Clockwork Empires - Science, and Laudanum for everybody

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Daynab: Aug 5, 2008

New updates at the bottom of this post, if you're not a regular reader!

(Press release here).

Clockwork Empires is a 3D Isometric Steampunk Sandbox City-Builder developed by Gaslamp Games (of Dungeons of Dredmor fame) coming out Early 2014.

The game can be described as "Steampunk Dwarf Fortress meets Anno with Lovecraft Influences."

PCGamer has done an exclusive preview that I recommend reading as it goes quite in detail. You can find it here: http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/clo.../?sortby=latest

Features:

Take on the role of a Junior Bureaucrat (Colonial Grade), sent forth to seek fame, promotions, and natural resources to feed the ever-hungry maw of industry and commerce. Build mighty colonies, fill them with magnificent factories and tortured machinery, and harness the power of steam and energies brought forth by determined, unregulated men and women of Science!

Dynamic, city-building, citizen-simulating action. Every imperial subject has a purpose and agenda of their own, and their interactions are rich, exciting, and often lethal!
New “procedural extrusion” technology lets you design your colony the way you want! Buildings are procedurally generated and extruded directly from the aether to your specifications!
Tame the uncharted continents by land, sea, and air! Set forth in mighty Zeppelins to do battle with Sky Pirates, or take to the seas in search of fortune and probably sea serpents!
Create magnificent acts of plumbing, link together mighty gears, and build ominous Megaprojects!
Tangle with the machinations of malevolent entities! Scry the legacy of the Invisible Geometers, fumigate the baleful moon-fungus of the Selenian Polyps, and cleanse the scuttling creepiness and poor personal and moral hygiene of your everyday, average cultist.
Losing is still fun! When your colony fails miserably, earn medals, promotions, and titles as befits a true politician and scion of the Empire!
Multi-player mode, with up to 4 players, lets you co-operate with your closest friends to build a glorious city… or fight a horrifying economic battle to total annihilation!
Round-Robin mode lets you share your Clockwork Empires with friends! Take turns running a colony directly into the ground then argue for fun-filled hours about whose fault it was! (Like Monopoly but with more exploding Zeppelins!)
Rendered in glorious GaslampVision! Thrill as the colours are brought to life by Gaslamp’s team of caffeine-addled artists labouring under the technical specifications of our elite programmers* to bring you a game that is rendered in Each of the Three Dimensions! New multi-core technology by Actual University Students lets you use every last ounce of power in your computer to run a thrilling and vivid simulation!
Featuring the new Dynamic Soundtrack Orchestra – the Soundtrack that Adjusts to Your Gameplay! (Mr. M. Steele, conductor)
No always-online DRM requirement, unlike certain other games we don’t want to mention. You know who you are and your mothers are very disappointed.
Comes complete with the Gaslamp Games Quality of Excellence that you know and love, and if you don’t like something you can mod it yourself in the best tradition of Empire Craftsmanship!

Daynab fucked around with this message at May 20, 2013 around 04:42

# ? Aug 27, 2012 20:47

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# ? May 20, 2013 08:20

Daynab: Aug 5, 2008

drat it, I forgot to choose an icon. Can a mod please change it to Science? would be appreciated.

e: Thanks a lot!

Daynab fucked around with this message at Aug 27, 2012 around 20:52

# ? Aug 27, 2012 20:48

Ugly In The Morning: Jul 1, 2010

Gaslamp games has consistently impressed me with the work they've done on Dredmor, so this is a day-one buy for me. I have no doubt they'll refine something that I've found impenetrable (Dwarf Fortress) and make it accessible, just like they did with roguelikes.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 20:51

The Machine: Dec 15, 2004; Rage Against / Welcome to

Oh, man, those sure are some nerd-friendly buzzwords.

I'm really excited this is coming from Gaslamp, because now I know it could be awesome. Can't wait to defend my city from cultists with flintlock pistols and giant metal spiders. Late 2013 seems so far away!

# ? Aug 27, 2012 20:53

nvining: May 30, 2011; tunnels through walls with its odd, rubbery nasal appliance

If folks have any questions, I'm happy to answer what I can.

Owing to the great success that the SA Goonrush Beta Test of Doom had for Dredmor, we'll likely do something similar again for CE, but that won't be for... well, a bit, let's say, owing to the fact that our codebase is basically on fire right now.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 20:59

Bieeardo: Aug 21, 2000; Someone bold, someone blue, someone borrowed, someone new...

quote:

New “procedural extrusion” technology lets you design your colony the way you want! Buildings are procedurally generated and extruded directly from the aether to your specifications!

What does 'procedurally generated' mean in this context? 'We compressed these textures down so far that only MATH! can extricate them' is a lot less impressive than 'the shape and textures of new buildings are automagically tweaked to match the aesthetic and general griminess of the neighborhood they're being plonked down into'.

This is a probably-buy for me. I don't play much with Dredmor, but I like these folks and want to see them succeed.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:01

Pr0phecy: Apr 3, 2006

Those screenshots look goofy as gently caress...

and that's a good thing.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:05

nvining: May 30, 2011; tunnels through walls with its odd, rubbery nasal appliance

Bieeardo posted:

What does 'procedurally generated' mean in this context? 'We compressed these textures down so far that only MATH! can extricate them' is a lot less impressive than 'the shape and textures of new buildings are automagically tweaked to match the aesthetic and general griminess of the neighborhood they're being plonked down into'.

This is a probably-buy for me. I don't play much with Dredmor, but I like these folks and want to see them succeed.

You specify a blueprint on the ground. You tag each wall with a "profile", which designates the building material and the profile of the roof. We then automatically extrude the building based on this. End result: you choose what the building looks like. (Then you stick decorations and gameplay elements on it, hook it to the Steam Pipes, etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhX79At0vng <-- this is not our system, but this is somebody else's implementation of the same algorithm we use. Ours does texturing, which his does not. So, yeah. Basically, if you want all your buildings to be octagonal Gothic Cathedrals, we'll accomodate you. If you just want to plunk down square megaliths, we got you covered. Want all your urchins to live in large, faux-Japanese pagodas? Got you covered. It's *very* cool stuff, and I'm really excited to be using it.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:05

endlessmonotony: Nov 4, 2009

Normally this would trigger several alerts due to the sheer amount of buzzwords, but after Dungeons of Dredmor I am optimistic.

Will inebriation be a significant gameplay mechanic?

It better be.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:07

nvining: May 30, 2011; tunnels through walls with its odd, rubbery nasal appliance

endlessmonotony posted:

Normally this would trigger several alerts due to the sheer amount of buzzwords, but after Dungeons of Dredmor I am optimistic.

Will inebriation be a significant gameplay mechanic?

It better be.

More accurately, booze is used to keep the Madness at bay. It cannot cause a citizen to unsee what horrors he has seen, but for a little while the sweet release of alcohol can be his....

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:11

StarkRavingMad: Sep 27, 2001

I quickly scanned the OP and was like "Oh, another attempt to clone Dwarf Fortress and slap some graphics on it

"

Then I saw it was Gaslamp Games behind it. Now I'm excited. Can't wait to see what you guys put together on this. I also love the steampunk meets Lovecraft vibe.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:15

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.

I spy a Clockwork Knight. Is this in the same gameverse as Dredmor? Will there be Dungeon of Dredmor you dispose political prisoners, I mean send forth adventurers into?

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:20

nvining: May 30, 2011; tunnels through walls with its odd, rubbery nasal appliance

StarkRavingMad posted:

I quickly scanned the OP and was like "Oh, another attempt to clone Dwarf Fortress and slap some graphics on it "

Then I saw it was Gaslamp Games behind it. Now I'm excited. Can't wait to see what you guys put together on this. I also love the steampunk meets Lovecraft vibe.

Welcome to loving Boatmurdered.

EDIT: Fixed.

nvining fucked around with this message at Aug 27, 2012 around 21:38

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:24

Bieeardo: Aug 21, 2000; Someone bold, someone blue, someone borrowed, someone new...

nvining posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhX79At0vng <-- this is not our system, but this is somebody else's implementation of the same algorithm we use. Ours does texturing, which his does not. So, yeah. Basically, if you want all your buildings to be octagonal Gothic Cathedrals, we'll accomodate you. If you just want to plunk down square megaliths, we got you covered. Want all your urchins to live in large, faux-Japanese pagodas? Got you covered. It's *very* cool stuff, and I'm really excited to be using it.

Holy cow, that is very cool stuff! Thanks for explaining that!

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:31

StarkRavingMad: Sep 27, 2001

nvining posted:

Welcome to loving Boatmurdered.

Just from the quick feature list up above, it looks like the Round-Robin mode is basically for succession games, which is a brilliant move if so. Now just make sure you can name all the little dudes and if the game turns out well you'll have Let's Plays all over the internet generating word of mouth for you!

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:35

qnqnx: Nov 14, 2010; do you know what love is?

nvining posted:

You specify a blueprint on the ground. You tag each wall with a "profile", which designates the building material and the profile of the roof. We then automatically extrude the building based on this. End result: you choose what the building looks like. (Then you stick decorations and gameplay elements on it, hook it to the Steam Pipes, etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhX79At0vng <-- this is not our system, but this is somebody else's implementation of the same algorithm we use. Ours does texturing, which his does not. So, yeah. Basically, if you want all your buildings to be octagonal Gothic Cathedrals, we'll accomodate you. If you just want to plunk down square megaliths, we got you covered. Want all your urchins to live in large, faux-Japanese pagodas? Got you covered. It's *very* cool stuff, and I'm really excited to be using it.

I can't wait to see a video of your implementation in action.

nvining posted:

Welcome to loving Boatmurdered.

Fixed.
I expect no less.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:37

Ghostlight: Sep 25, 2009; Ten months later the
reactor is started.

nvining posted:

If folks have any questions, I'm happy to answer what I can.

Is there any way to speed up release to like right now? Because seriously

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:39

Zoolooman: Mar 30, 2003

nvining posted:

More accurately, booze is used to keep the Madness at bay. It cannot cause a citizen to unsee what horrors he has seen, but for a little while the sweet release of alcohol can be his....

Of course! If you fudge it just a bit, those geometries might've been Euclidean. Yeah, that's it. No alien topology here.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:42

Daynab: Aug 5, 2008

Thundercracker posted:

I spy a Clockwork Knight. Is this in the same gameverse as Dredmor? Will there be Dungeon of Dredmor you dispose political prisoners, I mean send forth adventurers into?

Not same universe, though some things may make a cameo as far as I know.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 21:53

Shadowmorn: Apr 21, 2010; CAUTION: Edges are sharp enough to cut reality.

Daynab posted:

Not same universe, though some things may make a cameo as far as I know.

nvining posted:

Nope. It's a whole, brave new world. There is a certain overlap because both Dredmor and CE contain ... well, what we'll just call "Gaslamp Things"; our weird little literary ticks, that sort of thing. So no, no Dwarves and Elves, no Lutefisk God, no Krong, no Dredmor, no Vlad Digula.

Instead, you get to look forward to things like the Holy Cog (and heated discussions by splinter groups about whether or not the Cog Pope is, in fact, the Anti-Cog), Lord Palmerstoke, various poets, Invisible Geometers, that sort of thing. There's overlap in the writing but that's mainly just the flavour of kool-aid we serve in the office.

Because nvining said it rather well!

I have a guilty secret to admit actually, ive never touched dwarf fortress, never saw the reason to dive in. Fun to read about it and the stuff it causes. So this is the second time gaslamp's going to introduce me to a genre i had never considered until then.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 22:21

FedoraDefender420: Feb 25, 2011; I don't care how much money or how many white boys 50 cent can shoot. In front of James Hetfield he is a little bitch

Multiplayer steampunk graphics-having lovecraftian Dwarf Fortress? Sign me up.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 22:24

Gibbering Madness: Nov 7, 2009

Whoa, this announcement definitely exceeded my expectations, even as a hardcore Dredmorian/Lovecraftian! The whole thing sounds super awesome, late 2013 is indeed way too far away. One question for Daynab: is OSX support in the pipeline? Haven't seen any mention of it anywhere, sorry if I missed it.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 22:27

ExiledTinkerer: Nov 4, 2009

Considering the outstanding quality and ongoing dedication they've shown to Dungeons of Dredmor, this is so very easily a buy even if not quite a style of game I've any acclimatisation to.

I guess it is back to my pet theory that their 3rd game will be a Dredmor follow-up ascended to the level of an open, maddening world ala ADOM...

# ? Aug 27, 2012 22:30

qnqnx: Nov 14, 2010; do you know what love is?

Gibbering Madness posted:

Whoa, this announcement definitely exceeded my expectations, even as a hardcore Dredmorian/Lovecraftian! The whole thing sounds super awesome, late 2013 is indeed way too far away. One question for Daynab: is OSX support in the pipeline? Haven't seen any mention of it anywhere, sorry if I missed it.

It does, it is mentioned in the press release in the Gaslamp Games site.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 22:30

SynthOrange: May 6, 2007; I never arfed for MORT

quote:

Late 2013

Aw noooooooooo!

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:00

cinn: May 13, 2011

so very excited for this. Gaslamp

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:17

something: Aug 1, 2011; Have you ever seen
The most pure look of delight
On a Babby's face?

Sweet, finally some news about project Odin! Let's read the article...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp8vmXrLf1U

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:17

President Ark: May 16, 2010; Looks like you got a good deal there!

Oh my god I love Dredmore and I love city-builder games, I am going to be all over this poo poo.

quote:

Late 2013

Please tell me the beta will be sooner rather than later.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:18

Daynab: Aug 5, 2008

President Ark posted:

Oh my god I love Dredmore and I love city-builder games, I am going to be all over this poo poo.

Please tell me the beta will be sooner rather than later.

Nicholas said beta hopefully early 2013.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:22

Veinless: Sep 11, 2008; Smells like motivation

This'll be a day one pre-order based on the developer alone.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:44

nvining: May 30, 2011; tunnels through walls with its odd, rubbery nasal appliance

Daynab posted:

Nicholas said beta hopefully early 2013.

For anybody who remembers the Dredmor beta, this will mainly consist of me - and now four other programmers - running around yelling "EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!" And, you know, about eighty new builds per day.

On a Dwarf Fortress style simulation engine.

So, yeah. Good times but only for masochists.

EDIT: re-reading this, I'm realizing that's probably not a deterrent. Alright then!

nvining fucked around with this message at Aug 27, 2012 around 23:55

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:51

Blunt Force Trauma: Mar 16, 2008; No one gives a fuck about shit.
So fuck your shit.
We fuck shit up,
Cause shit's fucked anyway.
Shit is run in to the ground.

I don't wanna think about it,
I just wanna get down.

Dredmor is one of those games that, even if I didn't like it I would use it as an example of "indie" game development done right. Every few months I'll play through on a couple new characters and there is always a massive amount of new content to explore. Even more than the game, I've been impressed with the continued development, the DLC expansions have been fantastic and integrate perfectly in to the base game.

I love City Builders and this game looks snazzy.

# ? Aug 27, 2012 23:55

Alkanos: Jul 19, 2009; Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fht-YAWN

nvining posted:

For anybody who remembers the Dredmor beta, this will mainly consist of me - and now four other programmers - running around yelling "EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!" And, you know, about eighty new builds per day.

On a Dwarf Fortress style simulation engine.

So, yeah. Good times but only for masochists.

See, this is the way a beta should be. Nowadays it seems like most are effectively buggy demos, which is often a really bad idea in every way but saving a few bucks.

Anyway, I absolutely loved Dredmore and the support it got post release, so this is a day 1 buy. Though it kinda sucks that day 1 is more than a year away...

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:01

Goodpancakes: May 18, 2004; Oh yeah, like that

Can't wait for this to come out so I can give you guys all my monies. Love DF, love city builders, love Gaslamp 2013 is too far away!

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:10

chami: Mar 28, 2011; Keep it classy, boys~

As if your muscle diggle avatar weren't exciting enough!

Can't wait for this to come out.

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:17

poemdexter: Feb 18, 2005; how the fuck did i get here
whose code is this

As someone who loved Dredmor, I wish you the very best nvining. You were always in the thread answering questions no matter how touchy the subject. I'll be picking this up day one (and hopefully squeezing into the beta).

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:25

nvining: May 30, 2011; tunnels through walls with its odd, rubbery nasal appliance

For those of you who missed it, there is a massive and hideous 20-page speculation pile-up over on our forums, which contains a bunch of backstory hint:

http://community.gaslampgames.com/t...on-thread.2147/

There is also a fairly menacing picture of a deer with something drilling into its head on our website, and a few other interesting pieces of Concept Art for the viewer who wishes to partake of such things. I'm much too lazy to round them up, though.

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:25

Tirius: Aug 15, 2007; A short, sturdy creature fond of drink and industry.

Daynab posted:

[*]Round-Robin mode lets you share your Clockwork Empires with friends! Take turns running a colony directly into the ground then argue for fun-filled hours about whose fault it was! (Like Monopoly but with more exploding Zeppelins!)

This is very cool. Succession games are one of the most entertaining meta-games that have emerged from Dwarf Fortress. It's really awesome that you'll be integrating a similar concept directly into Clockwork Empires.

Echoing what everyone else said. After the fun I had with Dredmor, and the extensive work you did post release (FREE expansion pack?!) I'll buy anything you guys put out on release day on good faith alone.

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:43

endlessmonotony: Nov 4, 2009

nvining posted:

So, yeah. Good times but only for masochists.

As long as it doesn't gently caress up / crash my system, I'm okay with the game failing hilariously.

Given how many players I know without the "Suddenly The Dungeon Collapses" achievement, I'd say it's a part of the charm.

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:57

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# ? May 20, 2013 08:20

nvining: May 30, 2011; tunnels through walls with its odd, rubbery nasal appliance

endlessmonotony posted:

As long as it doesn't gently caress up / crash my system, I'm okay with the game failing hilariously.

Given how many players I know without the "Suddenly The Dungeon Collapses" achievement, I'd say it's a part of the charm.

What, you mean none of them? :P

(I think the appropriate achievement for this one should be "Suddenly, Dread Cthulhu" or something like that.)

# ? Aug 28, 2012 00:58

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