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 The developers Ice Pick Lodge are remaking their first cult classic game Pathologic. The remake is up on kickstarter right now but it has less than ten days before everything comes to an end. The good news is that the game will be funded, but it is looking like just barely. The stellar Let's Play of The Void by our own CannibalK9 (SA archives, LP Archive) really showcases one of Ice Pick Lodge's better efforts but The Void still remains a daunting game to actually play. This is very much like their preceding effort, the original Pathologic. Pathologic wasn't without fault, to borrow from the kickstarter page, a description of the fledgling effort: quote:"Thankfully we were smart enough to change our plans and made the game in 3D—although it did take time and resources. We had to learn the basics of game development from the ground up: study Direct3D, export assets from 3D editors, lightmap the environment, write our own scripting system and AI, program environment streaming, the editor, the UI, and so on… We did all that for the first time ever, and we did it blindly. (I would love to thank our engine programmer Alexey here, but he doesn’t like publicity.) The the amazing thing is, despite this small studio's amateur beginnings, a game was made. A game about plague, place and piecing together a mystery. And it was a game that really spoke to the people brave enough to wade through its translation which looks like something close to a google translate result. The best news is the remake of the game is focusing a considerable amount of funding into making sure this go around doesn't see as many technical or language issues. A teaser video with some in engine bits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5CB2lnZ7c I've taken the liberty of copying some of the kickstarter page. Pathologic KS page posted:
Check it out, it's only got ten days left! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1535515364/pathologic Raskolnikov fucked around with this message at 09:43 on Sep 27, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 21:29
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This game is the best, everyone fund this game.
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Sep 26, 2014 21:31
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Yeah, this one needs to be funded in full, up to and including all the stretch goals. The original Pathologic had two problems. Firstly, Ice-Pick Lodge were a new and inexperienced studio, and their engine wasn't too hot. The game was fun (in a depressing, high stress kinda way) but clearly low-budget. More damningly, the script (which won awards in Russia for being fantastic) got mangled horribly in the original English version. Only one of the three campaigns was even halfway comprehensible, making two thirds of the game effectively unplayable without a walkthrough. Ice-Pick have since overcome both of these barriers. They're quite technically capable now and I believe they're fully able to realize the town and the steppe in the detail they deserve. More importantly, they've taken to doing their localization work in-house, and are really good at it. The Void's translation was top notch, and even the dubbing worked great in just about every language. I'd be throwing piles of money at this game if I could, but I don't have any money, so I can't. So, crazy rich goons, I implore you: Throw some cash at this. It could well be something truly special.
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Sep 26, 2014 21:38
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I threw money at this as soon as the KS went up. I never played the original because of all the complaints about tech problems and a bad translation, but I have played and enjoyed (maybe 'appreciated,' in Knock-Knock's case) every other Ice-Pick lodge game since then so I feel pretty drat good about evangelizing this one sight-unseen. The only problem is the admittedly realistic projected completion date of two years from now. Gonna be a long wait. To that point I wonder if when the KS is done this thread should convert to general Ice-Pick discussion? I don't know how many people are raring to go buy and play through The Void but it does end up on Steam Sale a lot and is still sort of incredible (if janky.) Also, if you read the Kickstarter comments be sure to pay special attention to the crazy person named Manuel, whom at this point is either a troll or just insane.
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Sep 26, 2014 22:21
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NmareBfly posted:...To that point I wonder if when the KS is done this thread should convert to general Ice-Pick discussion? I don't know how many people are raring to go buy and play through The Void but it does end up on Steam Sale
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Sep 26, 2014 22:28
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I feel kind of like a dick for this but I can't in good conscience support KS projects that offer exclusive in game stuff to backers. I get that it's a million times easier than physical rewards but it just feels wrong. I'll buy it full price when it's done, but I can't support this model. Same with Darkest Dungeon/ Pop-up Dungeon/ etc.
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Sep 26, 2014 22:39
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most of it will probably be accessible on youtube anyways
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Sep 26, 2014 22:40
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Did the LP end up with a comprehensible explanation of some of the phenomena of the town? I didn't read it all the way through, but it felt very interesting (and very odd).
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Sep 26, 2014 22:41
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i dont know if the LP did, i didn't finish reading it because i decided to play the game instead. there's an explanation for everything, and then if i recall correctly, like two levels of meta-explanation beyond that? (at least one, and i think it was kind of pretentious but its been a long time since i played it now)
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Sep 26, 2014 22:58
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In the genre of 'profoundly flawed but amazing games about discovering the mystery of a weird town' Pathologic is pretty much second only to Deadly Premonition. If I were a rich man I would have been first in line for the executor mask 
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Sep 27, 2014 02:57
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I've never played the original game, and I don't want to start a derail or anything, I just thought that this chart from kickstarter page was a good example of the problem with non-linear games: I understand its a limitation designing games, but it's super disappointing when they seem like they've got this amazing depth to the story only to have all your choices funnel you into one of three or so identical endings.
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Sep 27, 2014 07:20
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uh, what? what other ending is there from "i need food"? you get food, you don't get food. the other things are just variations of avoiding the conflict which is exactly the opposite of thing you're complaining about
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Sep 27, 2014 07:24
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Yeah that chart isn't describing the story of the game, it's describing general gameplay. When you need to get food, there aren't very many outcomes besides "I got food," "I didn't get food," "I got some food," and "I got shot and died." This is a system entirely divorced form the plot of the game, so what's another possible outcome state that you would recommend? I'd love to hear it personally. I mean when you do a random-rear end dungeon in Skyrim that's just sitting around int he middle of nowhere or whatever (I've never played Skyrim), do you get upset that there isn't any outcomes besides "I got the treasure at the end" and "I died to a monster and now I have to restart in town?" The thing about Pathologic is that, unlike most other games, there isn't a whole lot to the gameplay outside of decision making, and that's what they're emphasizing with the Kickstarter. When you shoot a dude with a gun, it's not the actual shooting that's important, that's easy and it's over in an instant (having a loaded gun is basically a free "I win" card in fights). The actual gameplay is the "do I shoot this dude with my gun, or save it and most assuredly get injured, so I can pawn the gun off later for food?" question, and the challenge comes from accurately deducing the better decision to make, not in actually carrying out the decision. Full Disclosure: I've only played day 1 of Pathologic, and could entirely be talking out of my rear end. But this seems to be what Ice-Pick Lodge is emphasizing and describing in their Kickstarter, someone please correct me if I'm wrong. ninjewtsu fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Sep 27, 2014 |
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Sep 27, 2014 07:49
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Getting a different ending isn't the point.
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Sep 27, 2014 07:57
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Oh wow, I'm glad I caught this thread. Pathologic is really one of the best candidates for a remake that I can think of in the land of viddya games. I wanted so hard to love the original(dark, depressing, and pretentious is my bag), but I felt like I was doing myself a disservice by playing it in the generally hosed up form it was delivered to the English speaking world in. I sorta figured it'd never happen, but I guess I could be wrong! Here's to hoping they don't spend it all on TerminalBlue fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Sep 27, 2014 |
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Sep 27, 2014 08:00
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ninjewtsu posted:Yeah that chart isn't describing the story of the game, it's describing general gameplay. it became pretty easy after a couple days to fight things and not get murdered or exhausting all of your resources, but i think most people used the walkthrough that came with the game. if you were toughing it out you were probably very short on all resources, about to die, and about to fail on day 3 or whatever thats honestly going to be the biggest challenge - giving people a reason to gently caress up an early day, either by letting them recover for the good endings or making it fun to lose. i dont think pathologic was good enough that you could get to day 6 or whatever and feel good about restarting, because loving up invariably meant "she said go here but it was wrong because its translated badly"
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Sep 27, 2014 08:06
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As of right now its at $250,190 pledged of $250,000 goal. And the next stretch goal is $300,000.  $300,000 Stretch Goal posted:The Town Extended ($300,000). This stretch goal seems pretty self-explanatory, and yet it’s the toughest one to explain. We’ve launched this whole campaign to make an extended version of the game after all, didn’t we? Thing is, it’s always possible to add more. More unique objects, more dialogue options, more questlines, more events happening around you. And it won’t be filler content either. Say, there are plot-dependent areas planned in the warehouse district; but what if you could also find caches and hideouts there? What if street NPCs had additional reactions to your activities? What if there were simply more questlines? You would become even more hard-pressed for time, sure, but we’ll balance it. The Town is a finished place, but we can always improve it intensively, adding more small locations, hidden corners, nooks and crannies. Also: more quests, more NPCs—more content in general. At the mean average of funding so far we might reach $375,000 but Lucid Dreaming is just $25,000 more and omg does it sound great. $400,000 Stretch Goal posted:Lucid Dreaming ($400,000). Thoughts and ideas are an important part of Pathologic, and it’s known that the Plague “speaks to its victims, scrutinizing them”. We would like that to become an even more prevalent motif, adding dreams in form of interactive experiences. Got infected? Go see the Plague in person. Found out new crucial information that completely changes everything? Same here. All those hints and omens dropped and mentioned everywhere will now appear in the flesh. Also more weird and creepy imagery. And these are not random events—they will depend on how you play and how the plot you create unfolds. Raskolnikov fucked around with this message at 09:29 on Sep 27, 2014 |
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Sep 27, 2014 09:15
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I threw $300 dollars at this because I love Ice Pick and who doesn't want a Russian board game based on this?
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Sep 27, 2014 09:46
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Grinspork posted:I threw $300 dollars at this because I love Ice Pick and who doesn't want a Russian board game based on this? (Of course I should have always regretted that but we're not all perfect.)
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Sep 28, 2014 04:13
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Cephalocidal posted:I feel kind of like a dick for this but I can't in good conscience support KS projects that offer exclusive in game stuff to backers. I get that it's a million times easier than physical rewards but it just feels wrong. I'll buy it full price when it's done, but I can't support this model. Same with Darkest Dungeon/ thats a real losers attitude and i think youre stupid (and a loser lol) for following it
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Sep 28, 2014 04:51
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Oh, so they finally halted work on the Pathologic updated translation to do a new version of the game. I was waiting to hear something, anything about their efforts to fix the terrible translation since they announced it.
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Sep 28, 2014 04:56
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Wasn't that a fan run thing
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Sep 28, 2014 05:21
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Cephalocidal posted:I feel kind of like a dick for this but I can't in good conscience support KS projects that offer exclusive in game stuff to backers. I get that it's a million times easier than physical rewards but it just feels wrong. I'll buy it full price when it's done, but I can't support this model. Same with Darkest Dungeon/ Fortunately, there are more important things about this, like the 300k and 400k stretch goals above.
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Sep 28, 2014 05:43
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ninjewtsu posted:Wasn't that a fan run thing It was both from what I remember, the devs had a translation going that has no news for ages (they announced it after The Void came out) and the fans had one that died.
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Sep 28, 2014 06:06
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Would love if this could hit the first stretch goal, though I kinda doubt that. But most of all, I'm incredibly happy that they got funded. These guys are just one of those studios that produce games that are... intriguing. I only played the original game once, and got fed up with the translation, but I *loved* the oh-so-harsh nature of it. Think they hit the nail on the head when they said that game don't need to aim to be *fun*. Just like with other mediums, you can draw in people in other ways. I don't watch a lot of films because I find so much jolly good fun. Same thing with games.
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Sep 28, 2014 17:04
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Really happy to see this one funded. I've wanted to play the original for some time but it was so rough around the edges that I couldn't get into it. It's one of those things where I liked the idea of the game a lot more than the game itself.
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Sep 28, 2014 17:14
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Glad it's funded but I'm upset they didn't get their stretch goals up early enough. Also the game exclusive stuff for people who paid 55 bucks and up is bothering me too. Regardless it should be a fun experience.
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Sep 28, 2014 18:00
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Okay well I have a huge problem with backing Kickstarter games for a hundred reasons, but Ice Pick has earned their stripes multiple times over so I guess I'll have to plunk down some cash for this.
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Sep 28, 2014 18:23
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Cargo was really lovely though.
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Sep 28, 2014 18:28
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Cryohazard posted:Cargo was really lovely though. So was Valve's Ricochet, doesn't make them a bad studio.
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Sep 28, 2014 18:29
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Cryohazard posted:Cargo was really lovely though. Nah, it was fun + weird. I don't regret buying it at all.
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Sep 30, 2014 11:49
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Making an unsuspecting friend stream Cargo blind is a great thing. I may have been the unsuspecting friend.
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Sep 30, 2014 13:14
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Watching star citizen post record numbers makes me sad when a ice pick lodge game cannot get 300k in 30 days. 
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Oct 1, 2014 03:18
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It's understandable since at the end Ice Pick Lodge will release a game.
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Oct 1, 2014 07:59
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I recently started the GOG version of Pathologic - is there anything I should know about that would hamper my progress, like mistranslations or buggy quests?
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Oct 1, 2014 15:49
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MrBims posted:I recently started the GOG version of Pathologic - is there anything I should know about that would hamper my progress, like mistranslations or buggy quests?
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Oct 1, 2014 21:05
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dont start with the devotress and probably just follow that faq to the letter there was also a thing you could do, a console command? that would speed everything in the game up to whatever you want. i think i played most of the game at like 4x because theres a lot of walking http://forum.ice-pick.com/viewtopic.php?t=5302 Verviticus fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Oct 1, 2014 |
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Oct 1, 2014 22:14
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MrBims posted:I recently started the GOG version of Pathologic - is there anything I should know about that would hamper my progress, like mistranslations or buggy quests? Honestly I'd wait for the remake or read an LP.
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Oct 1, 2014 22:32
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Verviticus posted:dont start with the devotress and probably just follow that faq to the letter You can't start as the Devotress anyway on your first playthrough, you had to beat the game as one of the other two characters first. But yes, follow the FAQ to the letter because I can recall one instance where you've to meet someone but the directions given to you are completely wrong.
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Oct 1, 2014 22:41
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you can also just turn timescale to 10 or w/e and have hours to do the quests if you want to avoid the faq
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Oct 2, 2014 01:17
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