RPG players will be able to transfer characters between RPGs via Tactical Simulations Interactive’s “Gateway” initiative – First games include Shadowrun:Hong Kong and Torment: Tides of Numenera
March 2, 2015 – Los Angeles – Tactical Simulations Interactive (TSI) today unveiled “Gateway” – a system that allows players to transfer their favorite characters across supported RPGs. The initiative will be rolled out in TSI’s debut title, Seven Dragon Saga – an original fantasy RPG for PC, Mac and Linux, based upon an original pen and paper role-playing system designed by former Strategic Simulations Interactive (SSI) alumni Keith Brors and David Shelley. Developers inXile and Harebrained Schemes have also announced support for Gateway, with more set to sign on in the coming months.
With Gateway, TSI is inviting RPG developers to take part in an initiative that hearkens back to the days of classic RPGs like The Bard’s Tale, Ultima and Wizardry — a time when players could fully transfer their characters and parties into different games, without having to create them from scratch for each game.
“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’s 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.”
Developers wishing to support Gateway in their games should contact Tactical Simulations Interactive:
gateway@tsi-games.com