Project Offset

[Klade]

A new game in development with the working title of Project Offset is raising some serious eyebrows as of late. The game makes an awful lot of very nifty promises that'll likely to grab the interest of RPG/FPS geeks everywhere.

Project Offset claims to be the first ever fantasy FPS game (various other fantasy fps games aside I suppose :D ). The game will, among other things, allow players the ability to pick classes and play in singleplayer, coop, multiplayer modes. They can also "fly dragons", supposedly.

To backup these promises the makers have released a Sneak Peek (http://www.projectoffset.com/) on their website. Bluesnews (http://www.bluesnews.com) deserves the credit for pointing this one out.

The sneak peak if real is amazing in more ways then one. Not the least of which is that the game is currently being made by only 3 people.

[Deadend]

Wow. That was some nice footage, looked to be about Killzone 2 quality, but considering this would likely be a PC game, I CAN imagine it looking that good... if your hardware is good enough.

The editor looks neat as well, as if its fast and easy as they want it to be... then they could defy the whole more expensive games thing going on.

I also saw that they are 3 people from S2 the makers of Savage, I wonder why they split off to make this, as the lead programer and artists leaving the team seems a bit odd, espically on a 7-man team.

[Heretic Machine]

Maybe I should point out Hexen...

[Sazime]

3 people? This seems insane. If it ever becomes anything other than vaporware I may die from shock.

[ElectricMonk]

well it appears they had worked on games previously so they should know what to do. i hope they can get more people on it, it looks like it could be fun

[snubber]

goddamn. that's a NICE looking engine....great models, ligting, and shaders. And while normally I'd doubt any 3-man team, the fact they have a previous high-quality commercial title under their belt (Savage) bodes well. Obviously they'd have to staff up a bit to move it from tech demo to full game, but with the start of an engine like that, I'd imagine they could secure some funding.

Good stuff, I'll have to keep an eye on this (even though Fantasy FPS leaves a bad taste in my mouth).

[Carnifex]

Looked like a tech demo to me. But a very nice one. I doubt it's representative of the final product.

Oh, and another fantasy FPS: The Wheel of Time. I actually liked that one, despite being a bit easy and short.

[Mason]

I guess the name "Design Concept: Null Pointer" was taken by another fantasy game.

A 3 man team can create some great screenshots. A 3 man team cannot create a RPG of the scope and depth we all are thinking about when we use the term "RPG".

[Spigot]

Don't forget Drakan (or was it Drakhan?) which had awesome dragon-flight. Hmm... it may have been 3rd person though... still, best dragon flight sim that I've played so far.

Does Morrowind count as a fantasy FPS since it's mostly done first person? What about, oh, the Thief series, which while being 'sneakers' are all first person.

Seems these guys did the Savage game a few years back. That was actually a pretty fun game, if ahead of its time. Actually, come to think of it, it was SORT of like Guild Wars in that it was very PvP centered, but they didn't really have an overarching world that you played in. The mix of RTS and FPS actually worked well.

[Draft]

I always liked Natural Selection more than Savage.

[Oblivion]

savage was bugged to hell.

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

Forget Hexen, Wheel of Time, etc. etc., what about 3D Monster Maze? Okay, there was no real shooting in that, but what about Phantom Slayer? Catacomb 3D? Shadowcaster? Ah, but their official website gives them an out -- it's the "first epic fantasy FPS," "epic" in this case apparently meaning "whatever distinguishes our game from the 5,000 earlier fantasy FPS games."

[Redline]

This is not to dump on the efforts of these people, as it's a fine looking tech demo at the moment. But that's all it is, a tech demo and is the reason why so little actual gameplay is actually shown. Can't really blame them, people have to talk up their efforts to get noticed don't they? All game companies do this, that's life.

[Taran Wanderer]

They have a clarification on their website. They don't plan on doing the entire game with just three people:
"Lastly, and most important: we have no intention of developing the entire game with just the 3 of us! We are actively looking for investors and publishers, and encourage interested parties to email us."

[Orphiuchus]

The gameplay that is shown is unbelievable. Wow.

[mister_slim]

Best off luck to them. I'm glad they're aiming high. Tech looks nice. I hope they don't get in over their head.

[dr_qwandry]

Looks like a great project.
remember the last recruit team to get their own game?
the what's-it-called one with the HL engine.

[Rommel]

I think they are using the FPS portion to counter everything but Hexan, and the Epic portion to disclude Hexan.