Torment: Tides of Numenera Catch-All

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"The first step in designing a new Torment story is to ask the primary question," (Colin McComb, Torment designer,) wrote. "I’m older than I was when I worked on Torment, and my questions now are different than they were. I have children now, and I look at the world through their eyes and through mine, and that’s changed me—in fact, the intervening years have changed me so much that I have new answers for the central story in the original Torment. So now that I know what can change the nature of a man, I ask: What does one life matter?... and does it matter at all?"

Edit -
They've announced the new name, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and put up a website. You can create an account and get notified when they start their crowdfunding drive, as well as submit & vote on ideas. Right now the ideas are mostly for the upcoming kickstarter (tier levels and potential rewards).

Edit - The Kickstarter is live! It's set to end at Friday Apr 5, 8:00pm EDT.

From the Kickstarter page:

Here’s a brief summary of our story:

You are the Last Castoff, the final link in the chain of the lives of the being they call the Changing God. He once was a man who discovered a way to use the relics of the ancients to cheat death and skip across the face of centuries in a succession of bodies. But he never knew that his bodies lived on as his consciousness fled, a new consciousness arising in each. Now he has awakened an age-old enemy, the Angel of Entropy, and his days of change are gone as the Angel hunts him and all his works. That includes... you.

With the ever-present threat of oblivion looming over you, you must find your sire before he—and you—are eradicated by the avenging Angel. You will find allies and enemies among the other castoffs. You might inhabit their minds for a time through the devices called “the Meres,” turning their lives to your advantage. You will travel across the face of the Ninth World, and above and below it, with your companions at your side—or alone, if you wish. Your quest will take you to alternate dimensions and distant worlds under strange suns; particular Meres might afford you even more bizarre experiences, such as folding time itself. And you will build your legacy as you find your answer to the question:

What does one life matter?

How Is Torment: Tides of Numenera Similar to Planescape: Torment?

We're crafting Torment with the goal of creating a gameplay experience like that evoked by Planescape: Torment (or PS:T). We want Torment to challenge, reward, surprise, and entertain you in ways that PS:T did. To do that, we examined PS:T carefully, and took these four pillars as our foundation:

  • A Deep, Thematically Satisfying Story. The philosophical underpinnings of Torment drive the game, both mechanically and narratively. Your words, choices, and actions will be your primary weapons.
  • A World Unlike Any Other. The game has a fantastic, original setting, with awe-inspiring painterly visuals, imaginative locations, truly offbeat items, and massive feats of magic. In Numenera, however, "magic" is actually something surprisingly different.
  • A Rich, Personal Narrative. The story is thoughtful and character-driven—epic in feel but a deeply personal narrative, with nontraditional characters and companions who have their own motivations and desires that drive them throughout the game.
  • Reactivity, Choice, and Real Consequences. The game emphasizes replayability and reactivity, and your choices will make a real difference. You can play the game with a different approach and discover entirely new pathways. Most important, we won't tell you how to play. The best ending is the one you choose, flowing naturally from your actions throughout the game.
How Is Torment Different From Planescape: Torment?
  • Torment is not a sequel to PS:T. It does not continue the stories of PS:T or its characters.
  • Torment is set in Numenera’s Ninth World, a new tabletop RPG setting created by renowned designer Monte Cook (he and Colin wrote much of the material for the Planescape tabletop setting).
  • Torment will use a new rules system that's based on the Numenera system but adapted specifically for a computer RPG.
  • We'll strive to make Torment's combat system and encounters an engaging and entertaining part of the gameplay. We'll connect them narratively to the overall story. And, continuing the Torment tradition, we'll make most if not all combat avoidable.

Well that was unexpected.

Kind of thought this might be a possibility but I think a lot would hinge on the success of Project Eternity.

omg omg omg omg

This better be great, or I'll never be able to forgive him.

According to the article, there are parts already being worked on. McComb got explicit permission from Chris Avellone to work on it while Chris continues to work on Project Eternity. It's also not going to use the Planescape setting. It sounds like it's going to be a spiritual sequel, not a traditional one.

Could... could he maybe... just write a book instead?

As a developer I would be "scared" to make a sequel to this game.. at this point the core fan base has placed this game on such a high pedestal that anything following is doomed to failure.

Updated my journal.

dejanzie wrote:

Updated my journal.

Dear Penthouse,

I never thought this would happen to be but....

TheGameguru wrote:

As a developer I would be "scared" to make a sequel to this game.. at this point the core fan base has placed this game on such a high pedestal that anything following is doomed to failure.

Yup. Sometimes things are best left as is.

TheGameguru wrote:

As a developer I would be "scared" to make a sequel to this game.. at this point the core fan base has placed this game on such a high pedestal that anything following is doomed to failure.

Didn't stop the Fallout guys.

LobsterMobster wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

As a developer I would be "scared" to make a sequel to this game.. at this point the core fan base has placed this game on such a high pedestal that anything following is doomed to failure.

Didn't stop the Fallout guys.

That's true.. and the delicious tears coming from those crazies at NMA was so worth it!

TheGameguru wrote:

As a developer I would be "scared" to make a sequel to this game.. at this point the core fan base has placed this game on such a high pedestal that anything following is doomed to failure.

I am unfortunately part of the problem in this department, not part of any possible solution.

TheGameguru wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

As a developer I would be "scared" to make a sequel to this game.. at this point the core fan base has placed this game on such a high pedestal that anything following is doomed to failure.

Didn't stop the Fallout guys.

That's true.. and the delicious tears coming from those crazies at NMA was so worth it!

Ahahaha, freakin' No Mutants Allowed. Man, those guys...

I never played the first Planescape, so I don't really have a horse in this race. However, from all the praise I've heard this game get, I'd be interested just from being aware of how loved it is.

I do hope it's a spiritual successor not a staight-up sequel. I cannot imagine what a sequel would be like, except not as good (I'm part of the problem as well, I guess).

I'm not sure this will fly. PS:T was a niche game even among people who love Infinity Engine games. Baldur's Gate getting an overhaul was one thing, that game was a blockbuster. I'm not sure how big an audience this will have.

A Torment sequel need not be especially niche; it doesn't even really have to be an RPG in the D&D sense.

I only care about the game world, actually. The sequel could be a side-scrolling platformer for all I care, as long as they get the setting right.

At first I was like, YAY!

After reading all the limitations this project is going to have placed on it, I was like, meh.

Considering how Planescape: Torment ended, the only logical sequel would have to be a hack and slash game with instant and infinite respanws

I'm taking a wait and see approach with this one. However good or bad the game ends op being, the original will still be a classic with a horrific interface And I'll still have dozens of great games on my pile by the time it gets released (probably somewhere in 2015 or so?)

It's encouraging though that the incentive for making the 'sequel' is the same as for the original: finding an answer to one of life's questions, through a story told in a game.

clover wrote:

I only care about the game world, actually. The sequel could be a side-scrolling platformer for all I care, as long as they get the setting right.

They're not going to be using Planescape, or any WOTC setting, due to not wanting editorial oversight from WOTC. They could still have a city where numerous planes of existence meet, but I'm not sure how similar to Sigil it could be without prompting a legal fight.

Stengah wrote:
clover wrote:

I only care about the game world, actually. The sequel could be a side-scrolling platformer for all I care, as long as they get the setting right.

They're not going to be using Planescape, or any WOTC setting, due to not wanting editorial oversight from WOTC. They could still have a city where numerous planes of existence meet, but I'm not sure how similar to Sigil it could be without prompting a legal fight.

That's too bad. The social structure of the Planescape universe always fascinated me.

I mean, are we talking about the the worth of "one life" of a cloud consultant or printer driver dev or what .

Well now, the question isn't what one life is "worth." It's what one life "matters." That's a neutral term. There have been many people who have left their mark on history whom you might say are worthless or of negative worth, yet mattered profoundly.

A life is worth 100 coins, every gamer knows that.

Sweet. I hope they strip out all the extraneous inventory management stuff, and add the ability to pop out from behind cover.

Don't trust the skull.

WTF OBSIDIAN, STOP NOT MAKING MORE FALLOUT GAMES!

Edit - maybe this isn't Obsidian? The guy from the blog post was talking about Wasteland 2, and a lot of Black Isle dudes ended up at Obsidian, so I figured it was coming from them. The details seem a bit sketchy at this point...

gore wrote:

WTF OBSIDIAN, STOP NOT MAKING MORE FALLOUT GAMES!

Edit - maybe this isn't Obsidian? The guy from the blog post was talking about Wasteland 2, and a lot of Black Isle dudes ended up at Obsidian, so I figured it was coming from them. The details seem a bit sketchy at this point...

Wouldn't be surprised if Obsidian aided in it. The article says Chris Avellone signed off on it and he's a lead at Obsidian.

Yeah, but that can mean a lot of different things. It could mean Avellone will personally sign off on every plot element or it could mean he gave a, "What? Oh, sure, whatever," and is more concerned with his own stuff.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Yeah, but that can mean a lot of different things. It could mean Avellone will personally sign off on every plot element or it could mean he gave a, "What? Oh, sure, whatever," and is more concerned with his own stuff.

I can see Avellone doing that. And being drunk while he does it.

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