Another Double Fine Kickstarter (Massive Chalice)

**BadKarma** · 2013-05-30 18:46

A tactical strategy PC game on an epic fantasy timeline from the creators of Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, and Iron Brigade!

If turn-based tactics and feudal fantasy had a lovechild, and that offspring founded a mighty century-spanning dynasty, it would be MASSIVE CHALICE.

With your help, MASSIVE CHALICE will become a reality—forged by Double Fine with our 3D in-house Buddha Engine and unleashed on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Battling alongside ancestors (early concept)Battling alongside ancestors (early concept)

We're inspired by classic tactical strategy games like X-COM, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Fire Emblem, as well as Game of Thrones’ array of noble families. With these influences in mind we’re creating an epic, replayable turn-based tactics game where you train generations of heroes to repel a demonic invasion.

And with Kickstarter, we can do it. We have a great concept and team ready to go, and we want to work closely with our community to control the future of MASSIVE CHALICE free from outside interference.

MASSIVE CHALICE is a single player turn-based tactics game within a multi-generational strategy campaign built for replayability.

As an immortal King or Queen, you must unite your kingdom under a powerful dynasty, eliminate the demonic threat, and reforge the MASSIVE CHALICE!

The game is structured into two main layers: strategy and tactics. In the strategy layer, you oversee your kingdom, arrange royal marriages, conduct research, and make the far-reaching decisions that will determine the fate of your legacy.

In the tactics layer, you fight brutal turn-based battles to defend your kingdom using small squads of customizable heroes.

Permadeath is inevitable: your heroes will grow, age, and eventually die. You'll have to choose between keeping your favorite heroes on the battlefield or retiring them from combat to foster a new generation of warriors.

Drawing from roguelikes we love, content is modular and randomized. Each playthrough begins with a random assortment of male and female heroes from various bloodlines, guaranteeing that each game is unique. Your knowledge and skill will increase over multiple playthroughs, but the details of every game will change based on your decisions and the whims of fate.
Strategic map (early concept)Strategic map (early concept)
Core Game Features

Your story emerges as you defend against attacks, complete quests, and respond to randomized events in your attempt to preserve the kingdom.

Line of sight and fog of war mechanics come into play as your squad explores beautiful dynamic 3D battlefields where danger may lurk behind any corner.

Distinct, customizable heroes learn new melee, ranged, and arcane abilities as they age and gain combat experience.

Arrange marriage alliances to ensure your heroic bloodlines can handle any future combat situation.

Battle alongside your ancestors by equipping your heroes with uniquely powerful Bloodline Relics.
Invest your resources in forging new weapons and armor—and gamble on polluting a bloodline by researching dangerous demonic artifacts.

Another Double Fine Kickstarter?

Last year, you Kickstarted Double Fine Adventure, shattering records and bringing video games to the Kickstarter spotlight! Now known as Broken Age, that game is in full production and is already a beautiful and unique experience—but the Broken Age team only represents a third of our multi-game studio.

Double Fine’s goal is for all our teams to remain independent and responsible directly to their players. Kickstarting MASSIVE CHALICE allows us to maintain a pure creative vision, put out updates on our own schedule, respond to feedback without roadblocks, and release it all DRM-free.
Where are your stretch goals?

This Kickstarter is clean and simple. We’re asking for the minimum amount to make an awesome game, and the game’s scope will grow based on the amount of total backing we receive. There will be ongoing conversations with the community as new features are considered, so stay tuned and let us know what you'd like to see in the game!

For MASSIVE CHALICE we’re getting back to basics and focusing on the project itself. We’re a team passionate about turn-based strategy, and we want to craft a new Double Fine world by partnering with you!
Limited edition poster designed by Cory SchmitzLimited edition poster designed by Cory Schmitz
Limited edition t-shirt designed by Cory SchmitzLimited edition t-shirt designed by Cory Schmitz

2 Player Productions is well known to Double Fine fans as the awesome team of filmmakers behind the Double Fine Adventure and Amnesia Fortnight documentary series.

It turns out they aren't sick of us yet! If the project is funded, 2 Player will be able to create a series of development diaries chronicling the creation of MASSIVE CHALICE. These will be released to the general public, but backers will also get exclusive access to high-quality HD downloadable versions ($50 tier and above).
Project Lead: Brad Muir

MASSIVE CHALICE is helmed by Brad Muir, creator of Iron Brigade, the fan-favorite tower defense mech shooter. A longtime Double Fine veteran, Brad served as a programmer on Psychonauts and a designer on Brütal Legend. Brad is a turn-based strategy and roguelike fanatic, and is the friendliest guy you'll ever meet! :D!

Double Fine Productions is an award-winning, independent game development studio founded in 2000 by games industry veteran Tim Schafer. Located in San Francisco’s South of Market district, Double Fine is committed to making high-quality games with an emphasis on originality, story, characters, and fun.

The MASSIVE CHALICE team comprises artists, designers, and engineers who recently worked on Double Fine projects like The Cave, Brütal Legend PC, Dropchord, Middle Manager of Justice, and various prototypes. The crew is ready to work on something big. Something MASSIVE.
The Buddha Engine

MASSIVE CHALICE is being developed with Buddha, our versatile in-house 3D engine first created for Brütal Legend. We know Buddha like the back of our hand—because our hand is coded in C++, scripted in Lua, and rigged with Maya.
Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

MASSIVE CHALICE is a new kind of game from Double Fine, but that’s what makes it perfect for Kickstarter, a place where new ideas can be given a chance by passionate fans. We believe we can find a substantial audience for this unique combination of strategy, squad tactics, and multi-generational gameplay.

MASSIVE CHALICE is still in its earliest stages, so its backers will join us for every phase of development. We're tackling a new genre for Double Fine, but building on our years of experience making games of all types with our own technology.

Games are complicated and expensive projects, but MASSIVE CHALICE has been scoped appropriately for our fundraising goal. By targeting open PC platforms and relying on a modular game design, we can create a core experience and build on it over time. The more backing we receive, the more systems and content we can create, and the better the game will be!

Most importantly, we're passionate about what Double Fine can bring to fantasy tactics games, and we're dedicated to rewarding our community with the best game possible.

So please support MASSIVE CHALICE, spread the news, and join us on our journey!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...assive-chalice

**Correction** · 2013-05-30 19:41

I'd rather have a separate thread for higher profile kickstarters than grow more megathreads in a subforum with six stickies.

**Kiarax** · 2013-05-30 20:15

Originally Posted by Correction

I'd rather have a separate thread for higher profile kickstarters than grow more megathreads in a subforum with six stickies.

This, some games look easily worthy of their own thread. Kinda silly to restrict it to one.

**Prothescar** · 2013-05-30 20:48

really hope they hit their goal, game looks like it can be pretty awesome. put down $50

**silverdragontyr** · 2013-05-30 21:08

Seems really cool. I will put some money down once I get payed. Considering they've got 27 days and they're halfway to their goal I'm sure it will succeed. They got a huge rep boost from Broken Age and the subsequent documentary.

**Qalbert** · 2013-05-30 22:19

Originally Posted by Kiarax

This, some games look easily worthy of their own thread. Kinda silly to restrict it to one.

yeah was a dumb call on my part not to just make a new thread in the first place

**Aevis** · 2013-05-31 03:52

Instantly backed for $50. The documentary alone makes it worth it, judged by how the Broken Age documentary goes. Also X-Com + FFT + Games of Thrones has to turnout into something awesome and the pitch video already is.

**Qalbert** · 2013-06-04 07:35

20,098 Backers
$738,396 pledged of $725,000 goal
23 days to go

**BadKarma** · 2013-06-04 07:54

I pledged 50 because its worth it and the premise is fucking awesome

**6souls** · 2013-06-06 23:13

Same-sex relationships added

Responding to requests from Kickstarter backers, Double Fine has elected to include same-sex relationships in its upcoming dynastic tactics title, Massive Chalice.

Speaking to Rock, Paper, Shotgun, project lead Brad Muir charmingly copped to self-described “hetero privilege” in not even having thought of the possibility before backers took to Double Fine’s forums to raise the issue.

Muir sounded thankful that the game is being crowdfunded at such an early stage, rather than later in development, because the developer now has the chance to implement backer requests.

“You sign the deal, you go underground, you start working on the game, you don’t talk to the community or anybody, and you get so focused on all these other aspects of the game. Just making it work – and all the tactical combat and mechanical things,” he said.

“We might just overlook something like same-sex coupling all the way until we announce the game. And then people say, ‘Hey, what about gay marriage?’ And we’re like, ‘Fuck,’ because we’ve already worked on it for more than a year.”

Instead Double Fine has time work out the intricacies of implementing same-sex relationships. Since Massive Chalice has players managing heroic bloodlines, the question of how same-sex couples fot in is a knotty one. Muir said he’s considered having same-sex couples contribute to society in other ways, or be able to foster children. One other solution – my personal favourite – is to just be a bit vague about the whole thing.

“The other option is to be less explicit about it. Maybe these aren’t marriages. Maybe you’re just retiring two heroes in the same keep,” he said.

“Because I really like it when more procedural, systemic games allow the player to kind of use their imagination a little more to fill in the gaps of what’s actually happening.”

Oh, how I will use my imagination.

Muir also noted that a traditional publisher might not have been keen on the potentially controversial issue, and he would have been stuck spouting a ‘super shitty PR company line’ on the subject, which would siappoint gay players.

“I want the game to be inclusive. I don’t think that hurts anyone,” he concluded.

“If you as a gamer feel like you’re more represented in this thing, that’s only gonna deepen your personal story. I really like emergent story stuff, and I think that only stands to improve emotional connections to these heroes. That’s only gonna be a good thing.”

http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/07/mass...relationships/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...ssive-chalice/

**BadKarma** · 2013-06-06 23:18

Fuck yeah, I hope one of my knights is Loras Tyrell

**6souls** · 2013-06-29 12:47

Funded
{$1,229,015/$725,000 goal}
Concept Art

Spoiler: show

**Qalbert** · 2015-05-23 17:12

rumored to be a Game with Gold for Xbone in June

**Qalbert** · 2015-05-28 11:36

confirmed as free game for June by Major Nelson

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