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After Reset Interview

by Kevin ( CouchPotato), 2014-09-16

After Reset is a new RPG by Black Cloud Studios that promised to bring back the feeling of the old Fallout games with modern Graphics. It started out as a mod, and evolved over the years.

As some of you knows 3 years ago, before giving birth to After Reset, I already worked on Fallout Van Buren Persistent World as fan-made noncommercial RPG server. That game I developed was technically based on Electron Engine (one of the Obsidian’s engines) and used mechanics of DnD 3,5 adopted to Fallout setting at my taste. All that I did alone at my free-time just for fun (with a little help of freelancers I hired by my own money).

Guys from KickStarter encouraged me by saying that showing my previous work is a great idea, whether it was professionally done or not. So in this news, I’d like to share some info about that Fallout D20 Persistent Word I made 3 years ago just for fun.

That was our Intro (video): http://vimeo.com/22214170

Some Gameplay 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS3LVPtf9i0
Some Gameplay 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU-AjULhBH8

The first kickstarter in December 2013 asked for $900,000, and he only received $47,939. He posted the following reply on the kickstarter before the end.

Our Kickstarter is almost done, and rather than waste your time merely discussing how thankful we are for your support, I’ll simply say that all of us at Black Cloud Studios have been inspired by your love and support throughout the campaign.

Some might view this campaign as a failure, but even though we didn’t collect the $900k needed to complete the development of our game - we did attract more than 1300 classic RPG fans to our cause, and we received two proposals from serious international studios. Sure, one door has closed - but others have opened up to replace it. The game will still be made, but (sadly) it will take much longer this way. We’ll still continue to forward our major website updates, and press releases, to Kickstarter even after the campaign finishes.

The games developer Mr, Nixon wouldn't let that stop him, and was determined to get his game made. He next did a new kickstarter to help fund a visual novel called The Fall of Gyes that ties into the game. He got $14,299 in pledges to make the novel a reality.

                                       (The video describes the novel The Fall of Gyes.)

After that he relaunched the game on Kickstarter in July 2014 with a simpler goal of making the games prologue for $35,000. He succeed in getting funded with $94,892. 

So congratulations to Mr.Nixon, and thanks to all the backers who helped fund it.

       

                                   (Here is a video of the games backstory.)

Today I am proud to announce that together, we did it. Yes, any mere gamer, like mys elf, can take it upon themselves to stop moaning on forums and establish their own serious development team to build the game of their dreams. Proven by gamers, for gamers!

Beyond us, we must bow to all communities, all journalists, all medias, streamers, brother indie developers, cool guys from Steam and GOG, our families and friends who bore with us, who trusted us, and believed in the After Reset RPG.

Guys, since I revealed and shared the After Reset world with you, you’ve been supporting, encouraging, and inspiring it. You’ve shown great belief and trust in a mere gamer just like you, with no industry background, with only his works, devotion and perseverance. I’ve tried to do my best to meet your expectations. It looks like we’re a good team.

Last week I had the chance to interview Mr. Nixon of Black Cloud Studios. I asked the community to send questions, and some of you responded. So lets get started.


CouchPotato: Thanks for agreeing to do the interview Mr. Nixon, and congratulations on getting funded. To start can you give us some information about yourself, and your company Black Cloud Studios?

Mr. Nixon: Thank you, Kevin, and thank RPGWatch for being interested and for giving us the opportunity to talk about our game. 

Mostly I’m a common RPG gamer like many others who are reading our interview right now. 3 years ago, as a former Dungeon Master, I began to work on the After Reset setting as a hobby, spending my own savings on elaborating it as a realistic post-apocalyptic word. When the core of the setting was complete with hard sci-fi details, I began to hire free-lance artists and musicians so that they could begin animating my vision. Then there were modelers, programmers, video editors etc. By the time of Fall of 2013, when I decided to put After Reset RPG on Steam Greenlight just for fun, I had a permanent group of free-lancers who I had been working with for a long time. After the surprising success on Steam Greenlight, they formed the core of Black Cloud Studios.

CouchPotato: What are your favourite RPG games you played over the years?

Mr. Nixon: Old-school RPGs: Fallout 1&2, Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights 1&2. New-school RPGs: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1&2, Mass Effect 1&2, Dragon Age 1&2.

CouchPotato: What elements do you think are most lacking in modern day CRPGs? How will After Reset help fill that void?

Mr. Nixon: From commercial point of view, I suppose, the situation on modern RPG market is fine. From spiritual point of view, they lost the soul of true roleplay. Frankly, they haven’t lost it but once developers just decided to approach video games not like an art but as a cash cow only. Bioware and Obsidian are the unique exceptions. Anyways, I feel, there’s too many marketing and too less soul in modern RPGs.

Frankly, After Reset RPG since the beginning was not aimed at any specific marketing niche or “void”. But it has the soul, I believe. It is not an investment based on ROI forecast – our game is a lovely child. So all we do as the developers is just creating the game of our dreams as the gamers. And it is really inspiring and pleasant to know and feel the support and approval of other gamers like us.

CouchPotato: What do you think about recent gaming trends like KS campaigns, F2P, forced online components, streamlining (dumbing down), and over-the-top action/gore?


Mr. Nixon:  Kickstarter and Steam Early Access are really awesome. Without them people would never found out about us, we’d never made our mind to go publicity and hence After Reset RPG has stayed only a one man hobby. Moreover, guys, without Kickstarter we’d never played such nice games like The Banner Saga and Divinity: Original Sin.

Speaking about MMO parts… Well, Kevin, I can’t regard MMOs as a RPG sub-genre. And despite of the PR made by publishers, I suppose they should be viewed as separate genres. SWTOR is not KOTOR, Neverwinter is not Neverwinter Nights, The Elder Scrolls Online is not Skyrim etc.  These are “fast-food MMOs”, in my point of view, - they are casual “don’t think, don’t feel - just point and click” massive multiplayer games which concentrates on the young adults (youngsters grown up enough to spend money) and they are developed accordingly as one of several specific marketing strategies. Their development’s budgets are usually divided as: 10-20% for low cost, low quality development; 80-90% for PR and marketing. You can’t bring anything from these such games into your real life experience. There is no soul in such games – only money making strategies from large companies. They’ve became so popular among publishers because a publisher is a company (even if it is represented by public famous person). As a company, its main purpose is to generate profit that is provided by lowering costs and maximizing income cash flow. And nowadays fast-food MMOs provide that profit as no other genre in the gaming industry can. 

CouchPotato:  Now in-case some of you have missed the posts for the last year on our site can you describe what After Reset RPG is about?

Mr. Nixon:  After Reset RPG – is an old school hard sci-fi post-apocalyptic roleplaying game inspired by Fallout 1&2, Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment.

Planet Earth. 132 years after the 'Reset', the thermonuclear apocalypse that ended human civilization. Around one third of the globe is covered by 'Yellow Zones' where the ruins of cities are covered with radioactive dust. In these areas, anarchist survivor groups have taken control where uncontaminated food and drinking water are valued on a par with human life. Another third of the earth is in the agony of the 'Red Zones', the epicentres of the deadly anomalies that arose as a result of a nuclear chain reaction in the atmosphere and the morphing of the planet. The majority of life is not capable of surviving in the Red Zones that makes them a perfect home for mutants. The planet is unrecognizable.

This is where your story begins. You find yourself on the floor of some kind of laboratory, completely naked and surrounded by shards of broken glass and a strange, oozing liquid pooling at your feet. You remember nothing, and apart from medical instruments and equipment - there’s no one around. The only thing you hear is a female voice, calling to you: “Wake up, Commander.” From that moment on - everything is in your hands.

With these things in mind, After Reset RPG is based on three pillars of design from the good old days. You can expect:
• A Post-Apocalyptic Atmosphere developed with a focus on sci-fi realism and more locations to explore than Fallout 1 and 2 combined.
• A Nonlinear Story with the freedom to choose between a ton of branches and endings, which influence the whole setting - even beyond the game you play.
• Hardcore Game Mechanics in the best traditions of D&D and SPECIAL, we have created our own system called SACPIC, where you will be able to customize every aspect of your character.

CouchPotato: What inspired you to make a game like After Reset RPG in todays game market?

Mr. Nixon:  As a player, I just wanted to play the game like this. I was tired to be deceived by publishers and their marketing, tired to complain of forums. So I decided (rephrasing): “If you want to play something, stop complaining and do it yourself”.

The core of the setting was born in my dreams. After seeing the concept for After Reset in such a detailed dream, I just woke up and started digging on science about it. But I believe such authors I used to read in my childhood affected my vision as well: Robert Sheckley, Roger Zelazny, Philip Dick, Harry Harrison, Carlton Mellick, China Tom Mieville, Terry Dowling, Murray Leinster and Orson Scott.

But the final kick to the reality was made by gamers. The gamers like me, who felt the same and who supported us by words and by donations. Their trust, concern and faith like a magic is summoning the game to the reality even now. Guys, I know, you’re reading these lines – Thank you! Thank you for everything.

This After Reset RPG has never been “a product for game market” – it is “a game from gamers for gamers”.

CouchPotato: Let’s talk about straight science what is it? And why you choose this for the game?

Mr. Nixon:  And once again, Kevin, that was not intentional. You know, I’ve begun to elaborate every details in After Reset with scientific approach because of my experience as a gamer. I’m an old and picky RPG player from old days, and it is hard for the game to make me believe in what is happening on the desktop or TV, I cant even watch TV-series “The Walking Dead” because my palm can’t leave the face. So I tried to work out the setting, the world I can believe myself. It is hard science fiction for adults.

Then, one day in my work designing and analysing concepts for another weapon from our game, I heard that there hasn't yet been a hard science fiction video game. In complete disbelief, I checked the Internet and Wikipedia. It's hard to imagine my surprise when I came up empty handed.

Yes, the international gaming community has industry standard space operas (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, etc.); space westerns (are you waiting for Firefly too?); purely apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic games (Fallout, Metro, etc.); cyberpunk (Deus Ex, Syndicate, etc.); steampunk (Arcanum, Dishonoured etc.); alternate history games (Command&Conquer) and more.

But it turns out that no one has yet made a completely hard science fiction game, despite the fact that since the time of H. G. Wells, it has been considered the original science fiction genre. The difference lies in its strict adherence to scientific laws firmly established at the time of writing. What really made these books stand out was their detailed scientific and technical basis and their realistic extrapolation from that.

It turns out that the relentlessly scientific approach that we've been building into every nook and cranny of our setting since the beginning has the potential to make After Reset RPG the first hard science fiction video game in history. And after discussing this discovery with our team and gaming journalists, I decided to summarize and share some of the most enduring classic myths about life after the apocalypse that we intend to do away with in our game in this article: “Post-Apocalyptic Myths Busted”. I hope our current readers will like it too.

CouchPotato: Some fans and reviewers are somewhat biased against "reality" in games. It seems they don’t understand it, and think it’s "against fun". Do you have a message for them?

Mr. Nixon:  I remind you that After Reset RPG is intended for an adult audience, and in order to convince that audience of the reality and authenticity of our game, and by the same token to allow the game to really let the players immerse themselves in their characters – it needs to be truly scientifically convincing as well as being based on facts and real world experience.

Anyway, this is only my opinion. I don’t like casual games (I like old-school RPGs and emotional games like The Last of Us, Hard Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Walking Dead: The Game) but I know that there are a lot of people who prefer casuals. It is just a matter of taste.

CouchPotato: Can you compare the design and gameplay of After Reset to Fallout series? What are main differences, advantages and disadvantages?

Mr. Nixon:  Speaking about design, Kevin, we try hard to bring the true post-apocalyptic atmosphere of Fallout 1&2 in our game. But if the setting of Fallout 1&2 is RETRO post-apocalyptic, then After Reset RPG is SCI-FI post-apocalyptic. In Fallout 1&2 there are plenty of unrealistic things, while in After Reset RPG, every piece of devilry must have a real, scientific basis. For example, gasoline even in tanks at gas stations will go bad after 3 years, but it is quite possible to make it by improvised means out of other petroleum products. The same goes for electricity and light, as well as bullets, weapons, explosives, drugs, etc.

Regarding gameplay, After Reset RPG and Fallout 1&2 both have open world within the plot region of a dying planet – a post-apocalyptic sandbox. Population density in After Reset RPG will not be higher than in Fallout 1. You can expect coincidental encounters, searches and studies of the ruins of the Past Era, a laconic and intuitively understandable interface. And old school top-down camera view, of course.

Using a rule-based real-time mechanics, we called SACPIC, we were inspired by and tried to bring to our mechanics the best (from our point of view) parts from mechanics of Fallout 1&2&Van_Buren, Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights 1&2.

And finally, about any advantages or disadvantages. I believe the first two Fallouts were iconic, and nothing will be able to replace or compete them. It is like the first girl in your life: yes, there will be other women in your life but the first girl always keeps being the first.

CouchPotato: This game has been promoted as being a kind of spiritual successor to Fallout 1 & 2. Why then did Black Cloud Studios decide to go with a Real-time with pause combat system rather than tactical turn-based like Fallout 1 & 2 had?

Mr. Nixon:  As some of our backers might know, 3 years ago, before giving birth to After Reset, I already worked on Fallout Van Buren Persistent World as fan-made non-commercial RPG server. That game I developed was technically based on Electron Engine (one of the Obsidian’s engines) and used mechanics of DnD 3,5 adopted to Fallout setting at my taste. All that I did alone at my free-time just for fun (with a little help of freelancers I hired by my own money). You can find more about it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackcloudstudios/after-reset-rpg-rebooted/posts/910764

So, my experience in D&D, as a gamer, a Dungeon Master, and a developer just prompted me to work out on rule-based real-time. 

What gameplay elements of After Reset are NOT to find in the Fallout series? … and please tell us why you implemented these new elements"?

Any that could even hypothetically violate current copyrights holders of Fallout trademark :) I mean, you can buy a trademark, but you can’t buy a soul – because the soul lives in harts of gamers, not in papers.

CouchPotato: Will your game have any kind of modding support? Can we expect nearly-full modability, as in Fallout New Vegas?

Mr. Nixon:  Sorry, no. It would require more than $3m. And we’re just an indie with barely $100k of budget for now. But we try to organize the engine’s architecture in case the situation will change.

CouchPotato: Do you have some fresh ideas for the post-apo setting that you didn’t uncover yet? Because your basic plot is usual cliché - I don’t say it’s bad but we see it in every post-apo?


Mr. Nixon: What can I say. After Reset RPG should not be experimental game, in my vision (as a gamer and as the developer), it should be classic good old RPG with modern engine. I’ve got some interesting ideas, as a gamer I don’t like when developers cut a wide swath and then during development cut those things. So let’s judge the game by itself and by your own in-game experience, not by my words :)

How much effort do you put into a story? Does it have minor role (so player will mostly explore and solve unrelated side quests) or do you plan to make it important to tie whole experience up?

This is story about your character, about you. The story should have the major role in an RPG. You know, like in The Game of Thrones  (the book and TV series) is not about dragons, magic or wizards – it is about people and their stories while the fantasy only makes the background for them.

CouchPotato: Do you plan to make ammo really rare in order to make melee weapon (+ some simple armors) more important and useful?

Mr. Nixon:  As we trend to reality – yes. Of course, that will depend on sub-region but in general, fire arms and bullets are very valuable treasure (m.b. even like in METRO series for some sub-regions). Besides, any weapon could get broken, you know.

CouchPotato: How important will be crafting for survival?

Mr. Nixon: Kevin, I’d really like to put realistic receipts for crafting into the game but for the crafting is still under question. It would require extra $150-200+k to embed into the game but now we barely have $100k for the game itself.

CouchPotato: Do you plan some mechanics for more realistic damage, healing and recovery?

Mr. Nixon:  Sure. I would never imagine a game “like Fallout” without critical miss/hit features. Please, feel free to read our data about SACPIC’s Weapon System on our official website: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145

CouchPotato: What are the most common mistakes in contemporary RPGs in your opinion?

Mr. Nixon:  I’m a mere gamer, not or critic or professional analytic. Some of RPGs I like and play, others I don’t. Different gamers have different tastes and different opinions, I guess.

CouchPotato:Can you talk about how character statistics are incorporated and the role they play in the gameplay? How do various stats change how you interact with the world, both in combat and non-combat situations?

Mr. Nixon: Alas, right now I can’t reveal more info except for that full data on STATS, Feats, Skills and Alignment we published on our website: http://www.afterreset.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49

CouchPotato: Do you plan on redesigning the GUI to scale up the interface window sizes to near full screen to put in much bigger fonts so we can enjoy reading character statsm and descriptions?

Mr. Nixon:  For Early Access we’re concentrating on Full HD desktop (1920x1080) resolution. But we’ll embed manual scaling like it is in Neverwinter Nights 1&2.

CouchPotato: After the failure of your first Kickstarter how did you feel, and why did you decide to relaunch the Kickstarter once again?

Mr. Nixon: First, Keven, even after failed first Kickstarter we got more than $15k via PayPal from our kind fans, believers, the gamers like us who wanted this game to become a reality. They fuelled our confidence and fuelled the development those times.

Second, we got that idea to slot the game into chapters and the whole plan looked very promising. We were in need in funds to complete the prologue, showed what we’ve got for $15k and asked the people like us to support us if they like what we did. It worked.

The original Kickstarter for After Reset had a goal of $900K. The second KS campaign ended up with about $95K. Do you think you can realistically hope to earn the additional $800K needed to complete development of After Reset through Steam Early Access? If not, do you have plans to seek additional funding through other sources (e.g., publishers, private investors, etc.).

The plan is to meet the expectations (or even exceed them) of our current gamers and backers. Then moving through chapter by chapter – to complete the whole game. I believe that if we keep being transparent and honest to our backers, and if gamers like the prologue and following chapters – they will support the game development one way or another.

CouchPotato: Let’s talk about your other funded KickStarter Graphic novel The Fall of Gyes. How does it tie into the main game of After Reset?


Mr. Nixon:  The Fall of Gyes is a sci-fi graphic novel with stunning cinematic quality and an intriguing story inspired by classic sci-fi horror films of Ridley Scott. It takes the same place where the game will begin right several hours before your in-game protagonist will open his eyes on the floor.

Our goal was to create a graphic novel that has the same cinematic and storytelling quality of classic films like The Thing or Aliens, in a claustrophobic atmosphere where no one knows exactly what is happening or who the enemy is until disaster strikes. 

Sot its story takes place, in the outpost called: Gyes. A 20-year-old intern of the United Government’s Military Corps has just completed his last year of training. Everything seems to be falling into place for him. The job, the girlfriend, a place of prominence in his own corner of the world. Then They came. Surface dwellers. Killers. Thieves.

It seemed impossible. How could anyone on the surface have survived the Reset? Yet there they were. With Gyes defences sabotaged, its containment units failing, biological samples that were once secured in a deep freeze are now exposed to open air… and everything falls apart. Surrounded on all sides by Stalkers, biomass horrors, and a collapsing structure, will this young, wet-behind-the-ears intern survive? Could anyone?

Back us, and find out! If you’re a fan of games like Dead Space, or classic sci-fi and horror films from Ridley Scott and John Carpenter, I think you’ll love this story.

CouchPotato: And for my last question I was wondering if you could share what you have learned from crowd funding, and if you can what you would do differentially if you had the chance?

Mr. Nixon:  What I’ve learned… Kevin, I’ve learned that the dream could became a reality and that there real people who could believe in your dream as desperate as you yourself. I’ve learned, that any mere gamer, like myself, can take it upon themselves to stop moaning on forums and establish their own serious development team to build the game of their dreams. Proven by gamers, for gamers!

"Nobody will believe it’s possible until we show them.
But when that day comes, you know what they’ll say?
They’ll say that it was inevitable.”
- James Flint, Black Sails

Box Art

Information about

After Reset

Developer: Black Cloud Studios

SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Post-Apoc
Genre: RPG
Combat: Real-time
Play-time: 10-20 hours
Voice-acting: Partially voiced

Regions & platforms
Internet
· Homepage
· Platform: PC
· Cancelled
· Publisher: Black Cloud Studios

More information