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The Magic Circle (from ex-Bioshock and Dishonored devs)

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Total Posts: 523

Joined 2010-02-08

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Probably the best and most fun way to find out about this delightfully weird upcoming indie game is to start out at the official website and then just click around a bit.

Then when you’re totally confused/hopefully intrigued, read some articles like these:
The Verge
PCGamer
Eurogamer

     
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Total Posts: 7109

Joined 2005-09-29

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Jordan is the man. I was in mood to make the thread in Adventure section though Tongue
Its based on Textadventure realm gone wrong, well not wrong but more like
stalled. Crazy theme and something that will push the gaming medium forward like
Stanleyparable.

     
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Total Posts: 8998

Joined 2004-01-05

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Original concept, some of the mechanics remind me of Hack n’ Slash by Double Fine with the reprogramming puzzles, but it seems very different in the theme.
The use of the old genius developer of a text adventure, they should mention doing a kickstarter at some point!
Some of the excessive blabbing in description of the game sound very Peter Moulineux promises Smile

     
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Total Posts: 523

Joined 2010-02-08

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Yeah, I’d been curious ever since he went indie what Jordan Thomas’ new game would turn out to be.

I agree about the comparison to Double Fine’s Hack ‘n’ Slash reprogramming mechanic, despite the very different theming and overall approach—I guess “code-hacking puzzle exploration game” is officially a genre now with at least two entries. Smile

I did consider putting this in the Adventure section as a possible non-traditional adventure, and if the mods wish to do so, they’re welcome to move it. But it’s still a bit vague exactly how the game will play, so I opted for the General forum for now.

     
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Total Posts: 523

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Polygon has a feature article on The Magic Circle with a brief video of early work-in-progress hacking mechanics—Development Hell: The Video Game

Growing up, [Jordan] Thomas idolized name brand developers he saw in magazines, like Ken and Roberta Williams at Sierra, and Doug Church, Warren Spector and Ken Levine at Looking Glass, thinking that they could easily dictate game ideas. But after witnessing the process firsthand, he realized that almost everyone struggles to make games work, and many game design decisions don’t have clear answers.

“There are flawed people behind each of those decisions,” says Thomas. “And though they are often requested to present as unified a front as possible, behind the scenes it is Lord of the Flies, man.”

So he decided to make a game about it.

The article’s a good read.

The brief clip of work-in-progress footage looks offbeat and interesting, like hacking the security bots in Bioshock but with the more extensive hacking options of Hack ‘n’ Slash, in a weird world with an intentionally unfinished-feeling art style. I’m not sure if the team also intends for the final game to have quite such a barren feel (from the wind, I assume it’s meant to be at least somewhat barren), but in a way the open space does remind me of games in development, like the whiteboxing phase where maybe you’re prototyping enemy encounters but the world isn’t totally fleshed out yet.

Anyway, this isn’t just a fictional game in development, but a real game still in development, so it’ll take a long time before all the other elements are in place and we can really see the intended experience. I suspect that the satirical developer’s commentary in particular will change the final game tone and feel quite a bit, much like the overly laudatory text and the “Do Not Click” button do for the game’s website.

     
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Joined 2005-09-29

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I am looking forward to see how they will make this FUN. Its feels very abstract and
more like a statement or potshot towards game leaders and industry attitude towards
game development. Its something that can do wonders in Game Universities/workshops, to teach new talent about overall nature of this medium.

     
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Total Posts: 7109

Joined 2005-09-29

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Just the read this article and watch the video ,

Jordan delivers again, the art/level design = Heavy System SHOCK 1 VIBES.

http://www.polygon.com/a/creativity-cover/the-magic-circle-short-story


Edit:

Early access

http://store.steampowered.com/app/323380/

     

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