Messages

46

Off Topic / Whatever Happened to 'Alone at The Last'?

« on: April 19, 2013, 09:46:31 PM »

So i was checking the front page for news again... when i saw that the list of games in the pipeline had changed.

It used to be Skyward Collapse and Exodus of the Machine... and one listed as 'Alone at The Last'. Now that entry is gone and there is a list that says:

May 2013: Skyward Collapse
June 2013: Exodus of the Machine
Late 2013: Bionic Dues
Late 2013: Astride The Divided Sky
Late 2013: AI War Expansion 5

Sooooo..................   the question is What is Bionic Dues? Or Astride the Divided Sky, which are way cool names actually, but i was hoping to find out... did 'Alone at The Last' not make the cut? Or did it get a name change?
And i am assuming that the new games listed can't be talked about til later, when things get closer. Anyway... when you do that... you know, like change names and / or drop ideas for other ideas, could you please let us know?    So we don't like you know... worry... haha, or are you just keeping us in suspense? 

-Teal

47

Skyward Collapse / Re: Details on multiplayer

« on: April 19, 2013, 08:02:37 PM »

Cool!!   

48

Skyward Collapse / Re: Details on multiplayer

« on: April 19, 2013, 07:57:01 PM »

Thank you for the quick answer, i was editing as you were writing and probably i got off course somewhere. But wanted to say Thanks for the feedback, it sounds very cool and interesting! 

-T

49

Skyward Collapse / Re: Details on multiplayer

« on: April 19, 2013, 07:34:47 PM »

I've got so many things going on I haven't been following Skyward Collapse as well as I'd like.  I know you play the role of gods, but are there specific gods you take the role of which affects play?  Or generic gods?

You play as The Creator, which is sort of a Mega-God, so to speak.  You boss around a variety of Norse and Greek gods, like Zeus and Thor (and 14 others).  But there is The Master above even you.  Nobody else on down the hierarchy even knows he/she/it exists.

The general hierarchy is: The MAster -> The Creator (you) -> Greater Gods -> Lesser Gods -> Mythological Creatures -> Humans

Quick question? Why have a Master above the player? Or are there things the player is expected to do, or asked to do? Hmmm... Not sure i understand this direction. I wonder if it could lead to having my (creator) as benevolent, when the Master is archaic, or avenging... or the reverse... I am guessing this could be a mechanism to push the player in directions they may prefer not to move in, for the sake of...? Or perhaps trying to balance the extremes the Master is forcing the direction of the game in? Or I suppose in multi-player the direction the other players are pushing the game in for their own agendas?

 So rather than a direct control mechanism, we have something a bit more indirect and not a certainty at all?

I am guessing here because i have no idea what having a Master does for the game.

Could the 'creator' be different each time? Giving and understanding this time, gentle... Hard line and avenging and aggressive next time? Indecisive? Prejudiced against one of the factions that has to be balanced in some way? If there were several of these in the game per each player i might find myself having to balance two Edicts that are at odds with one another.

Such as establish military outposts in 3 of 4 Norse settlements, while the other Edict wants at least half of all Norse settlements destroyed by xx time in the game.

Just a thought, but in this way, the player could be playing as much against themselves as well as the other players, even in multi-player. And in Solo play, if the AI simulated dual Edicts of other villages? It could vary the number of variables in single player mode as well.

Just thoughts at this point...

-Teal

(edited half a dozen times because i couldn't figure out how to say what i was saying...)

50

Skyward Collapse / Re: Skyward Collapse Teaser 1

« on: April 13, 2013, 06:42:55 PM »

Cheers! I think build and craft has been done to death and right now I don't have any ideas that would be worth a new entry into that genre. But I find the genre very interesting, so if there was something that sparked an idea where we thought we had something new, then maybe.

Well, Starbound is being Space Terraria, maybe set it 100% Underwater, where you risk flooding your base if you leave all the hatch doors open!

Don't forget the evil sharks and random Submarines that lurk about! And what's this? Dug too far and woke up Cthulu? INSTANT GAME OVER!

Don't forget the fact that you can have NPCs in your Underwater City, but if there is not enough food or they are unhappy, a revolt might break out! But if they are happy, they can aid you in getting supplies, growing a farm in your water dome or even helping you dig to the Ocean Floor to unlock the mystery of the ocean blue.


Will you be able to create your own Rapture or will it end up looking like the Ruins of Atlantis?


...I have tons of ideas for tons of games!

Mouldy,

                    You are like an idea machine all by yourself!!!     If i ever could get that rpg game maker to work for me, then we could make a million games... (well... hmmm... some reasonable facsimile...   like one or two...   Anyway, we would have to re-invent all the game ideas we have as rpg's    (just one small detraction from all the rts's and animated novels and explorer and craft and build types of game ideas we have, etc.... all have to be redone as rpg's)   

You know... this all seems like sooooooo much work... and my game probably wouldn't be half as good as i hope it would...

which means instead of giving my game away for free i would probably have to pay someone to take it...
Sooooo.... you know I was thinking of you know, like chef school or something? Or maybe like fashion retail? Or maybe like pastry baking... which seems like a really in demand type of job, you know, or maybe even like municipal architecture... which sounds sooooo much easier....    

Anyway, so much for my short-short lived dream of game development. 
The world needs more fashion retail clerks anyway, right?    And i could get a discount on top of that!!  Now seriously, games are cool, but clothes!!  Clothes are IT! 

(tongue in cheek) -Teal

51

Skyward Collapse / Re: Skyward Collapse Teaser 1

« on: April 13, 2013, 04:03:29 PM »

I know this sounds totally stupid, but was thinking one of these games these days is going to hit like Terraria types of numbers, maybe even Skyward Collapse and was thinking that could really be fantastic.
I noticed you really starting to do different kinds of games, well different than you have in the past and was hoping perhaps one of the new ones down the line, later this year? Could be small and like a build and craft type game,  but maybe AVWW1 was really that game already.
Anyway, I guess because i really get into the build and craft types of games its close to my heart, but anyway, just an idea! Just remember to keep it small and streamlined,   

-Teal

52

Skyward Collapse / Re: Skyward Collapse Teaser 1

« on: April 13, 2013, 09:38:09 AM »

The map is basically evolving as you play, so every one is way different by the time you're done.  Even after just a handful of turns, they tend to be pretty different for me. (Chris at Arcen) 

This sounds totally awesome!! And way different than anything i have ever had a game do before, but i haven't played them all, so maybe i missed something, but this sounds very cool! 

I am very, very much looking forward to getting this! 

-Teal

53

Skyward Collapse / Re: Details on multiplayer

« on: April 12, 2013, 08:09:51 PM »

Really looking forward to this one! I like the concept, very different, a peacemaker instead of the usual brow-beating contest. And in addition, the other elements you mention, like buildings and resources and barracks producing different types of soldiers? archers? pikemen? swordsmen? (not sure, i am generically guessing here) ... But it all seems very involved and well thought out and just my cup of tea.   Anyway, I love the artwork, very, very cool! Did Blue do this? If so, tell her very good work!! 

Hope i can join in the beta when you start it.
Thanks!!

-Teal

54

Skyward Collapse / Re: Skyward Collapse Teaser 1

« on: April 12, 2013, 07:16:43 PM »

Did i tell you that i think the art is really fantastic!! 

-Teal

Really looking forward to this one!!

55

Skyward Collapse / Re: Contest! Help name the world of Skyward Collapse.

« on: April 06, 2013, 12:02:40 PM »

@Teal_Blue Interesting idea, but I'm pretty sure that the title "Skyward Collapse" already means something in and of itself, and this would be a bit like naming Environ "Valley".

The problem with picking any one name is that it unfairly elevates a culture to a pride of place. This was a problem that came to mind initially, but I think we could have a generic term for it like "the World". Evelyn Waugh's City from his A Handful of Dust comes to mind:

"But what do you suppose this city will be like?''

"Impossible to say. Every tribe has a different word for it. The Pie-wies call it the `Shining' or `Glittering,' the Arekuna the `Many Watered,' the Patamonas the `Bright Feathered,' the Warau oddly enough, use the same word for it that they use for a kind of aromatic jam they make. Of course one can't tell how a civilization may have developed or degenerated in five hundred years of isolation ...''

Something to this effect?

Aquohn,
                I like the idea you have of each language characterizing some particular aspect of the world rather than focusing on a single word and having that translated into multiple languages.

So some as you say, may call the place 'Valhalla' (the hall of the slain, or heaven in Norse mythology)... while some others refer to it as 'Wa Kesa Ra' (The Broken, in Arabic)... or 'Az Utat' (The Way, in Hungarian) or 'Les Nombreuses Iles'  (The Many Islands, in French)

In this way, each culture is using their own focus and images and traditions and idiosyncrasies to form an image of what they feel this place represents to them, expressed in their own words and language. (Instead of a static word translated among all of them)

Thank you very much for the distinction, I only hope that it could be useful and interesting for Arcen to consider.
Take care,

-Teal


p.s. I am not as widely read, but your Evelyn Waugh reference was very interesting, I am now going to have to read it! 

56

Skyward Collapse / Re: Contest! Help name the world of Skyward Collapse.

« on: April 06, 2013, 09:01:49 AM »

I really, really like the 'every culture has its own name for the place' idea expressed earlier by KDR_11k. 


 As noted it is probably the most realistic, however how realistic is any given game? And having twenty seven names for a place is probably a marketers nightmare for the studio.     Anyway, with that in mind... a way to address that problem springs to mind... 

It might be possible to have the place, possibly the 'first' place that breaks away and is revealed as the first or tutorial level, and is referred to by the same name as the characters themselves referred to it. Simply as 'Skyward'

Which depending on culture could be pronounced as 'Ski-var-ah',  or 'Ssska-wverd' or ... well in different ways. Not intending to be funny or insulting to other cultures, but it could be a single name with branched or mutilated names, or even names in the language of the other peoples...  (Skyward in other languages...)

Such as ... Hacia El Cielo, in Spanish... or  Enohour Samir  in Arabic, or Spre Cer, in Romanian... i guess you get the idea.   

[  Sorry, couldn't get Arabic characters to take in the chat window,   ]

Anyway... just my opinion, and it might make for a variety of names and be more realistic in that way, and give interesting individual names not only from a 'cultural' point of view inside the game, but what if it was referred to in the same way outside the game? By the players themselves? From all the variety of countries they come from?

Such as :  "I really like that new Arcen 'Eg Fele' ('Skyward' from Hungarian player) game!!    

Just a crazy thought!  But it might be a little bit cool!   

-Teal

57

Skyward Collapse / Re: Care to weigh in on potential logo concepts? Vote here! (Final Round)

« on: April 05, 2013, 01:36:12 PM »

If you are still taking votes, i really, really like the 285 0ne, specifically the top orange one. and 324 one with the trees!
Very cool!

-Teal

p.s.  yep, the one you made final!!  Very Cool!!   

58

Skyward Collapse / Re: Contest! Help name the world of Skyward Collapse.

« on: April 02, 2013, 07:42:23 PM »

Skar

Valaria

Mythorin
Mythopolis
Mythania


hmmmm.... trying to go 'generic' for having new names added later is interesting... but difficult, haha.   

-Teal

59

Skyward Collapse / Re: What's this new Skyward Collapse board, you ask?

« on: April 01, 2013, 03:59:17 PM »

I am now imagining a tetris game where the pieces go up, and you have soldiers on the pieces, and you have to like tactically fire off rockets to move the pieces so that soldiers can fight each other as they go up while all the way avoiding making a complete line that would delete your army.

I really, really like this idea a lot!!! 

-Teal

60

Exodus Of The Machine / Re: Exodus Of The Machine Teaser 1

« on: April 01, 2013, 03:51:05 PM »

But how do you concisely and compellingly communicate "Every round of offworld ammunition fired, every wound sustained, every medkit or power-pack used, every reputation-change from a choice, every bit of food gathered or eaten, every day spent... every consequence is permanent to your survival and your catching up to the Core before it's too late"?  I mean, I imagine that sentence is neat to some people, but if we tried to lead a trailer with it (verbatim, I mean)... well, I don't think that would work out very well.  So what do we say?  We're tossing around ideas internally, but feedback from you (and the rest of the folks here) is certainly welcome.  Though of course that will be easier when you can play the actual game.

And more generally the same problem exists when trying to communicate that we make thought-provoking games that reward creativity, discovery, etc.  Communicating that-we-do-that concisely and compellingly and (as you mention) non-condescendingly is actually in some ways more difficult than actually doing it   Suggestions welcome.

This is just a thought, but what if you had a video of gameplay, that shows a bit of the story, perhaps the ship crashing, or just the picture of the crashed ship, then goes into gameplay, for say a minute to a minute and a half? Or even two minutes to two and a half? But the main critical requirement is NOT to have any text, no explanation, no this is what this MEANS... sort of text or voice-over or anything. JUST the gameplay and perhaps of course Pablo's music. 

This way you are not leading your audience, you are letting your audience take a look at the game and either lead or leave it themselves. I mean, maybe its rather passive marketing, but at least you don't have people dumping saying, what does this mean?

All of this is only my opinion of course, and i agree with what you said earlier, about people seeming sometimes to be happier to see people fail. I don't understand people sometimes, or maybe its just the internet mindset, or the anonymous mindset. Or the modern mindset. Too much hate out there in the world lately. Scary stuff. Anyway, i think your Exodus title looks very interesting, i like the style, am looking forward to seeing how it plays. 

-Teal