Telepath Tactics On Kickstarter

Posted: 28th November 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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Telepath Tactics is the third game in the Telepath series (which also includes Telepath RPG: Servants of God and Telepath Psy Arena 2 ) from Sinister Design , and like the other games – it will also support GNU/Linux.

Telepath Tactics (like the other games in the series) is a deep turn based tactical combat which explained in more depth in the following video :

 

What is Telepath Tactics ?

 

Fantasy tactics with mod support, manipulable battlefields, a Fire Emblem-style campaign and hotseat multiplayer.

The Kickstarter presentation

Imagine that Fire Emblem and Disgaea had a baby, and that baby turned out to be a prodigy…

“With destructible buildings, bridge construction to create new flanking opportunities and the ability to throw people into lava, it sounds like Telepath Tactics may contain all that is necessary for my tactical needs.”Adam Smith, Rock Paper Shotgun

“The gameplay recalls Sega’s Shining Force series, mixed with a bit of Advance Wars — as a fan of both, I definitely approve of the direction this one’s taking!”The Indie Games Blog

“Like all games of war—digital and otherwise—you must learn how to use the terrain to your advantage. You can smash through walls, rob the high ground, build bridges, and lay down explosives. You can also back your foes into undesirable puddles of stuff, like water and lava. For a change, try flinging your best friend off a cliff.”GameZebo

Telepath Tactics is the first tactics game where I felt competitive in a good way and had a great time whether I was winning or losing. I love the use of environmental effects in TT and they’ve led to some interesting land grab battles where it was more about controlling, deforming, or transforming the maps to win than directly battling my opponent.”Phil Tibitoski, Octodad

 

The Game

Telepath Tactics is a turn-based tactical RPG in the tradition of Fire Emblem and Disgaea. It features a single player campaign with well-written characters embroiled in a tale of war and political intrigue, as well as 2-to-6 player multiplayer with support for hotseat play (i.e. you and your friends playing together in the same room, Super Smash Brothers style).

 

Setting

Telepath Tactics takes place in a fantasy-steampunk universe that averts most of the tropes you’re used to from these sorts of games. Magic doesn’t exist: instead, there is psionics and steam-powered technology reliant on a volatile, crystalline substance called vibra. Cavaliers don’t ride horses: they ride giant, armored praying mantises. There are no elves, no dwarves, no goblins, no dragons: it’s just humans and a few other, entirely original sentient races (such as the shadowlings, disembodied floating heads that quite literally feed on human suffering).

 

Gameplay

Telepath Tactics takes a highly deterministic approach to combat mechanics. Attack damage is 100% predictable, and attacks always hit unless there is some intervening factor (such as the attacker having been blinded, or the target having some special defensive status effect). In this regard, it is very much a game of skill akin to chess—chance will seldom determine the outcome of a battle.

Telepath Tactics borrows liberally from the best tactics games around to provide a wide variety of available strategies. Throw enemies off of cliffs; push enemies into water or lava; fling friends across gaps; set your enemies on fire; freeze them; blind them; cripple them; stun them; use hit-and-run tactics with cavalry and bowmen; teleport; grab item drops; stick your ranged units on the high ground to boost their effectiveness; the list goes on and on.

Telepath Tactics also brings fresh new environmental manipulation mechanics to the table. Push boulders, barrels and tables in the way to block off certain routes; build bridges to create new routes across water or lava; build barricades to brunt an incoming attack; destroy walls, doors and bridges to open up or close off routes of attack; shoot through open windows; place down explosive charges to create a trap for an unwary opponent. Telepath Tactics supports all of this and more.

The enemy AI in Telepath Tactics is aggressive and reactive. The enemy will not just sit around the battlefield waiting for your characters to wander into aggro range or trigger a script—instead, the AI will actively maneuver and seek out ways to get at your most vulnerable characters.

Telepath Tactics multiplayer comes with 22 unique character classes, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and battlefield roles. The single player campaign features unique, named characters based off of these classes, each with its own custom stats and leveling schemes.

You don’t have to be content with the selection the game ships with, however. Telepath Tactics features extensive mod support that allows you to create custom multiplayer maps, custom tilesets, custom destructible objects, custom items, custom attacks, custom character classes, and even whole single player campaigns filled with unique characters, enemies, dialog and cut scenes. Everything is stored in easy-to-edit .xml files, so modding is a cinch.

The game also comes with a full-featured map editor to make creating new battles fast and simple. Create your own, or download someone else’s: Telepath Tactics supports all of the above.

There is a lot more I could say about the game. Rather than talk your ear off, however, I will direct you to the latest draft of the Telepath Tactics manual with more (and more detailed) information on how the game works.

WHERE IS TELEPATH TACTICS AT IN ITS DEVELOPMENT?

Every single thing you read in the section above is currently in-game and working. There is no question about whether this project is too ambitious to complete: it isn’t. The lion’s share of the really tough stuff is already done. I just need more resources to give the game all the content and polish it needs.

SO, WHAT DO YOU NEED $25,500 FOR?

I’ve crunched some numbers, and $25,500 is the bare minimum amount of money it will take to finish Telepath Tactics to my satisfaction. (Please note that I am not counting wages for myself in this figure. I don’t want a salary; I just want the money to get this thing done right.)

Here are the things your contribution will fund:

  • Hiring a sound designer to create all of the sound effects for every last button click, movement, attack, character death, item usage, and action in the game.  Estimated cost: $12,000
  • Hiring a composer to flesh out the game’s soundtrack with more music.  Estimated cost: $4,000
  • Hiring artists to create more art: tilesets, destructible objects, character portraits, NPC sprites, and a second gender for each character class.  Estimated cost: $4,000.00
  • Promoting Telepath Tactics* at PAX East.  Estimated cost: $2,000.00
  • Hiring a web designer to build a proper website* for Telepath Tactics.  Estimated cost: $1,000.00

Now, if you’re good at math, you might be scratching your head right now. “Craig,” you might say, “that’s only $23,000. What is the last $2,500 for?” Good eye. The last $2,500 is to cover the estimated 10% cut that Amazon and Kickstarter take from whatever we raise. (For instance: if we raise $25,500.00, I estimate that these guys will take a $2,550 cut; that leaves just about $23,000, the amount I need to cover the expenses listed above.)

* Publicity is important to the game: it means more people for you to play against in multiplayer, and more people creating single player campaigns for you to play. Trust me, you want this!

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE RAISE MORE THAN $25,500?

In the event that this happens, I have a wish list a mile long for extra goodies I could pack into the game! If it starts looking like we’re going to break past $25,500, I’ll update this section with stretch goals for ways in which we can make Telepath Tactics even more awesome.

  1. zikzak says:

    Sigh … I backed up to $60 until the demo has been released.
    This game uses Adobe’s Air. And I know that this tech is not working on my 64Bits Archlinux without messing a LOT the system.
    I’m so sad they use such a illfated product from Adobe.

  2. Maxim Bardin says:

    I play the previous RPG game on Ubuntu 64-bit, it also uses Adobe Air – but runs without problems at all for me.