Torment: Tides of Numenera

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Torment: Tides of Numenera
Torment-logo.jpg
Studio InXile Entertainment
Publisher Techland
Senior Developer Brian Fargo (Executive Producer)

Kevin Saunders (Director)

Colin McComb (Creative Lead)
composer Mark Morgan
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 February 28, 2017
platform Linux , macOS , Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One
Game engine Unity
genre role playing game
Subject Fantasy , Numenera
Game mode Single player
control Mouse , keyboard , gamepad
medium Download , DVD-ROM , Blu-ray Disc
language German, English, French, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish
copy protection No
Age rating
USK released from 12
PEGI recommended for ages 16+

Torment: Tides of Numenera is a computer role-playing game from inXile Entertainment in an isometric perspective that revolves around the question of what constitutes an individual life. The game is a successor in the spirit of Planescape: Torment and, unlike many other role-playing games, focuses more on the storyline and dialogues than on fights. However, it is not based on the pen & paper role-playing game setting Planescape , but on Numenera by Monte Cook . Chris Avellone , George Ziets and Patrick Rothfuss, among others, contributed to the story of the game, with Mark Morgan responsible for the music . The release of Torment , initially planned for early 2015 , was postponed first to 2016 and then to early 2017. Torment: Tides of Numenera was released on February 28, 2017 for Windows , macOS and Linux as well as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles . Techland Publishing took over the distribution .

Torment , like Wasteland 2, also developed by inXile, was financed through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.com . The funding goal of $ 900,000 was met within six hours, with a total of $ 1.4 million raised on the first day, making it the fastest-funded project on Kickstarter at the time with over $ 1 million. With almost 4.2 million US dollars, it also replaced Project Eternity as the highest-funded game software project on Kickstarter.

concept

scenario

The Torment game world is medieval with a futuristic twist and is called the ninth world, as its inhabitants already form the ninth civilization that inhabits this world. What led to the demise of the previous eight civilizations is unknown. However , the remains of these earlier inhabitants , known as Numenera , can still be found all over the world . These various achievements are still used by the inhabitants of the ninth world and have in some cases inexplicable powers, which some call magic, others the result of unknown, high-level scientific research.

background

The plot of the game is based on the central question “What does a life mean?” And continues the central question “What can change human nature?” From Planescape: Torment . The question was raised by a creature as Changing God (German: of changing God ) is called. As a mortal, he sought a way of extending life with the help of the Numeneras. Through certain artifacts, the so-called meres, he finally succeeded in transferring his consciousness to other living beings and thus extending his lifetime beyond the natural extent. In the course of time it changed its "vessels" several times, which is how it got its name. However, he is not all-powerful, nor does he fully master the technique he uses. Its previous porters, the so-called Castoffs (German: Abosed ), stayed behind and developed their own consciousness. Although they lack the concrete memory of the time in which they served the Changing God as a carrier, distorted scraps of memory give them the awareness that a foreign power has used them and then left them alone. This awareness leads to different behaviors among the various carriers. The optional male or female player character is also such an outcast carrier, the last in a long line, and looking for answers to his fate.

The castoffs are extremely long-lived beings in the spirit of their producer. A peculiarity is their inability to feel pain. Instead, they reflect this pain on living beings in their immediate vicinity, which sometimes leads to their painful demise and, in general, to great suffering. However, through his behavior, the Changing God has awakened an old guardian, the angel of entropy. Since then he has been hunting him and wants to kill him together with all his creations. However, since this would inevitably mean death for the player character, he has to track down his creator before the angel of entropy in order to find answers to his questions.

action

The content of the game is the search of the player character for his creator, the Changing God. This journey takes him to different areas of the ninth world and beyond. His special nature attracts the interest of the most diverse, mostly mentally broken beings, who accompany him on his journey. In the course of time, however, he also comes across other former bearers of his creator, some of whom support him, and some who fight him. With the help of the Meres he can take over her consciousness for a short time and manipulate it for his purposes. Through his actions he gradually builds his legacy, which ultimately determines the impact of his actions on the game world.

Gameplay

Torment: Tides of Numenera , like Planescape: Torment, is a group-based role-playing game with a focus on storytelling. At the beginning the player creates his or her male or female player character. As usual in role-playing games, he can choose between several classes, the Glaive (warrior), the Jack (villain) and the Nano (technomage). He can also add a description and a special talent focus.

As the game progresses, he comes across more characters who can join him and interact with him. Dealing with the environment and the characters is one of the main aspects of the game and is determined by the behavior of the player. Often he is asked to make decisions that influence the further course of the process. Similar to Planescape: Torment and other role-playing games, there is a moral system that does not differentiate between good and bad, but between different forms of feeling and modes of reaction. These so-called "tides" (German: tides , currents , trends ) are differentiated according to colors (red, blue, gold, indigo and silver), which combine several different forms of reaction. For example, red is in it. a. for passion and emotions, while gold can stand for care and empathy, while silver stands for admiration and power. These tides and the choice of the player, which of them he predominantly follows, have an impact on the game world and the course of action. The player learns more about this background in the course of the game.

Similar to Planescape: Torment , the apparent demise of the player does not lead to an immediate game over , but has a game-mechanical aspect. The alleged death leads the player into the so-called labyrinth of the castoffs (English: Castoff's labyrinth ), which consists of several levels, called Fathoms (German: fathom ). In this intermediate world, the characters can encounter other appearances and learn more about the background of the plot or learn new skills.

development

prehistory

Since the intellectual predecessor Planescape: Torment had received great critical praise and enjoyed a great reputation for years, the question of a sequel was regularly up for debate. However, since it was only a moderately successful title financially, funding for another title was questionable. In addition, the discontinuation of the Planescape scenario for the role-playing game set of rules Dungeons & Dragons and the increasing removal of Planescape elements from subsequent editions of the set of rules made a direct continuation increasingly unlikely.

With the crowdfunding success of the Double Fine Adventure , immediately followed by the equally highly successful financing of the computer role-playing game Wasteland 2 , speculation about another torment game was given new impetus. Chris Avellone, the former lead designer of Planescape: Torment , who joined Wasteland 2 as a designer , was open to a sequel in July 2012 with financial support from crowdfunding. In August 2012, Avellone expressed some ideas about a potential Torment successor to the online game magazine Kotaku , suggesting a move away from the Planescape license. However, the Kickstarter project Project Eternity, presented by Avellone's own development studio Obsidian Entertainment on September 14, 2012, no longer saw itself primarily in this tradition.

With Avellone's approval, the idea of ​​a successor was continued by Colin McComb, who, alongside Avellone, played a key role in shaping Planescape: Torment and, as an author, had already edited the Planescape scenario at D&D manufacturer TSR . McComb, who was also involved as a designer on Wasteland 2 , subsequently tried in vain to obtain a Planescape license from the meanwhile D&D rights holder Wizards of the Coast . On November 30, 2012, McComb published a post in his private blog in which he rewrote the conditions for a successor. In it he affirmed the departure from the Planescape scenario and placed the focus on telling a personal story. He announced that he would like to work on this sequel after completing his design work on Wasteland 2 for inXile . On December 2nd, 2012 it was announced that inXile Entertainment had secured the expired naming rights to Torment . In January 2013, inXile boss Brian Fargo finally announced that the game would be based on Monte Cook's Numenera role-playing world, also financed by Kickstarter, and that it would be financed by Kickstarter. Numenera had already been advertised by long-time D&D author Cook as being in the tradition of Planescape . In addition to Cook's participation, Fargo also announced that of Kevin Saunders , who in 2006 was Project Director at Obsidian Entertainment for the add-on Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer . In parts of the press, this was already clearly influenced by Planescape: Torment . The full title Torment: Tides of Numenera was publicly announced in late January 2013, as was the involvement of composer Mark Morgan , who also composed the soundtrack for Planescape: Torment .

Funding phase

The project was approved for funding on March 6, 2013 on Kickstarter, the minimum funding target was 900,000 US dollars, and the campaign duration was set to one month. This sum was already reached within just six hours and exceeded the threshold of one million US dollars in 7:02 hours. Torment temporarily replaced the game console Ouya (8:22 hours) as the fastest project financing with more than one million US dollars. This record was broken a few days later by the Veronica Mars Movie Project (<5 hours). Ultimately, with US $ 4,188,927 from 74,405 supporters, it replaced Project Eternity as the most highly financed game project on Kickstarter. In addition, there was another 239,438 US dollars, which were transferred via the payment provider PayPal in an extended financing period until April 29, 2013 . Brian Fargo and Steven Dengler provided a further $ 200,000 in reserves to compensate for any defaults from the crowdfunding phase.

The project received prominent financial support from the game designer Markus Persson ( Minecraft ) and the managing director of the hardware manufacturer Razer , Min-Liang Tan . The significant additional income made it possible to significantly expand the scope of the project compared to the original concept ("stretch goals") and to gain the support of the former obsidian designers George Ziets and Tony Evans as well as the author Patrick Rothfuss . Chris Avellone eventually joined the team as a consultant and writer of a companion character. Due to the extended financing period via PayPal and a low failure rate for the withdrawals of the Kickstarter supporter amounts, InXile finally added all the bonus targets presented to the production scope, including the originally missed bonus target for 4.5 million US dollars.

production

For the production of the project, the developer inXile used the resources and experience of the previous Wasteland 2 project . The game therefore also uses the Unity engine 4 . The financing was initiated before the work on Wasteland 2 was completed in order to ensure a direct transition of the designers and artists no longer required for this project to a new game and sufficient follow-up financing for the development studio.

reception

Meta-ratings
Database Rating
Metacritic 81

Torment: Tides of Numenera received mostly positive reviews. The Metacritic review database aggregates 72 reviews to a mean of 81.

Crowdfunding

The successful financing of Torment: Tides of Numenera aroused greater interest, among other things, because after an initial large rush in 2012, a gradual waning of the trend was forecast. In addition, it was already inXile's second Kickstarter financing in the millions, although the first game Wasteland 2 was still unfinished at the time of financing and could therefore not be conclusively assessed. The development studio Roberts Space Industries ( Star Citizen ) and game designer Tim Schafer ( Broken Age ), both also successful beneficiaries of the crowdfunding trend, concluded that crowdfunding has established itself as a permanent alternative for financing and, contrary to the forecasts, there is still potential for more Projects exist. In May 2013, Schafer started a second Kickstarter financing for the strategy title Massive Chalice, also before the completion of its first project .

Sales figures

Brian Fargo described the sales figures as disappointing. One reason cited the high text load, which made the game uninteresting for influencer videos. On the other hand, the combat system was not satisfactory.

Fiction

Seven short stories ("Novellas"), written by Colin McComb, Monte Cook, Adam Heine, Ray Vallese, Nathan Long, Mur Lafferty and Tony Evans are published for the game; and three comics written by Chris Avellone, Patrick Rothfuss, and Colin McComb with Adam Heine.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Updated our Journal (13): Just 3 Days Left! See the Bloom in Action . inXile Entertainment . April 2, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ Press release via Kickstarter . inXile Entertainment . Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ Ryan Rigney: Big-Money Donors Help Torment Game Break Kickstarter's Fastest-to- $ 1M Record . Wired.com. March 7, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/05/inxiles-torment-tides-of-numenera-is-the-most-funded-kickstarter-game-ever/
  5. ↑ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-24-obsidians-chris-avellone
  6. ↑ http://kotaku.com/5935737/the-guy-who-made-planescape-torment-tells-us-what-a-spiritual-successor-would-look-like
  7. ↑ a b http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-03-chris-avellone-blesses-inxiles-planescape-torment-successor
  8. ↑ http://colinmccomb.com/?p=157
  9. ↑ http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/110214-brian-fargo-acquires-torment-ip-rights-spiritual-successor-in-the-works.html
  10. ↑ http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/planescape-torment/1226806p1.html
  11. ↑ Alec Meer: Pleasure Without Planescape: A New Torment? ( English ) In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . January 9, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  12. ↑ Volker Schütz: Back to Niewinter: The first addon is convincing. . In: Gamona . Hubert Burda Media . October 8, 2007. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  13. ↑ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/neverwinter-nights-2-mask-of-the- Betrayer- interview
  14. ↑ http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/28293-neverwinter-nights-2-mask-of-the- Betrayer.html
  15. ↑ Stephany Nunneley: Torment: Tides of Numenera nabs original Planescape: Torment composer ( English ) In: VG 24/7 . January 29, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  16. ↑ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-03-08-torment-fastest-kickstarter-to-USD1-million
  17. ↑ a b Craig Chapple: Record shattering Torment Kickstarter breaks $ 1m in six hours . In: Develop . March 4, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 7, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.develop-online.net
  18. ↑ http://mashable.com/2013/03/13/veronica-mars-kickstarter-record/
  19. ↑ a b Thomas Beekers, http://tormentrpg.tumblr.com/ , April 29, 2013.
  20. ↑ Matthew O'Mara: Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter tops funding goal in six hours ( English ) In: Financial Post . March 8, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  21. ↑ a b Metacritic.com: Torment: Tides of Numenera. Retrieved July 17, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Michael Wolf: Is Kickstarter and the crowdfunding market slowing down? (hint: Yes) ( English ) In: Next Market . March 12, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  23. ↑ Dean Takahashi: Are Kickstarter crowdfundings slowing down? Uh huh ( English ) In: Venture Beat . March 12, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  24. ↑ Torment: Tides of Numenera ( English ) In: Official website . March 20, 2013. Accessed May 31, 2013.
  25. ↑ Mike Futter: Tim Schafer on Stacking, Costume Quest, Brütal Legend, and Iron Brigade, "We're Still Trying To Get The Rights" ( English ) In: Game Informer . GameStop . May 12, 2013. Accessed May 31, 2013.
  26. ↑ Benjamin Jakobs: Massive Chalice: Double Fine starts new Kickstarter campaign . In: Eurogamer.de . Gamers Network . May 31, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  27. ↑ Torment: Tides of Numenera's sales have been “disappointing” - but why? Retrieved October 21, 2018 (UK English).