Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Kickstarter link
The Banner Saga stretch goals:
Update #6: Ask not what your backers can do for you <- click for link to update w/ pics:
Update: Trailer!
Stoic was founded by three ex-Bioware developers who are currently making their first indie title.
Scarce information is available but the project seems quite interesting, and promising, to me.
Short interview!
Another one!
Sorry if old, google searching neogaf for stoic, banner saga, etc, came up with nothing. I don't think a platform has been mentioned but that site that interviewed them filed it under "PC game" for whatever reason. And there's their background with TOR. Who knows?
The Banner Saga stretch goals:
We've gotten a lot of questions about what we're going to do with extra funding, now that we're so far over our goal. First and foremost, we want you to know that, as you can probably tell, we are overjoyed to have gotten this far and beyond happy to make the game with what we've got. There are a handful of things that we never thought we'd get close to and if you agree that they're worth the extra push we'd be ecstatic to make it happen! Here's the chart:
Here's more info on each of these:
The Orchestra (at $600k)
Austin Wintory is currently working on the soundtrack and hiring on musicians but due to the cost of a full orchestra is still working with a combination of digital and live music. If we hit this goal we'll be able to have a full, honest-to-goodness orchestral score, each instrument played by a real musician in a high-quality recording studio used by film legends like John Williams.
Then what are the promotional music prizes for?
Prizes like the score and the signature have helped us get this far and also double as a way to guarantee that your personal donation goes directly into funding the music for the game.
The Most Content on the Most Platforms (at $650k)
Like the port to iPad and Linux, if we hit this goal we'll be able to make the game available on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network. The funding will allow us to have additonal developers port the game, leaving us to focus on content development.
The additional content is just as important. This will give us the ability to add a much wider range of special events that can occur as you travel and really expand the scope of the finale to make it the biggest, most rewarding conclusion we can.
The Player-Owned Cities (at $700k)
If we meet this goal we'll be able to add one of the coolest features we thought was way beyond the scope of our game. In multiplayer, players will control their own city, raising it from a modest village to a bustling city with visual customization and their guild crest flying on the walls. Over time, players can construct buildings that will allow them to recruit new units, trade for powerful items and ultimately fight for territory.
How does extra funding allow you to do this?
These stretch goals will enable us to contract additional work for programming, design and writing, in addition to taking some of the load off of us, allowing the team to focus on expanding the content. The limited hours in a day are our biggest bottleneck at this point!
Update #6: Ask not what your backers can do for you <- click for link to update w/ pics:
We've gotten a lot of emails saying we should chase more pledges by telling what we will do if you give us this much money or that much money. Having just tipped over to 400% (are you serious?) we'd rather tell you what we've been hard at work to give you, based on your donations.
MUSIC - Austin Wintory
We've teamed up with Austin Wintory, composer of the critically acclaimed 2012 game "Journey", who will bring his incredible talents to The Banner Saga. Yes, for real. Austin won the Hollywood Music Award for "Best New Film Composer" and winner of "Best Original Score - Video Game". If you haven't heard his work before I recommend watching this video as soon as you can.
Guess what? If you've already pledged $25 or more you're getting the soundtrack for free.
SOUND - Kpow Audio
We'll be working closely with the amazing sound studio Kpow Audio to give you the best possible sound quality and ambience. You may know them from their work as the entire sound team on the blockbuster hit L.A. Noire.
ANIMATION AND CINEMATICS - POWERHOUSE ANIMATION
To accomplish the huge number of unique frame-by-frame animations we'll be producing for The Banner Saga, we've enlisted the help of Powerhouse Animation. Powerhouse is made up of animator veterans who have been creating top tier work for games including Epic Mickey, DC Universe and Starhawk.
While they're experts at a whole range of animation styles they're just as excited as we are to produce animation in the classical, traditional style of Sleeping Beauty; one frame at a time. This is a labor of love for both of us!
NEW PRIZE - THE RELIC
Pledge $800 or more:
Immortalize something meaningful to you in The Banner Saga. Send us a photo of your own heirloom, memento or just something you'd like to show your friends and we'll turn it into a relic of value and power. We'll work with you to come up with a unique name and description that could include anything from a mysterious inscription to giving off a certain aura. You'll personalize it and make a coveted piece of gameplay by choosing from a list of rarities and in-game bonuses it provides. Doesn't look very viking-themed you say? That's ok, the marketplaces trade in items pillaged from all over the world. This new prize includes all the other prizes below it!
NEW PLATFORMS - iPad and LINUX
Oh boy, it's finally official. We've heard your massive outpouring of support and will officially be porting to the iPad and Linux. Let's be up front here: the Kickstarter campaign is officially for PC and Mac, and we can't change that now. However, we can now promise that your donations will be used to port the finished game to these new platforms within a reasonable timeframe. We're committed to it.
And that doesn't mean we're done porting. Depending on what amount we end with other platforms are absolutely still on the table.
NEW PROGRESS REPORT
Somehow, production continues to happen!
...
Update: Trailer!
Stoic was founded by three ex-Bioware developers who are currently making their first indie title.
Scarce information is available but the project seems quite interesting, and promising, to me.
Travel through stunning landscapes straight out of an animated film as your party escapes what could be the end of everything. Battle painstakingly hand-animated foes in strategic, turn-based combat. Make decisions with real consequences in conversations with people you'll actually care about.
The Banner Saga is a mature game aimed at gamers who appreciate art, story and strategy. Hope you'll join the caravan.
Short interview!
When you watch old Disney stuff like Sleeping Beauty the art style is something you dont see anymore and its so unique you wonder if youll ever see it again. The lead artist on that movie was Eyvind Earle and he heavily influenced our style on The Banner Saga. It also influenced our decision to go with a traditional style of animation and right now the game looks and feels like youre playing an animated film. Weve even gone so far as to turn the conversation system into a 2D movie and were ecstatic about how well it works. It would be almost impossible to duplicate this look in a modern 3D game, and why would you want to anyway? I think were onto something there.
As for gameplay, Im really excited about our combat system. Ive been a die-hard fan of games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Shining Force since I was a kid and I think we captured that feeling while also adding a really unique dynamic Ive never seen in turn-based strategy before. I cant talk about that much now but well be putting out more info on that pretty soon.
Another one!
Our first priority has always been to make a real, story-based, single player campaign with The Banner Saga just like youre saying. As we developed our combat system we felt that we have something really unique and fun and figured why not release it as a standalone? As a result, the game will have a single player and multiplayer component. Well release the multiplayer combat for free later this year and release the single-player campaign soon after that. Rest assured, the single player campaign is our primary focus.
Sorry if old, google searching neogaf for stoic, banner saga, etc, came up with nothing. I don't think a platform has been mentioned but that site that interviewed them filed it under "PC game" for whatever reason. And there's their background with TOR. Who knows?