Project Resurgence Updates #1-11, $147,022 and Counting

With only three days left to bring in the remaining $13,000 to their Kickstarter campaign, it’s time to put some additional focus on Nectar Game Studios’ Project Resurgence and consider tossing a little money toward making it a reality. There have been a total of eleven updates since the project launched, so I’ll do a little quoting from a few of the most recent, which cover the dialogue system, its dieselpunk influence, and more:

One of the questions we’ve heard most is about out dieselpunk influence, and what exactly that means for the world and gameplay of Project Resurgence. So today, we wanted to go into more detail on the role of Lumen’s technology, specifically our focus on dieselpunk, and how you will interact with this technology in the game.

For starters, let’s talk retro-futuristic subgenres. If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, here’s a quick history lesson! According to Wikipedia:

(Retrofuturism is a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. Characterized by a blend of old-fashioned ‘˜retro’ styles with futuristic technology, retrofuturism explores the themes of tension between past and future, and between the alienating and empowering effects of technology.)

This genre is sometimes used interchangeably with (punk punk) (TV Tropes), but we prefer the term (retrofuturism) since it’s more clear. This whole creative movement gained momentum in the 1960-70s as people began to question whether science would actually achieve its earlier promises (flying cars and such), and it really took shape in the 80s with the near-future dystopian novels that would later be called cyberpunk. Steampunk developed a bit later, focusing on an alternate history Victorian era where futuristic technology could be created using only steam power. Steampunk opened the floodgates, popularizing all sorts of derivatives focused on other time periods or literary genres including: dieselpunk (The Rocketeer), atompunk (Fallout), biopunk (Bioshock), cattlepunk (Firefly), and more!

With that in mind, let’s talk more about dieselpunk and its specific characteristics:

– Usually set during, or in a world very much like, the time between WWI and WWII.
– Diesel is a primary fuel source and electricity is common.
– Art style strongly influenced by the Art Deco movement.
– Pulpy and noir-like characters and themes.
– A lot of big, dirty, metal machines. Dirty machines everywhere.

…

Exploration is one of the key gameplay pillars of Project Resurgence, and by that we mean exploring characters (their personalities, motivations, and backgrounds) through conversation just as much as moving through the environments of Lumen. And in true roleplaying fashion, we find the most compelling aspect of character interactions in being faced with difficult decisions that truly make you consider the motivations and potential consequences of your actions. We intend for these moral decisions to be various shades of grey instead of an oversimplified black and white dichotomy. The concepts of (good and evil) are almost never so clear cut in reality, and so too will we delve the murky complicated areas in between. We want our story to be told like a novel, gripping and engrossing, where every choice you make matters; casting ripples into the future that will continue to affect your personal story and the fate of Lumen itself across all five episodes. The game is not segregated into story and mechanics, since the way you build your character and how you play directly change the story.

So, let’s start talking specifics. Persuasion is an art, and we offer 3 variations: reason (Persuade + INT), intimidate (Persuade + STR), and charm (Persuade + CLT). Appeal to a character’s sense, fear, or desire to get your way. Occasionally we will have extra options show up too, such as (bribe) (Persuade + cash) or (bluff) (Deception + CLT).

Obviously, not all of these will be equally effective for every character and situation. A thug might be more likely to be bribed than charmed, but a scientist might be more persuaded by reason over intimidation.

We also want options to change based on your interactions with characters. For example, if you interact with a character that you previously roughed up, it might take a lot less for you to intimidate them. A character might stick to their guns if you try to persuade them, but if you helped them out on a previous quest they might be more responsive to your suggestions. A character that you abandoned to die probably won’t be charmed by you…unless you can bluff your way around the situation.