Clicking on quick starts the game, with a pre-generated party.
GAH, FURRIES, FUCKING FURRIES EVERYWHERE. After futilely attempted to purge the party of degenerate yiffing scum, I resign myself to exploring with my posse of carnival freaks.
After wandering around through the woods for a bit, I'm suddenly accosted by a small, scantily clad fae figure. Sensing the opportunity for tasteful rape, Ali Baba readies his throwing knives.
Hmm, guess I didn't catch all of the text, but it turned out that the fairy wasn't hostile, but was instead merely some kind of tout, who informed me of a magic shop in the vicinity and said something about a discount if I mentioned she sent me. Interestingly, as part of the dialogue options you can type in your own text and ask questions, similar to the old MUD-style games (which I used to love, though the syntax problems usually makes using these systems a bitch in games that aren't purely text-based).
Ali Baba looks knowingly over at his one-eyed monster, Rasputin, and decides to start with a little bit of small talk to lower "Little Rosy's" defenses.
Hmm... is she being a cold bitch, or coming on to us? Is she being intentionally ambiguous? Time-tested Codex dating advice tells us there's only one way to find out for sure:
Let's lay it on the line, sister.
Interestingly, she seems to respond more to this line of questioning than my query about the shop she was promoting; it would seem that my instincts about Rosy were right. Unfortunately for Ali Baba and Rasputin, however, the little bitch is playing hard to get and if we want to access her "hidden treasure" we're going to have to demonstrate "wit, courage, patience, and tenacity" - god dammit, this is sounds like real life, not a fantasy game. Fuck it, let's get outta here and see if we can't find something to kill.
Rosy leaves, and I try to consult the map to figure out where the fuck we are. I'm not used to this rotate-and-move system, and I'm having a hard time keeping my bearing in this enchanted forest.
Local map... not incredibly helpful, and I still can't keep my shit straight. In desperation, I turn to the world map and hope for some Bethesda-style teleportation magic.
Shit, no dice; guess I'm on my own.
Aha! Finally, a ladder leading down into the murky bowels of the earth.
The dank depths of the underworld are calling - will we find break-dancing liches, or have they not been implemented yet?
... necrophilia? Suddenly, Ali Baba and Rasputin's hopes are reborn and semi-engorged.
At this point I tried to switch over to capturing some video, since I was looting a crypt, drinking from a fountain, accessing the inventory, fighting, etc. but fucked if I know how to get Fraps to take more than 30 seconds at a time, and I don't have all day. A couple of the better fights didn't get recorded, but eventually I set the random monster frequency to really high and was able to capture a fight. I had killed a bunch of worms and squirrels in the dungeon, gone back to the surface, wandered around some more, then fell through a hole back into the dungeon and had my party decimated by falling damage, only to get assaulted by packs of rabid squirrels.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geAXNcJWmFU&feature=youtu.be[/url]
I don't know if the party members were dead, or what, but when I tried to rest I got assaulted by yet more squirrels and decided to call it a day.
To be honest, I never played this style of game when I was a kid, so I have no clue how Grimoire might eventually compare to classics of the genre. Still, it seems to be playable even its beta state from ages ago, and given that there is some quasi-serious interest from the community in funding/pre-ordering it and seeing it completed, it makes sense to me to release the beta, at a minimum, to the faithful. Finally, as one bunker builder to another, best of luck Cleve.
I hope You get enough money, Mr. Blakemore.
