Friday, May 21, 2010

A Game Worth Noticing.

I feel bad for missing it, since it's been out a week, but Basilisk Games finally managed to get Eschalon: Book 2 out the door. I haven't played it yet, of course, but I will soon.

One of the worst things about what I do for a living is that hardly anyone else does it. You might think that not having competitors is a good thing. It is not. In the game industry, competitors help as well as hurt you. When EA spends millions of dollars advertising Dragon Age and Mass Effect, they aren't just pushing their games. They are also advertising the whole idea of playing RPGs. Dragon Age makes as many potential customers for me as it takes.

Also, I love writing Indie games, and I want others to have the same fun.

So I wish Basilisk Games a ton of luck. Releasing one game is a huge achievement. Releasing two games is, I don't know, what's bigger than huge? Huge-Prime?

26 comments:

  1. Eagerly looking forward for Eschalon II's mac version.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will definitely have to check out the game. If at the very least to spread the good karma of indie RPGs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Jeff--I've been following your blog over the past year and decided to finally take the plunge myself. In one week, I will be working on my first RPG full time. The game is called Dragon Master and I've settled on Blitzmax to develop the game engine. Thank you for your inspiring words!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Regarding the competition thing, I remember reading somewhere that whenever Coke or Pepsi launches a new ad campaign, sales of both Coke and Pepsi rise by about the same amount.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Do you actually lose customers to Dragon Age and its ilk?

    I feel there simply aren't enough decent RPGs to fill up time. Also I tend not to replay very much, so once I've finished a game - albeit I tend to play slowly - I need a new title. For me it would never be Avernum OR Dragon Age, it would always be AND.

    Another way to look at it is that RPG developers help *retain* players for the genre. I've ended up getting into some casual games (like Hidden Object) just to wait out new RPG releases. Had there been more RPGs - good ones - coming out, my money would have gone on them instead of the Hidden Object games.

    ReplyDelete
  6. istara:

    It is even worse if you are a fan of sci-fi RPGs. There are at least a handful of people making indie sword & sorcery fantasy RPGs... Virtually no one is making cool old-school sci-fi RPGs. The best you can find are some modern "Elite" clones.

    I was kind of hoping that the new SpiderWeb game would be sci-fi... I have tried the current games, and I like the general feel, but I just can't get into the fantasy setting. I understand that switching from fantasy to sci-fi would require building an entirely new set of art assets, but I think most people who are SpiderWeb fans would still buy it, and it would attract new fans like me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. rexrhino:

    The Geneforge series were more sci-fi, but I take your point - most RPGs use a more historic setting. Have you played the big console games such as KOTOR and Mass Effect?

    I notice there are sci-fi MMORPGs around, but those aren't quite the same as a single-player game.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I actually played and ordered Echelon: Book II simply because you mentioned it... I had not heard of it before. It's fun, and I enjoy playing new RPG's with new systems and a new storyline.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I want to like the Eschalon series, but the user interface is just enough at odds with the way I think that it gets frustrating every time I try to play it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I eventually got past the interface... But man... The difficulty curve... I've struggled on quite a way in the first game but I'm constantly up against the wall. Either the non linear style of the game (which is a good thing) means that with a lack of direction I chose to wander in a direction I wasn't supposed to until I was a much higher level (But if that's the case I have no idea where I'm supposed to be, I think I've been mostly directly following the plot so far, maybe I'm supposed to wander more and do more side quests on the way but the side quests I've found are nigh incompletable for me at this level) or the alternative is the type of character I like to play is just not the sort of character that can survive in Echalon's game world... Which would be a fault, if only for me.
    Don't get me wrong, I love a challenge. However, that because I love the sense of reward gained from overcoming that challenge, which means it has to be something I can actually do.
    Which is a shame because everything else about the game so far is great. I like the characters, the story, character advancement system... Perhaps at some point I'll start a new character as a stock warrior following recommended settings and find the game world much more traversable... But I'm not in the mood to play a warrior right now.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Eschalon sucks. It just doesn't cut it.
    Decent graphics are not enough to make you
    forget that the action is boring and that you have no choice in fighting the same monsters over and over again to get anywhere, especially at night. Just pure tedium that gets even worse
    in the dungeons where you can barely see anything to the point of it being incredibly exasperating.
    I had to quit in disgust at so many unbearable flaws that ruin this potentially nice game.

    ReplyDelete
  12. As with women’s leggings, these seem to be designed to be layered with other clothing items, which do offer a little bit of modesty. Well, I’m not sure this is a trend that will take on, but if it does it’s certain to winter a whole new set of over-exposure solutions as we’ve seen with the camel toe! Moncler men Jackets , Leggings have been hot for women over the past few seasons, but I didn’t think they might extend to the other gender, at least not outside of sporting events that require down jackes, did you?
    Stars are always exposed to dress sexy, but in the winter cold, like the design of Moncler women Jackets to help them wear down the United States and also warm. By the star like Moncler Show, which is a very strong brand.Do you even concern about what they are wearing or using? Do you know that which jacket brand stars love most? The answer is Moncler shop online

    ReplyDelete
  13. We have been featuring ballet flats in the past weeks and if you think that they’re too typical and simple, then you should take a look at this odd looking yet adorable pair. It’s named as Faux Pony Hair Spotted Mouse Ballerinas by Pumps from Christian Louboutin .
    Many of you probably think that Christian Louboutin Pigalle Plato Platform Shoes is weird but actually, if you imagine yourself wearing this pair you’ll realize that it’s really cute and charming. This ballet flats is mainly crafted from faux pony hair that provides the fur-like texture on the upper. Predominantly in white, its outer is designed entirely with black specks creating the spotted look. louboutin shoes store

    ReplyDelete
  14. Chanel can be a renowned cheap replica coach bags brand rtxycxy0ns name of Paris founded by Coco Chanel in 1971 and given that its inception replica Gucci purses this brand name has become treasured among the greater strata of culture and among the top style creating house. replica Gucci handbags This brand name is renowned for providing intercontinental school of handbags and purses which have been elegantly developed to encounter the expectations belonging replica Chanel handbags to the elite school of women. Chanel handbags and purses are recognized globally for their chic and timeless elegance. This Chanel handbags and purses replica Coach wallets stay dreams for various girls on account of its substantial price. There are very big sections of girls who are unable to afford this bag and consistently start looking for much better alternatives. Using the coming of replicas handbags of nearly all of the renowned brands, replica Coach handbags very a big part of girls looks to get fulfilled as they are able to at the least fulfill their wish to very an extent.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Need To Boost Your ClickBank Banner Commissions And Traffic?

    Bannerizer made it easy for you to promote ClickBank products using banners, simply go to Bannerizer, and grab the banner codes for your picked ClickBank products or use the Universal ClickBank Banner Rotator Tool to promote all of the available ClickBank products.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Below you will understand what is important, the idea provides one of the links with an exciting site geometry dash online

    ReplyDelete
  17. An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next.

    Website
    Information

    ReplyDelete
  18. The best quality online gambling site from the facilities available on the BandarQ Game BandarQ

    ReplyDelete
  19. I was very pleased to find this web-site. I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.

    Okauctioneers.org
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for sharing this.,
    Leanpitch provides online training in Scrum Master, everyone can use it wisely.

    certified scrum master certification
    agile scrum master certification

    ReplyDelete