Halfway - A Sci-fi Squad Based Tactical RPG
 

Halfway is a new game from a two man indie developer called Robotality. They describe the game as a sci-fi squad-based tactical RPG.



More information.

Cute!
Add some Commodore64 music in it (althout that one in the vid isn't bad at all) and I'm instabuying it.

Graphically I find it extreamly appealing. But I think the flow, also by the sound design didn't look just right. It didn't feel like doing something important each turn. Maybe because the effects were too silent, because the enemies to weak or just because there were no confrmation messages by the solders. It just looked like "dipping along" if that makes sense.
In addition such a game stands and falls with the combat mechanics for me.
And since XCOM EU was such a huge disappointment for me personally I don't want to get too excited before I actually played it. However this game doesn't even pretend to be 3D and realistic so maybe even the XCom mechanic would work for me here, in addition th mechanic already looks differently and less abstract.

I for one couldn't be happier to see a rebirth of turn based games again. I'm glad a few others are interested in this game also.:w00t:

Turn based ftw ^^

Another RPG to look forward to, that list keeps getting big.

The gameplay needs a huge enhancement. What shows this trailer is there isn't enough options from far, very basic gameplay. There isn't the immediate chance to hit feedback, probably a future feature I suppose. But also the constant action mode will mean it won't be a RPG, only fights, you can't decently moves 4 characters when just exploring.

Yeah cute but needs show a lot more.

Yes there is. Note the "hit chance" followed by a percent value above enemies.

While it sounds like most of your forrays through the ship will be in combats, there is down time for conversation and decision making once you secure a staging area.

from their blog:

Since this is an alpha gameplay trailer and it sounds like it's very early in development, I'm not entirely sure you can draw as many conclusions as you are from just this video.

At least in terms of character customization as well as the uniqueness/abilities of individual members it sounds like there will be a decent number of options when it comes to your character and selecting your team mates. Individual members having unique abilities does make it seem that chosing who to take with you and how you develop them will lend some complexity to decision making.

Yay for turn-based combat! Boo for cuteness (cartooniness is a big turn off for me).

If it was like that it would be fine. But they are also writing

And as this year is only 4 more months long (since the video) I doubt the trailer is far away from the released product.

I don't think they have the funding for realistic graphics. Anyway the graphics don't bother me, but I understand your point. :)

Yeah, they set themselves a deadline (not the most stupid idea, really), so it might be that a lot of cool possible features never see the light.

Not bad at all. It's hard to tell whether low objects like desks provide partial cover, but I'm assuming so based on the tactics. I think this could be a fun play.

It'd be nice to see more details, such as inventory control, character interaction, healing, and so forth.

It reminds me of SotS: The Pit except squad-based. If it's half as good as The Pit then it'll be worth checking out.

This looks interesting! Very much so. Turn-based, squad-based, sci-fi tactical/RPG hybrid with X-Com and System Shock mentioned as inspirations… SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!

@jhwisner: Thanks for the explanation, well I haven't seen obvious different skills from the video and the current interface design won't allow adds too many.

To take an example with a mobile game with a touch mobile interface, so simpler than what's possible with computers, Shadowrun Return that has also a part with turn based tactic squad. It offers potentially 6 usable items (grenades, healing, boosts,…) + 6 spells or special skills actions + crouch toggle + Oversight and aiming + Reload + switching between 4 weapons (no AP used) + For each weapons from 2 to 4 or even 6 modes + Cooldown (sometimes none) for spells/kills and weapon modes. And it's not an overly complex tactical game.

I mean that the context menu I saw in the video is a wrong start and the game won't work without one or multiple action bar if they want a real good range of possibilities. SRR use multiple small action bars with some menus on them, a better computer implementation would probably use less menu on action bars.

About the DAO party camp hub approach, I'm not very fan and I wonder how you interact if you don't control a character. But yep this can drag a bit the game on the RPG side.

I'll agree with you on this one. It sounds more like a tactical strategy game with some RPG elements than the other way around. I do however not have a problem with that, so I'm still curious about this game. But I'm pretty doubtful I want to spend my PC gaming time on this one, I hope they make a port to Android. ;)

I wrote mobile but I don't think SRR can work on mobile, I was meaning tablet. Halfway could work on mobile with a similar approach but I think the range designed isn't compatible with mobile.

A good example I know on mobile (but played only on ipad) is Tactical Soldier - Undead Rising (http://www.tacticalsoldier.com/) with a second campaign as an in app purchase, I wrote campaign but each is rather short (well at least the first, I haven't played the second). It strangely works despite it is doing what I'm quoting as a bad design, you constantly move all your team one per one.

The point is its design is that almost each step can requires caution and could trigger a surprise. So most movements require some analysis and thought. It offers about 1/3 of the number of actions choices of SRR but adds a tense ammo management and its oversight management is more important and adds complexity.

But it isn't yet on Android.

EDIT: If you want a turn based tactical Resident Evil game, try it, I'd say the mood and tension is probably the best achievement in the game.