By Alec Meer on June 18th, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
John’s just been moaning that he wants a new RPG to lose himself in for hours, and so I will provide. Well, eventually. Underrail isn’t out yet – why must videogames exist before they are finished? – but if the wait for Wasteland 2 seems too torturous perhaps this could fill that turn-based, it’s the end of the world and I feel fine, hole in your life.
Formerly known as ‘Timelapse Vertigo’, it’s now settled on a name which puts me in mind of hobos sleeping underneath railway bridges. Now that would be an amazing survival RPG. This one’s straight-up scifi, set in a – no surprises here – post-apocalyptic future where mankind has fled underground and holed up in old train stations. Here’s what it looks like in its current alpha state:
Being an incredibly ambitious, sprawling old game with tons of mechanics and areas, it’s hard not to worry that this could be an Age of Decadence-style project that forever seems to elude release, but it’s been in development for two years already and thus far I see no evidence of its more-or-less one man developer Stygsoft electing to verbally eviscerate people. There’s no release date as yet A public demo is planned for the Autumn, Stygsoft told RPGWatch, and after that crowd-funding is a distinct possibility.
More details, including further piccies and a long dev blog going into the current state of play, are right here.
18/06/2012 at 14:08 Kynrael says:
I love the soundtrack !
19/06/2012 at 02:03 derps says:
Reminds me of Diablo, but like in the future.
18/06/2012 at 14:09 apocraphyn says:
Wow. Well, this looks utterly dashing. Fallout with…magic? Seen nothing of it but the video provided above and I’m already sold. Thanks RPS!
18/06/2012 at 14:26 torchedEARTH says:
Hobo the Roguelike. Probably something that could be very poignant and highlight the plight of the homeless. Let’s hope Channel 4 or the BBC pick this up.
18/06/2012 at 14:28 Hoaxfish says:
A legitimate reason to fight giant rats for loot that is better than you currently have
18/06/2012 at 16:49 The Random One says:
“Due to the harsh economic climate, many have become homeless, being forced to depend on the dark arts to survive.”
19/06/2012 at 09:33 NathanH says:
Peter Mandelson is homeless?
18/06/2012 at 14:35 PodX140 says:
This is only one of the very many reasons I read RPS; to find out about these intelligent but less known games that are being released. I honestly wonder how many games/developers RPS has saved based on a news post alone, let alone a wot I think? It’s a great thing to be sure.
This game is on my radar now for sure though.
18/06/2012 at 14:47 Kdansky says:
A bit grey. A bit flickery. Quite a bit interesting.
18/06/2012 at 14:58 BubuIIC says:
Argh, this damn clicking sound! This looks brilliant, but I’ll probably go insane when playing it…
18/06/2012 at 15:02 Desmolas says:
I think its supposed to be the neon-lights flickering on and off. And yes, it was highly distracting in the video. Still, I would pay to play this game.
18/06/2012 at 15:10 fenriz says:
wonderful.
thank you for the isometric come-back, oh lord youknowwhop.
18/06/2012 at 15:12 Chaz says:
Blimey! How big is the train that runs on that line?
18/06/2012 at 17:23 Johnny Fronthole says:
Probably designed by the same guy who built the ventilation shafts you can stroll around in.
18/06/2012 at 15:25 mckertis says:
“I see no evidence of its more-or-less one man developer Stygsoft electing to verbally eviscerate people. ”
Sure, if you dont tell anyone what you’re working on – naturally there is no reason to defend it, verbally or otherwise.
18/06/2012 at 15:25 Torn says:
Kickstarter this now please! I’m throwing my wallet at the screen but nothing’s happening.
18/06/2012 at 16:10 mangrove says:
I’d chip into a kickstarter of this in a heartbeat.
18/06/2012 at 18:03 Palehorse says:
+1
Also: why must videogames exist before they are finished? This is so true. I wanted to play this today after watching the video.
18/06/2012 at 15:51 Maritz says:
Apparently he’s drawing everything in Paint. Blimey.
18/06/2012 at 16:50 Lucky Main Street says:
Oh man, now I really want some kind of class war RPG. The rich have to scurry from office tower to office tower while dodging the throngs of poor in the street and the destitute have to scavenge for food and find shelter.
18/06/2012 at 18:04 Dances to Podcasts says:
Sir, you are being hunted is sortof in that direction…
18/06/2012 at 16:52 karthink says:
This game, like Fallout 1&2, will stand or fall (and flail about) on the strength of its writing. So typos of the its/it’s kind and the general writing quality worry me a bit.
Hmm, I wonder if the dev will accept help from volunteers. I would be interested in proof-reading the script and game world text in my spare time.
18/06/2012 at 17:36 Demiath says:
I’ve followed the development of Underrail since it was called Timelapse Vertigo and looked much less than an actual game than it does in this latest, agreeably meaty trailer. After having checked the Stygsoft web page every once in a while for updates it sure is great to see how things have progressed past those early embryonic stages.
18/06/2012 at 22:26 StygSoft says:
Thanks for the positive feedback, guys. :)
Regarding the flickering light, I got a lot of complaints about that so I will definitely be tuning that down.
18/06/2012 at 22:45 Garmr says:
Hell yea! This look like something I would be honoured to contribute some of my sparse free time and put some words on paper. While realizing the time sucking abyss such volunteer work might turn into. Stygsoft, if you ever feel you could make some use of an amateur writer I would be happy to send you some pieces to judge.
19/06/2012 at 15:18 StygSoft says:
Thanks for the offer, but as a rule I don’t accept voluntary work.
20/06/2012 at 20:02 Garmr says:
Understandable, It can be a pain in the rear end to deal with such matters.
19/06/2012 at 00:11 malkav11 says:
This looks neat, but will it really come out before Wasteland 2? Only time will tell!
19/06/2012 at 03:50 Mephistoau says:
Hell yes, this looks amazing. I would definitely throw money at this. MAKE IT QUICKER! o_0