The Tangut Prophecy - Interview @ FODev.net

The RPG Codex has news on a game called The Tangut Prophecy. The codex has this thread that gives info on it. It looks interesting so I recommend a quick look at it.

Description:
"The Tangut Prophecy" is a stand alone RPG game based on the FOnline Engine. It is a historical fiction RPG game set in medieval 12th Century China.

Features:
*Historical Fiction set in XII Century China.
*A Single Player Campaign that focuses on cRPG mechanics.
*A plot with mysteries, secrets, conspiracies, political intrigues, and twists.
*Non-incidental interconnecting side quests.
*Multiple quest branches and resolutions with lasting consequences.
*Multiple dialogue options with different reactions.
*Multiple endings to you, your companions, NPCs and the game world.
*4 playable races with 4 corresponding language skills.
*Unique character builds.
*Detailed NPCs and companions.
*Radiant game world that accurately portrays the included medieval East and Central Asian tribes.
*Turn based combat.
*Small scale battles with mounts and controllable troops.
*A wide range of medieval arsenal and equipment.
*Limited currency and items with real monetary value.
*Travel to the world's extremes: From scorching deserts, to shivering glaciers…
*Non-tiled prerendered map locations and graphics.
*Fully detailed and animated character sprites.

Screenshots: Media gallery- http://postimage.org/gallery/aqa303u/


Links: MODDB Page- http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-tangut-prophecy

They also link to an interview at FODev.net.

What can you tell us about The Tangut Prophecy? How many people are working on the game and what's the current status?

The Tangut Prophecy is the game that I've been working on for the past almost 3 years. It is a FOnline based, historical fiction singleplayer RPG set in XII Century China. The game covers the small evenlope of peace time, about 40 years long, starting in 1167, between 3 historical Chinese nations: the Western Xia of the Tanguts, the Jin of the Jurchens, and the Song of the Hans. We seek to bring the harsh reality of medieval China, along with a focus on player choices and story telling, to the singleplayer experience. The game will be available for download, free of charge, when finished.

I'm the only official, committed member as of today. It pretty much has been this way ever since the inception of the game. It's almost like a full time job for me. I work on everything: Writing, scripting, graphics, mechanics, you name it. So if you see something crappy, feel free to blame it all on me. I do receive help from other people occasionally. A friend of mine for example, who is a professional working in a major Taiwanese company, lends a hand on the graphics from time to time. I also received some help on animating the horses and other animals in the game. Just things like that in general.

As for the game's current development status, it is going okay. There is still a lot to do. I don't want to put a timer on myself; I have seen enough games being ruined by inadequate development time. Who knows what we would've gotten had Troika spent 6 more months on Arcanum before it was released. Anyway, I'm looking at 2014/2015, not promising anything. Speaking of which, I'm also looking to recruit 10-15 beta testers once the game is ready to enter the testing phase. More details on that coming soon.

More information.

Looks interesting. Looking at the screenshots, did the 12th Century Chinese really say, "Hey there." I don't know. Maybe they did….

Originally Posted by Capt. Huggy Face
Looks interesting. Looking at the screenshots, did the 12th Century Chinese really say, "Hey there." I don't know. Maybe they did….

I noticed that to but hey it's like engrish, or is it chinglish since this is about 12th Century China. Still the screenshots appear to be from an earlier version.

The screenshots indicate the exact opposite graphics problem to Spiderweb games: large and overbearing units in rooms with diminutive furnishings.

looks like single character… no sell for me

Originally Posted by wolfing
looks like single character… no sell for me

Err, "Detailed NPCs and companions" is listed as one of the features so it doesn't sound like single character (which I agree would suck). Anyway, this is likely a freeware game (could be wrong, but I don't think you can legally charge for something made with the FOnline engine) so I don't think you can "threaten" them with a lost sale

Originally Posted by daveyd
Err, "Detailed NPCs and companions" is listed as one of the features so it doesn't sound like single character (which I agree would suck). Anyway, this is likely a freeware game (could be wrong, but I don't think you can legally charge for something made with the FOnline engine) so I don't think you can "threaten" them with a lost sale

Well, according to Vault TEc Labs Wiki:

It is possible to build new games with the FOnline engine, which are 100% independent from all Fallout content. Thanks to this, it is also possible to use the engine for commercial projects.

I think this sounds pretty cool, I am a fan of historical settings. And playing Fallout, Age of Decadence, Eschalon and a few others convinced me that single character TB games can actually be quite fun. I'll definitely keep an eye on this.