Obsidian Entertainment - Plans a historical RPG

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HiddenX

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The new Design Director of Obsidian - Josh Sawyer - wants to create his old dream - a (Darklands-like?) historical RPG:

ilitarist asked: Is there anything stopping you from doing historical RPG? Do you consider PoE a historical RPG cause it functions more like a historical fiction than a typical fantasy story?

I need to devote my attention to the project I’m currently directing, but it is my intention that the next project I direct (after this one) will be a historical RPG. It’s something I’ve been talking to Feargus every once in a while for the past couple of years and he’s been supportive.

I don’t consider PoE to be a historical RPG in any way. When I say “historical RPG” I mean something set in Earth’s history – inclusive with fantastic variations, like Darklands and Ars Magica.
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More information.
 
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I am very much here for this if he adapts Ars Magica -- or something as close as possible within licensing limits.
 
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Nerdgasm, Darklands has a special place in my early gaming history. I even made watercolor paintings of some of the backgrounds.
 
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I still remember the first half of Lionheart fondly..
 
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Finally! As we had so many pseudo-historical TV shows recently (Arthur, Da Vinci's Demons, Spartacus, etc) as well as some great alternate-history games (Assassin's Creed), I guess the audience is there for such a game.

The closest thing I was playing is KOEI's more experimental stuff (Bladestorm, Kessen, Uncharted Waters), and a forgotten classic by LucasArts (Gladius).
These were all excellent games on their own merit.
 
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Better be TB, or else... last chance - "Balancer Master" - last chance...
 
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mbpopolano24 said:
Better be TB, or else… last chance - "Balancer Master" - last chance…
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I'd love to see Obsidian do a turn-based tactical RPG for once. I can't stand RTwP anymore.
 
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duerer said:
Finally! As we had so many pseudo-historical TV shows recently (Arthur, Da Vinci's Demons, Spartacus, etc) as well as some great alternate-history games (Assassin's Creed), I guess the audience is there for such a game.

The closest thing I was playing is KOEI's more experimental stuff (Bladestorm, Kessen, Uncharted Waters), and a forgotten classic by LucasArts (Gladius).
These were all excellent games on their own merit.
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Gladius was great. Played through it twice with my sons playing the other characters. I like turn based games with a small action element (like timing a button press to do more damage).
 
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I also think Sawyer should do turn based, not because I like it better than rtw/p, but because I think he does, and its always better to do something you have passion about.
 
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Well, if he's the design director I'd hope it was up to him. Unless they're using a real-time engine, which would be a shame.
 
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I know making an engine is time consuming and expensive but I hope Obsidian doesn't keep using PoE's engine for eternity... It looks nice but am not sure it would be possible to create a TB game with it.
 
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duerer said:
Finally! As we had so many pseudo-historical TV shows recently (Arthur, Da Vinci's Demons, Spartacus, etc)
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Actually Arthur and DaVinci's demons are just - fantasy.

Spartacus is not pseudohistory but actual history, everything is based on survived materials just a few things were changed and a few added to fit the format. It's not documentary so a few irrelevant facts like nation/race got changed, also substories for sakes of drama where no written source was available were added. I've already written in some other post that the show tried to keep as much as possible with the known facts, so much that some people thought many of it is bullshit - and it isn't, for example silphium was an actual medicinal plant known in roman empire but was used so much it got extinct (or just very rare but lost due to inability to identify it):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphium
 
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daveyd said:
I know making an engine is time consuming and expensive but I hope Obsidian doesn't keep using PoE's engine for eternity… It looks nice but am not sure it would be possible to create a TB game with it.
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I thought that Torment will use the modified POE engine, and its going to be turn based. If not I think InExile is using a lot of resources from it (if I remember correctly)-
 
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I'd love to see a historical RPG with a huge, seamless overworld map - a first for isometric party-based RPG's. Like a Darklands without transitioning and without loading times.
 
This is OT, but, POE must have been a pretty big success if he is talking about plans to make a new game after his current game. It wasn't that long ago that they almost had to shut down.
 
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DarNoor said:
This is OT, but, POE must have been a pretty big success if he is talking about plans to make a new game after his current game.
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Devs are always planning about future games, it doesn't mean they are going to be made.

Sawyer have been talking since forever about wanting to make an historical game.
 
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