You can stop bemoaning the death of old school RPGs now, because Obsidian Entertainment wants to bring it back. When you consider the pace at which money is coming in for their Kickstarter of the "Project Eternity" game, you can bet that this game will be funded in like 24 hours or less. As of this writing, they've raised $505,399. But what is it? Well, an isometric party based RPG–fantasy, of course. Kickstarter is great for projects that the suits don't think is 'commercially viable' like this….certainly we don't see much isometric RPG games like the days of Black Isles Studios.
It's an all-star team onboard too: we have Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, Josh Sawyer – people who have worked on titles like Baldur's Gate, Icewind, and Planescape Torment. Pedigree and all that. They describe the game as such:
Project Eternity will take the central hero, memorable companions and the epic exploration of Baldur’s Gate, add in the fun, intense combat and dungeon diving of Icewind Dale, and tie it all together with the emotional writing and mature thematic exploration of Planescape: Torment.
Combat uses a tactical real-time with pause system – positioning your party and coordinating attacks and abilities is one of the keys to success. The world map is dotted with unique locations and wilderness ripe for exploration and questing. You’ll create your own character and collect companions along the way – taking him or her not just through this story, but, with your continued support, through future adventures. You will engage in dialogues that are deep, and offer many choices to determine the fate of you and your party. …and you'll experience a story that explores mature themes and presents you with complex, difficult choices to shape how your story plays out.
The project hopes to raise $1.1 million dollars, and some of the pledge awards are fun things like "name and design and NPC character." You know, if you have $1k on this thing.
You can fund the project here.
