RPGWatch Feature: Frayed Knights Interview

magerette - Knot entirely…

We had fun brainstorming names one day, and coming up with adjectives to describe the group that ran counter to type. The pun no doubt figured in, especially with the double-meaning of "Frayed" (as in … 'Fraid… which worked really well for the title screen). It just had too many levels.

Plus most of the other names we came up with were just too corny, lame, or rude.

Originally Posted by Roi Danton
PS: Finally a new RPG with humor, good how I loved that Bard's Tale remake (ow, don't hit me, the game was glorious…*starts running*)

I'm with you on that one, I'd probably have been up set if I paid full price for it, but for $10 on sale it was a pretty good game.

Originally Posted by RampantCoyote
magerette - Knot entirely…
*snip*
Plus most of the other names we came up with were just too corny, lame, or rude.

At least you aren't calling your outfit Gamecock.

That really is one of my favorite jokes, so I'm predisposed in the game's favor already.

Rather intriguing, definitely some cool ideas. I usually like my RPG's serious, but it sounds worth a look, so I'll definitely give the pilot a chance. Thanks for bringing another indie up on my radar, guys.

Here at the Watch, we aim to please!!

I've just been "flying" over the text … but the general idea reminds me very much of Grotesque, another upcoming RPG.

Anyway, everything sounds quite interesting so far, this at least.

And now, *reading* the interview …

I don't recall ever hearing of Grotesque!!

You're wrong: There *was* a small news entry here in the news of RPGWatch last year !

It was a link to an German-language interview quite quickly (and imho badly) translated by someone of the Codex.

http://www.grotesque-game.de/

3x newsbits.

http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/news?ref=0&id=113

My memory is not what it used to be. Old age does that!!

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
I've just been "flying" over the text … but the general idea reminds me very much of Grotesque, another upcoming RPG.

Didn´t the Grotesque guys change their key game ideas for the umpteenth time? I´m not sure what the game is about now.

I was excited when the game was compared to Wizardry, Might and Magic, etc. but then I read that the full game is only going to be 20 hours and I wondered if the author ever played Wizardry, Might and Magic, Bard's Tale, etc. Epic was the name of the game in the old days. It's why I replay the classics so many times. A 20 hour game just never grabs my interest. By the time you start playing, the game is over.
Anybody ever finish Wizardry, Bard's Tale or Might and Magic with a 12th level party? Didn't think so!

Originally Posted by Gorath
Didn´t the Grotesque guys change their key game ideas for the umpteenth time? I´m not sure what the game is about now.

lol, I don't know either.

But I can ask around.

I don't want to speak for Jay but I think putting together 100 hours of content is pretty damn hard for an indie. Jeff Vogel does it (or close to it) but then everyone whinges that the engine is the same.

These days, I just don't have the time for many big games, so a good (assuming it's good) 20 hour game is fine with me. Fallout is the absolute, final proof to me that a 20 hour game can be fantastic.

It took me a LOT longer than 20 hours to finish Fallout, but then I'm a slow and thorough player!!

You're not thinking of FO2? FO just isn't a very big game. I mean, it might take 25 or even 30 hours (how do you count exactly, anyway?) but it isn't a 50-100 hour monolith.

I'd say 30 was closer to what it took me, but I agree, it's not a 100 hour marathon!!

I'm still playing NWN1 - first official campaign.
I'm at the end now, though.

It took many of us years to finish the OC too, it was SO boring we couldn't bring ourselves to keep playing it!!

I was excited when the game was compared to Wizardry, Might and Magic, etc. but then I read that the full game is only going to be 20 hours and I wondered if the author ever played Wizardry, Might and Magic, Bard's Tale, etc.

But I don't want to stretch it out in length just to make it long. That's not what defines the old-school experience for me. And they re-used a lot of content to do that - whipping out a map on a 10 x 10 or 20 x 20 grid by using tilesets like that, and throwing lots of random encounters around would be a very easy way to make a longer game. And I *could* do something like that. But if given the choice between 20 very entertaining hours and 40 hours that consisted of 20 very entertaining hours and 20 so-so hours, I'd rather go with the shorter experience and let you move on to playing Eschalon: Book 2 or something.

Now, I'm getting a lot of reports from testers that the initial adventure took them closer to 2 hours to complete, but part of that might have been because they didn't have save game functionality in until just this last build…

Anyway - I'll provide as much content as I can for my li'l indie budget. Going the true 3D route makes content development a wee bit more challenging, but I'm trying to pack it in with as much *detail* that's worth exploring as I can.

We'll see if I succeed or not.