Encased - Random Encounters

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A new update for Encased about random encounters. Encased is now 38% funded with 28 days to go.

Encased Kickstarter Update #5: Random Encounters

Whoa, this update came out of nowhere, didn’t it? Kind of snuck up on you, just like one of our random encounters!

Our random encounter system is one of the features we’re most proud of. Here’s how it works:

Every encounter in Encased is its own post-apocalyptic story. Some of these stories will resolve on the spot, others will require significant effort and maximum concentration. Many encounters have consequences and lead to a whole new series of quests.

Random encounters occur when the player travels on the world map. A player’s Stats as well as the world’s condition directly affects which stories will be generated.


There is still civilization of a sort in the east of the Dome. You might meet a water caravan, slave traders, or a Kshatriya patrol. You may stumble upon a suspicious house, or a car riddled with bullet holes and carrying a mysterious case on the back seat. You might discover money or a relic inside.


Encounters in the east are mostly social in nature, while the west is almost barren of life. Salt marshes and white sand tell completely different stories: of bare survival and limited supplies, of struggling against the elements. You may find yourself searching out rare underground facilities offering shelter and relief from the relentless heat.

The south of the Dome also has underground complexes, but travellers won’t find any welcome there. The south is an old communications center, a place where ancient battle machines lay buried beneath the sand and rocks. There are countless small bunkers here, the kind where once you enter, the somehow still-powered doors slide silently shut behind your back.


The north lands are now ruled by the New Committee. You may meet police and army patrols, come upon restricted areas where weird experiments are underway, and whole fields of abandoned vehicles rusting away to nothing.

Sooner or later, fate will lead the player to the very center of the Dome where Maelstrom runs rampant alongside gangs of insane raiders, and the stranger anomalies summoned by Tower radiation. Encounters near the center involve battles with bandits, surreal zones of abnormality, the constant chatter of insane Maelstrom, and many other unusual and exciting events.

When we say ‘many’ unusual events, this is no exaggeration. Encounters in Encased cannot all be resolved with combat. There are meetings with characters, secret locations which cannot be found any other way, and vignettes — brief but detailed text adventures, where the solution will depend on a player’s decisions, Stats and Skills.


For example, while travelling the desert the player may discover a spacious house. The doors are all locked, but there is definitely something going on inside. The player may break in (Lockpicking), enter through the open window on the second floor (Deftness), slip in through the back door (Sneaking), or simply knock and ask them to let you in (Looks). Although if you are unsuccessful, there’s always the risk of a bullet to the face. Perhaps, the player is wearing a mad raider’s mask or has shown up at a gang lair in a Black Wing uniform. Anyway, there is always a way to complete an encounter, even if it’s not immediately obvious.

At this point most of our planned 75 random encounters have already been written. With your help there can be even more!

Project fundraising report: $38,260 pledged by 1,010 backers! This means we’ve successfully raised almost 40% of our base goal, and are moving quickly past to the next milestone! Thank you so much!

Special thanks also to our friends at Larian Studios and especially to Swen Vincke for their generous contribution, shout out and moral support! Larian is constantly raising the bar for CRPGs with their beautiful games. Larian’s love, dedication, and creative energy make their studio a role model for all of us at Dark Crystal Games.
Thanks Silver Coin!


More information.
 
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This update more than anything highlights the developers understanding of what made Fallout great. Creative quest design is the most important element of an RPG.
 
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This update more than anything highlights the developers understanding of what made Fallout great. Creative quest design is the most important element of an RPG.

I can certainly agree with this, maybe not that it's the single most important aspect but that it makes one hell of a difference to fetch quest and other radiant nonsense.
 
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I should clarify that I believe having many creative and interesting ways to solve problems is the most important element of a roleplaying game, ie quest design.

Although for some people, roleplaying is simply customizing their own murderhobo.
 
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It's interesting how funding is building for Dark Crystal. It's been a steady progression so far instead of a giant lump, but maybe I've analyzing too early...
 
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Looks like they'll likely reach their goal, in spite of the hubbub about the concept artist.
 
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Short update.=)

$44,809 of the $100,399 goal with 1,220 backers now.

So yes it should be funded in a week or more from now at this pace.
More good news about a game I'm excited for. I truly hope they completely smash their goal, and go well beyond.
It should of doubled it's funding by now as this is a game die hard RPG should want to play. Frankly it would of happened already if they were Obsidian or Inxile.:disappointed:
 
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Short update.=)

$44,809 of the $100,399 goal with 1,220 backers now.

So yes it should be funded in a week or more from now at this pace.
It should of doubled it's funding by now as this is a game die hard RPG should want to play. Frankly it would of happened already if they were Obsidian or Inxile.:disappointed:

True. They're not though. Yet. If this succeeds which I certainly hope it does and they deliver the game they're pitching, I'll gladly support anything else they can come up with on the future.
 
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I agree with Couchpotato. If this were Obsidian, it would already have $2,000,000.

It's probably for the best though. More money means greater expectations, and creative vision has to be sacrificed in order to appease everyone. Josh Sawyer mentioned this was a major problem with developing both Pillars of Eternities.
 
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All true, were this a bigger organization, they'd likely have smashed the goal on day one. The plus side of this not belonging to a bigger corporation is perhaps they can more realistically manage their expectations.
 
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All true, were this a bigger organization, they'd likely have smashed the goal on day one. The plus side of this not belonging to a bigger corporation is perhaps they can more realistically manage their expectations.
Yes but a bigger budget means you have more money to finish the game. The problem begins when you promise to many stretch goals that inflate development times.

Personally I don't think $100,000 is enough to finish a game this ambitious. As games like Wasteland 2 & Pillars of Eternity took millions to make. So yeah their you have it.

Just my opinion and not bashing the devolper just experience from other projects.

Update: Prove me wrong cadmus as I would love to eat crow.=)

Encased Kickstarter Update #6 - The Team
In this update, we would like to talk in detail about the people who are working on Encased. We will not list the games that we’ve worked on - it is at the end of our campaign page. Today we are going to share some funny and interesting facts about us.
$45,671 pledged by 1,249 backers.
 
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Sure, sure, Obsidian or inXile would've totally smashed this!!
But then I wouldn't have pledged or ever played the maybe pretty but ultimately disappointing result.

Also, Obsidian and inXile do not have designers like this. Even when they have new ideas, they somehow manage to implement them in dull and disappointing ways.
 
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Sure, sure, Obsidian or ineXile would've totally smashed this!!
But then I wouldn't have pledged or ever played the maybe pretty but ultimately disappointing result.
Jeez you've been snarky with most of my replies on this game.

Anyway another game that has potential earned only $30,000.

Link - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atomrpg/atom-rpg

So what the hell do I know. Moving on now….:invisible:
 
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Jeez you've been snarky with most of my replies on this game.
I'm not out to get you, really. :) Just reaffirming my contempt for the big players in RPG Land.
 
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Yes
Personally I don't think $100,000 is enough to finish a game this ambitious. As games like Wasteland 2 & Pillars of Eternity took millions to make. So yeah their you have it.

Just my opinion and not bashing the devolper just experience from other projects.
.

One thing to keep in mind is that they are already much further along than WL2 or PoE were (weren't both just concept art when they ran their KS?) Encased already has gameplay and they're supposedly going to be ready for Early Access in Q1 of next year.

Also, I imagine USD stretch a bit further in Russia than California.

Nevertheless you're right that $100K probably isn't enough to finish the game and they're probably counting on Early Access sales, too.
 
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One thing to keep in mind is that they are already much further along than WL2 or PoE were (weren't both just concept art when they ran their KS?) Encased already has gameplay and they're supposedly going to be ready for Early Access in Q1 of next year.

Also, I imagine USD stretch a bit further in Russia than California.

Nevertheless you're right that $100K probably isn't enough to finish the game and they're probably counting on Early Access sales, too.
Yes I know about the dollar converted to Russian ruble. That would convert the $100,000 US into 6,647,945.00 Russian rubles. You also have to factor in inflation.

Look at Pathfinder: Kingmaker for one example it's also a Russian studio that managed to get $909,057 on Kickstarter, but they also had a few investors, and a publisher.

The second example would be ATOM from another Russian devolper that game manged to get only $33,521. The had no other investors but used Early Access to finish it.

So yes it's possible both ways but like I said above more money makes a better nest egg, that equals a better game in the long run if manged well with no waste.

Anyway yeah I believe the $100,000 is to help finish the prologue that will then be launched on Early Access to hopefully get more funds to finish. So fingers crossed.:fingerscrossed:
 
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Yeah, my opinion is that it's a moderately risky KS, but I don't see why they shouldn't get a chance. TBH, the attitude of the Art Director hasn't done much to inspire my confidence (he's still ranting away on the Codex), but, on the other hand, I think Cadmus has made a good impression.

It seems like a genuine attempt by a credible team.
 
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