Over the past few years, the dramatic setting of games has been dangerously close to what we see in the movie. And yet, while working on the plot, game scriptwriters are still too often forgot about things that are obvious and well understandable to any cinema. Games are trite not enough simple, understandable to every person … fatalism. And it's not about gloomy stories like Max Payne 3. And about things like family, aging and death. Games that would successfully and reliably beat these eternal topics are still very little.
More recently, we told you about Fire Emblem: AWAKENING, a tactical role -playing game, in which the characters not only talked among themselves and side by side repelled the enemy’s attacks, but also started families. The very opportunity to develop relationships in the game is surprising, although, it would seem, the idea is not at all original. Moreover, for modern players in AWAKENING, they allowed to cancel the traditional for the Permdeath series: there is nothing to upset the player with the irreversible death of associates, although it is this feature that is extremely important for empathy for the heroes.
In a different topic of aging and death, the project Sword & Glory. The depressive, monochrome epic about the Vikings immediately demonstrates serious intentions to the player: a person fights for honor and glory, the fate of the descendants depends on it, their well -being is most important. The blade brings him victory, the hero hardened in battles becomes more dexterous and skilled. It seems that no power in the world can overcome a talented fighter! Decades have been going on, the character is aging, his movements are stuck, the waves of the sword are no longer so fast and dangerous for the enemy … Years take their own, death is inevitable. It is time, not hostile clans or robbers, is the worst enemy.
The sins of the fathers
Massive Chalice The above motifs develops. Imagine the kingdom where people live clans. Each kind has its own characteristics: someone has a good possession of weapons, the other house has a certain talent for witchcraft. The best warriors are typed from each clan. They fought properly, but sooner or later talented fighters must forget about the fights, Casigood sister sites start the family and survive the remaining days alone. Let the new generation fight for peace around the world.
[[Bullet]] obelisks of obviously inhuman origin. The artifacts of demons, by the way, can be explored in fortresses – another similarity with XCOM.
In a sense, Massive Chalice takes the Fire Emblem formula: Awakening and changes it to a more believable. In a Japanese tactical role -playing game, children could fight next to their parents, but due to some scenario conventions, these children were already adults and no one was dying of old age. The idea of aging and the continuity of generations makes the player constantly make difficult decisions. What to do if the clan finds an artifact – a runic blade, which is composed of legends? Send a strong fighter with a cherished treasure for a suicidal task or preserve a magical object for descendants? Or here is the situation: an old, experienced commander each time miraculously ralves a detachment, raises his fighting spirit. It seems that without his participation in the battle the clan is doomed. But he will also be doomed if the valuable commander is not left at home at some point-the choice is difficult, from the category “you can win the battle, but lose the war”.
Despite the “aggressive” orientation of each clan, they are not going to enmity with each other: years pass, generations are replaced, and people contrary to their nature are not going to arrange internodists and civil wars. In the world of Massive Chalice, human life is too valuable to take it so easy.
Forgotten land
Do not stop time, clans appear and disappear, but there are still two constant forces in the Massive Chalice. One of them is an immortal ruler who directs people to victory. Humanity is opposed by demons, gradually infecting the land of nasty. This process is irreversible, and the task of the immortal boils down to ensure that the generation of generation behind the generation restrains the onslaught of evil and manage to forge a magic bowl, whose strength will send demons into oblivion. In case of failure, supernatural creatures will win, no humanity will remain, and the immortal ruler will probably go crazy with boredom.
[[Bullet]] on the global map there will be destroyed fortresses that will be able to restore and populate. So it will be easier to repel the enemy periodic attacks.
The developers do not hide the fact that some mechanics game are borrowed from another tactical strategy – Xcom. According to Double Fine, a global map will remind Panic Room something: demons gradually capture the territories, the regions are covered with bad. As soon as the monsters completely absorb a piece of the earth, it grows up a few paws, turns into a huge demon and goes far, far away-in any case, the developers are so joking. Territories die irrevocably, but the evil spirits are constantly attacking. It is important to properly prioritize and protect the most "tidbine" territories.
The situation is complicated by the fact that on the map we will have more than one castle, but several fortresses. The distance between them is considerable, in each there are several clans in each, and in isolation from each other they will develop differently. Families will have general characteristics, and over time, people will have new talents – there is a great chance that their descendants will inherit and the clan will become more powerful.
The heroes will have several branches of specializations, and for each battle they can be equipped with different objects. Gam -designers emphasize that the XCOM had a relatively small choice of equipment, but it was he who forced to make key tactical decisions. In the Massive Chalice, there are much more opportunities to bring the character, but it will not reach fanaticism – remember that the heroes are not eternal, you should not become attached to them. Because of this, the emotional component is lost. In the game about aliens you get used to each fighter, one team can go through the entire military campaign. Here more have to worry more precisely for the clan.
[[Bullet]] will not be surprised if the demons in the game are of alien origin.
Time passes, the bodies of the fighters are covered with scars, the most brave is obtained in the battles of the injury. Those who are too often in fortresses and feasts look much more fun and carefree, although endless banquets and lack of danger turn heroes into lazy pigs.
People are born and die, but the birth relics are transmitted from generation to generation. A nameless guy from some clan can start a campaign with an ordinary sword, roughly poured with a piece. The battle of the battle, the young man becomes a hardened veteran, countless demons fell from his sword. Over time, the blade will acquire unusual properties. Depending on how they use the weapon, how often critical attacks are made and what monsters become victims of cold steel, the sword gradually changes. Destroyed many fiery demons? The weapon will certainly become powerful, will receive a name and for hundreds of years will grow legends, like a gram sword from the older Edda.
[Bullet]] In the Massive Chalice, it will not be possible to collect a huge army, the scale of the battles is unlikely to have more a dozen combat units on the battlefield.
Tactical mode is known treacherously. There will definitely not be a shelter system – the emphasis in the Massive Chalice is made in close combat, the opponents will have to be surrounded correctly, as in Final Fantasy Tactics. Already now it is clear that obvious rules will be respected (say, “the arrow is unlikely to break through the wall”), and a accurate fellarbol does not reach the goal if it hid behind the rock. The game will have a change of seasons: in winter, for example, it is difficult to move, so archers have an advantage. It is possible that the opponent will be in good snowdrifts. Judging by the stories of developers, demons, unlike people, have completely different properties. The most terrible creatures can unnaturally aging people and with one touch to weapons to make it fragile and rusty. The warring parties are not equal, although the game mechanics would have been perfectly suitable for modeling the conflict between several kingdoms – with mandatory intrigues, kidnapping artifacts and capturing especially valuable characters.
Dreaming about unusual game scenarios is interesting, especially since the work on the project has just begun. IN Double Fine We collected enough money for Kickstarter (although it is not a fact that it is enough, so at any time you can complain about the lack of funding and break the game into two parts). One of the main problems is still a small budget, so the planned content will have to be cut, and the game will look modest. Double fine turn to the simplest visual style: in models a specially minimum number of landfills, which is why the whole environment looks like bizarre paper figures.
Nevertheless, our enthusiasm about the Massive Chalice is easy to understand. The control of the clan surrounded by supernatural forces has already been implemented in Knights of the Dragon Pass , Only here you can not command the detachments. The game itself looks more like a book-adventure book, to which they have a simple economic mechanics. So, survival was reduced to the correct distribution of resources and wise decisions. In this case, the Massive Chalice looks a bold step forward. One thought that you can see a game with a similar idea, but a completely different degree of involvement is delighted.
We will wait?
A game that should shut up the Fire Emblem belt: AWAKENING and XCOM; On the other hand, before that, the developers made a strategy only in Brutal Legend , So worrying for the project is still worth.
Percent of readiness: 10%