The Broken Hourglass

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:11 pm

Has anybody else seen anything about this upcoming game? For those of us who mourn the loss of games like BG2, The Broken Hourglass looks quite intriguing.

Here are some links:
http://www.sorcerers.net/Main/Articles/ ... erview.php
http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=1226

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:33 pm

"It also helps tremendously that I have a business partner, Westley Weimer..."

Whoa. Weimer's the guy who developed the WeiDU platform for so many fine BG2 mods, and made several of the mods, themselves. We're not talking disinterested corporate types, here.

And of course, Jason Compton is well-known in the BG2 community, too. Used to post here, frequently.

"Target hours of playing time- I'd love to deliver first-time players an honest 20 hours of entertainment. We'll see what the final pudding brings."

Seems awfully small, but then, it sounds like they're working with a small team.

"Our goals are to make a CRPG of enjoyable length, with attractive but not "GPU-breaking" visuals, and bring it to market at a modest price."

If and when it becomes available, I'd love to review it for GameBanshee. I doubt many of the bigname sites will touch it, because it will seem too "retro" for them. The fools.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:26 pm

[QUOTE=fable]If and when it becomes available, I'd love to review it for GameBanshee. I doubt many of the bigname sites will touch it, because it will seem too "retro" for them. The fools.

[/QUOTE]

Maybe you should contact Jason Compton and Westley Weimer about doing a review. It also occurred to me, this is the sort of thing that would fit in well here at GB. Maybe it could even be featured in GB News???

This certainly grabbed my attention, I really hope it comes to fruition!

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:54 pm

Here is some more from [url="http://www.planewalkergames.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/"]the official site[/url]

Why We're Developing The Broken Hourglass
The Broken Hourglass (TBH) is the launch title of Planewalker Games LLC, an independent video game studio founded in 2005 to create the kind of computer role playing games that we, the PWG developers, enjoy playing.

Most of the developers attached to TBH are long-time CRPG modders. After a few years, we reached the same point every long-suffering commitment-starved girlfriend in romantic comedies reaches—that moment of crisis when we asked, "Where is this relationship going?" It was time to move on to bigger and better things, one way or another. Yet, as flattering as it was to have thousands and thousands of people download our work every month, something troubled us about whole thing. Sure, we did good work, but the industry didn't seem to be satisfying this obvious demand for content with new titles. The production of story-focused CRPGs with a strong focus on character development and party interaction has slowed to a trickle, despite a significant market clamoring for more.

So we decided to take on the problem directly, rather than wait around for someone else to do it. But it isn't exactly a slam-dunk for a band of amateurs to convince a publisher to back a new project in a market they have proven reluctant to explore even with established studios. Sensible or not, we still believed we could do it, with or without the mainstream industry which has largely turned its back. We believed we could deliver a new CRPG worthy of its predecessors, and worthy of the attention of gamers who can choose from a library of literally tens of thousands of titles to occupy their time.

That brings us to the present. Self-funded, self-developed, and self-directed, we are committed to the under-served CRPG market, and to making The Broken Hourglass an engaging, memorable experience. We look forward to taking you to the world of Tolmira.

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:54 pm

Although i havent found anything more then the 2 links provided by our Dragonlady this project sounds very intresting.
I always have a weakness for independant gaming, (as you may have noticed in the non-rpg gaming forum) cause independant games can focus on things that (what publishers think) aren't very intresting for what i like to call the X-box generation.

This might just be the peope who have the dedication, the know-how, and the creativity to make a game worthy of being compared to the Baldur's Gate series (even if it isn't a big-budget production with a 100hour gamelenght)

And when the project gets further in development I would love to see Gamebanshee reporting us on the progress.

jcompton · Post by **jcompton** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:48 pm

In addition to the RPGDot and SP links there's also an audio interview with transcript at Four Fat Chicks. Of course, I'd be happy to field questions for Banshee as well.

Denethorn · Post by **Denethorn** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:52 am

Looks intriguing. As Gamebanshee flourished through it's Baldur's Gate II support, be nice and almost spiritual to cover TBH

Just an idea.

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:44 pm

That's a matter for Planewalker Games LLC. Buck rarely seeks PR material. It's sent directly to him, for posting on the site. I hope PG LLC will do this as well, regularly sending out press releases and scheduling interviews, so they don't drop out of sight and memory.