Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Moderator: Forum Moderators
Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Hey guys! I wanted to drop in and let you know about Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG I'm developing right now. (Note: I don't run around spamming threads about this everywhere: I'm posting this one on the Wesnoth forums specifically because this seems like the kind of place where people would be interested in hearing about it.)
Okay, about the game!
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. Horsemen 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, creatures that quite literally feed on human suffering).
Story
Like The Battle for Wesnoth, Telepath Tactics supports a potentially infinite variety of player-created campaigns. However, here is the summary for the "official" campaign the game will ship with:
Emma and Sabrina were nearly too young to remember when their family was forced into slavery in the vibra mines of Kovit. When their father took ill, the sisters were forced to make his quota or face starvation. After a shadowling slaver took pity on them, they escaped, fleeing into the wilderness. They were found and taken in by a tribe of Lissit, reptilian warriors, who raised the sisters as their own.
Now Emma and Sabrina train tirelessly, bent on revenge and the prospect of rescuing their ailing father from bondage. But the years are never kind to a miner, and time grows desperately short. They will need all of their wits–and the help of some unlikely allies–if they are to succeed…
Gameplay
Telepath Tactics features 2-to-6 player multiplayer and Fire Emblem-style single player campaigns.
Unlike Wesnoth, the mechanics of Telepath Tactics are highly deterministic. If a character dies, it will be because you screwed up, almost never because of a series of bad rolls. There is a ton of tactical variety in this game: the engine features elevation effects, environmental hazards, a bevy of status effects, bridge-building, barricade-building, character inventories, the ability to move or destroy objects in the environment, and the ability to push, pull and throw other characters off of cliffs and into water or lava.
Moddability
Telepath Tactics is designed for easy modding. All assets are contained in external .png files, and all of the game's essential data defining character classes, attacks, destructible objects, maps, items, etc. is contained in easy-to-edit .xml files. The game features explicit support for custom multiplayer maps and custom single player campaigns, and comes with a full-featured map editor (itself with support for custom tilesets) to make creating new battles extremely simple.
I've posted a video introducing the process of creating a custom single player campaign right here if you're curious.
Platforms
Telepath Tactics is being developed for PC, Mac and Linux. (There is a strong possibility that I will port it to mobile devices afterwards.)
What can you do?
Right now, I'm running a Kickstarter campaign to fund Telepath Tactics' continued development. (The game is already playable, as the free alpha demo will attest, but I'm trying to pull together more graphic art and audio. Watch the pitch video for a full explanation!)
Also, I've placed Telepath Tactics on Steam Greenlight: if you're interested in seeing this game on Steam, please take a moment to drop in and vote "Yes"; I'd greatly appreciate it!
And that's that. If you have any questions, I'm right here, so go ahead and post and I'll do my best to answer them!
Okay, about the game!
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. Horsemen 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, creatures that quite literally feed on human suffering).
Story
Like The Battle for Wesnoth, Telepath Tactics supports a potentially infinite variety of player-created campaigns. However, here is the summary for the "official" campaign the game will ship with:
Emma and Sabrina were nearly too young to remember when their family was forced into slavery in the vibra mines of Kovit. When their father took ill, the sisters were forced to make his quota or face starvation. After a shadowling slaver took pity on them, they escaped, fleeing into the wilderness. They were found and taken in by a tribe of Lissit, reptilian warriors, who raised the sisters as their own.
Now Emma and Sabrina train tirelessly, bent on revenge and the prospect of rescuing their ailing father from bondage. But the years are never kind to a miner, and time grows desperately short. They will need all of their wits–and the help of some unlikely allies–if they are to succeed…
Gameplay
Telepath Tactics features 2-to-6 player multiplayer and Fire Emblem-style single player campaigns.
Unlike Wesnoth, the mechanics of Telepath Tactics are highly deterministic. If a character dies, it will be because you screwed up, almost never because of a series of bad rolls. There is a ton of tactical variety in this game: the engine features elevation effects, environmental hazards, a bevy of status effects, bridge-building, barricade-building, character inventories, the ability to move or destroy objects in the environment, and the ability to push, pull and throw other characters off of cliffs and into water or lava.
Moddability
Telepath Tactics is designed for easy modding. All assets are contained in external .png files, and all of the game's essential data defining character classes, attacks, destructible objects, maps, items, etc. is contained in easy-to-edit .xml files. The game features explicit support for custom multiplayer maps and custom single player campaigns, and comes with a full-featured map editor (itself with support for custom tilesets) to make creating new battles extremely simple.
I've posted a video introducing the process of creating a custom single player campaign right here if you're curious.
Platforms
Telepath Tactics is being developed for PC, Mac and Linux. (There is a strong possibility that I will port it to mobile devices afterwards.)
What can you do?
Right now, I'm running a Kickstarter campaign to fund Telepath Tactics' continued development. (The game is already playable, as the free alpha demo will attest, but I'm trying to pull together more graphic art and audio. Watch the pitch video for a full explanation!)
Also, I've placed Telepath Tactics on Steam Greenlight: if you're interested in seeing this game on Steam, please take a moment to drop in and vote "Yes"; I'd greatly appreciate it!
And that's that. If you have any questions, I'm right here, so go ahead and post and I'll do my best to answer them!
Last edited by cstern on March 11th, 2013, 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
For me at least, the Linux/Mac download link results in a mess of mojibake with a media type at the top. It looks like it’s supposed to be downloaded to a file, but my browser is instead trying to display it as a Web page.
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
I seem to remember this being an issue with certain browsers; try using a different browser and see if that fixes it.8680 wrote:For me at least, the Linux/Mac download link results in a mess of mojibake with a media type at the top. It looks like it’s supposed to be downloaded to a file, but my browser is instead trying to display it as a Web page.
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
That worked, but you really oughtn’t make the user switch browsers for something as simple as downloading a file (I’d be fine with it if it required some of the new technologies, but it doesn’t). Please try to fix this; it may be as simple as checking that you’re serving the file with the correct media type.
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Just so I know, what browser were you using?
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Replied via personal message.
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Hey guys! Just popping in to let everyone know that I'm giving Kickstarter another shot in three days. I've streamlined the campaign based on feedback from the last one, so I won't need to raise quite as much this time to meet my goals. I've also added a small mountain of new features to the game, and rewritten the main campaign with a more focused, emotionally grounded narrative that I expect will do a better job of easing players into the game's setting.
The campaign kicks off Thursday; I'll have a massively updated public demo available at that time.
The campaign kicks off Thursday; I'll have a massively updated public demo available at that time.
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
I launched the Kickstarter campaign this morning, and so far, the response has been tremendous! As of the time of writing, we've raised over $8,800, or 58% of the campaign's base goal.
I'm hoping we can reach 100% by the end of the day tomorrow, then push on toward stretch goals. If you're interested in Telepath Tactics, you should definitely come visit the campaign page and see what's cooking; exciting things are afoot.
I'm hoping we can reach 100% by the end of the day tomorrow, then push on toward stretch goals. If you're interested in Telepath Tactics, you should definitely come visit the campaign page and see what's cooking; exciting things are afoot.
-
Blarumyrran
- Art Contributor
- Posts: 1700
- Joined: December 7th, 2006, 8:08 pm
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Very nice pixelart! the splash screen is comparatively really ugly.
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
I'm glad you like the pixel art!
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Whew; we're really close, guys! The Kickstarter is 95% funded; it's just about $700 short of 100%. If you want to get in on this, now would be a good time. 
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
We've reached our base funding goal! It only took 3 days, too, which is pretty awesome. I've posted stretch goals; feel free to check 'em out. And of course, if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it!
Re: Telepath Tactics, a new turn-based tactical RPG
Psssst! You guys, there's less than 2 days left in the Kickstarter campaign. We're just $1,626 away from hitting our fourth stretch goal. If you haven't checked it out yet, now's the time!