This isn't an update, but I wanted to talk about a game currently in development that has me excited because it is very reminiscent of the approach I'm taking to my mod. It's called Tyranny, and it's a joint project between Paradox Interactive and Obsidian. It utilizes Pillars of Eternity's graphics engine, so it shares the
look and feel of a Neverwinter Nights game with the classic isometric RPG perspective. It's not often games explore evil as a central concept, and even fewer have tried it without parodying it (*cough* Overlord). Tyranny might be the first genuinely evil and serious game I've come across. Now you're probably thinking, "There are several games you choose to be evil. How is this different?" According to what we know from the website and a developer diary, when you start the game, you discover evil has already won; the good guys lost! Second, you have a position of high authority within this evil faction. Most developers would have started the player as a slave/rebel and had them work their way up to overthrow this evil, but apparently, you won't be doing that. Furthermore, a person of your lofty status should be powerful, so we're promised we won't be killing rats. After all, your character contributed to evil winning in the first place!
So how does this relate to my mod? There are similarities, but because it contains some detective story elements, I've made the factions and character motivations vague. The Church of Knox has misconstrued evil inclinations, but they try not to wear evil on their sleeves. The Church's intentions are justified under the pretext of keeping it's citizens safe, but at what point does safety and security begin to restrict the very people they're trying to protect? Your character's stuck in a political whirlwind of conflicting interests, and while I can't be specific due to spoilers, I can say it's not as simple as Church vs. heretics. I imagine Tyranny's characters (whoever they will be), are similar to some of my characters who will exploit others and abuse positions of authority. Furthermore, your character in my mod can be quite evil, and Malakai actively encourages this behavior. I will start the player off weak and at lvl 1, but this is important to create a sense of vulnerability and to put the player in a position of being exploited, otherwise the player could simply fight their way out to escape their problems. Finally, my mod isn't about good vs. evil, because there was never good to begin with! After all, aren't all humans inherently evil? You can take that argument up with Adam and Eve!Obviously, Tyranny is made by a group of people, so there are certain ambitious I can't match. Tyranny incentivizes multiple play-throughs, but my mod will be lucky to get 2-3 play-throughs. I'll probably have most of my major decisions come near the ending half of the mod to cut down on excessive branching paths. Reputation, journal entries, and alignment adjustments will calculate what path your protagonist takes. There will be bad endings along the way to keep the player on their toes, but I can't afford the time to branch out from each bad ending.
But hey, here is what it all comes down to: My mod has sex. I doubt Tyranny can do that without cutting away from the action, but if I'm wrong, I applaud them. Pillars of Eternity didn't even have romance, and was a major reason I quit it. I understand they didn't include it because Pillars of Eternity was a Kickstarter and they wanted to focus on gameplay, but it doesn't change the fact it didn't have romance! Maybe the video game industry can one day mature enough to reach the realm of TV, like Game of Thrones. The people who don't want sex in games don't have to play them, period.
