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Planescape: Torment pitch document (1997) [pdf]

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

#91

Post by channel_t »

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…

I definitely feel this ever since switching primarily to remote work. I buy PC games periodically that are often amazing but I struggle to find myself able to dedicate much time to them because I already spend way too much time in the room taking care of work stuff. Console games are more doable because I can play them on the couch.

Does this make me want to go back into the office full time? Not sure. The quick commute from my bed to my desk might be worth the sacrifice, but part of me definitely longs for the work of the before times.

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

#92

Post by waveBidder »

bourneavent wrote: post #79
checkyoursudo wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It strikes me as not a little weird that the word for a hot, sexy member of either sex is the same as a word for a very, very small child. Like, "Why, hello there, infant." dogwhistle

That's because they call you "Daddy" in the bedroom. There's actually sort of a real reason for this. In the traditional monogamous or even polygamous relationship throughout human history it's usually the Male taking care of the female. Women when seeking a relationship are sort of searching for a caretaker that has sort of father like qualities of having enough resources to take care of them, taking a dominant role…

Poppycock. until recently, in agricultural societies, families (usually men) were choosing families to cement relationships with by trading children. what the woman (and frequently the men) wanted was mostly irrelevant. see https://scholars-stage.org/against-human-sexual-selection/

If "daddy" is a thing, it's because of frequent age differences, since pregnancy is extremely hard on your body (fatality rates as high as being a soldier in a warzone until the advent of modern medicine).

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

#93

Post by gilbetron »

Waterluvian wrote: post #75
gilbetron wrote: post #33

My gaming group had a big ole Planescape campaign in 1995/1996, and the DM, myself and my then-girlfriend, now wife, went to Gencon. We met the creators, and did some fun little Planescape sessions they had set up. In our campaign, my wife was playing a red-headed tiefling with a devil's tail named Lilah. Being nerds, we of course told the Planescape devs all about our campaign. My wife even has a sketch of Lilah fro…

While the redhead devil tiefling” motif is very common due to the horns and core concept behind the race, that’s a really warming story nevertheless.

This was actually before the 3rd edition take on tieflings with the horns, although we agree it isn't an uncommon motif, except almost no one knew much about Planescape in 1996 - the events were really sparse because it was considered a really "weird" setting by the core attendees of Gencon. It was literally the three of us, one or two other people, and most of the Planescape devs. Which was fun hanging out with them, including Tony D, Monte Cook, Colin and several others. The next year, in 1997, the three of us went again, and there was a trivia contest for Planescape lore. They had to stop letting us answer questions because we were ringers :)

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

#94

Post by tmtvl »

iamacyborg wrote: post #37
WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wor…

If you want to see what rushed looks like, compare Revenant[1] before and after the major underground section. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenant_(video_game)

Yeah, East Ahkuilon is pretty decent, the caves kinda outstay their welcome, West Ahkuilon tries to hang in there, but after you defeat Teleporty McFireball things really take a nosedive.

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

#95

Post by chc4 »

User23 wrote: post #53
watashiato wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Disco Elysium, which I haven't gotten around to playing yet so I have no personal opinion, is the only contender I can think of. The only other game I can think of with that level of narrative craft is the Marathon series, which isn't an RPG, but rather an FPS. I'm kind of surprised Marathon 4 hasn't been kickstarted yet. There is definitely a whole lot of money on the table there, as the System Shock remake proves.

Bungie announced a new Marathon game a few weeks ago, in case you didn't know. It's going to be an extraction shooter (a la Escape from Tarkov) and not singleplayer FPS, though.

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

#96

Post by jaggederest »

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 disagree. I'd be interested to hear which games you think are comparable or superior - I'd like to play them, if I haven't!

I think the only comparable games recently have been mostly outside what I would consider the cRPG genre, taken strictly: Elden ring, horizon zero dawn / forbidden west, recent Zelda franchise entries, RDR/RDR2, I was a Teenage Exocolonist

Witcher 3 is probably the strongest challenger, I think.

I haven't played Disco Elysium but I hear good things. I don't think the Mass Effect series fully measures up, though it's definitely in the ballpark. Same for the Elder Scrolls series - suffers the opposite problem from PS:T, that the gameplay is solid but the plot fails.

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

#97

Post by tmtvl »

bee_rider wrote: post #48
valvar wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

There’s lots of praise for the connected, looping level design, and I see claims that the lord vessel ruins that… but most of their subsequent games featured easy teleportation, right? Walking around gets old, IMO.

The original Souls game, Demon's Souls also featured easy teleportation. It's kinda like the difference between Morrowind and Oblivion: in one game you're running around everywhere until you get the means to fast travel and in the other you can zip to and from discovered locations from the start of the game.

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

#98

Post by iamacyborg »

ajuc wrote: post #86
hn_go_brrrrr wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the problem with the Witcher?

First season was mostly ok, there were some "representation" changes but not too bad. 2nd season they changed everything to the point that it's easier to list what didn't changed. And they changed it for worse... Third season is supposedly so far off that the main actor Henry Caville who is a big fan of the books resigned. Imagine Peter Jackson made Sam betray Frodo and sell him to Saruman, Gandalf was actually tryin…

> Season 3 is widely boycotted by fans.

This has strong “boycott Modern Warfare 2” energy.

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

#99

Post by danielheath »

waveBidder wrote: post #90
chpatrick wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disco Elysium is probably the best game I've ever played but I couldn't get into Planescape Torment.

I would love a modern recreation of planescape torment. the story seems excellent but I bounced off the actual experience of the game

Even as someone who played it when it was a few years old, it’s challenging to replay today. Definitely deserves a refresh.

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

#100

Post by danielheath »

User23 wrote: post #53
watashiato wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Disco Elysium, which I haven't gotten around to playing yet so I have no personal opinion, is the only contender I can think of. The only other game I can think of with that level of narrative craft is the Marathon series, which isn't an RPG, but rather an FPS. I'm kind of surprised Marathon 4 hasn't been kickstarted yet. There is definitely a whole lot of money on the table there, as the System Shock remake proves.

Tides of Torment, perhaps?
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