Wizardry's Brathwaite and id/Ion Storm's Hall Kickstarting Old School Role-Playing Game
Possibly two, if $1.9 million is raised.
Brenda Brathwaite, Wizardry maker and also John Romero's wife did you know, is Kickstarting an Old School Role-Playing Game with id Software and Ion Storm co-founder Tom Hall.
They want $1 million. But if they raise $1.9 million, they'll make two RPGs, one designed by Brathwaite, the other by Hall.
Romero and Braithwaite's 30-person Loot Drop studio, founded in 2010, will make the game.
"Loot Drop's Old School RPG harkens back to the days when RPGs were king, where you'll gather your bearings and belongings, leave town and embark on an incredible journey in a world that seems at once welcoming and friendly… until you meet its dark side…." Read a press release blurb on Loot Drop's site.
The Kickstarter page noted turn-based combat, four-person groups, skills, levels, NPC hirelings, at least five races, loot, quests, multiple endings and even multiple beginnings. The latter comes into effect if the $1.9 two RPGs stretch goal is reached. If it is, the endings of both RPGs will mean different beginnings in each.
Brenda Brathwaite's a respected video game veteran. She often gives talks and only important people do things like that. More importantly, Brathwaite rose to prominence via the Wizardry series of RPGs.
"For me, it is absolutely a calling, maybe even a craving. I started playing RPGs when I was 11, rewrote one at 13 and at 15 was working on them professionally. It is my favourite type of game to make and to play," Brathwaite commented.
Tom Hall co-founded id Software and worked on games like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. After a spell at 3D Realms, Hall co-founded Ion Storm with Romero, and made Anachronox and Deus Ex. Hall even voiced a character in Deus Ex. After that, he dropped out of the limelight, trying some mobile gaming ventures, working at Midway and eventually settling down as a consultant. He joined Loot Drop last year.
"I've been in this industry for over 25 years. Brenda's worked on some of the games that began my love of computer RPGs. We both come from D&D roots. Our lives have been filled with RPGs since the '70s. We just love the genre. And it was so fun and rewarding making Anachronox with my amazing team back then. I can't wait to combine that fun with Brenda's brilliance to make a rich, epic, interesting RPG world. Or two!" Hall commented.
Brilliantly, if you pledge the top $10,000 tier to the project, Romero, Brathwaite and Hall promise to deliver the game to you at your house on a velvet pillow. There are loads of other rewards, too.
And in case you're sceptical, Loot Drop tweeted: "We're 100 per cent indie and are dedicated to it. We have never taken venture capital or angel funding and have resisted two buyout offers so we could stay this way."
Was it a knee-jerk reaction to the success of Project Eternity? It was an incredibly quick knee-jerk if so.
Regardless, this project has both proven talent and an established developer ready to build the game.
One to watch, I'd say.