Velurian
Member
There are also people like me. People that Kickstart games and play the games once they are ready.
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Torment: Tides of Numenera hitting Early Access Jan 26 (KS backers Jan 17)
- Thread starter Corpekata
- Start date
There are also people like me. People that Kickstart games and play the games once they are ready.
quackamole
Member
Please be good please be good. Any early impressions?
BrokenFiction
Member
At least we know who to contact to do any voiceover for that character.
loganclaws
Plane Escape Torment
Watched the stream, can't really say I'm impressed. I feel like they are taking too many short cuts in terms of presentation and the game looks low budget which is a shame considering they have a bigger budget than eternity. Also, the overall UI look is really really bad just like Wasteland 2. Lastly, I felt like the combat encounter was very uninspired, even Brian Fargo said it was repetitive on stream!
bati
Member
I hope they got someone else to balance the game, the people who worked on WL2 completely dropped the ball. On the other hand, if the focus is going to be on RP and dialogue then it might not matter. The problem however is if people who worked on WL2's dialogue and RP also work(ed) on this...
Man, WL2 really left a bad taste in my mouth. This is a wait and see game for me.
Man, WL2 really left a bad taste in my mouth. This is a wait and see game for me.
The demo videos look great, but i REALLY dislike the UI interface. I mean its just clunky looking and bad. I dont mind so much of the screen is taken up with text cause thats the game but the interface elements just seem needlessly bulky instead of slick. It reminds me of the first UI they showed for Wasteland 2 before fans actually remade it and then InExile took their feedback and revamped it.
I hope they are looking into improving it
I hope they are looking into improving it
yeah the ui is absolutely terrible and will most likely keep me from playing the game I backed. jesus fuck is it ugly. straight out of some flash game meant for 5 year olds.
I think the contrary. Reminds me so much more of Planescape
Brother None
Member
What you're looking at is essentially first-pass work, where we prioritize functionality over doing artistic and stylistic finishing passes - after all we have to absolutely lock down the UI layout and functionality before finalizing art. Expect it to change a lot before release.
Pilgrimzero
Member
What can change the nature of a man?
JustSomeone
Member
I backed the game on their site but not on KS. Do I get a early access key like the KS backers?
Vincent Grayson
Member
Did you back it at a level that grants Beta access? I think that's another $20 on top of the game itself.
JustSomeone
Member
On their site only the 500$ tier gives beta access,but I thought early access is something else.
Cons:
Playable characters look bad
Some environments look bad
Combat isn't fun, maybe even a little broken (broken part is due to beta)
I already dislike one of the companions (a very subjective matter)
Inconsistent/incoherent art design for areas and even within areas
butt ugly UI that needs to be completely revamped and redesigned
Pros:
Solid writing
Narrative seems decent enough
I actually read what NPCs have to say
Good overall pacing
Some areas look really good
Good soundtrack
Mixed:
Choose your own adventure sections. Why mixed? They are well written, but have not understood the connection to the main story yet. I expect it to make sense as we keep playing the game.
There are performance issues up the wazoo. Pillars of Eternity was a much smoother beta even with its many faults.
Playable characters look bad
Some environments look bad
Combat isn't fun, maybe even a little broken (broken part is due to beta)
I already dislike one of the companions (a very subjective matter)
Inconsistent/incoherent art design for areas and even within areas
butt ugly UI that needs to be completely revamped and redesigned
Pros:
Solid writing
Narrative seems decent enough
I actually read what NPCs have to say
Good overall pacing
Some areas look really good
Good soundtrack
Mixed:
Choose your own adventure sections. Why mixed? They are well written, but have not understood the connection to the main story yet. I expect it to make sense as we keep playing the game.
There are performance issues up the wazoo. Pillars of Eternity was a much smoother beta even with its many faults.
JustSomeone
Member
These days you need to buy beta access as a 2,000-point/$20 add-on.
It's annoying that people who preorder the game through steam now get the early access,while people who pledged it long ago need to spend more money on it.
UcchedavÄda
Member
That really surprised me as well.
I pledged $45 during the Kickstarter, and because of that I'd have to spend another $20 if I want to try it on EA, while somebody who did not pledge only has to spend the $45. It's a weird thing to do to your backers.
more proof kickstarter is nothing but trash unfortunately.
I own the game, but I can't get it. only way to get is to buy it again.
Murder. She Wrote
Member
I backed this and Pillars of Eternity. I only put 5 hours in PoE before I stopped caring, mainly because of the boring combat.
Let's hope this is better, even though I vehemently dislike turn based combat.
Let's hope this is better, even though I vehemently dislike turn based combat.
UcchedavÄda
Member
To be fair, the Torment Kickstarter started before Early Access had even been announced, and ended very shortly after Valve publicly introduced it (6th of April vs 20th of March, 2013). So they wouldn't have been able to add EA to the tiers, even if they had wanted to, since the KS had already launched and the tiers were locked. That doesn't explain their current approach to EA, however.
Baron_Calamity
Member
These days you need to buy beta access as a 2,000-point/$20 add-on.
As a backer I'm very annoyed. Saw this for the first time:
Non-spoiler, technical thoughts:
Hoo boy, it's definitely beta. Framerate tanks in the first section, is wildly variable in the second, and was solid 60fps in the third, which is as far as I went. The initial combat had these 4-5 second hiccups that would occur when you were activating the particular objective items, plus I had issues where occasionally I could not fire off the companion's abilities. I'd click, nothing happens, click again, nothing happens, click again, oh there it is.
Then they throw you right from combat into a choose-your-own-adventure segment, which is a little jarring. The segment is neat and all, I like it, but it was very odd and seemingly out of nowhere.
Writing, though...god DAMN. The intro dialogue section alone is just amazing, let alone the sections pre-initial combat. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Hoo boy, it's definitely beta. Framerate tanks in the first section, is wildly variable in the second, and was solid 60fps in the third, which is as far as I went. The initial combat had these 4-5 second hiccups that would occur when you were activating the particular objective items, plus I had issues where occasionally I could not fire off the companion's abilities. I'd click, nothing happens, click again, nothing happens, click again, oh there it is.
Then they throw you right from combat into a choose-your-own-adventure segment, which is a little jarring. The segment is neat and all, I like it, but it was very odd and seemingly out of nowhere.
Writing, though...god DAMN. The intro dialogue section alone is just amazing, let alone the sections pre-initial combat. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Yo Billy Dee Williams in my Torment? Yes.
The first patch for the beta has dropped. Lots of quest fixes, UI/camera changes, and balance passes.
More_Badass
Member
Bumping this since the game's leaving EA next month. Played about hour of Tides just to get a taste and see how it compares to Planescape. I'm in the position of currently playing Planescape for the first time, so I can compare it to Tides with its predecessor fresh in mind. From the little I've played so far, I'm finding the sci-fi lore and world as engrossing and fascinating as Planescape
Initially i felt Tides had much less text for items and descriptions, but after going back to Planescape, I'd say the games are pretty comporable on those fronts. Also I read that Planescape was around 800,000 words and Tides is over a million, so that put concerns about text at ease
The weird part about the text is the dialogue. At least the dialogue of the characters in the tutorial section. I guess fantasy is better suited for grand flowery dialogue, while the talks in Tides feel like they happen at a more conversational pace, with more dialogue tags and such, rather than big info dumps. That's both good and a bit worrying
Some of the vernacular comes across as odd and bit too "modern" though, Like one character ending a sentence in "or something"
The combat seems like a major improvement, especially in how the battle area itself is a factor to consider. So that's a plus, but I am bit worried about skills. For example, I choose the
skill, but so far,
Also to those who have played the Early Access, what are your thoughts on the whole opening?
Initially i felt Tides had much less text for items and descriptions, but after going back to Planescape, I'd say the games are pretty comporable on those fronts. Also I read that Planescape was around 800,000 words and Tides is over a million, so that put concerns about text at ease
The weird part about the text is the dialogue. At least the dialogue of the characters in the tutorial section. I guess fantasy is better suited for grand flowery dialogue, while the talks in Tides feel like they happen at a more conversational pace, with more dialogue tags and such, rather than big info dumps. That's both good and a bit worrying
Some of the vernacular comes across as odd and bit too "modern" though, Like one character ending a sentence in "or something"
The combat seems like a major improvement, especially in how the battle area itself is a factor to consider. So that's a plus, but I am bit worried about skills. For example, I choose the
Scan Thoughts
it seems like the thoughts you can read don't open up additional dialogue options. I cant be the only one expected that mind reading would allow for other dialogue dhoices.
Also to those who have played the Early Access, what are your thoughts on the whole opening?
While I liked the visuals of those areas and the choice-driven character creator, it feels quite linear compared to Planescape's Mortuary. Also, the big green laser monolith resulting in a death if you fail the check seems odd in this game. I wasnt expecting a fail to kill me.
I mean, by its lore it plays billions of years in Earth future. I get why they don't, but they would be very justified in even making up their own vernacular. I mean, its not like the people in Tides are actually talking 21th century modern English.
Plumpbiscuit
Member
Could you expand a little more on this? What is good and worrying about the dialogue system? Is it like Wasteland 2 where you're presented with keywords across a dialogue box and you play the elimination game by clicking them 1 by 1 until you've exhausted all dialogue topics?
More_Badass
Member
No, that's what I meant. That the tone and cadence seemed like modern English, compared to Planescape's more wordy medieval speech. Given that Tides is science fantasy, far future tech medieval, I was expecting the dialogue to be more like Planescape. But maybe I'm just sensitive to that stuff since I've playing Planescape so soon to Tides
I think it comes down to mood, also. Planescape was a very somber experience. Not just in the story, the plot and the characters, but also the general look of the parts of Planescape we see. Rather moody and dark areas, and I think this is reflected a bit in the language that is used.
Tides seems to be more colorful and cheery, compared to that (though I assume the game will still have plenty of dark and horrible elements to it).
I personally just played a very tiny part of the EA, and I was fairly impressed by the writing itself, if not the pacing of the tutorial. (Takes too long and more confusing then anything else) Even if the game is only half as interesting and nuanced as Planescape, it would still make for an excellent RPG experience, so I am not too worried.
More_Badass
Member
Oh the actual dialogue system feels like it was transplanted from Planescape. No keywords here.
I was mainly referring to the flow of dialogue and descriptors. Worrying was probably too strong a word
Compare the flowerly details in Planescape: http://killapenguin.com/227/gallery/medium/planescape/planescape-torment-292.jpg
to the more screenplay-like details and dialog tags in Tides: https://thegamefanatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Torment-Gameplay.png
Well... Planescape had a talking skull with a heavy New York accent and vernacular to go with it. It's not like it was all medieval flowery text either. Didn't get that far in the Early Access myself(waiting on full game), so I can't say how it compares, though.
The initial narration had plenty of that kind of description, though.
Plumpbiscuit
Member
Tbh the new font in Tides looks easier to read than the one used Planescape, although, you could fit more in the box that way. I like it, the keywords are still highlighted and different category of info is colour designated still.
Dwight Schrute
Member
Wait... did they cancel the macOS version, or is it just for the early access that it's not available?