Torment: Tides of Numenera - Delayed Until 2017

As reported by Couch in our forums and submitted to us by vigilant Watchers, Torment: Tides of Numenera has been delayed. The latest Kickstarter update details the release date decision, as well as progress updates and the state of the beta.

Of course there is still plenty of work ahead and we won't be cooling our heels yet. Our artists, writers and designers are continuing work to bring the game towards a finished state by polishing systems, artwork, quests and more, and QA is an ongoing process. In the videogames business and especially with RPGs, time to iterate is the biggest luxury you can have.

Torment has also grown to around 1 million words – bigger than the Bible – and we feel that getting a good quality translation of such a deep narrative experience is very important for a large percentage of our players. Therefore, we will be turning to professional localization services to achieve the best experience possible. With the game content complete, we have already begun locking down our text and breaking it into batches for localization, so progress is already being made.

This localization is no small feat (not to mention costly!), but we have a secret weapon… we're partnering with a certain publisher to help out on this front. But who is this partner? We can't comment on that just yet… but you will learn more very soon.

All said and done, our combined iteration and localization efforts are looking to be a 6-month process. So, we have two paths open to us, a bit of choice and consequence, if you will. Those of you who have been following our updates know we have been hinting towards a late 2016 release, and we could crunch and rush to get the game out around November. But doing so would mean both sacrificing the quality of our localization and would lead to a less polished game for the nearly 100,000 people total who have backed the game. Therefore, in the interests of giving everyone the best experience, we will be releasing Torment in early Q1 2017.

We know it's frustrating to wait a little longer, but we've come this far. I remember the pain of moving the release of Baldur's Gate 1 effectively into January in much the same way, but that ended up being the right move and we all know how fondly it is remembered today. These types of trade-offs are never easy, but from day one it's been our goal to make Torment the masterpiece you deserve.

More.

More information.

All backers that have the game in their kickstarter backer tier get access to the beta now.

Seems weird that it takes their publisher more then six months just to translate all the text, but then I remember developers taking a year to translate Japanese in JRPGs.

To much red tape and procedures slows the translating process down.

Originally Posted by Silver
All backers that have the game in their kickstarter backer tier get access to the beta now.

That's the only good news from the update but the game still needs more polishing. So it will probably receive seven months of changes & fixes since its content complete.

I think this game will capture the feel of an infinity engine classic because of better project management honestly. They are not going to just push it out the door before its ready but when it feels right, unlike a certain other infinity engine spiritual successor.

Delay it until 2018 and release it as a finished game.

alpha = concept

beta = alpha

release = beta

EE plus 10 patches = finished game.

Originally Posted by Silver
They are not going to just push it out the door before its ready but when it feels right, unlike a certain other infinity engine spiritual successor.

Oh no you didn't as I know what game you're referring to Mister Sliver.

Those are fighting words partner, and I challenge you to a duel.

Originally Posted by CelticFrost
Delay it until 2018 and release it as a finished game.

alpha = concept

beta = alpha

release = beta

EE plus 10 patches = finished game.

And of course more patches after the Enhanced Edition of course.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Oh no you didn't as I know what game you're referring to Mister Sliver.

Those are fighting words partner, and I challenge you to a duel.

And of course more patches after the Enhanced Edition of course.

You know its true but you can't bring yourself to agree with me

A yeah of patches later and that game, that won't be mentioned, still doesn't feel right.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
To much red tape and procedures slows the translating process down.

While I get where you are coming from, getting a professionally done localization doesn't slow things down. We have several languages to get the game into and that means both the localization itself (~1 million words each) and months of localization QA and bug fixing on top of that.

The Torment dialog editing tools we got from Obsidian are very helpful with speeding up localization and the pros likewise have their own tools to make things go more smoothly, but it is still a big job no matter how you slice it and significantly more text than even the average RPG with 5 or 10x our budget.

Originally Posted by sea
While I get where you are coming from, getting a professionally done localization doesn't slow things down. We have several languages to get the game into and that means both the localization itself (~1 million words each) and months of localization QA and bug fixing on top of that.

The Torment dialog editing tools we got from Obsidian are very helpful with speeding up localization and the pros likewise have their own tools to make things go more smoothly, but it is still a big job no matter how you slice it and significantly more text than even the average RPG with 5 or 10x our budget.

Thanks for the reply Sea as I based my reply on talks I had a few translators from XSeed and Atlus. It was very insightful about why the process is very slow & frustrating.

I think its a good thing they're taking their time. This has to be "perfect", not rushed and repaired after the launch.

Originally Posted by Dez
I think its a good thing they're taking their time. This has to be "perfect", not rushed and repaired after the launch.

It might be Dez but this is the second delay in two years so I understand why some backers wont like it all. For me I just hope more games don't get pushed back to 2017.

I'm not really surprised by this, and as usual I hope they take the time required to do it right. My backlog is such that even if every game remaining on my current 2016-buy list got pushed out to 2017 I'd still have more than enough to keep me busy.

One of my most anticipated RPGs of 2016 has been become one of my most anticipated RPGs of 2017. Oh well, it's better than them rushing out something unpolished. Don't think I will even mess with the beta.

I hope that Expeditions: Vikings actually releases this year.

I bet that publisher is Paradox

Originally Posted by Archangel
I bet that publisher is Paradox

My magic 8-Ball says you have a 50/50 chance of being correct.

Paradox paradox. I want we version before 2019. Btw for those who have played how is game in current state ignoring bugs?

I have to say I am very disappointed with the way the characters looks.

Haha, I knew this would happen. Everything gets postponed to 2017. Now all we need is for Div 2 and Tyrant to get postponed, and it's a wrap!

This probably means BT4 will be also delayed

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
I have to say I am very disappointed with the way the characters looks.

Yeah, he looks ugly which is fine but also asthetically mundane.