GameBanshee - Cyclopean Interview, Artwork, and Character Generator

Couchpotato

Part-Time News-bot
Joined
October 1, 2010
Messages
36,181
Location
Spudlandia
Gamebanshee has an interview with Scott Jäeger on the canceled Iron Tower Studio RPG Cyclopean.

GB: How did you hook up with Iron Tower and start the project?

Scott: I began lurking around the Iron Tower forums in 2007. I’ve always been a fan of Lovecraft and also a bit of an English nerd. I started to think about how an old fashioned, turn-based RPG, with a setup like Age of Decadence, would work with Lovecraft’s sort of horror. I wrote The First Mate’s Account (appended at bottom), which would act as an uncovered bit of flavor text for a quest, and sent it to Vince to ask his opinion. More and longer stories followed –some meant to tease a game event or location, others which were standalone stories in their own right– and Vince invited me to post them. Initially, I had hoped that I could contribute as a writer, modeler or animator (I also have a background in 3D modeling and character animation) to AoD or Iron Tower’s next project.

The stories became popular and I began to hash out how the rules to a full-fledged game would work and how the player’s chosen Background would integrate into the story. There were folks on the forums, and the internet at large, who were clearly losing their minds at the idea of a serious Lovecraft RPG and I got a really positive response to everything I shared.


GB: Why did you ultimately decide to cancel the project? Did Vince have plans to roll more people onto your project as AoD inched closer to completion?

Scott: Vince, Oscar and Nick all offered their assistance once AoD was published, but as Lead Developer I would still need to find committed artists, programmers, etc. to form a team. I knew Iron Tower would have other projects, presumably a follow-up to AoD, and of course Dead State. These guys can’t clone themselves to work full time on Cyclopean.

Attempts to recruit artists and programmers over the course of a year-and-a-half were basically a complete bust. Getting someone talented to volunteer their time on such shaky grounds is understandably a very hard sell. Folks like the Iron Tower team and all the talented people who signed up for Dead State on nothing but a promise are 1 in 10,000.

Vince asked me that rather than cancel the game, I declare a hiatus and maybe come back to it later. Although I had already made up my mind, I let it sit fallow for six months, but I couldn’t in good conscience leave everyone hanging when I had no hope to revive it in the future. At the end of the day what I want is to contribute in the areas I’m talented, not to be lead developer. I wasn’t (and still am not) ready to make that kind of commitment. Writing is my thing, not project management.


GB: Would you ever consider restarting the project? Or was the cancellation more than a matter of resources?

Scott: It’s not a matter of financial resources, but human resources. Basically the project had a lead writer (me), but no dedicated artists or programmers, and no lead developer.
They also have a variety of artwork and a Flash-based character generator.

More information.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,181
Location
Spudlandia
I'm still a bit sad this project never went forward. Maybe Scott should do a text adventure - then he wouldn't need much support. And while I am generally not a big fan of that genre, for a heavily literary inspired project like Cyclopean it might work well enough - certainly if he could get a good illustrator onboard.

Scott, the link to the ebook is broken on Gamebanshee - maybe you can post it here?
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,508
I would be the first one in line if someone made a decent crpg based on Lovecraft. Preferably in first-person and with an emphasis on atmosphere and exploration.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,136
Location
Florida, US
First thing I noticed about the article is that the links at the end didn't work (thanks GBG).

Blog (couple of excerpts here and not much else, but anyone who subscribes will be notified when my novel is finished)
E-book

Regarding text adventures, several people have suggested I could probably whip one out with some of the resources ginned up for Cyclopean. It's true that I could, but those kinds of games have a very limited audience, an audience I myself haven't been a part of since the days of Enchanter and Planetfall (though I was very proud of myself, at the age of 13, for finishing the latter without any kind of cheat guide or help).

I think my time is better served writing stories and novels which could potentially be much more widely read. I'd still love to contribute to CRPGs as a writer and animator, and am doing so in a small way for both Age of Decadence and Dead State.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,470
Location
USA
Regarding text adventures, several people have suggested I could probably whip one out with some of the resources ginned up for Cyclopean. It's true that I could, but those kinds of games have a very limited audience, an audience I myself haven't been a part of since the days of Enchanter and Planetfall (though I was very proud of myself, at the age of 13, for finishing the latter without any kind of cheat guide or help).

I was very disappointed when Cyclopean was cancelled. Is there any chance using an engine like Unity might solve the "finding developers" process and restart development?
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 1, 2013
Messages
1
I was always puzzled why Cyclopean was a game project at all, since it was clear what the creator really wanted to do was write a story. I think Age of Decadence is caught in the same bind.
 
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Messages
5
I have been wanting a Lovecraft based crpg for a long time now and if anyone is thinking of doing a Kickstarter for one I would help fund it.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
1,596
Back
Top Bottom