Black Geyser - New Video

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A new update on Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness. The video focuses on dialog and story aspects.

New gameplay video is live!

For this update, we want to address more specific dates relating to our delays, while at the same time giving our backers a much better idea of what to expect. For this gameplay video, we will be focusing on the dialogue and story aspects of Black Geyser, and the systems throughout the game by which players will be able to influence their surroundings while interacting with NPCs. All of the footage you will see in this video is part of the Black Geyser Backer Beta; backers who have pledged for a tier that includes this reward will be able to play through the same sequence of events that we choose in the video, as well as a lot of content before and after what you will see here. The options that go unselected are things our beta backers can choose in the Beta, as they are possible routes in the conversation and may lead to very different results than those you see in this quest.

The Cult of Zoria quest presented here ties in directly to the main story quest of the game. Your character has been hired by a mysterious figure in Isilbright (the capital city of the kingdom of Isilmerald) to flush out the cult dedicated to the worship of Zoria, Demigoddess of Night. Strange things have been happening in the countryside west of Isilbright, along with the disappearances of important political and religious figures. It's up to you to root out the truth and discover what the demigoddess' recent resurgence of followers might mean. But in the course of your investigation you find other adventurers, sent before you to investigate the same happenings. Will you help them, or claim the glory for yourself alone? Can you discover what the cultists are up to before it's too late?

Just as a reminder, for a short while longer our late backing is still available. If you are interested in what you see in this update and want to be a first-time backer, visit our Backer portal here. If you are an existing backer who has not yet pledged for a tier including the rewards which grant you access to our Backer Beta, you still have a chance to upgrade your pledge on BackerKit; follow the link in your email that we sent you after you first pledged to access our pledge manager, and update it to a higher tier if you want to join the beta!



Current status

As discussed in our previous Kickstarter update, delays were expected due to the combination of external and internal causes. To be brief, we faced more unpredictable bugs than we assumed we would in our initial project plan. After fixing them, we decided to rewrite a part of our Unity-based game engine to make it more robust in order to reduce the risk of similar bugs in the future. This refactor is now complete. Other bugs were completely out of our control (for example, the Unity core engine and editor have their own issues as well, and we have very little influence on those).

Additionally, for several months it looked like our negotiations with the investor who proposed a change in funding milestones might have finished at any moment, but talks only ended a few days ago - with success. The good news is that the game will have all the features that we originally planned for (as well as those promised due to successfully-reached Kickstarter stretch goals), but there will be a delay of 8-9 months in the release of the Backer Beta as well as in the launch of the finished game from the dates we originally planned. Therefore, the Backer Beta is expected to be accessible in November 2019, while the release of the game is expected to be ready by April 2020.

Our next Kickstarter update is planned at the end of June. Stay tuned!
Thanks Morrandir!

More information.
 
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Sorry, but I cant feel any excitement after watching that video - it's the same old as always, absolutely nothing new, no improvements, nothing and yeah... Pillars Of Eternity...
 
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Not sure if this was an update or a sales pitch?
 
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Sorry, but I cant feel any excitement after watching that video - it's the same old as always, absolutely nothing new, no improvements, nothing

Its NOT TRUE. Some ppl (probably like you) claimed in the past they have almost nothing, just one map and few enemies and some UI. Now we see that the game is playable - at least some maps. There is main manu, loading screens, cave map (wasnt seen before at least partially), woodlands map, some new UI, worldmap…
 
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Looks good to me. Like the old-school vibe. Pathfinding seems to need some more work, but otherwise this is the first time I thought I might get this.
 
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Its NOT TRUE. Some ppl (probably like you) claimed in the past they have almost nothing, just one map and few enemies and some UI. Now we see that the game is playable - at least some maps. There is main manu, loading screens, cave map (wasnt seen before at least partially), woodlands map, some new UI, worldmap…

Im not talking about maps, UI, updates etc, Im talking about what I saw in that video - it is absolutely the same we have out there for years: new game with zero improvements since… i dont know, probably 2000?
I am really tired of this kind of games trying to be Baldurs Gate again and again, going "safe route" with almost 0 improvements, just different story and maybe UI.
Like enemies stand 5 feet away from you and still cant spot your party.
Human enemies never run away/yield when they are are about to be defeated.
Human enemies attack strong PC party, even when they have 0 chance to win.
NPCs standing in one spot for centuries.
NPCs cant solve even the trivial meaningless problems asking for help to passing by strangers.
No one, except Player, ever moves around the world and does heroic deeds - I mean there is no other adventurers/heroes to compete with.
And so on and on and on.
For all this time there is so few RPG games, which tries to make some improvements, the rest just goes ""safe route" again and again.
Sorry for rant.
 
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Im not talking about maps, UI, updates etc, Im talking about what I saw in that video - it is absolutely the same we have out there for years: new game with zero improvements since… i dont know, probably 2000?

I am really tired of this kind of games trying to be Baldurs Gate again and again, going "safe route" with almost 0 improvements, just different story and maybe UI.

Like enemies stand 5 feet away from you and still cant spot your party.

Human enemies never run away/yield when they are are about to be defeated.

Human enemies attack strong PC party, even when they have 0 chance to win.

NPCs standing in one spot for centuries.

NPCs cant solve even the trivial meaningless problems asking for help to passing by strangers.

No one, except Player, ever moves around the world and does heroic deeds - I mean there is no other adventurers/heroes to compete with.

And so on and on and on.

For all this time there is so few RPG games, which tries to make some improvements, the rest just goes ""safe route" again and again.

Sorry for rant.
I know what you mean, but for me personally this old formula still works.
The content just needs to be good enough.
 
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Looks good to me as well. I am starting to believe this game might actually get released after all. I will pick it up if this video is a good representation of the whole game.
 
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The game is still in quite early stage of development which is clear from the video even if there wouldnt be aditional info. I suppose my main concern is whether there will be enough content and if it will be polished enough when released. I didnt make any research and even didnt see whole video, but I think April 2020 is too optimistic.

Isometric, party-based formula will never get old. Its just a matter of execution if it will be good or bad. My favorite way of cRPG-ing by the way :)
 
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I am really tired of this kind of games trying to be Baldurs Gate again and again, going "safe route" with almost 0 improvements, just different story and maybe UI.
Like enemies stand 5 feet away from you and still cant spot your party.
Human enemies never run away/yield when they are are about to be defeated.
Human enemies attack strong PC party, even when they have 0 chance to win.
NPCs standing in one spot for centuries.
NPCs cant solve even the trivial meaningless problems asking for help to passing by strangers.
No one, except Player, ever moves around the world and does heroic deeds - I mean there is no other adventurers/heroes to compete with.
And so on and on and on.
For all this time there is so few RPG games, which tries to make some improvements, the rest just goes ""safe route" again and again.
Sorry for rant.

Players want nothing of that. It is all about dominating, conquering, prevailing.
Players want to grow into the biggest entity in the world. They are addicted to power as it makes them feel secure.
They do want enemies who do not yield since they want to kill them anyway.
They want weaker enemies to attack them so they crush those enemies.
They can not be other heroes in the world, doing what players are supposed to do as it will steal the sunshine from players and break their self centered experience.

Any dev who will try to push forward, advancing the genre will meet hostility from players who will nickpick any minor flaw in the design.
They will mock any situation featuring an enemy that yields untimely, dismissing the 99 other cases it works well.

This kind of design would require to be released flawlessly. And even in that case, it will be met with visceral rejection.
 
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2019 is not looking like a possible release. So strike one against the developer. Though estimated release dates are never correct with funded projects. They never are.
 
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since… i dont know, probably 2000?
I am really tired of this kind of games trying to be Baldurs Gate again and again, going "safe route" with almost 0 improvements, just different story and maybe UI.

Please list all these games which try to be Baldur's Gate again and again. A few years ago I'd ask people to recommend me games Like the IE games and I got very few answers and quite a few responses that were nothing like BG. If only you'd been there to reel off a list… I mean, it sounds like you've played dozens of them, so let's hear what they are…

Like enemies stand 5 feet away from you and still cant spot your party.

Five feet is less distance than an average human is tall, so I'm calling bullshit here. I've always found enemy detection ranges to be ok generally, in fact most people highly promote sneaking ahead in most RPGs and I have no idea why that's such a common recommendation if what you say is even remotely true.

Human enemies never run away/yield when they are are about to be defeated.

It's a computer game.

Human enemies attack strong PC party, even when they have 0 chance to win.

It's a computer game.

NPCs standing in one spot for centuries.

I regularly visit something called a 24 hour petrol station. They're really cool places, which you'd know about if you ever got out your house. It's amazing, any time of day, any day of the week, 24/7/365 I can go there and an NPC will trade with me. Fascinating stuff.

Also, in the medieval period, the small trader usually would be at their counter all day every day, because their shop would likely have been their home. You really could shop 24/7/365, they'd just be more grumpy about it if you wanted a cooking pot at 3am. Same for doctors, priests, etc.

I'm sorry all NPCs in computer games aren't all community busy-bodies and jet-setters… must be tragic for you.

NPCs cant solve even the trivial meaningless problems asking for help to passing by strangers.

As far as I'm aware, most games involve you asking the NPC if they have any work available, not the other way around. But then again I guess I've actually played a lot of them ;)

No one, except Player, ever moves around the world and does heroic deeds - I mean there is no other adventurers/heroes to compete with.

Because if you do that you're moving into the strategy arena. You know, like Heroes of Might and Magic and the dozens of games like that where you compete against similar adventuring parties…

And so on and on and on.

Yes, you do go on and on don't you. Never with any actual examples though, nor evidence nor thought, just random things that don't actually have any relevance in the slightest to what makes a game enjoyable or not enjoyable, just pointless nitpicks that all involve 100 times more development time than their mechanical value or player engagement warrants.

For all this time there is so few RPG games, which tries to make some improvements, the rest just goes ""safe route" again and again.

Actually prove to me that anything on your list actually merits the term 'improvement' instead of 'pointless nitpick'…
 
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The game is looking kinda bland but I rather have some hope than be too negative about it. The idea looks pretty cool, so I'll wait for the release before I judge it.
 
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Very Temple of Elemental Eviley and Baldurs Gatey. Problem is this game has a lot of graphics content created per screen and Oh So few exciting interactivity and SUPER BORING GAMEPLAY. WTF IS THIS SHT??????!!!! Remember Zack McCracken and better dungeon crawlers - blobbers, Fallout 1-2, JA1-2, etc.. - how you could inspect things, look under beds, loot shelves and get stuff from lockers, discover secret doors by hunting with the mouse cursor for small details, buttons & places?? Where the HELL has the fun gone from this boring heap of SHT??? They are dumping Boredom on Us on a Conveyor Belt!!
 
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The game is still in quite early stage of development which is clear from the video even if there wouldnt be aditional info. I suppose my main concern is whether there will be enough content and if it will be polished enough when released. I didnt make any research and even didnt see whole video, but I think April 2020 is too optimistic.
In a post from April 2018 around the time of the Kickstarter, one of their developers told us the game is "almost finished" :lol:

https://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1061498527&postcount=18

Isometric, party-based formula will never get old. Its just a matter of execution if it will be good or bad. My favorite way of cRPG-ing by the way :)
Amen to that. Isometric, party-based will forever be king.
 
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discover secret doors by hunting with the mouse cursor for small details, buttons & places??
I didn't know that there are acually people who lile Pixel hunting. TIL.
 
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In a post from April 2018 around the time of the Kickstarter, one of their developers told us the game is "almost finished" :lol:

https://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1061498527&postcount=18
They said a little more than that:
Fortunately, the game is much more than just presentable. :) It's almost finished. But in software industry, everyone knows what "almost" means. This is especially true in gaming industry. We need to finish the missing parts, refine and balance every aspect of the game, do the Quality Assurance etc. And more importantly, before we complete it, we need your feedback. We need as many players as possible to hear about this project. Kickstarter is very useful for that too.
But indeed it didn't age well...
 
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I didn't know that there are acually people who lile Pixel hunting. TIL.

You are right, that pixel hunting was never considered good game design, even at the old times. But it is also truth, that during transition into early 3D, games lost so much of environmental interactivity it was painful.
 
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Players want nothing of that. It is all about dominating, conquering, prevailing.
Players want to grow into the biggest entity in the world. They are addicted to power as it makes them feel secure.
They do want enemies who do not yield since they want to kill them anyway.
They want weaker enemies to attack them so they crush those enemies.
They can not be other heroes in the world, doing what players are supposed to do as it will steal the sunshine from players and break their self centered experience.

Any dev who will try to push forward, advancing the genre will meet hostility from players who will nickpick any minor flaw in the design.
They will mock any situation featuring an enemy that yields untimely, dismissing the 99 other cases it works well.

This kind of design would require to be released flawlessly. And even in that case, it will be met with visceral rejection.

Interesting how you always know what other players want and why.
 
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Originally Posted by Zogar Sag View Post
Human enemies never run away/yield when they are are about to be defeated.

It's a computer game.

Gothic, Kenshi, Kingdom Come, just first few , which come in mind


Actually prove to me that anything on your list actually merits the term 'improvement' instead of 'pointless nitpick'…

I have nothing to prove to you nor I feel to answer more on your ""this is bulshit" statements - sorry, you dont get what I was talking about, just picking on small things, leaving whole picture behind.
I really have hard time to understand your ( and others) excitement for another "same old" games again and again. Sometimes I wonder why people here ever liked games like Gothic at first place!
 
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