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Spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment in 'very early' stages

David Hinkle — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:30:00 EST

While many have anxiously awaited a sequel to Planescape: Torment, it's not the pipe dream it once was. Brian Fargo - the InXile Entertainment founder who has the Torment rights and once ran the original game's developer, Interplay - has said a successor is in the works, though there are a few caveats fans should consider.

For one, the sequel will ditch the Planescape setting for the Numenera role-playing system, the Kickstarter-funded brainchild of Monte Cook blending together sci-fi and fantasy elements to emphasize "story and ideas over mechanics." Cook should be a memorable name to those who played the Planescape pen-and-paper campaign setting, having helped design and write that series and numerous other games for Wizards of the Coast back in the day. "The more we explored the Numenera setting, the clearer it became that it's a natural fit for a Torment game," Fargo told Rock Paper Shotgun.

And with the new setting, Fargo suggests that this sequel will be less so in the literal sense and more so in the ideas Planescape: Torment presented to players. "Rather than overt links, we are trying to recapture the feeling that players experienced through PST -both while playing it and after having completed a playthrough. We will remain true to the essence of PST, but we'll also be looking for ways to improve the areas in which PST could have been even better."

The new Torment game is still a ways off, "very early" in the pre-production phases, Fargo says. "We have a basic story outline, design sketches of the major characters, and thematic concepts defined," Fargo said, adding that with Wasteland 2 in full production, InXile can't focus too great of resources to working on this new Torment game.

However, with writers and concept artists finished their early stages work on Wasteland 2, they're freed up. "There will be some other surprise talent that I'll announce later on but I thought it important to stress the heritage of the great team we have." As for funding this sequel, Fargo is unsurprisingly considering Kickstarter.

Spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment in 'very early' stages originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Planescape: Torment writer ponders sequel, Fargo owns Torment IP

Jessica Conditt — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:00:00 EST

Planescape: Torment designer and writer Colin McComb recently had his hands full with Wasteland 2, but now that his job there is done, he's looking to make a new game in the Torment vein.

McComb outlines his initial thoughts on creating a new Torment iteration in a lengthy blog post that poses the game's grand question, "What does one life matter? ...and does it matter at all?" This is a departure from Torment's question of "What can change the nature of a man?" (McComb has a degree in philosophy, if you were wondering.)

McComb's new game wouldn't necessarily reside in the Planescape universe, but he says he has an "in" with the Torment IP - which is owned by Brian Fargo, founder of Interplay, RPG Codex finds. Interplay published Planescape: Torment in 1999, from developer Black Isle Studios.

"I have a lot of ideas about what to put into a new Torment game, but my primary goal would be to help the player tell a story that was evocative of the original Torment without aping it," McComb writes. "To be faithful to the odyssey of the Nameless One, and to recognize that it has ended, and that stories of Torment are ongoing."

Planescape: Torment writer ponders sequel, Fargo owns Torment IP originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dungeons & Dragons games on sale through GOG

Jordan Mallory — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:00:00 EST

Look, playing actual Dungeons & Dragons takes a lot of time and effort. First you have to find a group of people you don't hate to play with, and then you have to spend days constructing a campaign for them to adventure through. And then, when you finally get down to playing, that one guy decides to be a maverick a pull some crazy stunt that breaks the encounter.

Thankfully, there are alternatives for people who want the lore without actually having to play Dungeons & Dragons, and said alternatives just happen to be on sale at GOG for the next six days. Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga, Baldur's Gate 2 Complete, Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition, Icewind Dale Complete, Icewind Dale 2 Complete, Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone and Planescape: Torment are all available for less than five bucks, or in one big bundle for $30.01.

Dungeons & Dragons games on sale through GOG originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Planescape: Torment has arrived on GoG

Justin McElroy — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

OR HAS IT?

Continue reading Planescape: Torment has arrived on GoG

Planescape: Torment has arrived on GoG originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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