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

[pippin]

The second screen looks awesome. Big fan of oppresive urban atmospheres.

 

[toro]

The second screen looks awesome. Big fan of oppresive urban atmospheres.

You should visit East-Europe.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I've always wondered why it takes so long for them to release something.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Their games aren't profitable enough for them to fully focus on making them in order to make a living, so he takes lots of contract side jobs. Basilisk himself hasn't even worked on Eschalon since Eschalon 2. Eschalon 3 was made by his cousin or something.

 

[Gord]

Ironically the longer he/they work on a given game, the less profitable it becomes, requiring more side-contracts, reducing their time available for finishing the game...

Eschalon might have been much more successful had they managed to release them faster, but by the time they released part 2, the window was already closing and by 3 it was firmly shut.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Second screenshot gave me E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy flashbacks (or it was amnesia?).
Once again we will taste WH40k vibes of cities in inspired titles than from real licenced by GW game. Fuck this gay earth.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Their games aren't profitable enough for them to fully focus on making them in order to make a living, so he takes lots of contract side jobs. Basilisk himself hasn't even worked on Eschalon since Eschalon 2. Eschalon 3 was made by his cousin or something.

Maybe that's why 3 was not up to par.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Their games aren't profitable enough for them to fully focus on making them in order to make a living, so he takes lots of contract side jobs. Basilisk himself hasn't even worked on Eschalon since Eschalon 2. Eschalon 3 was made by his cousin or something.

Maybe that's why 3 was not up to par.

Sure, but it was a malicious thing to do to the fans. The world and quest design in Eschalon 3 was atrocious. Basilisk had the balls to release the game in that state so he's the one responsible. He should've made the game himself or not at all. Hiding the truth that he wasn't even working on the game until it was too late is a dick move.

 

[Tito Anic]

First part of Eschalon was mediocre at best, still kudos to Basilisk for keeping indie fire up

 

[hoverdog]

Their games aren't profitable enough for them to fully focus on making them in order to make a living, so he takes lots of contract side jobs. Basilisk himself hasn't even worked on Eschalon since Eschalon 2. Eschalon 3 was made by his cousin or something.

Maybe that's why 3 was not up to par.

up to what par? I haven't moved past Eschalon 1, but I can safely say it was one of the worst games - not only cRPGs - I've ever played.

 

[Hobo Elf]

up to what par? I haven't moved past Eschalon 1, but I can safely say it was one of the worst games - not only cRPGs - I've ever played.

On par with Eschalon 2 which is a lot better than the first game.

 

[Gord]

Especially at the time it was released, Book 1 was good for what it is. Book 2 was good. Book 3 felt (and likely was) completely unfinished. The foundation wasn't so bad, imo, but the mid-game with the stupid temple requiring 4 gizmos hidden somewhere in nonsensical places in the gameworld to progress the MQ and the abrupt ending kinda ruined it for me.
That and the lack of tangible improvements over the 2nd, especially considering the time it spend in production.

 

[V_K]

4 gizmos hidden somewhere in nonsensical places in the gameworld

You guys got used to quest compasses too much.
Eschalons are blobbers at heart, having to look for things on your own with no direction whatsoever comes with the territory.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Especially at the time it was released, Book 1 was good for what it is. Book 2 was good. Book 3 felt (and likely was) completely unfinished. The foundation wasn't so bad, imo, but the mid-game with the stupid temple requiring 4 gizmos hidden somewhere in nonsensical places in the gameworld to progress the MQ and the abrupt ending kinda ruined it for me.
That and the lack of tangible improvements over the 2nd, especially considering the time it spend in production.

Agreed. Eschalon 2 was nice because it made mechanical progress over Eschalon 1, but Eschalon 3 didn't make any progress at all. It still had the same stupid flaws like the banal skill training system. The biggest problem with Eschalon 3 for me was that to beat the game you basically had to 100% it. All those side quests and side areas were actually mandatory and so that cheapend the adventure for me. There was no optional content in the game. The ending was one of the dumbest things I've seen in a game as well.

 

[Gord]

You guys got used to quest compasses too much.
Eschalons are blobbers at heart, having to look for things on your own with no direction whatsoever comes with the territory.

Nope, this has nothing to do with having come to rely on a quest-compass. It was just done in the most arbitrary and gamist way.

The biggest problem with Eschalon 3 for me was that to beat the game you basically had to 100% it. All those side quests and side areas were actually mandatory and so that cheapend the adventure for me. There was no optional content in the game.

There was some, but I think it was not much at all. E.g. some mage-tower with some puzzles that could only be solved by magic users, iirc. One side-quest I almost missed to resolve since it could only be done right before the ending. But since it was never communicated that the ending was going to happen RIGHT NOW!, I thought I could just as well finish what is surely just one more step somewhere in the middle of the MQ.

Overall though, it was certainly less side-content than in Book 2.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

As much as I like those Sci-Fi screenshots, I've had more than my share of Basilisk Games and their offerings.

A big problem with creating the third entry in a game series, is that usually by that time the same people that were working on the first two entries have been replaced by 'someone' - I'm not really gonna go into details of what that encompasses, short of saying that the replacement team rarely lives up to the expectations of the original 'core' group. There are far too many game series out there to chalk up a list, but when it comes to developers that actually DO develop all three titles, it becomes too big of a mark on them when they screw up the third title in a trilogy - and sadly Basilisk Games are no exception.

He could actually discover the "true ninth planet" of the solar system all by himself at this point - but I'd still remain sceptical.

 

[LESS T_T]

http://basiliskgames.com/hard-at-work/

Hard at work…

We’re getting emails asking us for an update. There’s not much to tell – last September we announced that we had finished the design doc for our next RPG, a yet-to-be-named Sci-fi game. The phase we’re in now is building, building, building: a new game engine, a world to explore, and countless items to pick up and use. We don’t have anything to show off… yet. We’ll likely be pretty quiet for most of 2016 as we lock ourselves away in the studio and make magic.

More to come. Stay tuned!

 

[Jaesun]

http://basiliskgames.com/hard-at-work/

Hard at work…

We’re getting emails asking us for an update. There’s not much to tell – last September we announced that we had finished the design doc for our next RPG, a yet-to-be-named Sci-fi game. The phase we’re in now is building, building, building: a new game engine, a world to explore, and countless items to pick up and use. We don’t have anything to show off… yet. We’ll likely be pretty quiet for most of 2016 as we lock ourselves away in the studio and make magic.

More to come. Stay tuned!

 

[Kem0sabe]

Eschalon was shit, why are we excited about this again? I mean, they really were uterly Mediocre rpgs

 

[StaticSpine]

Eschalon was shit, why are we excited about this again? I mean, they really were uterly Mediocre rpgs

This one will be a Sci-Fi shit!

 

[LESS T_T]

I'm bored. Here's a new concept art shot for our next game...

Concept art for an area we're working on in the next game. Sorry, can't give any additional details.

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12577

And a post from June:

What features would you like in a Sci-Fi RPG?

Since the forums are a bit slow right now, I figured I'd ask an open question to anyone still stopping by:

What features would you like in a Sci-Fi RPG?

This is a broad question, and it may or may not have any affect on what we're building right now. I'm just a bit curious.

For example, do you fancy a spooky, isolated, solo experience like the movie Alien, or a sprawling action space opera like Star Wars? Do you like your science to be realistically tangible, or "almost magical" science that has no basis in reality? Do you prefer a game that advances through dialog/interaction with NPCs, or a game that advances through completing goals and achievements?

What has been your favorite Sci-Fi game (RPG or not) in the past 10 years?

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10733

 

[LESS T_T]

Basilisk is working on a side project called ZATMOS, a spaceship action adventure: http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12668

Since PM discovered the website, I figured it was time to talk to you (our most loyalist of fans) about what ZATMOS is and isn't.

Here's the website, for those of you yet to discover it: http://zatmos.com

I'll start with a few obvious questions. If you have more, I'll try to answer them in the thread.

IS THIS YOUR NEXT RPG?
No, Zodiac and the Marauders of Sol (henceforth to be called "Zodiac" or "ZATMOS") is going to be an action space adventure, kind of like a classic space shooter but with more freedom, a deeper storyline, and exploration. We'll be putting our RPG experience into making a game with lots of secrets to be found and cool missions (quests). Truthfully, the storyline for Zodiac was spawned from the story used for the sci-fi RPG, though it is different enough that I don't plan on actually referencing either game within the other. [edit] One of my playtesters has pointed out that this game really is a "Spaceship RPG", in that ship customization and freedom of exploration makes it more like a role-playing game than a space shooter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

WHY IS BASILISK DOING A SPACE SHOOTER???
Because I am a gamer, and I like to play a wide variety of games, from RPGs to strategy games, to shooters and sims. As such, I have a lot of ideas and want to make all kinds of games. Not to worry, RPGs will always be my favorite type of game.

I AM A ROLE-PLAYER. THAT'S ALL I LIKE. THAT'S ALL I'LL PLAY. WILL I LIKE ZATMOS?
Probably not. Well, maybe. But that's okay. I still love you and we have another RPG in the works, though it is a couple years away still.

WHAT PLATFORMS IS THIS GAME GOING TO BE ON?
Computers only (Windows, MacOS and native Linux) for now. I don't think it would ever work well on a mobile device, and it's far too early to consider porting it to a console, though I'd consider it.

WHY DID YOU MAKE A NEW WEBSITE FOR ZATMOS?
Because these forums are home to a lot of loyal Eschalon fans. I am guessing that Zodiac will attract a new kind of customer and I didn't want to overwhelm these forums. For Zodiac, I plan on selling the game exclusively through Steam and I will most likely work on building a community there, as well as use social media (Facebook and Twitter) to a larger degree. But, when the game is released, I'll still put a basic support forum here for people to find help.

WHEN DO WE GET TO SEE SCREENSHOTS?
Not for a while. The game hasn't been formally announced yet. When I announce the game, it will be through a Steam Greenlight submission with a trailer video, and we'll work hard to spread the news everywhere at that point. Until then, the ZATMOS website will remain the teaser it is now.

I'm not sure if this will merit its own thread. Will see when it's officially announced.

And some posts in the past months regarding the sci-fi RPG and Basilisk's plans...

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12577#p61810

Yes. This new game has absolutely nothing to do with Eschalon.

The world and storyline are new. There is no code being used from the Eschalon engine.

The role-playing ruleset that I made for Eschalon was called "Centaur" based on pen-and-paper rules that I designed in the 90's. I had to tweak those rules to fit into Eschalon's engine. I'm working with a similar ruleset, which I guess could be called "Centaur 2.0" for this new game.

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9406&start=15#p61874

Our project goals have shifted... Although the "next RPG" has been in the works for years (and continues to be!), I've always toyed with experimental side projects. I'm currently putting a lot of resources into one of these side projects.

RPG development is a huge endeavour. Unless you reuse 90% of your resources from a previous project, making a new RPG from scratch can take a big team many years... and we are not a big team. I have not been shy about mentioning that Basilisk would consider releasing other (non-RPG) games to add to our revenue stream. This brings us back to this "side project" which has floating around on my workstation for over 2 years. After implementing some new elements, it has evolved into something cool- a game that I (and people I am working with) feel it is worth putting additional resources into now.

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9406&start=15#p61900

:D No worries. I am not planning to ever make an "app". I considered it a while back, but that market has suffocated under it's own weight years ago.

We will always be a computer game company first, focusing on Windows, Linux and Mac using mouse + keyboard controls. Console ports are possible since we're using Unity now, though nothing I am currently designing is with a console in mind.

 

[Jaesun]

I have no interest in a Space Action game. But hey, follow your dreams and what kind of games you want to do, and all that I guess....

I guess I'll continue to wait for his next RPG.

 

[Siveon]

One of my playtesters has pointed out that this game really is a "Spaceship RPG", in that ship customization and freedom of exploration makes it more like a role-playing game than a space shooter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sounds fun to me. I didn't really like Eschalon, but I do like me some space action games with RPG elements.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Sounds like Basilisk might be in a bit of a flux right now.

One of my playtesters has pointed out that this game really is a "Spaceship RPG", in that ship customization and freedom of exploration makes it more like a role-playing game than a space shooter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sounds fun to me. I didn't really like Eschalon, but I do like me some space action games with RPG elements.

Did you try Soldak's Drox Operative? That game is pretty fun.