Campo Santo's First Game Is Firewatch

Sure looks preddy.

Expected this to be the only game set in Wyoming in existence but there are 4 other games also set in Wyoming. Wyoming's Game Setting Per Population as a percentage is extremely high, too greedy, they should leave some games for the rest of the states.

Actually, I'd also take Far Cry 2/3 with shooting, as long as it would be in a different type of forest, instead of those damned jungles...but I'll be happy without it as well, hopefully.

Hope it turns out good. I loved The Walking Dead and Gone Home, both of which this remind me of, but I kind of hope they manage to include some interesting gameplay here as well.

This is going to be good! Far Cry 2 without shooting..... right?

Dammit beat me too it!

Guys, this is obviously Frog Fractions 2. Too easy!

Anyone who creates anything for a living doesn't always have the luxury of working on something that is personal and/or meaningful to them. While Vanaman and Rodkin both probably put a lot of themselves into the Walking Dead, it doesn't necessarily mean that more Walking Dead was something they wanted to do. They were fortunate that TWD earned them the recognition and clout to be able to forge their own path away from Telltale and now they get to make the games that THEY want to make, not something that's licensed from existing media.

There's nothing wrong with taking what you've earned and creating something new with it. For both of them, the safe decision would probably have been to remain at Telltale and work on the all-but-guaranteed hit that would be TWD Season 2. The fact that they decided to take the risk and leave to do their own thing is pretty respectable to me.

@pants said:

I know they worked at TellTale for a while, I just mean that everything pre-Walking Dead was kinda ho-hum in terms of sales and critical reception (Poker Night, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Tales of Monkey Island, the later Sam & Max stuff).

The Walking Dead is the only really big success story the studio has had in recent memory, and it seems like as soon as Rodkin and Vanaman got their names out there by doing a bunch of press interviews related to The Walking Dead, they couldn't wait to get out of there and do their own thing. So I don't know if that speaks more to them not being at all interested in making a bunch of Walking Dead clones at TellTale, or they just had some game they've been wanting to make on their own for a long time, but I still think it seems kind of sudden to immediately leave a company after just finishing the most critically acclaimed game you've worked on.

@bisonhero said:

I thought it's not so much an "indie dream team" as it is the "Idle Thumbs dream team" (minus Steve Gaynor and Nick Breckon).

Total Kentucky Route Zero vibe with the art. Looks interesting.

It's a small crew with a strong rapport and some really interesting ideas about game design and narrative - not a guaranteed win, but worthy of optimism for sure.

I get the sense they're like an even smaller Supergiant - focused, tight knit, but with a range of talent that could lead to something quite special.

What time is it on the Firewatch?

Fahrenheit 4:51!

Holy shit they are making a Ranger Gord game!

I believe this quote found on the Campo Santo dev blog says it all:

"LIKE A SUPERGROUP OF MUSICIANS FROM ALL THE BANDS YOU DON’T LIKE. AND NOT EVEN THE BEST MUSICIANS FROM THOSE BANDS."

I'm pretty damn excited.

name sounds dumb

@bisonhero: The two telltale guys were lead story guys for the walking dead, and as such didn't have very much to do with it's gameplay. And the story in that first season was really well written. And handled choice quite interestingly. Olly is English and that accent makes you look pompous every time. Besides I'd rather be working with someone who was pompous and aware of his qualities. Then someone who constantly doubts themselves. As far as indie dream teams go, this is a pretty great one. You're right to be critical of pre release hype though.

@bisonhero: The two telltale guys shipped way more than just TWD Season 1, they were working at Telltale pretty early on, and were leads on the first Poker Night game I'm pretty sure.

I still don't get why everyone says this is an indie dev dream team. The only guy on there I have huge respect for is Nels Anderson.

Rodkin and Vanaman shipped one really successful TellTale adventure game and then jumped ship, and given that The Walking Dead was largely a bunch of Mass Effect-style cutscenes with occasional walking around and little to no puzzles or mechanics or gameplay, they don't seem like superstars of game design to me. Good writers, I guess. Olly Moss is that movie poster guy, and he seemed kind of pompous every time I've seen him do an interview or guest appearance on a livestream, so his inclusion is pretty meh.

Chris Remo is alright.

Did someone break the comments?

@brodehouse: I don't know man, hanging out on a digital beach in my shitty apartment would probably be kinda depressing. Far Cry 3 made me miss sun and the sea so bad.

Can't wait. Good game is going to be good.

2014's walking simulator of the year

I would by this on blind faith alone because of the people involved (the studio is a Indie Dream Team), but this sounds really, really awesome. Looking forward to this one!

This looks amazing!

DELILAH IS FRANK FONTAINE

Seriously, though, I like the dudes making this game, and I'm excited to get my hands on it. I like how bizarrely specific and down-to-earth the setting and scenario are. You don't get much of that in games.

KRZ got like 8500 dollars in funding (plus whatever sales they get from steam/humble bundle, which probably isn't that much either). And there's only 2 people working on it. Andx2, not 100% on this, but I think they both have day jobs and do KRZ in their free time (how else would they be surviving?). Whatever the case, I like the first 2 episodes a lot, and think it's supremely impressive what they have accomplished so far with their limited means.

@narujoe93: Except this game will actually get finished.

That sounds like an interesting setting and premise. Curious to see what this all-star cast of characters at Campo Santo can produce, their individual track record so far is pretty damn great.

really stoked about this!

Did anyone else hear "Firewatch" and immediately go to Firewatch: Reckoning and Firewatch: Storm?

That teaser picture reminds me of kentucky route zero.

I sure hope this game will have psychological horror/cabin fever type shenanigans.

I highly doubt you get Olly Moss on your team and then use some free bullshit textures in your game. C'mon, son.

Fuck yes. Wyoming is sorely underrepresented as a setting in games.

Gone Campin'.

GHOSTS CONFIRMED! I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY.

Man. I can't remember the last time I was this excited about a game. The dudes what wrote TWD with the dude who design MOTN are you fucking kidding me. Throw in art by Olly Moss and music by #BeatRemo and I can't even begin to even. SO HYPED

Ghost/10

@Brodehouse

The Wii U's StreetView app is actually pretty fun. I'd love to see OR support for that stuff. We'd never have to visit other countries! Just stay at home and see everything!

man, i see that art and it looks amazing but then i read, "Firewatch is a single-player first-person video game."
i'm pretty confused how that art style converts to first-person, maybe like walking into a popup book/paper mario

This sounds awesome!

What I'm saying is someone needs to make digital tourism into an industry. I guess that's Google Earth. Or Total Recall.

Also I'm trying to get first person walker over. FP-Dubs baby!

@nelsormensch: Yeah, it totally was! I was actually thinking about tweeting to one of you guys and asking, but hey this works too. I would second that recommendation as well!

Cool, I officially have one game to look forward to in 2015.