Torment: Tides of Numenera – inXile Entertainment
Something pretty awesome is happening right now within the CRPG development community. Tactical Simulations Interactive (TSI) has announced a new service known as Gateway which will enable cross-game character import/export across all games designed with support for the feature. You will be able to create a single character and take that hero with you on all of your role-playing adventures rather than being tied down to creating a brand new character for each game/series you play.
The Gateway system will launch as part of TSI’s own PC fantasy RPG, Seven Dragon Saga, which will be seeking funding in a forthcoming Kickstarter campaign. Other developers are already on board as well, including top indie studios inXile and Harebrained Schemes. Yup, that means character/party transfers will be supported in upcoming titles Torment: Tides of Numenera and Shadowrun: Hong Kong, all thanks to Gateway.
High-Elf Wizard from Seven Dragon Saga
“Gateway goes beyond being an import/export feature — it represents a development philosophy that I enthusiastically endorse. By proposing and developing a data standard for game characters, TSI is establishing a stepping stone for independent CRPG developers to collaborate and share content and expertise. It is very much in the spirit of crowd funding and independent game development. As a fan of SSI’s titles, I’m thrilled at their return through Seven Dragon Saga and am excited they are spearheading this initiative through Gateway,” said Kevin Saunders, Project Director, Torment: Tides of Numenera – inXile.
“I think there are a lot of gamers out there who’ve put a lot of time and effort into building their RPG characters and would love Gateway’s export so they can continue their relationship,” said Mitch Gitelman, Co-Founder, Studio Manager – Harebrained Schemes.
“We are really excited about the initial reaction to Gateway from the development community and, as gamers ourselves, we love the idea of carrying across our characters and adventuring parties into different RPGs,” said David Shelley, Producer/Lead Designer, Seven Dragon Saga. “From a technical standpoint, we are proposing an independent app that avoids any issues with an existing game’s user interface and makes it a quick process for developers to add to their games.”
If you’re a CRPG developer interested in having your game support the Gateway system, you can reach out to Tactical Simulations Interactive by email at gateway[at]tsi-games[dot]com.
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