Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf] • Hacker News Board

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#21

Post by pluijzer » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 12:25 PM UTC

j1elo wrote: post #3

What were the chances? I installed Planescape Torment last night, to play around a bit with it. It's been sitting in my "to-try" list for at least 15 years! I'm however not very fond of having to sit down on my desk to play games with keyboard and mouse, though... I already spend enough of my life sitting in the exact same position for work. That alone discourages me from playing several old games I own (and not so o…

PS:T is also available for iOS, Android and Switch. The controls have been adapted for the platforms and play great.

And ofcourse like others have pointed out the Steam Deck is amazing also older games.

The new Monkey Island is also available for atleast the Switch btw.

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#22

Post by xanathar » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 12:33 PM UTC

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #12

jaggederest wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if there's one game worth your time, PS:T is probably it. Arguably one of the best cRPGs of all time.

People have rose tinted glasses when they talk about old games. PS:T was a cut above the other cRPGs of its time mainly because it had adequate writing and an engaging story when most other cRPGs were trite. Still everything after Raven’s maze is just average until the ending where it gets good again and the gameplay outside of dialogue is frankly uninteresting. It’s in a lot of way like the original Dark Soul whose…

I am a Planescape Torment extreme fanboy and... I have to agree.

But it's still worth playing, it is still better than the median cRPG almost 25 years later, and it remains a milestone in cRPGs history: i.e. just like Sgt Peppers or Dark Side of the Moon are still worth listening today.

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#23

Post by ricardobayes » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 12:44 PM UTC

Wow this reads so fresh, it's written beautifully. Even if you just skim it you get the point, and subjectively, it's very funny. I love the self-deprecating humor.

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#24

Post by rogual » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 12:46 PM UTC

pavlov wrote: post #20

v-erne wrote: post #11

>> Tons of Total Babes: This game will have lots of babes that make the player go “wow.” >> There will be fiendish babes, human babes, angelic babes, asian babes, and even undead babes. Well, I did not expected this level of honesty about what target audience really want. It almost like finding "and its also addictive, in most profitable kind of way" in Marlboro brand pitch deck. Its kinda refrshing.

Both human and Asian? That’s real representation.

Don't know why you're flagged, that's hilarious. The PDF literally lists "Asian" as a category of babe alongside "Undead" and separately from "human".

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#25

Post by watashiato » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 12:46 PM UTC

v-erne wrote: post #11

>> Tons of Total Babes: This game will have lots of babes that make the player go “wow.” >> There will be fiendish babes, human babes, angelic babes, asian babes, and even undead babes. Well, I did not expected this level of honesty about what target audience really want. It almost like finding "and its also addictive, in most profitable kind of way" in Marlboro brand pitch deck. Its kinda refrshing.

For those who haven't played the game, it should be noted that the game is nothing like what the pitch implies.

PS:T is a well written and introspective RPG and in this capacity it is rivaled by only a handful of contenders.

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#26

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 12:56 PM UTC

watashiato wrote: post #25

v-erne wrote: post #11

>> Tons of Total Babes: This game will have lots of babes that make the player go “wow.” >> There will be fiendish babes, human babes, angelic babes, asian babes, and even undead babes. Well, I did not expected this level of honesty about what target audience really want. It almost like finding "and its also addictive, in most profitable kind of way" in Marlboro brand pitch deck. Its kinda refrshing.

For those who haven't played the game, it should be noted that the game is nothing like what the pitch implies. PS:T is a well written and introspective RPG and in this capacity it is rivaled by only a handful of contenders.

[deleted]

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#27

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 1:13 PM UTC

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #12

jaggederest wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if there's one game worth your time, PS:T is probably it. Arguably one of the best cRPGs of all time.

People have rose tinted glasses when they talk about old games. PS:T was a cut above the other cRPGs of its time mainly because it had adequate writing and an engaging story when most other cRPGs were trite. Still everything after Raven’s maze is just average until the ending where it gets good again and the gameplay outside of dialogue is frankly uninteresting. It’s in a lot of way like the original Dark Soul whose…

[deleted]

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#28

Post by valvar » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 1:13 PM UTC

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #12

jaggederest wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if there's one game worth your time, PS:T is probably it. Arguably one of the best cRPGs of all time.

People have rose tinted glasses when they talk about old games. PS:T was a cut above the other cRPGs of its time mainly because it had adequate writing and an engaging story when most other cRPGs were trite. Still everything after Raven’s maze is just average until the ending where it gets good again and the gameplay outside of dialogue is frankly uninteresting. It’s in a lot of way like the original Dark Soul whose…

>It’s in a lot of way like the original Dark Soul whose last half is so aweful I’m not sure the awesome first one is enough to redeem the game.

What are you talking about? I've never heard this take before. I found it fantastic all the way through. Maybe introducing the lord vessel was a poor design choice, but it's a minor fault.

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#29

Post by hombre_fatal » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 1:25 PM UTC

j1elo wrote: post #3

What were the chances? I installed Planescape Torment last night, to play around a bit with it. It's been sitting in my "to-try" list for at least 15 years! I'm however not very fond of having to sit down on my desk to play games with keyboard and mouse, though... I already spend enough of my life sitting in the exact same position for work. That alone discourages me from playing several old games I own (and not so o…

When I lived in a house with a treadmill, I hooked my Macbook up to a TV and used a gamepad mapped to mouse (move, click, scroll) input to play a lot of older games while walking. It’s what inspired me to build my own remap software.

Because yeah I can’t sit at a computer to play games.

Re: Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

#30

Post by WastingMyTime89 » Sat, Jun 17, 2023, 1:27 PM UTC

valvar wrote: post #28

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have rose tinted glasses when they talk about old games. PS:T was a cut above the other cRPGs of its time mainly because it had adequate writing and an engaging story when most other cRPGs were trite. Still everything after Raven’s maze is just average until the ending where it gets good again and the gameplay outside of dialogue is frankly uninteresting. It’s in a lot of way like the original Dark Soul whose…

>It’s in a lot of way like the original Dark Soul whose last half is so aweful I’m not sure the awesome first one is enough to redeem the game. What are you talking about? I've never heard this take before. I found it fantastic all the way through. Maybe introducing the lord vessel was a poor design choice, but it's a minor fault.

It’s a fairly common opinion even amongst fans of the Soul games. Basically everything after Anor Londo was rushed through as the budget dwindled and the game had to be released.

The catacombs are just a smudgy mess with a couple of uninteresting ennemies and a mid-boss without any worthwhile patterns. The depth is just reskinned old ennemies you have to plod through one after the other before what’s probably the worst boss in the soul games. Even the better areas like Duke’s Archive, Crystal Cave or New Londo are inferiorly designed retread of previous ideas. The true genius of the game - the looping-on-itself level design - is over and you spend your time in this very bland linear areas wishing it was over already.

Honestly if the game stopped after fighting Orstein and Smough, it would be a better game overall.

The DLC is good again however. You can tell FromSoft got additional budget for it.