Torment: Tides of Numenera Backers Vote For Turn-Based Combat

StewShearerOld

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Torment: Tides of Numenera Backers Vote For Turn-Based Combat



inXile believes turn-based combat will be "a stronger fit" for Torment: Tides of Numenera

Back in March, inXile, hot on the heels of its successful Kickstarter to make a modern day sequel to the PC classic Wasteland, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122533-Torment-Tides-of-Numenera-Burns-Up-Kickstarter-UPDATED>launched a second campaign to raise funds for Torment: Tides of Numenera. Pegged as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, one of the most well-regarded RPGs ever made, it reached its goal of $900,000 in mere hours and would go on to raise than $4 million before time ran out.

In November however, the studio asked backers for some input a bit less monetary in nature. With the team on the fence about where to take the game's combat, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129902-Inxile-Asks-Torment-Backers-To-Vote-On-Combat-System>it asked contributors to vote on whether they'd prefer turn-based combat, a la the original Fallout, or real-time action with pause features as seen in games like Baldur's Gate.

Well, the tally is in and inXile has announced that, based on the collected votes, it will be going with turn-based combat. The results were agreeable to the game's development team. "We were leaning toward turn-based combat because we believe it's better suited for the kind of tactical complexity we're looking for," said inXile in an announcement on the project's Kickstarter page. "We believe it's a stronger fit for bringing narrative elements, including dialogue with NPCs, into hand-crafted combat situations." Turn-based combat won the vote by a mere percentage point with 48 percent voters choosing turn-based and 47 percent voting for real-time combat. The remaining voters said they were "indifferent." The voting pool included nearly 20 percent of the game's contributors and numbered just over 15,000.

Source: <a href=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera/posts/686723>Kickstarter




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Clive Howlitzer

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As someone who prefers turn based combat, something you need to consider is avoiding 'pointless' fights. Otherwise, easy battles turn into absolute grinds because no matter how easy they are, you still have to go through the turns. That can really become brutal in a pure turn based system.
 

Scars Unseen

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I heartily approve of this decision. This is one of those games I wish I had the money to back when they were on Kickstarter.
 

StewShearerOld

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Scars Unseen said:
I heartily approve of this decision. This is one of those games I wish I had the money to back when they were on Kickstarter.
Same here. I had really overstretched myself backing other projects when this one started up and really regretted not being able to contrubute. :(
 

Teoes

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Yeah they said that as it was so close it was essentially a tie, especially with three times as many 'indifferent' votes as the difference between those who chose one or the other; so they felt they could go with the option they wanted to do most and thought would be the best fit for the game. This was turn-based combat.

The email they sent out explaining the decision was well-reasoned and informative so while I voted RTwP, I'm really happy with the outcome. Actually the explanation can be read in the most recent Kickstarter update, linked in OP.

Clive Howlitzer said:
As someone who prefers turn based combat, something you need to consider is avoiding 'pointless' fights. Otherwise, easy battles turn into absolute grinds because no matter how easy they are, you still have to go through the turns. That can really become brutal in a pure turn based system.
They've essentially said that there'll be no trash mobs in this game, that each combat situation will be planned fully - so it sounds like they're well on-top of looking out for and combating that particular problem.
 

seule

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StewShearer said:
Scars Unseen said:
I heartily approve of this decision. This is one of those games I wish I had the money to back when they were on Kickstarter.
Same here. I had really overstretched myself backing other projects when this one started up and really regretted not being able to contrubute. :(
https://torment.inxile-entertainment.com/store

They're still accepting "donations" and by donations, they basically mean kickstarter tiers without the kickstarter. Tier's as low as $5 and of interest : the $45 tier nets you both Tides and Wasteland 2 :)

As to the topic, always expected it to be close, they've said all along they want to avoid having "trash mobs" so hopefully they do and it works out well for them. I'm just looking forward to getting back into the setting. If they come close to the fun that Torment was, they'll have an awesome game on their hands.
 

Erttheking

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Never really heard of this game, but I guess its worth checking out.
 

Ishal

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erttheking said:
Never really heard of this game, but I guess its worth checking out.
You should play Planescape Torment if you haven't already. The UI is godawful since it hasn't aged well, but it's considered by many to be the best Western RPG ever written.

I think it's one of those games everyone should experience.
 

Clowndoe

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Que 20% of backers saying "The game is ruined" and "I want a refound" and "This isn't in the spirit of the first game."
 

Not Lord Atkin

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Oh come on. I was hoping for it to be closer to Planescape. I could never get into Fallout because of the combat system.
 

Erttheking

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Ishal said:
erttheking said:
Never really heard of this game, but I guess its worth checking out.
You should play Planescape Torment if you haven't already. The UI is godawful since it hasn't aged well, but it's considered by many to be the best Western RPG ever written.

I think it's one of those games everyone should experience.
I have a fucking mac, so I'm kind of up shit creek without a paddle there. Also I'm having a hard time getting into the classic fallouts, not a lot of stuff is really explained for me there and the interface is kinda clunky. The manual is digital and switching back and forth between the game and that is not a very smooth transition and scrolling through the doc trying to find the page you're looking for isn't that natural feeling either. I haven't played in awhile and I'm probably going to go back and give it another shot, but sometimes I feel like some classic games just don't resonate with me. I mean I WANT to enjoy it and I'd probably want to enjoy Planescape Torment but...sometimes a game and you don't mesh that well you know? Maybe after a break I'll be able to come back to it with a fresh mind, but I don't know.
 

shrekfan246

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erttheking said:
Don't sweat it too much, classic CRPGs are indeed classics, but they're also some of the hardest games to go back and "get into". Between abysmal UIs, clunky old mechanics, dated graphics, the endless tweaks you need to do, and occasionally rubbish pacing, it requires a hell of a lot of patience and you can't really be blamed for not enjoying yourself with them. Personally, that's why I'm looking forward to Torment, Project Eternity, Divinity: Original Sin, and the like, because I don't really like the mechanics of most of the 1998-2005 CRPGs, but I really want to get into those worlds and everything.

OT: I think, if they could've managed it, they should've gone for an Arcanum-style combat system that allows the player to choose between real-time or turn-based, but since I prefer turn-based for isometric party-based games anyway, I'm pretty happy with this end result myself.
 

Ishal

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erttheking said:
Ishal said:
erttheking said:
Never really heard of this game, but I guess its worth checking out.
You should play Planescape Torment if you haven't already. The UI is godawful since it hasn't aged well, but it's considered by many to be the best Western RPG ever written.

I think it's one of those games everyone should experience.
I have a fucking mac, so I'm kind of up shit creek without a paddle there. Also I'm having a hard time getting into the classic fallouts, not a lot of stuff is really explained for me there and the interface is kinda clunky. The manual is digital and switching back and forth between the game and that is not a very smooth transition and scrolling through the doc trying to find the page you're looking for isn't that natural feeling either. I haven't played in awhile and I'm probably going to go back and give it another shot, but sometimes I feel like some classic games just don't resonate with me. I mean I WANT to enjoy it and I'd probably want to enjoy Planescape Torment but...sometimes a game and you don't mesh that well you know? Maybe after a break I'll be able to come back to it with a fresh mind, but I don't know.
I know that feel.

I have issues with it as well. Believe me.

But at least you are willing to explore them and you want to like them. I mean, you don't need to WANT to like something, I think having that forceful attitude can be a detriment sometimes. But I'm glad you have that attitude.

I always get sadfaced when people post about not being able to deal with silent protagonists or no dialogue trees. As if text was somehow taboo now.
 

antidonkey

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I'm fine with this. I miss turned based combat and was very happen when it remained with the new Xcom games. I was already pretty interested in this title but now I'm even more so. While I'm not keen on backing stuff via kickstater, I will happily purchase it when it rolls out on Steam.
 

Candidus

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Sad end. The game will be worse for it.

The devs had an agenda from the start. They stacked the hell out of the "pros" of TB in the write-up and a lot of people just took it at face value, didn't think about it at all.

No, TB isn't more thoughtful. I'm paused, I can think all I want.
No, TB doesn't have "more potential for complex options without overwhelming a player". In RTwP, I'm paused! What's wrong with you?!

Let's be clear. They wanted to save time and money cannibalizing WL2's combat system. That was motive #1. They didn't want to write AIs. They didn't want to work hard.
 

dakkster

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Candidus said:
Sad end. The game will be worse for it.

The devs had an agenda from the start. They stacked the hell out of the "pros" of TB in the write-up and a lot of people just took it at face value, didn't think about it at all.

No, TB isn't more thoughtful. I'm paused, I can think all I want.
No, TB doesn't have "more potential for complex options without overwhelming a player". In RTwP, I'm paused! What's wrong with you?!

Let's be clear. They wanted to save time and money cannibalizing WL2's combat system. That was motive #1. They didn't want write AIs. They didn't want to work hard.
Which is pretty damn understandable, considering the relatively limited funds they have to make this game. Completely acceptable motivation.

The people whining about this voting process and the result are uppity crybabies. It's not like turnbased combat is hell on earth for RPGs. Jeez...