Why does everyone always think we are involved in everything that happens on Earth? Next they'll say content was cut because they had to use their computer time trying to send a virus to an alien mothership...
Yes. Thank goodness. The last few trailers were, to put it kindly, underwhelming.
They felt more like a cheesy tourism advertisement for the Ninth World. Welcome to a billion years in the future! See exciting things! Meet new people! Enjoy your stay!
The TToN art team has answered some fan questions on Facebook:
Which critter or character in the game has the largest number of states/poses/animations? The player characters have the most animations since they are essentially "in every scene." And as you might expect for a game like Torment that is mostly populated with bipeds, there is a fair amount of sharing of animation across the cast of characters. The creature with the most animation under the hood is the Sorrow fragment. This many-tentacled quadruped had to not only navigate but engage in combat with multiple attacks.
@ Concept Artist: During your work were you closer to the writers, or Monte Cook? Monte Cook provided direct feedback for all aspects of the game, but for most of the day-to-day work the writers were our source for those critical details that were based on narrative or the lore of the Ninth World.
@ Storyboard Artists: Did you ever come up with any crazy angles or shots during conception that the director shut down in less than 2 seconds? On this project, there were not many opportunities for crazy angles, etc. because we use a camera that is fairly standard for RPGs. The one place where we could be more creative with composing shots was in our mere illustrations that are peppered throughout the game. In those cases, we avoided conflicts by having the same person play both roles, storyboard art AND director... problem solved.
How did you cooperate with Monte Cook Games to find the particular Numenera art style and make it fit into Torment? We frequently made our work-in-progress available to Monte Cook Games for review and feedback. From those exchanges we began to develop a visual vocabulary for what makes sense in the Ninth World. We were also constantly referencing several Monte Cook publications about the world of Numenera that helped to guide us about all aspects of the world of Numenera.
How has the team taken inspiration from real world cultures to develop the aesthetic of a world as conceptually far out as Numenera? Developing a game based on Numenera was extremely freeing and enriching, considering the rules we were working with. The nature of humanity one billion years from now meant that we would be looking at some combination of elements from just about any ancient and modern culture you could think of from the world we know, and then using that as a launching place to imagine technologies and customs no one had ever seen before. For one thing, we knew that it was important to depict humans as having evolved over the millennia to have fewer racially distinct features. We borrowed from a broad range of races and cultures to accomplish this. Alternatively, when it came to story or gameplay elements, we took the approach that anything that seemed too reminiscent of a culture or practice we'd heard of before would automatically pull us out of the ultra-futuristic tone of the Ninth World, so we made a special effort to avoid those familiar themes.
well now that the official specs are out i won't have to worry about running the game. if i can run pillers i'm sure my laptop can run torment.
I broke down and purchased it tonight. The game actually runs very well from what I can tell, aside from the initial room that has alot of effects going on.
Can't wait to get the full version...might have to wait an extra day to play. Just by chance, my mom bought herself a new laptop and asked if I wanted her old one (which is way more powerful than my current laptop). The early release version ran *ok* on my current setup, so should work really well on the new one, but won't have it until Wednesday.
I just installed the game and in less than 5 minutes it did something both PoE and Tyranny failed to do, It hooked me in the story and made me curious about my first companions. I hope it goes on this way
The very first thing I did after redeeming my backer key was downloading the OST and dropping it into my tablet. Then I installed the game while listening to the OST on my tablet. And then I kept listening to the OST while reading Overlord on my tablet.
I just read some reviews in the internet that made me worry reporting that it's better to play a brutish glaive than any other class as combat always render more experience and better rewards than finding a peaceful/smart solution.
Well I will finish the game with my mystical nano who can read thoughts and has a talent with machines anyway, but it would be sad if violence is the better way to complete this game...
I just read some reviews in the internet that made me worry reporting that it's better to play a brutish glaive than any other class as combat always render more experience and better rewards than finding a peaceful/smart solution.
i played yesterday a lot. i noticed this too however: there aren't a lot of battles and you get a lot of cyphers so you can win battles with a weak character too.
Anyone knows what this 'Backer Outfit Upgrade' is all about? The inxile backer portal currently only lists it for steam. So people who redeemed their keys over at GOG (like me) need to wait until they ship it over there. Thing is I can't remember something like this being ever mentioned on their kickstarter campaign page?
I've been anticipating T:ToN pretty much every day since I first completed PS:T some 15 years ago. When the reviews started rolling in, I was a bit worried, especially after reading this angry piece, my worst fear being that the game was going to be another Pillars of Eternity - beautiful, lore-packed, but ultimately a pale reflection of its legendary predecessor.
Well, I'm about 10 hours into the game and so far my fears have proved unfounded. This game definitely does for me what PoE didn't: it captures my attention, and the more I play, the more captivated I become. In fact, I haven't been this into a game in a long, long time. Of course it is too early to call yet, but something tells me this T:ToN is going to be an overwhelmingly positive experience.
Sure, I can already tell that this game is not going to have the same colossal emotional impact as PS:T, but this was to be expected. I mean, if someone was to write a fantasy book and present it as the spiritual successor to The Lord of the Rings, you'd have to be a fool to completely buy into that promise.
Funnily enough, I find the basic premise of the plot closer to that of the Baldur's Gate saga. You're a hapless offspring of a callous Deity who seeks immortality and power through his children. Sounds familiar? Yeah, the Last Castoff is definitely more of a Charname than anything: not altogether devoid of personality, but less unique and more malleable than the enigmatic half-zombie that was The Nameless One. This doesn't bother me personally, but I can see it coming as an anticlimactic surprise to someone expecting a very established main character.
I promised myself I would actually wait until the first patch this time. I raced through both WL2 and PoE in the first 72 hours after release - and I feel like I really missed out on some things because of some bugs - though I thoroughly enjoyed myself both times, I always had more fun on run #2 that came a few weeks down the road.
Plus it makes me too ignorant to participate in the first few weeks of discussion about the game which is a nice time saver lol.
Anyone knows what this 'Backer Outfit Upgrade' is all about? The inxile backer portal currently only lists it for steam. So people who redeemed their keys over at GOG (like me) need to wait until they ship it over there. Thing is I can't remember something like this being ever mentioned on their kickstarter campaign page?
Yeah I wonder about this myself. GoG is my chosen platform and I switched to it from Steam. But Backer Outfit Upgrade is only available for Steam. Anyone heard something that it will be possible to redeem it for GoG?
Been playing for two days straight now. Good game. Great even, in some aspects. I wouldn't say that combat is always the best solution, as some said above. My deceptive/persuasive jack has avoided a couple of battles and gained xp anyways. Some you cannot avoid though and some your don't want to avoid. IMHO the game is 10/10 when out of combat. I love it, I've been running through all of Sagus hills clearing all sidequests I've found and I love it. However, whenever there are unavoidable battles, or crisis, the game takes a wrong turn for me. They are bad.. really bad. The movements are clunky, the inititaive sequencing can make it or break to the point where you have to reload. It has happened for me that 5-6 opponents got their turns in a row before my chars, meaning they kill off 2 party members before I got time to act or move. Very frustrating and, to be frank, a kinda odd mechanic. The one move, one action point system makes so that you pretty much have to spend your action point on attacking. Since most battles are over within two "rounds", if you spend one action on casting a debuff or a buff, that will not really have any effect on the outcome. What point is there to adding bleeding effect for 3 round when not a single battle so far has lasted more than 3 round in total and often less? Also, there has been so much discussion on how you can use the environment in crisises instead of just attacking.. yeah, I don't know about that. The very first battle has that, two even, and that was great. The next like five battles had zero (?) that I saw. Also evasions, a point of a advice if you want to go down that route: Don't. My jack has had 50+% from the get-go and only about halfway through the game (I think, but no spoilers) I saw an enemy actually miss my character on an attack! That's pretty ridiculous actually. One of my NPC's has 75% evasion and I have still to see any attack miss her, heh.. EDIT: I retract this statement. Suddenly after reaching 75% on my mainchar everyone starts to miss him very regularly (as if it was some kind of threshold, but of course it must have been just regular chance) and one of my NPCs reached 100% some time ago making certain encounters trivial since I can put everyone in hiding and just let her stand there in the middle, invulnerable. Funny, to some extent.
So to summarize my ramblings, the game is AMAZING when it comes to characters, quests, environments, dialogues and everything in between. The game, however, would have been better with scripted battles instead (there are a few), since obviously they haven't put any real effort into it. Compared to Witcher 3 though, which has so boring action I didn't want to continue playing, I will press on in T:TON since everything else about the game is so damn good.
Btw, playing anything but a jack or tweaking your glaives and nanos via descriptors to be better at skills is prolly a hampering experience. 95% of the game is experienced outside of combat and if I can give any advice it's to cultivate your char for that. Speed and Intellect points en masse, no matter what class!
OK, I died in a battle before so had to take a break from the game (yeah, I rage-quitted). Like many RPGs nowadays (PoE, Tyranny) this game too has what has become so common: sudden spikes in difficulty level. Now I have cooled down and are ready to reload an earlier save. I will need to prepare and apply some metagaming before I try this particular battle again.
Comments
There's now a story trailer for Tides:
They felt more like a cheesy tourism advertisement for the Ninth World.
Welcome to a billion years in the future! See exciting things! Meet new people! Enjoy your stay!
Which critter or character in the game has the largest number of states/poses/animations?
The player characters have the most animations since they are essentially "in every scene." And as you might expect for a game like Torment that is mostly populated with bipeds, there is a fair amount of sharing of animation across the cast of characters. The creature with the most animation under the hood is the Sorrow fragment. This many-tentacled quadruped had to not only navigate but engage in combat with multiple attacks.
@ Concept Artist: During your work were you closer to the writers, or Monte Cook?
Monte Cook provided direct feedback for all aspects of the game, but for most of the day-to-day work the writers were our source for those critical details that were based on narrative or the lore of the Ninth World.
@ Storyboard Artists: Did you ever come up with any crazy angles or shots during conception that the director shut down in less than 2 seconds?
On this project, there were not many opportunities for crazy angles, etc. because we use a camera that is fairly standard for RPGs. The one place where we could be more creative with composing shots was in our mere illustrations that are peppered throughout the game. In those cases, we avoided conflicts by having the same person play both roles, storyboard art AND director... problem solved.
How did you cooperate with Monte Cook Games to find the particular Numenera art style and make it fit into Torment?
We frequently made our work-in-progress available to Monte Cook Games for review and feedback. From those exchanges we began to develop a visual vocabulary for what makes sense in the Ninth World. We were also constantly referencing several Monte Cook publications about the world of Numenera that helped to guide us about all aspects of the world of Numenera.
How has the team taken inspiration from real world cultures to develop the aesthetic of a world as conceptually far out as Numenera?
Developing a game based on Numenera was extremely freeing and enriching, considering the rules we were working with. The nature of humanity one billion years from now meant that we would be looking at some combination of elements from just about any ancient and modern culture you could think of from the world we know, and then using that as a launching place to imagine technologies and customs no one had ever seen before.
For one thing, we knew that it was important to depict humans as having evolved over the millennia to have fewer racially distinct features. We borrowed from a broad range of races and cultures to accomplish this. Alternatively, when it came to story or gameplay elements, we took the approach that anything that seemed too reminiscent of a culture or practice we'd heard of before would automatically pull us out of the ultra-futuristic tone of the Ninth World, so we made a special effort to avoid those familiar themes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2017/02/23/the-george-ziets-interview-part-1-writing-for-video-games-the-writers-job/#3fe4fdba44c4
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/torment-tides-of-numenera/critic-reviews
I blame Mark Morgan for that!
Well I will finish the game with my mystical nano who can read thoughts and has a talent with machines anyway, but it would be sad if violence is the better way to complete this game...
Is there a way to zoom in/out other than with a mouse wheel? I don't have a working one right now.
however: there aren't a lot of battles and you get a lot of cyphers so you can win battles with a weak character too.
Well, I'm about 10 hours into the game and so far my fears have proved unfounded. This game definitely does for me what PoE didn't: it captures my attention, and the more I play, the more captivated I become. In fact, I haven't been this into a game in a long, long time. Of course it is too early to call yet, but something tells me this T:ToN is going to be an overwhelmingly positive experience.
Sure, I can already tell that this game is not going to have the same colossal emotional impact as PS:T, but this was to be expected. I mean, if someone was to write a fantasy book and present it as the spiritual successor to The Lord of the Rings, you'd have to be a fool to completely buy into that promise.
Funnily enough, I find the basic premise of the plot closer to that of the Baldur's Gate saga. You're a hapless offspring of a callous Deity who seeks immortality and power through his children. Sounds familiar? Yeah, the Last Castoff is definitely more of a Charname than anything: not altogether devoid of personality, but less unique and more malleable than the enigmatic half-zombie that was The Nameless One. This doesn't bother me personally, but I can see it coming as an anticlimactic surprise to someone expecting a very established main character.
Plus it makes me too ignorant to participate in the first few weeks of discussion about the game which is a nice time saver lol.
Also evasions, a point of a advice if you want to go down that route: Don't. My jack has had 50+% from the get-go and only about halfway through the game (I think, but no spoilers) I saw an enemy actually miss my character on an attack! That's pretty ridiculous actually. One of my NPC's has 75% evasion and I have still to see any attack miss her, heh..EDIT: I retract this statement. Suddenly after reaching 75% on my mainchar everyone starts to miss him very regularly (as if it was some kind of threshold, but of course it must have been just regular chance) and one of my NPCs reached 100% some time ago making certain encounters trivial since I can put everyone in hiding and just let her stand there in the middle, invulnerable. Funny, to some extent.
So to summarize my ramblings, the game is AMAZING when it comes to characters, quests, environments, dialogues and everything in between. The game, however, would have been better with scripted battles instead (there are a few), since obviously they haven't put any real effort into it. Compared to Witcher 3 though, which has so boring action I didn't want to continue playing, I will press on in T:TON since everything else about the game is so damn good.
Btw, playing anything but a jack or tweaking your glaives and nanos via descriptors to be better at skills is prolly a hampering experience. 95% of the game is experienced outside of combat and if I can give any advice it's to cultivate your char for that. Speed and Intellect points en masse, no matter what class!
OK, I died in a battle before so had to take a break from the game (yeah, I rage-quitted). Like many RPGs nowadays (PoE, Tyranny) this game too has what has become so common: sudden spikes in difficulty level. Now I have cooled down and are ready to reload an earlier save. I will need to prepare and apply some metagaming before I try this particular battle again.
EDIT - here is a link with better formatting.