Hinterland (PC) - Loot. Level. Build.

[Fragamemnon]

Tilted Mill's new game that they have been teasing us for the last two weeks has been unveiled, and it sounds fantastic.

http://www.tiltedmill.com/hinterland/

Loot, level and build with fast paced RPG combat and strategic base building!

Your goal is to lead a handful of peasants to establish a small haven in the wild backcountry of a fantasy kingdom. You must also carefully select members of your village to put down their ploughs, leave their comfortable homes, taking whatever weapon they may have at hand, to join you on expeditions of exploration and conquest in the surrounding lands. There you’ll encounter the characters and creatures of myth and folklore, and find much needed resources to expand your village. Should your forays meet with success, fame, fortune and prosperity await. But you must take care, for even the loss of a lowly farmer can spell disaster when harvest time comes.

Can you build a vibrant settlement, lead your people to prosperity, and tame the wild Hinterland?


Features
Fantasy role-playing and character development
Party-based tactical combat, including item use
Base building, including building upgrades
Innovative combat stat leveling system
Random world generation for maximum replay
Folklore / fantasy setting
Intimate scale

So the game is sort of a mix between roguelike and city-builder. Yeah, I think I can dig that. 

[Smooth Groove]

The concept sounds great.  I hope the graphics go beyond the generic Titan Quest/Age of Conan look though. 

[ToxicAdam]

You forgot the most important part.

Hinterland will be available later this summer for under twenty dollars, through digital download.

Niiice.

[Fragamemnon]

Yeah this is TM's first real indie game. The price is very much right.

Smooth-it isn't going to be a super high tech production, I don't think. Not for the price point and timeframe that they are shipping with. It'll still look good though and have some decent, consistent art if it is like the other TM games.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

sounds awesome

RTS loot is the new loot

[MrAngryFace]

Id rather have GAMEPLAY omg

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Actually this reminds me of the world building parts of Actraiser

[Smooth Groove]

Yeah this is TM's first real indie game. The price is very much right.

Smooth-it isn't going to be a super high tech production, I don't think. Not for the price point and timeframe that they are shipping with. It'll still look good though and have some decent, consistent art if it is like the other TM games.

It doesn't have to have fancy DX10 effects.  I was thinking more about the artistic direction.  The art in fantasy games have been really generic the last few years. 

[pilonv1]

sounds like majesty x titan quest. perfect

[Fragamemnon]

Actually this reminds me of the world building parts of Actraiser

Or something like Dark Cloud.

I like that they designed each game to last about five or six hours or so with a high degree of randomization and replayability. That's about how long I would spend on a sandbox game of Anno or one of the older Impressions city-builders, just the right length.

[pilonv1]

PICS

[Fragamemnon]

It's simple, but I really like the look. I hope that the game has some sort of difficultly progression/persistence between sessions incorporated into it somehow, I know there will be Steam achivements and what not but this is a genre where I really love pushing the limits in terms of difficultly.

[pilonv1]

I hope the loot is good

[pilonv1]

http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/hinterland/preview/hinterland/a-20080829135345244089/g-20080829133822288013

As excited as everyone is by Diablo III, you find yourself wondering: what else could an RPG be? Is collecting loot, side-questing, selling to shopkeepers (and repeat) the only way to do it? Hinterland is built off the same fantasy ingredients we’re used to seeing in RPGs, and you can spot the inspiration - Diablo, Rogue-games, Dwarf Fortress, city-builders - but we’ve never seen the ideas mashed up like this. “In making it, we kind of had this ‘why didn’t someone make this before?’ feeling,” says Jeff Fiske, co-designer.

You’re a lord, sent into the wild to explore and left-click any bad guys in your backyard. While you’re adventuring forth, your village grows. Acquired items secure different types of citizens, so recruiting new townsfolk will be your main goal. The idea stemmed from the dev’s earlier experiments in a medieval city-builder. “You don’t get bards unless you can find a magical instrument,” explains Mat Williams, senior producer. “You need ancient tomes to bring a wizard in. You can get a necromancer, but you’ve got to find a crypt.” Once settled, your lord can issue orders, setting the smith to construct swords or the priest to pray for healing - no more buying items off the populace you’re protecting. And if you decide the village can survive without a certain citizen, ask them to join your party and head off into the wilderness.

But don’t expect a medieval SimCity. Hinterland aims for manageable 10-to-20 villager towns, and a relatively small surrounding area that can be patrolled in a few hours (but won’t get old, we’re told). The game leans on randomly generated content to encourage replay and influence your village’s make-up. “If you find a game forest, you can build the hunter,” says Jeff, “but if you don’t... you don’t.” An achievement system will add some structure, but the main idea is roaming the game’s variable world, shaping your own quests along the way. “We talk about how silly it is when you play an RPG, you do some quest and the world doesn’t change,” says Jeff.

“Now, you sort of make your own quests. If you get a sword, and give it to your farmer, and the village gets attacked when you’re gone... you’ve changed the world by giving the farmer that sword. And if he stops making food, it has an actual effect on the world, whether he’s out adventuring with you, or he’s recovering from the injuries he’s sustained helping defend the town.” What could an RPG be? Anything, clearly.

This sounds so fucking awesome. No forrest = no hunter

[Fragamemnon]

The layout of the game reminds me of the first (and usually most satisfying) hours of a game of Civ4 or something-you're given some land with a random smattering of resources and terrain, some obstacles, both geographic and political (other AIs), and your job is to tackle them by playing the hand you were "dealt" the best you can. Then the game ends before you get bored to tears finishing the game up.

Sounds good to me. Can't wait for the full release, wish I had it now because Warhammer is going to eat me alive.

[Joe Molotov]

Your PC must not be very good.

[Joe Molotov]

I could see how that might hinder your PC gaming.

[Fragamemnon]

Well since my mobo burned out you can say "not good" to mean "doesn't work"

I got my wife an Asus P5Q a week ago when I did some upgrades for her for Warhammer Online. Really nice board, would definitely recommend (and it's pretty inexpensive too).