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Author Topic: The Old City  (Read 9373 times)

allen

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The Old City
« on: December 05, 2014, 10:20 AM »
I've been looking forward to this "Game" for quite some time. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but it looks sublime. It's not so much a conventional game as a puzzle/exploration game. I think like Myst but in real time first person 3D.

A decaying city from a civilization long past. A sewer-dwelling isolationist and his hunt for knowledge. A forgotten childhood and the few memories that remain.

Set in the outskirts of a long-abandoned metropolis, The Old City: Leviathan drops you into a strange world accompanied by nothing but the protagonist's poetic musings and an atmospheric score. You'll need to explore and absorb the world around you if you ever hope to understand the history of the eponymous city, and how you came to be there.

This is a world that morphs and changes when you least expect it, teetering on the boundary between dreams and reality. Your only goal: to understand.

We sought to discard the esoteric puzzles and repetitive gameplay loops of traditional games in favor of a pure narrative experience that delves into philosophical themes oft neglected by the medium.
A common phrase used in this context is “gameplay first.” The assumption is that anything other than the gameplay mechanics themselves is secondary and even unnecessary. Dear Esther was one of the first to challenge that concept, opening the door for titles such as The Stanley Parable and Gone Home, and we intend to build upon that foundation.

Players have the option to simply walk from start to finish, but the real meat of the game lies in the hidden nooks and crannies of the world; in secret areas, behind closed doors, and in a 30,000 word novella that reveals itself as the game progresses.

Up to five hours long in its own right, The Old City: Leviathan is the first part of a larger story, and is set to be released late in 2014.


It's out now, and 25% off on steam for a limited time.

40hz

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2014, 12:26 PM »
Looks really interesting. Unfortunately I can't run the trailer for some reason. It refuses to load in FF and crashes completely in Chrome. And this is on an i5 machine with 8Gb of RAM and no other applications running. Doesn't give me the warm fuzzies. Hopefully it's just a server-side time-out issue due to volume. I had to go over and watch it on YouTube.

It reminds me a little bit of Kentucky Route Zero which I recently purchased. Slowly poking my way through that. I'll try to do a review on it once I finish. :Thmbsup:

allen

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2014, 12:28 PM »
Looks really interesting. Unfortunately I can't run the trailer for some reason. It refuses to load in FF and crashes completely in Chrome.

Weird. Well, their website is a little janky. Try it on YouTube

40hz

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2014, 12:49 PM »
Did. I'm impressed. I definitely enjoy these interactive story environments. I don't even care how much or little "game" is in them although a logical and germane puzzle is always a treat. That's sometimes a problem since many of these things just throw in an odd but totally unrelated puzzle you have to solve before you're allowed to resume the story. Dear Esther and the Myst Series had a few of those.

Anyway, thx for sharing! :)

superboyac

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2014, 12:54 PM »
Whoa...I gotta say, I'm intrigued!

40hz

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2014, 02:53 PM »
@SB -  wouldn't something like Old City be great with something like an Oculus Rift headset? Too bad OC's probably well beyond the budget and/or capabilities of most indy game shops. Some of the best work seems to be coming from that quarter.

superboyac

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2014, 03:15 PM »
@SB -  wouldn't something like Old City be great with something like an Oculus Rift headset? Too bad OC's probably well beyond the budget and/or capabilities of most indy game shops. Some of the best work seems to be coming from that quarter.
hmmm...well, yea!!  Damn, I still have to try the oculus.  I've been avoiding due to fear of the amount of ideas/projects it will inspire in my brain.

allen

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2014, 08:48 PM »
@SB -  wouldn't something like Old City be great with something like an Oculus Rift headset? Too bad OC's probably well beyond the budget and/or capabilities of most indy game shops. Some of the best work seems to be coming from that quarter.

I agree, The Old City would be absolutely amazing -- on fully realized VR tech. On the Oculus Rift, however, notsomuch. The problem right now isn't budget/capabilities of the indy game shops. . . if it were worth their while, it would probably be manageable (if not trivial) for them to rise to it. The real problem is that OR display resolution is awful. I got to try one out a couple months back at the office. The roller coaster demo was neat, but the resolution was so pixelated it was like a 360 degree N64 game. For now, I'd take the gorgeous art of the old city on a flat screen over the OR any day. That is, until the VR tech catches up.

app103

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2014, 03:52 AM »
After watching these 2 videos, I went ahead and bought the game:





Yeah, an impulse buy, not something I usually do with games/software, and for good reason.

Unfortunately, I can't play this on my laptop. Sound is crackly, video is choppy, and mouse movement is very jerky. And that is just on the menu screen.

I'll have to wait till I get my desktop PC working again and try it on there. I am really hoping it works out better on there, otherwise this game will just be another example of why I don't like buying games I can't try before I buy, and why I shouldn't buy on impulse.

Looks really interesting. Unfortunately I can't run the trailer for some reason. It refuses to load in FF and crashes completely in Chrome. And this is on an i5 machine with 8Gb of RAM and no other applications running. Doesn't give me the warm fuzzies. Hopefully it's just a server-side time-out issue due to volume. I had to go over and watch it on YouTube.

Their website crashes my Pale Moon.

40hz

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Re: The Old City
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2014, 08:28 AM »
Yeah, an impulse buy, not something I usually do with games/software, and for good reason.

@app - Ain't it the truth?

I recently bought Kentucky Route Zero (Season Pass) for the same reason. The story concept was intriguing. The design and artwork are quite beautiful and evocative IMHO. Possibly some of the best I've ever seen. And their non-spoiler sample download impressed me to no end.

I've been through the first part of what is promised to be a 5-part story. You get parts 1 through 3 with parts 4 and 5 promised for later release this year.

This is one of those situations where I really really want to like this thing. Hopefully it will pick up a bit as it goes forward. Because right now I'm getting a sinking sensation there may be less here than originally appeared. Or promised... (More on that shortly.)

There's a lot of odd and unnatural conversations that seem to go nowhere, and which the characters engage in for no obvious reason. People do not, in my experience, respond to an innocuous question about where a certain highway goes by immediately launching into a philosophical speculation about the region and their family's history. With luck, it will all find it's place into the story later on. But I'm worried this will become yet another case of a writer creating deliberately obscure passages in the hopes they will be mistaken for being profound.

Another niggle...

Right now there's some concern in the gaming community about the last two instalments. Both had been promised for release "later this year." AFAIK, there hasn't been anything said about a definite release date yet. And we're almost out of days for "this year." Which raises the possibility (KRZ being an indy game) that they either won't be delivered - or they'll be rushed out just to get them completed. And if that's the case, we may be better off not seeing them at all.

Anyway...I own it. I'm playing it. And I remain hopeful.

I also resolve this will be my absolute last impulse game buy. And this time - I really mean it. ;) ;D
« Last Edit: December 07, 2014, 01:39 PM by 40hz »