Codex Interview RPG Codex Interview: The Banner Saga, 2D Turn-Based Strategy RPG

[Mortmal]

Its a very good interview , i concur, the codex is a much better place since crooked bee tidy it up and bring news . Nice interview , and we may have *gasp* a game to discuss about that is not from bioware or bethesda.

Although the guy worked for bioware, i also read a mention of wolfpack. Its both a good and bad thing, ill start with the bad off course!
Wolfpack 's well known project was shadowbane it was years and years of promises of videos showing barely a beggining of gameplay and 99% of dev speaking , lot of good ideas, a really hardcore game for the oldschool mmo community. In fact i was salivating upon it while all we had was everquest and dark age of camelot, people were thinking to leave daoc and go there even. Alas it go delayed , again and again and became a joke amognst the community the dream of the perfect mmo fell into the mud....
Now the good thing , they finally released something, and i truly enjoyed it, it was a very good sandbox , while not fulfilling its promises it had very interisting features, it was truly sandbox, you had npc doing the crafting for you, i hate crafting, and you could really build , own and siege city. Alas big siege were lagging and most of time crashing, but there was a good base of a game.Thats the kind of things that made a jaded player out of me...

Now excuse me if i dont jump into the fundraiser crowd , whenever someone pretend to sell oldfag me an elixir of youth , i am sceptical. Art looking fine to gorgeous, i am interested int he features mentioned, but its too easy to tell us what we want to hear and implement nothing of it.

 

[Sulimo]

I like what I've read so far, but I have a few important questions.

<Obvious trollpost mode>
-Will the game feature LBGT-characters? I'm sick and tired of the fact that only heterosexual people can save the world from certain doom. I'd absolutely donate if there were some certainty on this important issue. And I'm sure ScottishMartialArts would as well.
-Will you use DX11-renderers? I'm hate the lack of graphical fidelity in todays games, how can I possibly get into the game if the people look animated? This will definitely ruin my role-playing experience.
-I assume the cell-shading is just a placeholder, because a game in 2012 released by people who worked for my favorite developer Bioware in the past really should have photo-realistic graphics. Again, preferably in DX11.
-Can we own houses and marry someone? I realize the game is centered around a 'caravan', whatever that may be, but it'd be nice to have a place to fall back to inbetween caravaning. It would be nice if you could pick up trophies from your fallen enemies to decorate your house, and give the loot you get from the lamenting women of the enemy to your own wife. Once again, this is pretty much a dealbreaker.
-Will the game feature FPS-elements inbetween the boring 2D-tactical parts? RPG-mechanics break my immersion in general, player skill should be far more important than character skill. Maybe you should implement a headshot skill that changes the perspective and allows you to click on 1 unit for a guaranteed kill.
</Obvious trollpost mode>

Still, looks nice. The art reminds me a bit of The Secret of Kells, and the caravan-scenes bring to mind the fate of poor brave Sir Robin's minstrels.
A shame that Kickstarter doesn't support paypal, otherwise I'd definitely donate 25 dollars or so. I'm from the part of the world where having a credit card isn't that common (read: the civilized part of the world where most people don't spend money they don't have) Don't suppose you guys have a hidden paypal donate function hidden somewhere?

 

[Trash]

Some people (including me) got thrown a bit by the episode 1 comment. Seems they prolly intend to make this a series as a dev just posted this:

Stoic 3 minutes ago
@TheWhiteRose: Lots of people are asking about this. Alex is working on a clarification right now. The short answer is: Chapter 1 of The Banner Saga is a complete game. - JW

 

[Temaperacl]

Some people (including me) got thrown a bit by the episode 1 comment. Seems they prolly intend to make this a series as a dev just posted this:

Stoic 3 minutes ago
@TheWhiteRose: Lots of people are asking about this. Alex is working on a clarification right now. The short answer is: Chapter 1 of The Banner Saga is a complete game. - JW

This [was already / is now] addressed on the FAQ on the kickstarter page to some extent:

The Banner Saga as it exists in this Kickstarter will be a complete game. In terms of a larger story arc, it represents the first part of a three-part story that has already been planned out. We intend to release each subsequent chapter as a complete game. We don't yet have a timeline for the full trilogy, as our first priority is to complete Chapter 1 of The Banner Saga and see where that takes us!
Our goal is that when all chapters are complete, each game will both stand on their own, AND form a fantastic and cohesive whole, like any great series of books, movies, or games.
Chapter 1 of the game will not be a short 2-hour fling. Depending on how much we raise during this campaign the length of the game will vary.
The decisions you make and characters you build in Chapter 1 of the game will carry over into the other chapters of the game.
Why not just make one complete game from the start? Developing all three parts of the game could take some time and as an indie developer we can't afford to fund a 2-year development cycle. We decided to make it into a trilogy to keep people interested in the game and get it to players sooner.

 

[Zed]

That's one sweet-ass poster. Kind of sucks there's only a signed version and that's at 80$ pledge. Would pay 30 for a blank one.

 

[Livonya]

What the hell, I am in.

It might not turn out to be the game I want, but I would rather spend $$ on a game that the developers wanted to make rather than spend money on a game that was focus grouped by producers.

I am more likely to go to see a rated G, PG, or R movie than a PG13 movie... and I will always go to see a NC17 movie. Movies have the same problem as games. Too much emphasis on mass marketing and not enough artistic vision. At least with the G, PG, R, and NC17 ratings you know they made a decision to follow their vision at the expense of potential profits, which of course doesn't mean that the movie is any good.

So even if I don't end up liking The Banner Saga at least I know I helped someone do what they wanted to do rather than what they were told to do or had to do.

I follow Dwarf Fortress as much for the outside of the box development plan as I do for the actual game.

So The Banner Saga gets some of my money.

 

[Ulminati]

That's one sweet-ass poster. Kind of sucks there's only a signed version and that's at 80$ pledge. Would pay 30 for a blank one.

Same. Or $50 for one without the logo. Nothing against you guys and all, but it'd look more monocle framed in my living room it it was not immediately evident it was an advertizement for a game

 

[felipepepe]

That's one sweet-ass poster. Kind of sucks there's only a signed version and that's at 80$ pledge. Would pay 30 for a blank one.

That's true, I don't think I'm gonna go from $25 to $80 for the signed poster, but I would go for a $50 blank one (or with the logo, I don't care)...

Hey, developers & Chewbot, we want to give you our money, why you don't want our money? Also, boxed version! You got the power to make one of the best boxes ever, DO IT!

it'd look more monocle framed in my living room it it was not immediately evident it was an advertizement for a game

True, it looks like a badass Art Nouveau painting, very indeed!

 

[Aeschylus]

That's one sweet-ass poster. Kind of sucks there's only a signed version and that's at 80$ pledge. Would pay 30 for a blank one.

That's true, I don't think I'm gonna go from $25 to $80 for the signed poster, but I would go for a $50 blank one (or with the logo, I don't care)...

Hey, developers & Chewbot, we want to give you our money, why you don't want our money? Also, boxed version! You got the power to make one of the best boxes ever, DO IT!

Well, the Kickstarter FAQ describes why they aren't offering a box. I probably would up my pledge a bit for a blank poster as you suggest. That is a rare one that I would actually hang up in my room.

It seems that their campaign is off to a good start, which makes me happy. Hopefully they can get 2/3x their expected funding and make a damn fine game.

 

[Palikka]

That's one sweet-ass poster. Kind of sucks there's only a signed version and that's at 80$ pledge. Would pay 30 for a blank one.

That's true, I don't think I'm gonna go from $25 to $80 for the signed poster, but I would go for a $50 blank one (or with the logo, I don't care)...

This, please!

 

[felipepepe]

Well, the Kickstarter FAQ describes why they aren't offering a box.

Why aren't you offering a box version of the game?
Believe me, we would love to offer a version of the game in box form but we have been unable to find somebody who could produce this for a good price while keeping the prize relatively cheap. Producing a physical box, printing a game manual and burning CDs is time consuming and expensive, and usually only becomes cost-effective in the hundreds of thousands of copies.

If you can do the job or know someone who can, email us at stoic@stoicstudio.com.

It also leaves open to believe that if they find someone able to make them on a good cost/benefit, they will do it!

 

[Ulminati]

No responses from Chewie since Lord Rocket called him an artfag on page 1. I am tentatively awarding LR the "This is why we can't have nice things!" medal for scaring off one of the scarce devs who was willing to communicate with us.

 

[Stabwound]

ITT people donate $100,000 toward a flash game. Good thing they're getting so much money, it sure is hard to port flash to non-PC platforms.

 

[felipepepe]

No responses from Chewie since Lord Rocket called him an artfag on page 1. I am tentatively awarding LR the "This is why we can't have nice things!" medal for scaring off one of the scarce devs who was willing to communicate with us.

He was a bit blunt, but still said he would donate and get the game, I don't think that's why they aren't posting...probably busy with interviews for other places, and they didn't seem like a huge team that can spend much time watching feedback on every forum...even though they should focus on making a good PR at this point, no one is gonna blame them for slowing down development while doing something so important.

 

[Gakkone]

I am very angry at promising indie titles receiving sufficient funding. Decline of the games industry.

 

[Ulminati]

No responses from Chewie since Lord Rocket called him an artfag on page 1. I am tentatively awarding LR the "This is why we can't have nice things!" medal for scaring off one of the scarce devs who was willing to communicate with us.

He was a bit blunt, but still said he would donate and get the game, I don't think that's why they aren't posting...probably busy with interviews for other places, and they didn't seem like a huge team that can spend much time watching feedback on every forum...even though they should focus on making a good PR at this point, no one is gonna blame them for slowing down development while doing something so important.

You're just jealous 'cause Lord Rocket is getting medals and you aren't!

 

[Stabwound]

I am very angry at promising indie titles receiving sufficient funding. Decline of the games industry.

I'm half joking/trolling. The game does look cool, but I was just shocked that they're asking for that much money, and seemingly getting it, for what resembles the free Dragon Age flash game.

 

[Metro]

They're already at $40k/$100k and two of ten of the 'god' tier slots have been sold.

 

[jewboy]

A lot of gullible people out there. At this point I really believe you can get 10s or even 100s of thousands to fund any project that sounds even remotely good to anyone. You don't have to be famous. You don't really need a reputation. You don't even have to be specific at all about your accomplishments or qualifications You could get a job cleaning Bethesda's offices and then get half a million dollars from kickstarter and then just leave the country and live off the money for the rest of your life. Kickstarter isn't a contract though. So maybe he wouldn't have to leave the country or anything. People just want to give these guys money.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic/credits

If these guys worked on KOTOR then mobygames is wrong. How unfair that the real lead designers and artists and programmers didn't get credited for their work. Very, very sad indeed.

It's too bad Crooked Bee didn't ask them what they actually did for Biowhore. Although I think they claim to all be KOTOR lead designers on the kickstarter page. They don't claim to have done any more than fetching cups of coffee for the other devs they supposedly worked for. Anyone have an old KOTOR box? Or maybe you can find the credits somewhere in the game itself. I would definitely give Biowhore a call and make sure these guys really did work there and what their jobs were exactly before contributing

 

[Aeschylus]

They worked on The Old Republic, the MMO, not KotOR, smart guy. Reading Comprehension grade: F.

 

[Sulimo]

SW:TOR =/= KoTOR. Note they never claimed to work on KoTOR as far as I can tell on the kickstarter page. Your concerns on this point are invalid and should henceforth never be uttered again.

 

[felipepepe]

rant

Arnie Jorgensen started off working on comics such as Justice League America for DC. Eventually he got into games, putting his abilities to work on Star Wars: Galaxies and The Old Republic as the lead concept artist. Now instead of making art just for concepts it goes right into the game.

Alex Thomas got into the industry early and has done everything from 3D characters and environments to 2D animation, illustration, screenplay writing, game design and cinematics for games like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Shadowbane.

John Watson has been programming since he was 6. After doing some work on the Hubble at NASA he decided to apply his vast abilities in the games industry, eventually bringing his experience as lead combat programmer on The Old Republic to Stoic.

They worked on StarWars: Galaxies & The Old Republic MMOs, NOT in KOTOR.... :facepalm:

EDIT: Ninja'ed, TWICE!

 

[Sulimo]

Aeschylus, stop stealing my thunder. Besides, haven't you been dead for the past 2500 years?

 

[Aeschylus]

Aeschylus, stop stealing my thunder. Besides, haven't you been dead for the past 2500 years?

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated by that jerk Sophocles.

 

[Sulimo]

He plays a mean game of football though.