Obsidian Scrapped a Sci-Fi Skyrim

[Doom972]

Obsidian always has great ideas for games. It's the execution that sometimes suffers. I would've loved to see Backspace rather than Project Eternity.

Who knows? Perhaps after Project Eternity Obsidian w.ill start work on Backspace

Sure, but that's not my point. I just don't get why some of the most creative guys in the industry work on another medieval fantasy RPG when there are more than enough of them already. These are guys who worked on the Original Fallout, Planescape: Torment, and Alpha Protocol - If there's someone who can make a good RPG that's not medieval fantasy, it's them.

Obsidian always has great ideas for games. It's the execution that sometimes suffers. I would've loved to see Backspace rather than Project Eternity.

This. However, I wonder if the Kickstarter (assuming they did one for Backspace) would have had as good a chance at being funded. If Project Eternity sells well, who knows what they might be able to do with this concept.

If I recall correctly, Project Eternity's kickstarter got several times the original goal. While Backspace wouldn't have been as successful, I'm sure it would've managed to get to its original goal and quite a bit past that.

 

[socialmenace42]

Oh my word, I'm practically crying, WHY WOULD YOU DISCONTINUE AN IDEA LIKE THIS?!?!?! Wow, I mean purely the objective description of

a sci-fi action-RPG that blends Mass Effect, Borderlands, System Shock 2, and of course Skyrim.

had me almost pissing myself with adulation! Good lord I would be a happy panda if they decided to continue development on this.

 

[Starke]

There's nothing that makes me more wistful then mentions of Obsidian's games that could have been.

Sci-fi RPG on Skyrim engine?

Is this a dream or reality? Nevermind, just a dream.

Alpha Protocol 2?

Unlikely with Sega holding the strings.

It's already been said, Sega doesn't want anything more to do with AP, so it's going to end up decomposing in a ditch.

Kotor 3?

If anything, then Disney will give the rights to Bioware.

Too late, Disney already announced that they were selling the Star Wars game rights to EA.

Wheel of Time RPG?

No funds probably.

I think this one's actually still a thing, though I haven't heard anything recently about it.

Might and Magic RPG?

Hell, nobody even knows this series! It's as dead as it can be.

Ubisoft has the rights to it. The last "RPG" in the series was by Arkane Studios about five or six years ago. The odds of Ubisoft and Obsidian playing nice? I'd have to say slim.

 

[rofltehcat]

Noooooo
I want Sci-Fi Skyrim!

Why are they even talking about this? Are they planning a kickstarter or something?

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

The design doc mentions several gameplay features, including skills that improve over time, fast-paced gun and melee combat, and a selection of AI "companions" to slot into your armor to give yourself stat boosts and provide dialogue in the mostly isolated setting

Fast paced gun and melee combat in a game based on the skyrim engine with AI companions who were written by Obsidian? I really hope they decide to come back and work on this

 

[ailurus]

These type of ideas are exactly why Obsidian is probably my favorite AAA dev team out there today. Really hope they revisit this in the future.

That said, its probably for the best that its shelved for now. Because while I do love Obsidian, their quality control at release needs work. And between Eternity, the work they're doing on Wasteland 2 and finishing up South Park (plus any other stuff they've got on their plate) it sounds to me like they've got their plate full at the moment. Help inXile get Wasteland 2 out the door in a manner it deserves, get Eternity in a good state, and then look at Backspace. I'm fine waiting a bit for it to be good, rather than you guys trying to do a ton of stuff at once and having bugs or oversights wreck it.

 

[dumbseizure]

Obsidian Scrapped a Sci-Fi Skyrim

Obsidian has revealed some details on an action-RPG that could have been.

Obsidian Entertainment has a knack for building inspired games on the shoulders of other studios' engines. Bethesda passed the torch to Obsidian to continue the Fallout series with New Vegas, but it seems the two studios were considering another collaboration - this time on the Skyrim engine. Unfortunately it looks like the idea has been shelved for now, but a design document has surfaced that details what could have been a sci-fi action-RPG that blends Mass Effect, Borderlands, System Shock 2, and of course Skyrim.

The prototype game was known as Backspace, and the creative types at Obsidian seem to have put a lot of thought into the game's setting, story, and mechanics before it was abandoned. The game would take place on a giant space station - think Mass Effect's Citadel - which is ravaged by an alien attack. You'd play as a cyborg who somehow gets caught up in a time travel scenario, shifting between the present-day station (which is under active assault by the invaders) and a bleak decade into the future where the aliens have won and control the station. The design doc mentions several gameplay features, including skills that improve over time, fast-paced gun and melee combat, and a selection of AI "companions" to slot into your armor to give yourself stat boosts and provide dialogue in the mostly isolated setting.

Obsidian boss Feargus Urquhart commented that the team may work more on Backspace in the future, but it's just one of many ideas that the studio has considered and ultimately shelved. Still, it sounds pretty cool - and we can still dream.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/a-sci-fi-skyrim-was-in-development-at-obsidian-it-ha-736060432]

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From the sound of this, I would have preferred this over Skyrim, by quite a lot.

 

[thetoddo]

Noooooo
I want Sci-Fi Skyrim!

Why are they even talking about this? Are they planning a kickstarter or something?

I really hope not. People have a limited amount of money to throw at Kickstart projects and I really dislike the idea that companies who have the ability to create games/movies/whatever without the money are starting to use Kickstarter to fund projects they can afford themselves. There are ways to guage interest in a product that do not involve actively trying to hurt smaller/independant creators by shrinking the potential investment pool.

On topic, I'd definately give this a shot if they ever made it.

 

[Scorpid]

How is it that Obsidian shelves more interesting ideas then most triple A studios put out in their lifetime? I really hope Bethesda gives them another Fallout game to make.

 

[mad825]

i do wonder if one of the reasons for shelving it was the skyrim engine. its a pain in the ass to do anything in it. frankly its a buggy and twitchy mess even at its most stable

Congratz!

you may have just figured out that the The Creation Engine[footnote]yes, not even the writer of this article knew the name of the game engine. The Skyrim Engine? That's just lazy.[/footnote] is just a modified version of the Gamebryo engine used in FO3 and oblivion.

 

[Naqel]

How is it that Obsidian shelves more interesting ideas then most triple A studios put out in their lifetime?

Because ideas are cheap.
It's the first thing any aspiring game designer learns: You can have the best idea in the world, but if you can't execute it right, you might as well have not had it.


Though to give them the credit, most studios don't have any good ideas to begin with.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Seriously? they don't see the trend that Scifi is IN right now?

O wells we still have Cyberpunk 2077... that's close enough right?

 

[Woodsey]

Great concept, and a terrible, terrible name.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Great concept, but its Obsidian, the only developer other than Bethesda to release a glitched up game and catch next to no flak from fans. This idea could have been ruined by Obsidian's usual patchy release style. Just like Alpha Protocol. Good game, but before patches it was a mess.

 

[crackfool]

Great concept, but its Obsidian, the only developer other than Bethesda to release a glitched up game and catch next to no flak from fans. This idea could have been ruined by Obsidian's usual patchy release style. Just like Alpha Protocol. Good game, but before patches it was a mess.

Glitches are usually the fault of the publisher, rather than the developer.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

WHY THE FUCK DO THEY TELL US THIS SHIT!?

Seriously, talk about the games you are making, not the potentially awesome idea I would have thrown money at if it were ever made because you just make people mad by telling us you had this idea and then didn't follow through on it.

 

[Angelous Wang]

WHY THE FUCK DO THEY TELL US THIS SHIT!?

Seriously, talk about the games you are making, not the potentially awesome idea I would have thrown money at if it were ever made because you just make people mad by telling us you had this idea and then didn't follow through on it.

Maybe so that it will generate enough positive publicity and want that whatever has caused it to stop/be scraped in the first place will reconsider (be it a Bethesda, a Obsidian higher up, a publisher or whatever).

Manipulate the internet into manipulating your bosses.

 

[william12123]

Sigh. They probably have whole closets filled with good ideas like this, that will never see the light of day. And even if they did, they would be buggy as hell. Although I admit the time travel bugs me a bit. Not a big fan of time travel.