3 May

New and free CONSORTIUM level and a contest!

Greetings Seekers,

We have just over one week remaining for our crowdfunding effort for Consortium: The Tower!

As part of our pre-production process for The Tower, we have developed a new virtual trainer level for CONSORTIUM. The map itself is designed as an internal tool for us to use moving forward as we develop levels for Consortium: The Tower. It makes great use of super jumping and vertical/open spaces, which the Churchill Tower will be full of.

It will be included, completely free, as part of the next patch for CONSORTIUM (v1.26). However, it is available right now for users who either opt into the beta here on Steam or download the free patch HERE for the DRM free version.

A contest of skill...

So, as an incentive to grab the map and play right now, we have come up with a rather simple but fun contest:

Who in the world can achieve the highest score in the Civilian Gauntlet?

To participate, simply grab the map (see instructions below) and start playing. When you feel like you have achieved a score that you want to enter into the contest:

Take a screenshot that clearly shows your final score on screen.
Post the raw screenshot to Twitter, Facebook or your social network of choice along with the hashtag #TheTowerContest and a link directly to the Consortium: The Tower Fig campaign.
That’s it!

The contest ends the moment that the Fig campaign ends.

Whoever achieves the highest score will receive a huge poster for Consortium: The Tower, signed by The Tower team.

Instructions for how to play Civilian Gauntlet

Opt into the beta: Right click on CONSORTIUM in your library. Click “Properties”. Click the BETAS tab. Click the drop down, and select “vt_civdefense_gauntlet”.
Wait for the game to update, then run CONSORTIUM. The version of the game should show as “V1.25_CGB Master Edition”.
In the main menu, bring up the developer console (default key is ~). If it doesn’t work, make sure the developer console is enabled first: click OPTIONS - Keyboard/Mouse - set Allow Developer Console to “Enabled”.
In the developer console, simply type “map vt_civdefense_gauntlet” (no quotes) and hit ENTER.

To read more about the latest stuff happening (including upcoming Twitch streams!), check out our full update on Fig!.

-iDGi and The Tower team.

5 comments Read more

13 April

Consortium: The Tower has been fully funded on Fig!

Hello Seekers,

We wanted to drop in and let you all in on some good news: Our Fig Campaign for Consortium: The Tower has hit its funding goal with 28 days left on the clock! We're still coming to terms with the speed at which this campaign is moving thus far, but we have plenty of things planned over the next few weeks as we strive to tear into some stretch goals.

We’d like to take a moment and thank all the players of CONSORTIUM, and those who continue to follow our announcements and forum here on Steam. Your support over the years means a great deal to us, and we’d love it if you’d continue this journey towards The Tower with us. Hitting our funding means The Tower is a certainty, but we still need some help on reaching our stretch goals. We invite you to come take a look at our campaign, and if it’s up your alley, help us reach those goals!

For all those who have already supported us on Kickstarter or Fig, a massive thank you for putting your trust in us.

Here is some new press for you guys to help us share today's awesome milestone with the world:

Rock, Paper, Shotgun

GameSpot

WCCFtech

VentureBeat

GameRant

OnlySP - includes link to an extensive interview!

Also a brief note about CONSORTIUM Game One: Once the campaign is over and we're settling into production of The Tower, we will also be spending some time finishing up some things with CONSORTIUM - a Mac build remains a priority for us to finally get done. CONSORTIUM V1.26 will also be completed and will include various bug fixes.

That's about it for now!

Sincerely,

-- iDGi and the Consortium team

7 comments Read more

User reviews:

Recent:

Mostly Positive (37 reviews) - 70% of the 37 user reviews in the last 30 days are positive.

Overall:

Mostly Positive (1,133 reviews) - 74% of the 1,133 user reviews for this game are positive.

Reviews

“Consortium is an ingeniously subversive gem, containing enough backstory to fill a Triple-A trilogy while focusing exclusively on an airship crew in distress.”
4/5 – The Escapist

“...you'll find a game that's punching well above its weight”
Kotaku

“Consortium offers a solid sample of what we’ve been saying games have the potential to do for a generation”
Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Customer reviews

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Negative (287)

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Mostly Positive (37 reviews)

Mostly Positive (1,133 reviews)

Recently Posted

Posted: 16 August

This is an actual f***ing masterpiece of a game. Antialiasing and shadows could've been better.

Made me question my existence 10/10
*Will* play again.

Helpful? Yes No Funny

Posted: 15 August

An overall good experience, but the game has one downfall. It's short. Very short. Though it does have some replay value, I would recommend waiting until the sequel is released, or for the entire trilogy on that matter.

Best Flying Sim 2014

Posted: 13 August

Choppy fps makes this game unplayable.
Just tried to play this for the first time, and it is so choppy! My computer plays way more graphic intensive games without a hitch.

What a dumpster piece of trash. When I join the game, they are asking for money for a sequel. Why would they make a sequel when it looks like the FPS issue isn't fixed on this one?

Uninstalled. No time to play shitbox games that were released years ago and still have issues.

Great short experience, full of interesting and enjoyable characters and choices genuinely seem to impact the events that play out. Shooting is meh but that's really besides the point, can't wait to hear more from part 2.

Posted: 12 August

Pretty good

Posted: 11 August

Incredibly surprising, in a good way. While not pretty to look at, and an IMMENSE amount of unvoiced background content in the way of written logs accessed from a terminal (a vital component to the whole of the game), it is both competently written and voice acted, and the existence of ACTUAL CONSEQUENCES to your actions is refreshing.

A tiny game with a lot of love put into it, and worth it for fans of "Who Dun It?"'s and other investigative adventures.

Posted: 9 August

This game is good.
The gameplay is good, and the graphic too for this game. And the controls are good. But unfortunately 6GB is too much. You can make achievements.
And you can get trading cards so that is good too.

Posted: 6 August

I was going to wait to review this game until I played it a lot more, and I'll likely update this once I do, but I have to commend the creators of this game for essentially explaining the poor graphical quality within the lore of the game. I was starting a new game because I forgot where I was on my last playthrough on my old computer, and as I was accepting the agreement at the beginning, I notice the 'more info' button. I was too late to go back and press it, but then I decided to restart before saving and read it this time. According to the game's lore, you're essentially travelling through magical space-time internets to possess a person in an alternate reality's future (they explain it better in the game). From what I gathered, this is new and experimental technology and they are sort of saying that they don't want to (or simply aren't able to) risk using too much bandwidth. I would love it if, by the time the third game in this trilogy finally comes out, they can get better assets and create a much more immersive experience. Wow, this turned out longer than I thought it was going to.

TL;DR The bad graphics are explained within the lore and I find that delightful.

Posted: 5 August

I don't think I should be rating this game, because I wasn't even able to play it on my first time, it got to something about allignments on the loading screen before it crashed.

Most Helpful Reviews In the past 30 days

Jet

501 products in account

12 reviews

Posted: 20 July

TLDR: Think of this as a single really long level from Deus Ex. There are a bunch of characters, a single unifying mystery, some systems and mini-games, and ties to a (frustratingly obtuse) larger conflict.

The setting is jaw-droppingly complex. Sure, you can understand the core mystery (who is the traitor onboard?) without knowing the setting, but if you want to immerse yourself, you need some ritalin and a lot of patience. Be prepared to play an entire ARG, read thousands of words of backstory, and dive deep into the 'discoveries' folder (free DLC.) And even then, nothing is resolved; you've got a Byzantine world of intrigue and near-future politics. The story you play (a murder mystery) is a tiny fraction of a greater conflict that Adam Jensen could never hope to understand. We're talking ancient aliens, future churches, megacorporations, rogue AIs, machine revolutions, and multiverse theory.

I'll let you down easy; once you go into the briefing (towards the end of the game) about the next mission, that's it. You've got one more scene and then you're done. This game ends right when you're expecting to continue playing, and in a bad way. It's not just a cliffhanger, it's a frustrating and abrupt ending that leaves all the major questions unresolved.

I think there are only two ways to dive into Consortium:

1. Play through the game. Interact with the crew. Try to ignore the setting. Enjoy the mystery.
2. Dive deep. Read the documents. Play the ARG. Go on the forum. Read every kickstarter update. Spend hours on the in-game infodump terminals. Lose sleep over abstract concepts and the constant repetition of the number 21. Wait for the sequel in 2018.

With all that said, I only write the review because I like the game. It's got lots of interesting character moments, some decent voice acting, and a fantastic soundtrack.

I think you should pick it up if you like investigation or mystery games, because it's a neat little experiment within the genre.

Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny

B a l l a g e

314 products in account

179 reviews

Erudite Incubus

121 products in account

56 reviews

Super86

131 products in account

1 review

Posted: 22 July

This game is NOT designed to be played only once. There are many things that you can only unlock or discover if you play several times, knowing what will happen and when. The game is designed like that.
Play it at least twice, changing your behavior, visiting different parts of the ship at different times, doing differently every time. You'll then find that this game is NOT short, but it's engaging nonetheless (you won't get bored after the first pass, far from it).

The biggest "miss" IMO are the huge information documents that describe the lore, the setting, and several key points of the plot. Overly descriptive, boring, and excessively "not-to-the-point".

Most Helpful Reviews Overall

Mr. Komo

293 products in account

3 reviews

Posted: 19 September, 2015

Finished my first run through the game and I've got to say it's quite unlike everything I've played recently. Took me about 17 hours and it turned out to be one of those games that keep me awake until 10 in the morning.

It feels and plays like your own personal interactive Star Trek episode. It is your classic "Thriller on the Express" with a strange murder, a killer hiding amongst your crew, an ancient conspiracy, aliens, mercenaries, and a whole load of mystery. In my first playthrough I have failed to reveal a culprit, but thanks to the fact that the game has a lot of replay value, I will delve into it again in the hopes of solving the case and do things differently.

It's got tons of character interactions (Which you are free to befriend, antagonize or completely ignore), pages upon pages of lore and exposition in the Zenlil's onboard library (Which you can totally avoid if you don't like reading), choices that actually matter and a few twists and turns that I honestly did not see coming (And a couple that I totally did).

The player is encouraged by the game to explore alternative routes as much as possible. One can reload an auto-save made before a conversation (The game saves into a separate slot every few minutes automatically) and choose a different option if you are dissatisfied with a result. You don't have to, but you can if you so desire.

Aside from rather long loading times, a couple graphical glitches and small progression issues such as characters sometimes responding as if I walked away from a conversation when I didn't (Both fixed by loading a previous save), it was a pretty smooth ride.

This is probably not the game for you if you enjoy fast paced shooters (Although it does have some FPS elements), but if you think you might enjoy an adventure/RPG/quest mix then give it a go.

skazclaw

263 products in account

5 reviews

Posted: 5 January, 2014

Seeker...

High quality job. The interaction between player and A.I. seems so natural and realistic, and the voice acting is seriously one of the best I've seen, better than most big budget games. There's a lot of variety in dialogue choices, which actually make a big difference in the outcome(s). I encourage all to play multiple times, you will discover a lot of different things. You will encounter events and situations if you're at the right spot at the right time (some quite humorous), making it seem like a real living world. The story is definitely its other strong point, with plenty of background lore to discover if that is your thing - or otherwise you can be just as engrossed without the deeper knowledge. Graphics are unique, good textures, nicely detailed areas, minor graphical glitches, nothing game breaking. I haven't done much combat, as I prefer the diplomatic options, but from what I have experienced there's nothing wrong with it.

All in all, it's fantastic on so many levels, and I wait in anticipation for the next installment.

IT'S A ROLEPLAYERS DREAM COME TRUE!

McCovican

1,310 products in account

23 reviews

Posted: 26 January, 2015

This is a fantastic game. It isn't ruined by poor interaction, bugs or bad gameplay and the likes. It's ruined by the fact that this whole thing is gaming blue balls; a shareware demo; a teaser. There is a plethora of fantastic game content that you ultimately don't get to play with. The combat/inventory system is barely utilized outwith the VR trainer sim. The story is a gigantic cliff-hanger. You're encouraged to use quicksaves to explore alternate dialogue options, but they will only leave you with more questions. Very few will provide the answers you crave more and more as you explore further. The game literally ends when you jump out the back of the futuristic jumbo-jet you start the game in - imagine if the whole of Mass Effect was set on the Normandy and that's about what this title is. If you explore the dialogue and lore (of which there is a near-overwhelming amount of), you'll get some good hours from this game. However, this release is basically a glorified "Murder on the Orient Express" game - or the first half of one anyway. You're going to have to wait a whole lot longer for any closure, and, of course, put down some more cash. A wholly unfulfilling and, in the end, frustrating experience.

Fsteak

239 products in account

Posted: 9 January, 2014

So here I am... Trying to get KOTOR to work on my computer and failing miserably. I go to the store with $20 in my Steam wallet. Fed up and tired to pick an indie game that looked interesting.

I run into CONSORTIUM.

I decide ah, what the hell and buy it. To my surprise, it actually turned out to be a great game.

The story goes as follows: You are you. The game itself is actually a portal to an alternate reality's future where you inhabit the body of a man codenamed "Bishop - 6" a high ranking officer in the CONSORTIUM. That's all the game tells you about the character (at least in the time I played it) The game physically cannot let you know about Bishop's past, as it glitches out when people talk about it. The characters and the writing are better than a lot of triple-a titles out there and can be very humorous at times.

The music is beautiful, it sounds like it could go in KOTOR itself, and there is a reason for that: Jeremy Soule composed this game's soundtrack. As an admirer of his work I was pleasantly surprised.

Other than a few minor bugs, the CONSORTIUM is a fantastic experience in my honest opinion.

Check this game out! You'll be glad you did!

TheUnknownFactor

4 reviews

Posted: 11 July, 2015

This game looks pretty poor and has remarkably long loading times. It's also a pretty short game; I finished it twice in about 11 hours.

With that said, this game is worth playing twice if you enjoy this type of game. What type is that? An RPG with lots of decisions and consequences. Note that, the decisions you make are actually quite impactful, and the game entirely allows you to make "bad" decisions (the game itself describes this as there being no bad decisions). Beyond that, the game explores some fairly cool science fiction themes and does a fairly good job in making those themes interesting and plausible.

Just a small addendum: I said this game is largely based around decisions and consequences. Let me elaborate on this a little. During the game you'll be trying to solve a sort of mystery. You will not be spoon-fed the answers to your questions and your suspicions will not easily be confirmed. Even if you do a pretty thorough job of the 'investigation', there's a good chance you won't figure it out. However: That is okay. If you don't figure it out the game doesn't become less fun after that point.

I would absolutely recommend this game, with one sidenote: This is a short game. If you think a game costing 15 euro or dollar or whatever, should net you ~15+ hours of gameplay, then you should buy this game when it's on sale. I myself bought it at 65% off, but feel like I wouldn't have been upset if I'd bought it at full price.

Madmanx25

166 products in account

2 reviews

Posted: 30 October, 2014

An awsome game that reminds me of a good Star trek episode, and like star trek, this game's story feels like a first episode in a series with it's to be continued ending four hours in. In truth, this game alone is not worth the $20 asking price and should be bought on sale for around the basic price tag for a dlc. Around $10. Gameplay wise, with everything patched all I had to complain about is some subpar graphics, but this can be forgiven from a indie developer when everything else is this well done.

In short
Good Story though short, Poor graphics, great soundtrack, great controls, but over priced.
7.5/10

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3 May

New and free CONSORTIUM level and a contest!

13 April

Consortium: The Tower has been fully funded on Fig!

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