These last few months have been a little crazy. I mean this, of course, in the very best way. They’ve also necessarily entailed a lot of quiet-mouthedness, but now the veil can be lifted on Torment: Tides of Numenera. On which I’m (gulp) the Creative Lead. I mean… yes! Woo hoo! All right, it’s both scary and exciting. I’m going to lean toward exciting.
Numenera? Yes, Numenera! Monte Cook’s Numenera, set in the Ninth World, is going to be the host for the latest addition to the Torment franchise. I had the opportunity to playtest this with Monte (and Fiery Dragon‘s James Bell, editor/writer Shanna Germain, and editor Ray Vallese), and man oh man is it cool. I’m so excited to help our players tell their stories in this world, and I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to do it. Thanks, Monte!
As an introvert, it’s frequently difficult to get out and speak to people to drum up interest in something like this, but for a project like this, it’s a lot harder to remain silent (not least because my friends at inXile might drive here to kick me in the shins and points north if I did remain silent).
This is a roundabout way of self-promoting (on my very own blog? the nerve!) some of the interviews Kevin Saunders and I did to promote the Kickstarter for Torment. But first, let me extol Kevin’s virtues, because working with him is a pleasure and a joy. He’s incredibly smart, detail-oriented, quick to see issues and possibilities alike, and he’s supportive of his team. Plus, it’s really, really hard to imagine letting Kevin down… just thinking about it makes me want to work harder. (also, Adam Heine has been invaluable along the way. Seriously, he is just amazing at his job, and he’s a really good person, too… as in, “Hey, how about I move to Thailand to care for orphans?” good)
Anyway.
So, the first interview: IGN! I misspoke about combat in there; this was not Casey’s fault, but mine. “Real-time smart combat” is word salad, and I was apparently chewing with my mouth open. Sorry about that, Casey, and sorry to everyone who thought that we’re doing real-time. We’re still figuring that out, and we’ll make our decision with the aid of our backers. But be assured that we have some foundational rules that we’ll lay out and then we’ll design our system based around those ideas. What’s most important to us is that the combat feels like an integral, functional, and enjoyable part of the gameplay.
The second interview was with Polygon’s Dave Tach. I have nothing to add to this, except that I was perhaps a little excitable and needed some reining in. Good thing Kevin was there!
The third interview was today, with Destructoid’s Fraser Brown, and that one will be out on Wednesday, which is when (HOLY CRAP) our Kickstarter begins.
Oh, and tomorrow night it looks like I may be appearing on Geek and Sundry with Pat Rothfuss, Jerry Holkins, and Veronica Belmont. That’s… uh… no big deal? ::gulp::
