The Broken Hourglass

How does the game line up against other recent Indie offerings, such as Eschalon? What stage in development is the game currently at? Do you need playtesters or other non-technical assistance that we could offer?

I think the spell system is pretty cool, so I'd enjoy some specific examples. You've described it in detail but a sort of After Action Report with some real spell examples in play would be nice.

I actually want to know more about NPCs. How many of them will be there, alignment, class, do we get to find out about their story like in bg2? is there pc-npc interactions? romances? etc.. or is it already on website and I've simply missed it?

I heard that we can't venture outside the main city ? No wilderness areas to explore ? If that's true, it's very disappointing IMO (unless of course, there will be a BH2 !).

Here's my question: what are the current plans around the Mac (and Linux) releases of the game - are we talking simul-release, within weeks, or 'eventually'?

Originally Posted by Corwin
How does the game line up against other recent Indie offerings, such as Eschalon?

Heh, the honest answer is "Hopefully well, as they appear to be going great guns over there."

What stage in development is the game currently at?

The "oh, right, we need to make this, this, this, this, and this into playable content still" stage.

Do you need playtesters or other non-technical assistance that we could offer?

No, we're not looking for outside testers until we're essentially content-complete.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
I think the spell system is pretty cool, so I'd enjoy some specific examples.

That's a good idea, we'll do a sort of blow-by-blow on "How a party's casters deal with a certain encounter" soon, explaining each spell that gets cast, what it does, and why it was cast.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I actually want to know more about NPCs. How many of them will be there, alignment, class, do we get to find out about their story like in bg2? is there pc-npc interactions? romances? etc.. or is it already on website and I've simply missed it?

We have talked about this in some interviews before, but a quick recap:

- Nine joinable NPCs
- We don't have "alignments" but there are a range of different ethical makeups represented.
- Our point-buy system doesn't pivot directly around "classes", but at the crude "what are they best at?" level: two are primarily elemental mages, two are healers, three are fighters, and two are difficult to categorize.
- Yes, we're planning a total of four character romances.

We have some character profiles posted: http://www.planewalkergames.com/content/view/28/43/

Originally Posted by Arpyjee
I heard that we can't venture outside the main city ? No wilderness areas to explore ?

Mal Nassrin is sealed in by an outside force, that's why it's in so much trouble.

Originally Posted by txa1265
Here's my question: what are the current plans around the Mac (and Linux) releases of the game - are we talking simul-release, within weeks, or 'eventually'?

The game works on all three platforms more-or-less equally well already--every binary is compiled to all three, etc. (I haven't tested the OSX version on 10.5 yet, and I hear they've done something to X11, so that will be fun.) I'm leaning towards releasing them all simultaneously, but that's not a guarantee. The strongest argument I can see for us holding off a bit on Linux and Mac would be to let the initial wave of wait-this-doesn't-work-on-my-computer pass and get fixed just on Windows, rather than having to fight fires on all three platforms right out of the gate.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
I think the spell system is pretty cool, so I'd enjoy some specific examples.

You asked for it, you got it.

Thanks Jason, I've posted this to the front News page.

Great article - thanks, Jason.

When would it be released? I mean I know release date always get delays and so on… but roughly when? I'm seriouslsy dying this try this out *faint*.

Oh and while I'm at it, I will ask one more thing. Bons, author of Surayah mod, is she still around? I tried to email her but it just rebounded on me, and it seems like shes not really active on forums anymore. What's the deal with the mod? Because I'm dying to play that mod as well.

This looks great. Man, I'm really glad this site exists, I probably wouldn't have heard of many of these games otherwise!

purpleblob: I believe Compton said in an interview recently they weren't sure they'd be finished this year.

Originally Posted by KazikluBey
purpleblob: I believe Compton said in an interview recently they weren't sure they'd be finished this year.

hell, I have to another year for this??? sigh. well I'm holding my breath for this. let's hope it won't be too long.

Haven't heard anything about the game for ages. Does anybody know if it is still in development?

I'm pretty sure Jason would tell us if they had permanently ceased development but I guess development is slow (or they've pulled back to do a bigger PR blitz when the time comes).

I'm also wondering. The site's had no updates for months.

Would be a crying shame if this never made it to completion, I thought their idea for the magic system was one of the most promising innovations for years.

Still, if they do go under it'll be a lot easier for everyone else to nick their great ideas.

I've PMed Jcompton and he said it is still in development. Wouldn't mind it if it goes a tad bit faster…

I just wish they'd either post a few updates, or send us some news!!

Is BH still in development it seems that there weren't any news for a long time now. And i'm still interested in this game.