A Kickstarter has gone live for Thorvalla , a new "old school" computer RPG being created by Planescape: Torment producer Guido Henkel . Set in a Norse-influenced fantasy universe where people tame and ride dragons, the project follows in the footsteps of some other Black Isle alumni that did pretty well for themselves with Project Eternity . Henkel is asking for a million dollars, slightly less than the original goal that Obsidian thoroughly crushed, but details on the game are currently very scarce.
As PC Gamer's resident certified Viking and Medieval Gaming Beat Reporter, I'd love to be overflowing with excitement about this. But at the moment there isn't a lot to go on. We have a map, detailed below, some very early concept art, and a bit of fiction that introduces your character as a hardy, northern, dragon-owning explorer who will begin the game by getting into a fight with the sea and losing.
The ingredients for Viking wonder are half-there, but it remains to be seen whether Henkel and co. can raise their not unsubstantial funding goal without a big, recognizable name like Obsidian behind them. How many million-dollar, crowdfunded, old school RPGs can the market support? A fellow Kickstarter in that category from Brenda Brathwaite (Wizardry) and Tom Hall (Commander Keen, DOOM) was cancelled last month after it failed to attract enough attention—primarily, I think, due to an underwhelming amount of details on what the game actually was.
Thorvalla's reward tiers are fairly typical, with the high-end allowing you to design a monster or an NPC in the game. The project is tentatively slated for an August 2014 release. If you find yourself called, you can chip in to launch the longship here .
