[Vince]

1. What the hell is Cyclopian?
It's an Iron Tower RPG, currently in pre-production. It will have all the features that we love and cherish: isometric, turn-based, focus on dialogues and choices.

2. But you haven't even released AoD yet?
I know. It's a different game that will be developed by a different team, known as Team Omega. Scott is the lead writer/designer (you can see his writing here, it's beautiful). We are simply giving a hand and the entire fucking shoulder to a guy who is capable of making a cool RPG.

3. Whose alt is this Scott fellow?
Scott is a certified 3D modeler and animator with an interest in creative writing.  He has worked on the Temple of Elemental Evil mod Keep on the Borderlands, and helped us in the past. He is an excellent writer and a man with a vision.

4. Who else is on the team? Is the AoD team involved?
At the moment, Scott and another gentleman by the name of Felix.  Felix is a professional artist and will be working on concept art duties for now.  Your feedback is very important, so don't hesitate to share your opinions with us. Once the game is ready to hit the next stage, we will invite a few more people to join our ranks.

I will be working closely with Scott, but ultimately this is his project and all decisions are his. Needless to say, the AoD team will provide whatever help and advice Scott may need and lend their expertise and experience. After AoD is released, the AoD team will work on a different project.

5. What engine will you be using for this game?
Whatever cutting edge technology Iron Tower would be able to get their hands on. Default option - TGE.

6. I has skillz and want to help!
Show us what you can do. We are always looking for top geek talent.

7. Is the project influenced by current CoC RPG's, such as Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, and Pelgrane Press' Trail of Cthulhu?
The project is not influenced by any of Chaosium's properties, or the writing of any late-20th-century authors.  Some of Lovecraft's contemporaries may have some influence.

8. Do you intend to use a licensed system like GURPS; to retool AoD's ruleset to fit; or make a new system up entirely?
New system entirely.

9. A computer game will not, cannot, ever capture the sheer horror of Lovecraft's writing.  Turn-based combat, by its very nature, cannot be suspenseful or scary.  The same is true of the isometric camera perspective.  I'm not going to be scared.
The game is going to be isometric, with turn-based combat and in some instances will include text-based scenes, with painted slides, for horrors too great to model in 3D.  Whether or not this format will ultimately do justice to The Master remains to be seen, but these facts are not going to change.  So could you have these discussions in the RPG Design thread please?

10. Finally!  I can't wait to play a game where my character runs in abject terror from horrors beyond imagining!  Oh, how joyful were my pen & paper campaigns spent running from Deep Ones, Shoggoths, cultists, shambling things from the Outer Void, etc!  How are you going to handle running?  Will I be able to jump from roof to roof?  Can I run out in the street, or perhaps flee in a fast car?  Will my choice of footwear impact my speed?
I never played any of Chaosium's PnP games so I confess I don't see the visceral thrill in running all the time.  No one will be running in the combat interface, and I suspect the running would in any case be less fun in the isometric format.  If the player is compelled to flee from something too horrific to face, he will do so via a text-adventure-with-paintings type interlude.

[ILikeToWatch]

What Mythos material are you using as reference/inspiration (of course other than Lovecraft's works)? Is the project influenced by current CoC RPG's, such as Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, and Pelgrane Press' Trail of Cthulhu?

Do you intend to use a licensed system like GURPS; to retool AoD's ruleset to fit; or make a new system up entirely?

Also, if this game is well received and sells enough to make a reasonable profit, will you make a sequel but with a setting other than the original 1920's such as Gaslight, Dark Ages, Delta Green, etc?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: These questions aren't directed at anyone particular on the team by the way. I'm just looking for anyone who has the answers.

[Sergei Quaid]

I'd really like to see a Delta Green game.

[iconoclast]

Good luck Iron Tower, I wish your efforts well. I am a professional game developer but I do freelance work on the side, if you are interested in the second opinion of a deep Call of Cthulhu fan and 11 year industry veteran, let me know.

I am a huge fan of Delta Green BTW, one of the best supplement series ever written. May want to consider making a modern expansion to Cyclops.

[Scott]

What Mythos material are you using as reference/inspiration (of course other than Lovecraft's works)? Is the project influenced by current CoC RPG's, such as Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, and Pelgrane Press' Trail of Cthulhu?

Pure Lovecraft, and maybe the one short novel written by August Derleth.  Derleth did a lot of legwork to ensure HP would be recognized after his death, to the point of even publishing many stories he himself has written and appending HP's name.  These stories are still published with HP's name today.  Most of them are easily recognizable as inferior, derivative BS.  I honestly haven't touched the PnP's or read Chaosium's stuff.  I think this a good thing though.  This game is going to be based on the source and nothing else.

Do you intend to use a licensed system like GURPS; to retool AoD's ruleset to fit; or make a new system up entirely?

Also, if this game is well received and sells enough to make a reasonable profit, will you make a sequel but with a setting other than the original 1920's such as Gaslight, Dark Ages, Delta Green, etc?

No licensed ruleset, new system entirely.

[Starwars]

Also, I assume the eventual release of this project will depend on how AoD does commercially?

And as far as the ruleset goes, will there be some form of system for sanity in place?

EDIT: Nevermind, saw in the other thread that we will get an explanation on that later.

[mahdi]

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but how exactly is this working financially? Vince, are you paying Scott to make this game and then you receive a cut, like a publisher? Regardless, it sounds great and the future looks bright for Iron Tower.

[Scott]

FAQ updated.

[ILikeToWatch]

I honestly haven't touched the PnP's or read Chaosium's stuff.  I think this a good thing though.

I'm not so sure about that to be honest.

I would still consider at least giving the main source book a once over since it is technically your game's predecessor (and a pretty good read in itself) in the way Wasteland is Fallout's; and even though the birth of your game wasn't out of your love for the PnP, or it's spiritual successor, I think the comparison is appropriate. You'd be surprised how similar both the games are in tone, and gameplay philosophy ("The rule to a good Call of Cthulhu game (when involving Cthulhu) is never using The Tentacled One, only his(?) dreadful presence", or something like that).

I don't know, just seems weird to me not to look at other games in your genre; at least to know what they did wrong so you can do it right (or avoid their mistake).

[Scott]

I'll consider that.  I'm less worried about being influenced by the rule set than by other writers' content.  If I was going to create a game based on the works of Tolkien, I wouldn't read the D&D monster manual.

[Scott]

FAQ updated:  Point 10.

[Oscar]

Perhaps you should update point 4. He is called Felix now.

[Ellorien]

He is called Felix now.

Now he is called "another gentleman by the name of Felix". 

[dagorkan]

I'll consider that.  I'm less worried about being influenced by the rule set than by other writers' content.  If I was going to create a game based on the works of Tolkien, I wouldn't read the D&D monster manual.

Maybe you could just read the section on the rules then, avoiding background/campaign info? Maybe some in-depth review from a PnP magazine would provide that, for those who've already decided they want to play a Cthulhu game and are considering buying a rulebook instead of adapting say D&D.

I'm concerned that, like Vince and AoD, you are too influenced by Fallout, I know you're making something original but it seems to me you're already influenced in a certain direction which may not be the best. My opinion is that conflict is good and that influences either synergize or cancel out.

[OwenMarsh]

I would recommend avoiding the Chaosium material. I used to be a purist like Scott, but eventually I just had to read CoC material, and it really diminished the power of the Mythos for me. Not that a lot of it isn't well-written.