History VideoGame / Outcast

[[WhatCouldHaveBeen A sequel was planned]], but before development could really get off the ground, [[AuthorExistenceFailure the company went bankrupt]]. [[http://outcastii.free.fr/www/eng/index_eng.php This website]] preserves what little remains from the original sequel's development materials, including a [[http://outcastii.free.fr/www/main/focus/OC2_1st_Script.pdf design doc draft]]. A fan-made, open source sequel entitled ''[[http://www.openoutcast.org/wp/ Open Outcast]]'' is currently in development by a group of enthusiasts. And in April of 2014, several of the original devs started a Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/outcast-reboot-hd/outcast-reboot-hd project]] to fund an HD remake of the first game, with eventual hopes to develop a sequel.

* NoHeroDiscount: The Talan believe you're a Messiah, prophecised to save them from tyranny. This doesn't stop a group of identical merchants, all brothers, from selling your own equipment to you in an attempt to prove to their father that they can make enough money to inherit the family business

* AbnormalAmmo: Certain Talan would make ammunition for your weapons.

** UZA-SH1: Automatic. Bullets ricochet when the gun is upgraded.

** HAWK-MK8: Energy Gun. Can be a real GameBreaker when fully upgraded because it fires one-hit kill blasts about as quickly as you can click.

A surprisingly, amazingly good third-person adventure, '''Outcast''' was noteworthy for its time for a host of innovative and effective game developments, almost all of which sadly reduced its chances in the marketplace. It had the bad luck to use unusual rendering method widely called "voxels"[[labelnote:*]]actually "a height field with some software raycasting"[[/labelnote]] to generate a wide-open, go-anywhere play world... just when 3D accelerators based on rendering polygons got really popular. (In their defense, had they gone with polygon rendering on the [[GraphicsProcessingUnit GPUs]] available at the time, no computer in the world at that point in time would be able to handle the game.) It had a deep story, with good writing... just as Internet-based deathmatches with {{Excuse Plot}}s became popular. It had a full orchestral -- and we ''mean'' orchestral, as in "a big bunch of real musicians" -- score, in a time when techno or rock was almost required on any game's soundtrack.

A surprisingly, amazingly good third-person adventure, '''Outcast''' was noteworthy for its time for a host of innovative and effective game developments, almost all of which sadly reduced its chances in the marketplace. It had the bad luck to use unusual rendering method widely considered "voxel" (actually "a height field with some software raycasting") to generate a wide-open, go-anywhere play world... just when 3D accelerators based on polygons got really popular. (In their defense, had they gone with polygon rendering on the [[GraphicsProcessingUnit GPUs]] available at the time, no computer in the world at that point in time would be able to handle the game.) It had a deep story, with good writing... just as Internet-based deathmatches with {{Excuse Plot}}s became popular. It had a full orchestral -- and we ''mean'' orchestral, as in "a big bunch of real musicians" -- score, in a time when techno was almost required on the soundtrack.

Now sold on Good Old Games, if you missed out the first time around.

* AttackAttackAttack: Averted. The enemies would attempt to flee if they were losing the battle hard enough

* NoHeroDiscount: The Talan believe you're TheMessiah, prophecised to save them from tyranny. This doesn't stop a group of identical merchants, all brothers, from selling your own equipment to you in an attempt to prove to their father that they can make enough money to inherit the family business

* [[spoiler:StableTimeLoop]]: [[spoiler:Kauffman and Xue end up in Adelpha a few decades before the probe, Cutter or Marion do. In the decades between, Kauffman becomes the prophet Kazar and predicts the arrival of Cutter, [[TheMessiah the Ulukai]]; Xue becomes [[BigBad Fae Rahn]], has Kazar [[strike:killed]] "reverted", and then ends up sending one of his soldiers to damage the probe when it finally arrives.]]

* TheMessiah: Cutter is seen as this to the Talan.

A surprisingly, amazingly good third-person adventure, ''Outcast'' was noteworthy for its time for a host of innovative and effective game developments, almost all of which sadly reduced its chances in the marketplace. It had the bad luck to use unusual rendering method widely considered "voxel" (actually "a height field with some software raycasting") to generate a wide-open, go-anywhere play world... just when 3D accelerators based on polygons got really popular. (In their defense, had they gone with polygon rendering on the [[GraphicsProcessingUnit GPUs]] available at the time, no computer in the world at that point in time would be able to handle the game.) It had a deep story, with good writing... just as Internet-based deathmatches with {{Excuse Plot}}s became popular. It had a full orchestral -- and we ''mean'' orchestral, as in "a big bunch of real musicians" -- score, in a time when techno was almost required on the soundtrack.

[[WhatCouldHaveBeen A sequel was planned]], but before development could really get off the ground, [[AuthorExistenceFailure the company went bankrupt]]. [[http://outcastii.free.fr/www/eng/index_eng.php This website]] preserves what little remains from the original sequel's development materials, including a [[http://outcastii.free.fr/www/main/focus/OC2_1st_Script.pdf design doc draft]]. A fan-made, open source sequel entitled ''[[http://www.openoutcast.org/wp/ Open Outcast]]'' is currently in development by a group of enthusiasts. However, in July 2013 the original developers bought the license back and stated that they'll soon start developing Outcast 2. CueTheFlyingPigs.

A surprisingly, amazingly good third-person adventure, ''Outcast'' was noteworthy for its time for a host of innovative and effective game developments, almost all of which sadly reduced its chances in the marketplace. It had the bad luck to use voxel rendering to generate a wide-open, go-anywhere play world... just when 3D accelerators based on polygons got really popular. (In their defense, had they gone with polygon rendering on the [[GraphicsProcessingUnit GPUs]] available at the time, no computer in the world at that point in time would be able to handle the game.) It had a deep story, with good writing... just as Internet-based deathmatches with {{Excuse Plot}}s became popular. It had a full orchestral -- and we ''mean'' orchestral, as in "a big bunch of real musicians" -- score, in a time when techno was almost required on the soundtrack.

[[WhatCouldHaveBeen A sequel was planned]], but before development could really get off the ground, [[AuthorExistenceFailure the company went bankrupt]]. [[http://outcastii.free.fr/www/eng/index_eng.php This website]] preserves what little remains from the original sequel's development materials, including a [[http://outcastii.free.fr/www/main/focus/OC2_1st_Script.pdf design doc draft]]. A fan-made, open source sequel entitled ''[[http://www.openoutcast.org/wp/ Open Outcast]]'' is currently in development by a group of enthusiasts.

* FanSequel: ''open Outcast'', a total conversion for the [[Crysis CryTech3]] engine.

* FanSequel: ''open Outcast'', a total conversion for ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} Warhead''.

** UZA-=SH1=: Automatic. Bullets ricochet when the gun is upgraded.

** HAWK-=MK8=: Energy Gun. Can be a real GameBreaker when fully upgraded because it fires one-hit kill blasts about as quickly as you can click.

** UZA-SH1: Automatic. Bullets ricochet when the gun is upgraded.

** HAWK MK8: Energy Gun. Can be a real GameBreaker when fully upgraded because it fires one-hit kill blasts about as quickly as you can click.

** HAWK MK8: EnergyGun. Can be a real GameBreaker when fully upgraded because it fires one-hit kill blasts about as quickly as you can click.

You, as Cutter Slade, are sucked into an alternate world, Adelpha, after a physics experiment GoneHorriblyWrong, along with several researchers: William Kauffman, the head of the project who believes in an infinite number of parallel universes; Anthony Xue, his partner who is responsible for the energy requirements, and Marion Wolfe, a former journalist and daughter of the senator who, after a botched paradrop exercise, essentially forced Cutter into retirement. Your character winds up in an alternate world, with a vaguely medieval society of aliens called the Talan going about their business, who immediately begin to revere him as their messiah, the Ulukai. Oddly enough, though, they [[AliensSpeakingEnglish all speak English]] when talking to you. The merchants sell ammunition that fits your guns. And there's an in-universe reason for all of that...