Grim Dawn

[BallisticTerrain]

Since tomorrow is the anniversary of the disappointment that was Diablo 3 launching, I thought I would share with you all a ARPG being developed by a small studio lead by one of the lead developers of Titan Quest, another good ARPG some of you might know. It's called Grim Dawn, and has a very cool premise and shows tons of promise. The closed alpha is coming out tomorrow. You can buy an alpha key by supporting the game now and anytime in the future (for a while) if you so wish.
The developers are very well in touch with the community, and constantly update us on the state of development. The game also has a very good community on it's website. Anyways, enough talk.
Link to the about page.
http://www.grimdawn.com/about.php
Make sure you check out the development section of the forums for the whole history of updates.
Have fun!

 

[Dr Super Good]

Since tomorrow is the anniversary of the disappointment that was Diablo 3 launching

The only disappointment was I could not play it much. The game itself met every expectation.

I thought I would share with you all a ARPG being developed by a small studio lead by one of the lead developers of Titan Quest, another good ARPG some of you might know.

Never heard of it.

It's called Grim Dawn, and has a very cool premise and shows tons of promise.

Those are all opinions... What evidence do you have to back this?

The closed alpha is coming out tomorrow. You can buy an alpha key by supporting the game now and anytime in the future (for a while) if you so wish.

Yeh, pay up so they can say the game is a failure and keep your money but not release it. Bad idea to buy early. At least Diablo III only started that in Beta, which is considerably further down the development chain.

The developers are very well in touch with the community, and constantly update us on the state of development. The game also has a very good community on it's website. Anyways, enough talk.

Well they have to be if they are selling you an alpha product. Alphas are not even in full working condition so they could take your money and run.

 

[BallisticTerrain]

Wow, hostile much?
On to the rebuttal.

First of all, sorry for bringing D3 into this. That was my opinion, and you are entitled to yours, but it was very disappointing to me story wise. Let's not argue about Diablo 3.

On to Titan Quest. It was developed by Iron Lore Studios, and achieved profitability after selling nearly one million copies. It also got decent ratings. Go look it up if you want.

Also, did you even look at the website? I linked the about page with all the features and the premise.
About/Premise
http://grimdawn.com/about.php
Features
http://grimdawn.com/about_featurelist.php
Media
http://grimdawn.com/media_screenshots.php
My opinion as well, but so is most of everything you said in your post.

The Alpha came out yesterday. I promptly downloaded it and played it for 6 hours straight and have yet to finish. There is absolutely no NDA, so feel free to look it up. It was a quite fun in my opinion, and the soundtrack was awesome. Also, Grim Dawn went on kickstarter a while ago and managed to raise five hundred thousand dollars.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crateentertainment/grim-dawn

Heres some links to in touch thing I'm talking about.
News and General Info Section of Forums
http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Development Updates. Feel free to browse.
http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=18

Developer Discussions. Here they hold polls and such/ ask questions to community.
http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

Full Description with sources of all gameplay and features.
http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6

Make sure you check those out before you say anything else.

And finally, to add a few screenshots of my own. The game is set in a post apocalyptic victorian era world. The alpha encompasses all of act one. Also in the premise, read it. Remember, no NDA.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Also, that isn't the only type of environment. So far I've been through swamps, caves, underground tunnels etc. The screenshots don't really do that really nice lighting and day night cycle/dynamic weather justice though. I would recommend looking at some gameplay footage.
And that concludes the show.

 

[Maker]

Grim Dawn is one of my most anticipated games ever, and I've been anticipating games for over 20 years.

I'm actually a super moderator at Titan Quest forums and have played that game more than any other game so you could say I was well excited when I heard one of the game designers founded a new game studio, Crate Entertainment, to create a new game of the same genre.

I have purchased the Loyalist edition up front, which grants the access to alpha and beta releases and the full game and the expansion if and when it is released.

I played the alpha a bit today and it seemed quite nice but can't say much without getting more into it later this week.

Yeh, pay up so they can say the game is a failure and keep your money but not release it. Bad idea to buy early. At least Diablo III only started that in Beta, which is considerably further down the development chain.

Paying up front is a good way to help to make the game better. They had a kickstarter campaign going on and with the funds they raised, they were able to hire full time artists to work on the project. They are a team of six, so every extra pair of hands is much needed.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Paying up front is a good way to help to make the game better.

Not according to standard international software development contract protocol. There it is the best way to lose money.

From the business point of view, it is the best. You get free money and have to give nothing in return.

They had a kickstarter campaign going on and with the funds they raised, they were able to hire full time artists to work on the project. They are a team of six, so every extra pair of hands is much needed.

There is a difference between hiring an artists and hiring "The" artist. I know quite a lot about small companies and how inexperienced employees can let them down.

 

[BallisticTerrain]

If you check the website you'll see that the in game art is very well done and so is the digital drawings/paintings. They hired good artists.

 

[Maker]

I see paying up front in this case as an investment with very small risk.

There is a difference between hiring an artists and hiring "The" artist. I know quite a lot about small companies and how inexperienced employees can let them down.

The area where the game studio resides, faced a huge wave of closing of game studios. The lead developer of Grim Dawn said they had lots of talented artists to choose from.

 

[sonofjay]

Wow, Grim Dawn seems a really promising game. Gonna keep an eye on this.

 

[Edhel-dur]

Grim Dawn sounds promising for any video game fan.

It obviously doesn't sound promising for a Blizzard4life fan.

 

[marko9]

The HUD and UI are the exact same as Titan Quest IT, and I think that graphics were even better in TQIT but I will try it out... seems to be interesting

 

[BallisticTerrain]

They're using an improved version of the TQ engine. If you play the game, you'll see that the graphics are much better, especially the lighting.
And for the record, they did at least reskin the UI.

 

[marko9]

They're using an improved version of the TQ engine. If you play the game, you'll see that the graphics are much better, especially the lighting.
And for the record, they did at least reskin the UI.

I hope you are right.