Original Post
NON-EXISTING!
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Commonly referred to as Rebirth) is a remake based on the original Flash game, The Binding of Isaac. It will be developed by Nicalis with Edmund McMillen in a supervising position.
Rebirth features a new non-Flash-based engine and the same designs as the original, but with brand new 16-bit pixel graphics. The game will also include additional content in the size of the Wrath of the Lamb expansion, including things that had to be cut from the original game due to the limitations of Flash.
OFFICIAL BINDING OF ISAAC WEBSITE : http://bindingofisaac.com/
Questions about BoI: Rebirth are always being asked and answered on Edmunds blog http://edmundm.com/
All updates are directly copied and pasted from Edmund's Blog(s).
headphones highly recommended, maximum volume yields maximum results
The New “Sheol” track from the binding of isaac rebirth… Duress!
i think you can feel the cold darkness around you… just wait till you see what sheol looks like now !
and in case you missed it, the last track we teased before can be listened to here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISGP...kwZIPyZErYQMwQ
and our 1st teased track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGrp...kwZIPyZErYQMwQ
so happy with how the soundtrack is coming together… but in other news Tyrone recently posted his favorite combo in rebirth so far…
ipecac + tiny planet…. wwhhhhaaaaaat?
more news next monday! (or whenever i feel like uploading shit during the week!)
The 1st Rebirth Item visual tease!
Awhile back i teased an item called Tiny Planet, an asteroid lodged in isaac’s head that would make his tears revolve around his body.
here is what that looked like in my design doc.
it has since been tweaked some, but currently works something like this.
Tiny Planet raises range very high, adds spectral tear effects (tears pass through objects) and changes how your tears move, but why does it matter? if its not OP then why care?
items like tiny planet are important in isaac because they change how you play. the best items in games are those that force the player to play differently while still giving them a slight advantage if used correctly.
with tiny planet your tears become a force field of chaos, and you now play the game completely different… and with different gameplay come some very different combos!… example:
with a bit of tweaking items that can appear to hinder you can actually become very fun and at times extremely powerful if explored.
ill leave you with a gif from last week that is a 2 item combo (one of the items is obviously new) that can generate an obscene number of attack spiders! …. it and many other item combo exploits will stay in (some slightly tweaked) so get ready to find 1000 more ways to break the game!
we have such sights to show you…
oh btw… what item combo do you most want to see in gif form? maybe if you are lucky ill post it later this week!!
Spoon bender + Tech2 = badass.
all the laser type items are now totally dynamically generated… good times will be had.
Brimstone (no demon visual yet) + Spoon bender….
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth item test (alpha)
Homing shots + max range + new mystery item (same one s the last gif)
Ok so first off im making this QA so the fans are informed, i get a constant barrage of emails, tumblr questions and tweets about rebirth, and these seem to be the most common questions.
im doing this for YOU so all i ask in return is to be sure to post this QA places so fans can read it, and if you ever see someone ask one of these, just direct them to this post please
now on to theQ&A!
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Q:Why are you making a remake already!!??
A: Waaay back when we made wrath of the lamb we had planned on another expansion around the size of wrath, but because of flash limitations not only was it not possible, most of our flas got so corrupted that it took days to export simple patches of the game.
i was contacted by Tyrone of Nicalis (Cave Story, VVVVVV, etc) about a super meat boy remake for non xbla consoles, and since i had hit a wall with isaac i suggested a remake and we were off!
Q:Why did you change the art style for rebirth!? (ps i hate it!)
A: i have a few reasons for the change.. let me list them!
1. i didnt like the flash style, isaac was a big rush job and i did all the art in less than 2 months. i wasnt ever happy with it and hadnt planned on the game being so successful so i just got the job done so i could finish the game… aka the art was lazy and to me, just an eyesore.
2. i had always wanted isaac to be retro looking. the game was based on zelda and if i was any good at pixel sprites and had more time i would have done the whole game in a retro style. i had originally wanted to do more of an nes look, but after loads of testing and a few public opinion posts we decided on a gba (higher than 16bit) art style.
3. if i had to do all the art myself it would push mewgenics and rebirth back a ton. i didnt want to spread myself thin or half ass the art so i asked tyrone to put his best pixel artists on the job.
4. i like this style a lot more.
Q: Ive seen pics and i hate the way the game looks! why are you such a foolish mongo!?
A: the pics you have seen are still very early builds of the game, all the basic art is in place but non of the game’s new visual additions are at all in place.
when its all said and done rebirth will feature a shit load of very pretty animated pixel effects, from fog, lighting, moving grass and torches to non enemy creatures that wander, crawl, fly and eventually get stepped on. there will also be tons of other little effects like interactive puddles, smoke, subtle quakes, drips,drops and moving foliage.
so please hold your opinions till we finally release an official and final screen shot, and if you still hate it, i wont force you to buy the game
Q:Is rebirth an expansion? and what will make it different than the old game?
A: not only is rebirth a fully remodeled and revamped and greatly improved version of isaac + wrath of the lamb, but it will also feature so much content that the game will almost be doubled in terms of new enemies, items, characters, endings, secrets, rooms, chapters, challenges and a shit load of very new and unexpected additions.
Q:Will rebirth support my XYZ controller?!
A: yes, rebirth features all the support that any normal non-flash game would feature.
Q:Is rebirth still in flash!?
A:NO!
Q:Will rebirth be full screen and have resolution options that dont suck!?
A: yes rebirth features all the support that any normal non-flash game would feature.
Q:Are you taking preorders? and if i own isaac do i get a discount!??
A: not yet, but yes. when preorders start up, till its release we will be taking preorders and if you own isaac you will also get a very sizable loyalty discount. i cant say how much it will be just yet, but it should make owning the original very worth it.
Q:Are you doing early access?!
A: hell no, rebirth is a game loaded with secrets and fun stuff i dont want anyone to see before anyone else. i also hate showing my wip games.
Q:What platforms is rebirth coming out on?!! and why isnt it coming out on XYZ!!!!
A: as of now, Steam, Ps4 and Vita.. but the rest arent out of the question. we would love to release on all systems, the ball is in their courts though. we miiiiight also test the game out on ipad and see how it works, if it works ok then we will also release there.
Q:Why no Nintendo!!!! I FUCKING HATE YOU!
A: we want to release on 3ds, and will if given the option. isaac currently goes against Nintendos publishing rules due to its religious aspects.. but stuff might change, you never know.
Q:Can i switch art styles back to the flash look?
A: of course not, rebirth will only feature one art style.
Q:Will the music for rebirth get the same overhaul that the graphics and gameplay did or are you just phoning it in!?
A: we are for sure not phoning it in. rebirth will feature a fully updated score to go with the new lush environments that is sure to please.
Q:I hear there will be multiplayer! tell me more about it! or else!
A: there will be local co-op only. how this will work is still being tested so i cant give any details on it just yet.
Q: I heard a rumor that you will be adding some thing to the game that i hate! why are you doing that! why are you breaking the game i love so much you asshole!?
A: rumors are rumors till you hear them from me. im currently playing with a lot of ideas on ways to expand and improve isaac, some of them might not be appreciated by all but understand that i wouldnt ever do anything to ruin any aspect of the game and things will be heavily tested before anything becomes official.
Q :When will rebirth release? i want a fucking date! give me a date!!!!
A: i have no idea other than sometime this year, its done when its done.
Q: Will you be adding day one DLC!? i feel like the game is already ending and i need moar!!!! tell me you will be making dlc!!!!
A: NO! you have no idea how many times this is asked, the game isnt out yet. only assholes plan day one dlc that isnt included in the games release! i dont even plan dlc till a game comes out and i see what worked and what didnt. if rebirth does well and people want more, and i can dredge up more ideas.. then yes one day there will be more.. but dont ask till its out!
Q: I heard you arent even working on rebirth! what the hell are you doing on it anyway!?
A:i am very much so working on rebirth. im the lead designer of rebirth and have final cut, i approve/test every aspect of anything that goes into the game and nothing is final till i give the ok. i also sketch out enemies/bosses/items/item effects/etc out in flash for the artists to remake.
Q:Are you going to fix all those damn bugs?! you shit ass asshole!
A:yes, most are already fixed! some of them i didnt know existed! chances are neither did you!
Q:Will rebirth actually run well on my pc!?
A: it wont be in flash, so yes it should run quite well.
Q:Will you support daily runs or shared seeds so i can stream against other players online!?
A: yes, this is a goal of ours.
Q:Will i be able to show off my isaac once i finish a game?
A:yes, another goal of ours is an easy way to export an image of your final isaac form to share online!
Q:What stage of development are you?
A: beyond the half way point. id say 85% of the art is done and almost all the games old content has been remade in the new engine.
Q:How many people are working on rebirth? and is florian still working on it?
A: 3 artist and 2-3 programmers i believe. one of them is spider, creator of spider mod. he knows the game inside and out and has been a great asset to development. florian isnt workin on the remake because he doesnt really program much outside of flash, but is on call for the programmers and gets weekly builds to help test.
Q:Will rebirth feature new playable characters?
A: yes it will feature more than 3 new playable characters! (that also means new unlocks for each final boss + new chapter(s)item unlocks for all characters)
Q:Will rebirth feature more items, if so how many?
A:there are currently over 150 new items, bumping the item count to far beyond 300! on top of that there will be loads of new tarot cards, trinkets, interactive objects, room types, secret areas, and basic item pickups.
Q:Will rebirth feature more endings and chapters?
A: yes, yes it will.
now leave me alone!
Rebirth is a totally remade game based on the Flash version of The Binding of Isaac + Wrath of the Lamb.
The game is being produced and developed by Nicalis, the same people who produced the Cave Story remakes and the VVVVVV port.
Nicalis is working on the port for PS4/Vita and PC (Steam).
The remake will feature all the content featured in TBoI+WotL but will also feature another Wrath of the Lamb-sized expansion over the top that will feature a new final chapter, ending, two new playable characters and many more items, rooms, enemies, bosses and the like. The goal will be to make replaying the whole game not only worth it but also make it so that it feels very fresh and new.
The remake will feature content that was removed from the Flash version of the game due to limitations. (secret stuff!)
The remake will feature local two player co-op, but no online play because that will just make the development of the remake longer.
The game will go into full time development starting on the 1st of 2013 and is set to be finished by the end of the year, but Edmund commented with "but we know how this stuff goes".
The game will feature new music by Danny Baranowsky as well as some spicy remixes of old tunes.
Edmund will be lead designer on the project, making sure things are as perfect as they can make them and as true to the original as possible, he will also be designing all the new content and features.
The game will be getting a full 16-bit make over as Edmund stated "I'm doing this because I think the art is tired, and I'm sick of looking at it. I think a fresh coat of paint is needed and I think it's kinda appropriate/funny to do a demake for the remake."
They will try to do a loyalty pre-order discount to anyone who owns the original game on PC.
The ability to save and return to a play session as Edmund said "this is something we wanted to do in the flash version but couldn’t due to limitations, this will def. be a feature in the remake."
The remake will feature a lot of new content that the player will see and interact with from the start to the end, which is the new final ending. The remake is being packed full of things they couldn't do with the Flash version as well as tons of secrets that will not be known for a while. The remake will feature two new characters, each with a new set of items. Each one unlocks by beating the now five final bosses.
The remake will have much better performance compared to the original game.
Edmund went with Nicalis because it was the only development team he's close with and the only one he trusts with his intellectual property.
The remake will be fully retuned, balanced, and improved.
The biggest thing to keep in mind in here is that development of the remake is just starting, so nothing is set in stone. Edmund is currently in full time development of Mew-Genics with Tommy, and they have other surprises in store for the fanbase next year; so his goal with Rebirth is simply make sure the remake is top quality and then detail out the expansion and updates once development has gotten further. The remake won't slow down any games Edmund is working on, as Nicalis is working on it with Edmund's supervision.
A new enemy has been confirmed, the Fatty (shown in the gallery below). It is similar to the Gapers in that it has a chance to turn into another enemy when killed.
Twinfinite Interview:
The people from Twinfinite asked Edmund questions that they gathered from a reddit posts. Check it out here.
Rebirth details
Nicalis will focus on remaking the entire game (Original + Wrath of The Lamb) with some tweaks, and then Edmund will step in to add the new content.
The art style will remain 16bit and the old art will not be included. Ed says that the style is getting there but needs some work, and that he will approve each piece of art.
Isaac's design especially is a WIP. His face will be bigger than it is in the original game because pixel art limits the amount of detail they can add with items, but how much bigger is still up in the air.
Arcades will be retooled so they aren't such a time sink, although he was unclear on how this would be done. He did say that the probability of machines blowing up will be higher than it currently is.
In general, there will be a greater incentive to spend less time on floors. Some new items will somehow be sensitive to time, which was impossible in flash. Ed's goal is that the average run time in the remake will be a little shorter than in the current game.
Choosing between going to Sheol or the Cathedral will be more meaningful. Ed admits that in the flash version there's not much point in going to Sheol if you've unlocked the Cathedral. He hints that there will be some extra floor equivalent to the Chest after Sheol and that the choice between them will be more interesting.
There will be plenty of new challenge runs, but no custom run option ("definitely will not happen"). Ed says he wants the challenges to actually have some reward (an unlock) and that custom runs (a la the cheat engine) are essentially about hacking the game to start with items. He feels that if this was included in vanilla Isaac it would "break the game".
There will be some other feature that "touches" on the concept of custom challenge runs, but is "much cooler". Ed declined to elaborate, but said that it's one of the ideas he wanted to implement in the flash game, but couldn't due to technical problems. "People who want custom runs will be very happy with this feature, but in a lot of ways it can be a challenge."
There will be no wiki-like feature, telling you what items do. Ed mentions that he doesn't like the wiki because it "kills the magic" of figuring everything out for yourself.
There will be a new ending, but Ed hasn't figured it out quite yet.
In a response to the wiki breaking everything down, Ed wants to add secrets that will be very hard to find and will stay buried for a while.
The stats screen is up in the air. Ed says he hasn't thought about it, but in general he wants it to stay vague.
There will be a Skatole-like item for spiders.
The remake will run "perfect". Little to no drops in the frame rate are a high priority. Fun fact, Ed actually refused to release Isaac because it had such a terrible frame rate. It was only until Tommy (the other half of team meat) took a look at the build that it got up to its current state, which Ed is still embarrassed by.
Lemon Mishap will get a buff. The creep will stay on the screen longer and it will recharge a bit faster. Overall, Ed says that there still will be bad items and powerful items, but some of the more worthless ones will be made more useful.
Ed says that he "overdid it" with flying items in Wrath of The Lamb. Flying items will not get cut, but chances are that there will be no new flying items in the remake.
Trivia
Florian programmed much of Isaac in German. Ed will have Florian on to translate his code for the remake.
Soul hearts going off the screen was a bug. You were supposed to only be allowed the visible number of hearts, but Ed liked the mystery of wondering how many you have left so they never fixed it.
Ed dropped out of community college after some weird guy got the same grade as him in a 3D animation course.
Edmund admits that he never really had a clear vision of the story (what actually is going on in Isaac) and that it's developed over time.
LethalFrag Stream:
Edmund talked about a few possible ideas with the Let's Player LethalFrag. Check it out here
Ed has written up an idea for a possible playable character for Rebirth that fans of Loki will like.
There was a concept for a playable character called Mystery Man, a character with a question mark for a face that starts out with two random items. Everytime you would beat moms heart (with any character) you would get a token, which in turn would allow you to play with the Mystery Man. Killing the final bosses (Mom's heart, Satan, etc.) unlocks new special items for him.
To quote: "This idea will definitely make it in. This will give an extra challenge to the hardcores".
"Show off your Isaac" will definitely be included.
As for Co-Op, Ed stressed the importance of "There is only one Isaac!"; something we should keep in mind.
More items for the shops. More items with modifiers and items like Habit and Mom's Purse. There was for example an item that raises the damage of blue flies. Or items that increase the power of familiars. Stores items can aid in more specific combinations.
Different item starting loadouts for all characters.
Trivia
Even Edmund does not know how the complete game works anymore, part to forgetting and part to bugs creating effects not intented.
Being able to slip past spikes was not planned (although contradicting answers are given by Edmund on this topic).
Northernlion Interview:
Ed gave some interesting details in his interview with Northernlion (which you can watch by clicking here)
Nothing here is definitively confirmed. There's still a lot of development time left, and Ed doesn't like to set things into stone. But, there's probably a good chance that most of these things will be a part of Rebirth. That said, Ed didn't confirm quite as much this time, at least compared to his interview with Twinfinite last year.
Progress Report: All of the pre-Rebirth content art has been completed, and now Nicalis is working on randomizing rooms and the new content exclusive to Rebirth.
Ed says that he wants everyone who has played the flash version to have a reason to come back and pick up Rebirth. Rebirth will take advantage of its new engine, which means new content that was never before possible due to flash's technical limitations. Ed specifically hints at "bullet hell" and maybe even different sized rooms.
Again, Rebirth will run much more smoothly than flash Isaac, so say goodbye to that chugging frame rate!
Sheol will be changed to be more interesting and difficult, so it could be an actual alternative to the Cathedral.
It's been confirmed before, but there will be some sort of Chest analogue after beating Sheol. Ultimately, Ed wants to make these two path parallel in terms of content.
The Mystery Man: Ed has hinted at this character before, but this time we get a more explicit explanation how he works. The Mystery Man starts with random stats and two random items, and then it's your job to go from there. You might get awesome stats or you might get terrible ones, it all depends on what you roll at the start of the run. The catch is that you have to pay some sort of token to play as the Mystery Man. You receive those tokens from beating Mom, so if you try and fail as Mystery Man you may need to go back to other characters to earn more tokens. Ed says there will be some balancing mechanic preventing you from rolling a super-powerful (or super under-powered) character right from the start.
Rebalancing Soul Hearts: Soul hearts will not be able to go off the screen. Ed says "what you see is what you get." That means 12 Heart Containers max, including Soul Hearts! Ed points out that this will make the game harder for experienced players who know how to exploit soul hearts, not newbies who are still learning the ropes.
Rebalancing Items and Trinkets: Some of the worse items will be improved, while others will be turned into trinkets. For example, Wiggle Worm is now a Trinket, being a part of a new set of 4-6 Trinkets that would change how your tears would move.
New familiars with differentiated abilities (Meaning that they won't just be turrets). In Rebirth you will be able to have more than 6 maximum familiars at the same time.
There will be plenty of bug fixes as well as more clarity on what items do. A lot of the bugs associated with Isaac are due to the limitations of flash and Action Script 2. With the new engine you can expect items to behave as intended. Ed also wants to make the game a bit more clear on certain things for players. By that he doesn't mean flat out telling you what items do, but he does want the short item descriptions and displayed stats to actually be helpful and reflect what is actually going on.
The bug where negative bad luck will get you more chests than usual will be fixed.
But there will more mystery as well. Ed wants the wiki to have to take a bit of time to catch up with all of the hidden content. The community will have to work together to find all of the extended secret areas (sort of similar to the secret areas in Spelunky).
Rewards for completing bosses/floors/runs under certain times to incentivize speed runs. By reward Ed usually means a new item unlock.
Rewards for ingenuity: What happens when I use the We Need To Go Deeper! item in Sheol? Nothing in the current game, but Ed wants to reward players who try! Maybe if you try using items in interesting places you'll open up new content!
Co-op Multiplayer: Ed has already hinted at some of this before, but it's worth re-mentioning. Multiplayer will be local only and Co-op based. A second player will be able to drop in and the game will scale accordingly. Both players will be on the same screen, however Ed affirms that there is "only one isaac". That means that Player 2 may be controlling a totally different character.
There are also plans to allow players to compete in fair races in Rebirth. Although there is no online multiplayer, you will be able to get a code for a particular isaac run. You can send that code to a friend, and when entered in into the game it will generate the same rooms, enemies, items, and floor maps for both players. This will make it possible for players to share runs and thus make it a more fair competition if you and your buddy want to race to Sheol.
Ed is not a fan of Isaac on touch screens, so I hope you're not holding out for Isaac for iPad.
New cutscenes and voiceovers? Only time will tell. Ed say he will not just remake the old cutscenes with 16 bit graphics. Either he will reuse the old ones and add to them, or remake them all. Ed also wants to get more of Matthias Bossi's narration in the game (he voices the intro cutscene). Since Bossi is doing the music for Mewgenics, Ed's other game in development, it's certainly a possibility.
A hint at one of the 100+ new items!
A new item called Tiny Planet:
Small moon shaped object which gets embedded in your head.
Effect: It maximizes your range stat but makes all tears revolve around Isaac's body, much like an attack fly. The idea is that there will be a ton of tears revolving around you, much like the Duke of Flies' flies. Each tear will rotate around you roughly twice and the idea is that it changes the whole dynamic of play. If you have laser it will make a ring of laser.
Northernlion/Bisnap Interview
Northerlion and Bisnap interviewed Edmund on a Twitch.tv stream [2], asking him various questions suggested by reddit users.
Edmund wants to support modders, although he has no idea how.
The Polaroid Trinket will be no longer be needed to go to The Chest, and will probably be removed/changed.
Edmund has designed 120 new items, although they are not actually in the game yet.
"Breaking" the game will still be possible, especially with the large number of new items. Edmund wants to avoid "breaking" the game in terms of crashing, however.
Edmund wants to balance unfair rooms and "ham-fisted" bosses that depend on the player's items rather than their skill. He said that he originally wanted The Binding of Isaac to be more of a bullet-hell style game, but it lagged Flash too much, resulting in the current Binding of Isaac.
There will definitely be more Challenges in the game, such as an All-Champion run.
Items:
Edmund likes The Candle how it is, but he plans to move it into the higher-priced Shop item tier. It could also be balanced by increasing the cooldown time.
Edmund considers Lemon Mishap to be the joke item of the game, so he doesn't want it to be over-buffed. Still, its range and duration will be increased.
Brimstone will not be changed, but the "Brimsnapping" glitch will be fixed.
The Kamikaze! glitch will be fixed, but the item itself will be buffed, probably by reducing self-damage.
Dr. Fetus and Epic Fetus will remain the same, but will simply be harder to find. Epic Fetus could be unlocked in a harder challenge, too.
The "Faith" stat will actually be in Rebirth, probably increasing the chance of an Angel Room appearing.
The Stats in the pause screen will not be any more detailed than they are currently, because Edmund does not want players to see the exact stat numbers. The bars themselves will be less confusing, though.
Edmund says that he does want to balance the characters, but not in terms of their stats. Certain characters being harder to play is supposed to be a part of the game.
The Mystery Man is confirmed, and at least one more character will be added.
There will be no items referencing famous people in the Binding of Isaac community, because Edmund doesn't want people to feel left out for not getting the reference. He also says that it feel like breaking the fourth wall, and is unnatural.
Edmund's Formspring
According to Edmund, there is virtually no chance for Rebirth to release for the Nintendo 3DS.
Online co-op will never be added in a future update, because it will extend the development time.
Some item pick-up quotes will get a rework so they are more understandable.
Ed considers a kind of option for 100% players that could enable so called "challenge runs"
A quick-save function.
20 cent items for Shops!
It might be possible for players to mod Rebirth, allowing them to get custom skins for items.
Rebirth will have a bit of an overarching theme.
There will be another page of Challenges in Rebirth.
Old content will get polished.
DannyB's soundtrack might be unlockable in Rebirth (High possibility).
A lot of changes to the effect of the "Everything's Terrible" Secret/Achievement.
There will be 2 new characters in Rebirth. Both of them will have Biblical names, but that's as far as it goes.
More Curses and graphical reworks for already existing ones.
An item that causes Bombs to explode in a cardinal cross pattern. (Similar to the Bomberman franchise)
Different starting item loadouts for all characters will also affect their sprites (small visual changes, so you know which loadout was chosen)
Bosses will get retooled, especially Scolex.
About +50% content is added to the existing game.
More special rooms!
Some graphical updates to make stacked items look better.
There's the possibility for an Angelic counterpart of Krampus in Angel Rooms
Edmund might "do a bestiary like spelunky did", but he will continue refuse to add detailed item descriptions.
The item Max's Head's name will be changed to Cricket's Head (One of Edmund's cats). The item's appearance will also be changed accordingly.
There will be a new key consumable that gives multiple Keys.
The new item tally in Rebirth is currently at about 112, and with 6 new pickups!
125-150 new items will be the maximum.
Possibly another Candle item.
A few elements that fans suggested made it into the game.
The double wave spawning bug in Challenge Rooms will be fixed
"No leveling system, though I might try one out if I ever do another Isaac down the road."
Consoles and Vita probably feature multiple save files
Ed only had 2 boss sketches for the expansion beyond wrath back then, and they both will be making it into rebirth, so there will be over 10 bosses designed exclusively for Rebirth.
"You can expect there to be more stuff in Shops and more stuff to do with Shops, but there will be the same number of shops per level"
As of July, the game is expected to come out in early 2014.
Edmund has said that Sacrifice Rooms will be more interesting in Rebirth.
Edmund has said that there is no chance of Rebirth coming out on the Xbox One, because he no longer wants to develop for Microsoft. He does not want to port rebirth to the Wii U, either, calling it a "waste of time".
When asked about promotional items for Team Fortress 2, Edmund said that he will try and see how Valve responds.
25 enemies and 16 bosses have been completed as of 17 October 2013.
Edmund's current goal is to improve the stacking of certain items, such as homing and Brimstone, which could result in a homing Brimstone laser in Rebirth.
Rebirth features a new non-Flash-based engine and the same designs as the original, but with brand new 16-bit pixel graphics. The game will also include additional content in the size of the Wrath of the Lamb expansion, including things that had to be cut from the original game due to the limitations of Flash.
OFFICIAL BINDING OF ISAAC WEBSITE : http://bindingofisaac.com/
Questions about BoI: Rebirth are always being asked and answered on Edmunds blog http://edmundm.com/
Updates - (Directly from the Website)
All updates are directly copied and pasted from Edmund's Blog(s).
Champion Belt + Champion information
The Champion Belt!
todays rebirth item tease comes in the form of a not so exciting item that im using as a way to talk about a new feature in rebirth that i think is quite amazing, but 1st lets get this belt out of the way.
the champion belt is a STORE ITEM, that raises the % chance of champion enemies appearing in rooms but also raises damage. a lot of items will be moved around item pool wise to fit a “store theme”. the store will feature more support items that are obviously very optional and you have more options on what one(s) you choose to use as you play. most players wont scoff at a damage up item for a few pennies.. but there are a lot more to champions in rebirth than there were before.
in the past a champion was just a larger enemy that had double hp and did a full heart of damage, each champion was randomly tinted to make them look special.. but there really wasnt much special about them other than that.
another big goal in rebirth is to push the random factor up higher, and special champions raise that aspect by a shit ton.
binding of isaac: rebirth will feature a large number of custom designed champions each with their own special stats, features, ai and item drops.
here is a good example:
as you might notice in the gif, there are 2 champions in this room (because im wearing the belt) one is orange and one is solid black. im not going to talk about the orange one.. because its not obvious what hes doing special, but the black one is what i call a “lost champion”. if you pay attention you can see he becomes invisible shortly after entering the room. all of the many new champions each have their own special abilities just like him.
Solid Black = fades in and out of visibility / item drop = red chest
Yellow = double walk/shoot speed / item drop = undisclosed new pickup item
Red = very high hp / item drop = heart
Grey = blows up when killed / items drop = bomb
Green = leaves green creep under itself / item drop = pill
(there are a ton more, but i dont wanna spoil the fun)
http://i.imgur.com/TyBs3Gb.gif
(sorry about the frame rate in this gif, i recorded it at 16 fps)
as you might imagine this totally changes how you approach each and every enemy in the game and is quite a fun game changer that pays out when it comes to risk/reward.
aside from those, champions will still feature double hp and do a full heart of damage when they hit you.. but they are much more of a challenge this time.. thats for sure.
next week ill show you my knife!
todays rebirth item tease comes in the form of a not so exciting item that im using as a way to talk about a new feature in rebirth that i think is quite amazing, but 1st lets get this belt out of the way.
the champion belt is a STORE ITEM, that raises the % chance of champion enemies appearing in rooms but also raises damage. a lot of items will be moved around item pool wise to fit a “store theme”. the store will feature more support items that are obviously very optional and you have more options on what one(s) you choose to use as you play. most players wont scoff at a damage up item for a few pennies.. but there are a lot more to champions in rebirth than there were before.
in the past a champion was just a larger enemy that had double hp and did a full heart of damage, each champion was randomly tinted to make them look special.. but there really wasnt much special about them other than that.
another big goal in rebirth is to push the random factor up higher, and special champions raise that aspect by a shit ton.
binding of isaac: rebirth will feature a large number of custom designed champions each with their own special stats, features, ai and item drops.
here is a good example:
as you might notice in the gif, there are 2 champions in this room (because im wearing the belt) one is orange and one is solid black. im not going to talk about the orange one.. because its not obvious what hes doing special, but the black one is what i call a “lost champion”. if you pay attention you can see he becomes invisible shortly after entering the room. all of the many new champions each have their own special abilities just like him.
Solid Black = fades in and out of visibility / item drop = red chest
Yellow = double walk/shoot speed / item drop = undisclosed new pickup item
Red = very high hp / item drop = heart
Grey = blows up when killed / items drop = bomb
Green = leaves green creep under itself / item drop = pill
(there are a ton more, but i dont wanna spoil the fun)
http://i.imgur.com/TyBs3Gb.gif
(sorry about the frame rate in this gif, i recorded it at 16 fps)
as you might imagine this totally changes how you approach each and every enemy in the game and is quite a fun game changer that pays out when it comes to risk/reward.
aside from those, champions will still feature double hp and do a full heart of damage when they hit you.. but they are much more of a challenge this time.. thats for sure.
next week ill show you my knife!
The Nest + Trishot Brimstone
Meet the “Nest”
So this enemy isnt going to be super exciting due to the fact that at its core its just an alt to an existing enemy.. but i realllly love how they look ingame and this post can give you a good idea of how my design sketches turn into animated sprites.
the nest is a fleshy bloated version of the hive, invested with spiders and covered with puss filled spider bites. much like the hive they spawn small enemies like the ones they cough up, but the nest also spawns something else when it dies.. but thats for a later post.
so after a few back and forths for the visuals matt came up with this final sprite for the nest.
as a little bonus i went ahead and gave myself brimstone + 3rd eye so you can see what a triple brimstone shot looks like.. do keep i mind this is still a very early version and is missing, visual polish and effects.
and just for fun, here is another gif of a few very familiar faces…
TILL NEXT WEEK!
So this enemy isnt going to be super exciting due to the fact that at its core its just an alt to an existing enemy.. but i realllly love how they look ingame and this post can give you a good idea of how my design sketches turn into animated sprites.
the nest is a fleshy bloated version of the hive, invested with spiders and covered with puss filled spider bites. much like the hive they spawn small enemies like the ones they cough up, but the nest also spawns something else when it dies.. but thats for a later post.
so after a few back and forths for the visuals matt came up with this final sprite for the nest.
as a little bonus i went ahead and gave myself brimstone + 3rd eye so you can see what a triple brimstone shot looks like.. do keep i mind this is still a very early version and is missing, visual polish and effects.
and just for fun, here is another gif of a few very familiar faces…
TILL NEXT WEEK!
Duress Soundtrack + Gif
headphones highly recommended, maximum volume yields maximum results
The New “Sheol” track from the binding of isaac rebirth… Duress!
i think you can feel the cold darkness around you… just wait till you see what sheol looks like now !
and in case you missed it, the last track we teased before can be listened to here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISGP...kwZIPyZErYQMwQ
and our 1st teased track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGrp...kwZIPyZErYQMwQ
so happy with how the soundtrack is coming together… but in other news Tyrone recently posted his favorite combo in rebirth so far…
ipecac + tiny planet…. wwhhhhaaaaaat?
more news next monday! (or whenever i feel like uploading shit during the week!)
1st Item Reveal - Tiny Planet Item
The 1st Rebirth Item visual tease!
Awhile back i teased an item called Tiny Planet, an asteroid lodged in isaac’s head that would make his tears revolve around his body.
here is what that looked like in my design doc.
it has since been tweaked some, but currently works something like this.
Tiny Planet raises range very high, adds spectral tear effects (tears pass through objects) and changes how your tears move, but why does it matter? if its not OP then why care?
items like tiny planet are important in isaac because they change how you play. the best items in games are those that force the player to play differently while still giving them a slight advantage if used correctly.
with tiny planet your tears become a force field of chaos, and you now play the game completely different… and with different gameplay come some very different combos!… example:
with a bit of tweaking items that can appear to hinder you can actually become very fun and at times extremely powerful if explored.
ill leave you with a gif from last week that is a 2 item combo (one of the items is obviously new) that can generate an obscene number of attack spiders! …. it and many other item combo exploits will stay in (some slightly tweaked) so get ready to find 1000 more ways to break the game!
we have such sights to show you…
oh btw… what item combo do you most want to see in gif form? maybe if you are lucky ill post it later this week!!
Dynamic Lasers
Spoon bender + Tech2 = badass.
all the laser type items are now totally dynamically generated… good times will be had.
Brimstone (no demon visual yet) + Spoon bender….
Item Tease
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth item test (alpha)
Homing shots + max range + new mystery item (same one s the last gif)
New Soundtracks
Rebirth Q/A
Ok so first off im making this QA so the fans are informed, i get a constant barrage of emails, tumblr questions and tweets about rebirth, and these seem to be the most common questions.
im doing this for YOU so all i ask in return is to be sure to post this QA places so fans can read it, and if you ever see someone ask one of these, just direct them to this post please
now on to theQ&A!
—————————————-
Q:Why are you making a remake already!!??
A: Waaay back when we made wrath of the lamb we had planned on another expansion around the size of wrath, but because of flash limitations not only was it not possible, most of our flas got so corrupted that it took days to export simple patches of the game.
i was contacted by Tyrone of Nicalis (Cave Story, VVVVVV, etc) about a super meat boy remake for non xbla consoles, and since i had hit a wall with isaac i suggested a remake and we were off!
Q:Why did you change the art style for rebirth!? (ps i hate it!)
A: i have a few reasons for the change.. let me list them!
1. i didnt like the flash style, isaac was a big rush job and i did all the art in less than 2 months. i wasnt ever happy with it and hadnt planned on the game being so successful so i just got the job done so i could finish the game… aka the art was lazy and to me, just an eyesore.
2. i had always wanted isaac to be retro looking. the game was based on zelda and if i was any good at pixel sprites and had more time i would have done the whole game in a retro style. i had originally wanted to do more of an nes look, but after loads of testing and a few public opinion posts we decided on a gba (higher than 16bit) art style.
3. if i had to do all the art myself it would push mewgenics and rebirth back a ton. i didnt want to spread myself thin or half ass the art so i asked tyrone to put his best pixel artists on the job.
4. i like this style a lot more.
Q: Ive seen pics and i hate the way the game looks! why are you such a foolish mongo!?
A: the pics you have seen are still very early builds of the game, all the basic art is in place but non of the game’s new visual additions are at all in place.
when its all said and done rebirth will feature a shit load of very pretty animated pixel effects, from fog, lighting, moving grass and torches to non enemy creatures that wander, crawl, fly and eventually get stepped on. there will also be tons of other little effects like interactive puddles, smoke, subtle quakes, drips,drops and moving foliage.
so please hold your opinions till we finally release an official and final screen shot, and if you still hate it, i wont force you to buy the game
Q:Is rebirth an expansion? and what will make it different than the old game?
A: not only is rebirth a fully remodeled and revamped and greatly improved version of isaac + wrath of the lamb, but it will also feature so much content that the game will almost be doubled in terms of new enemies, items, characters, endings, secrets, rooms, chapters, challenges and a shit load of very new and unexpected additions.
Q:Will rebirth support my XYZ controller?!
A: yes, rebirth features all the support that any normal non-flash game would feature.
Q:Is rebirth still in flash!?
A:NO!
Q:Will rebirth be full screen and have resolution options that dont suck!?
A: yes rebirth features all the support that any normal non-flash game would feature.
Q:Are you taking preorders? and if i own isaac do i get a discount!??
A: not yet, but yes. when preorders start up, till its release we will be taking preorders and if you own isaac you will also get a very sizable loyalty discount. i cant say how much it will be just yet, but it should make owning the original very worth it.
Q:Are you doing early access?!
A: hell no, rebirth is a game loaded with secrets and fun stuff i dont want anyone to see before anyone else. i also hate showing my wip games.
Q:What platforms is rebirth coming out on?!! and why isnt it coming out on XYZ!!!!
A: as of now, Steam, Ps4 and Vita.. but the rest arent out of the question. we would love to release on all systems, the ball is in their courts though. we miiiiight also test the game out on ipad and see how it works, if it works ok then we will also release there.
Q:Why no Nintendo!!!! I FUCKING HATE YOU!
A: we want to release on 3ds, and will if given the option. isaac currently goes against Nintendos publishing rules due to its religious aspects.. but stuff might change, you never know.
Q:Can i switch art styles back to the flash look?
A: of course not, rebirth will only feature one art style.
Q:Will the music for rebirth get the same overhaul that the graphics and gameplay did or are you just phoning it in!?
A: we are for sure not phoning it in. rebirth will feature a fully updated score to go with the new lush environments that is sure to please.
Q:I hear there will be multiplayer! tell me more about it! or else!
A: there will be local co-op only. how this will work is still being tested so i cant give any details on it just yet.
Q: I heard a rumor that you will be adding some thing to the game that i hate! why are you doing that! why are you breaking the game i love so much you asshole!?
A: rumors are rumors till you hear them from me. im currently playing with a lot of ideas on ways to expand and improve isaac, some of them might not be appreciated by all but understand that i wouldnt ever do anything to ruin any aspect of the game and things will be heavily tested before anything becomes official.
Q :When will rebirth release? i want a fucking date! give me a date!!!!
A: i have no idea other than sometime this year, its done when its done.
Q: Will you be adding day one DLC!? i feel like the game is already ending and i need moar!!!! tell me you will be making dlc!!!!
A: NO! you have no idea how many times this is asked, the game isnt out yet. only assholes plan day one dlc that isnt included in the games release! i dont even plan dlc till a game comes out and i see what worked and what didnt. if rebirth does well and people want more, and i can dredge up more ideas.. then yes one day there will be more.. but dont ask till its out!
Q: I heard you arent even working on rebirth! what the hell are you doing on it anyway!?
A:i am very much so working on rebirth. im the lead designer of rebirth and have final cut, i approve/test every aspect of anything that goes into the game and nothing is final till i give the ok. i also sketch out enemies/bosses/items/item effects/etc out in flash for the artists to remake.
Q:Are you going to fix all those damn bugs?! you shit ass asshole!
A:yes, most are already fixed! some of them i didnt know existed! chances are neither did you!
Q:Will rebirth actually run well on my pc!?
A: it wont be in flash, so yes it should run quite well.
Q:Will you support daily runs or shared seeds so i can stream against other players online!?
A: yes, this is a goal of ours.
Q:Will i be able to show off my isaac once i finish a game?
A:yes, another goal of ours is an easy way to export an image of your final isaac form to share online!
Q:What stage of development are you?
A: beyond the half way point. id say 85% of the art is done and almost all the games old content has been remade in the new engine.
Q:How many people are working on rebirth? and is florian still working on it?
A: 3 artist and 2-3 programmers i believe. one of them is spider, creator of spider mod. he knows the game inside and out and has been a great asset to development. florian isnt workin on the remake because he doesnt really program much outside of flash, but is on call for the programmers and gets weekly builds to help test.
Q:Will rebirth feature new playable characters?
A: yes it will feature more than 3 new playable characters! (that also means new unlocks for each final boss + new chapter(s)item unlocks for all characters)
Q:Will rebirth feature more items, if so how many?
A:there are currently over 150 new items, bumping the item count to far beyond 300! on top of that there will be loads of new tarot cards, trinkets, interactive objects, room types, secret areas, and basic item pickups.
Q:Will rebirth feature more endings and chapters?
A: yes, yes it will.
now leave me alone!
"Some" facts:
Rebirth is a totally remade game based on the Flash version of The Binding of Isaac + Wrath of the Lamb.
The game is being produced and developed by Nicalis, the same people who produced the Cave Story remakes and the VVVVVV port.
Nicalis is working on the port for PS4/Vita and PC (Steam).
The remake will feature all the content featured in TBoI+WotL but will also feature another Wrath of the Lamb-sized expansion over the top that will feature a new final chapter, ending, two new playable characters and many more items, rooms, enemies, bosses and the like. The goal will be to make replaying the whole game not only worth it but also make it so that it feels very fresh and new.
The remake will feature content that was removed from the Flash version of the game due to limitations. (secret stuff!)
The remake will feature local two player co-op, but no online play because that will just make the development of the remake longer.
The game will go into full time development starting on the 1st of 2013 and is set to be finished by the end of the year, but Edmund commented with "but we know how this stuff goes".
The game will feature new music by Danny Baranowsky as well as some spicy remixes of old tunes.
Edmund will be lead designer on the project, making sure things are as perfect as they can make them and as true to the original as possible, he will also be designing all the new content and features.
The game will be getting a full 16-bit make over as Edmund stated "I'm doing this because I think the art is tired, and I'm sick of looking at it. I think a fresh coat of paint is needed and I think it's kinda appropriate/funny to do a demake for the remake."
They will try to do a loyalty pre-order discount to anyone who owns the original game on PC.
The ability to save and return to a play session as Edmund said "this is something we wanted to do in the flash version but couldn’t due to limitations, this will def. be a feature in the remake."
The remake will feature a lot of new content that the player will see and interact with from the start to the end, which is the new final ending. The remake is being packed full of things they couldn't do with the Flash version as well as tons of secrets that will not be known for a while. The remake will feature two new characters, each with a new set of items. Each one unlocks by beating the now five final bosses.
The remake will have much better performance compared to the original game.
Edmund went with Nicalis because it was the only development team he's close with and the only one he trusts with his intellectual property.
The remake will be fully retuned, balanced, and improved.
The biggest thing to keep in mind in here is that development of the remake is just starting, so nothing is set in stone. Edmund is currently in full time development of Mew-Genics with Tommy, and they have other surprises in store for the fanbase next year; so his goal with Rebirth is simply make sure the remake is top quality and then detail out the expansion and updates once development has gotten further. The remake won't slow down any games Edmund is working on, as Nicalis is working on it with Edmund's supervision.
A new enemy has been confirmed, the Fatty (shown in the gallery below). It is similar to the Gapers in that it has a chance to turn into another enemy when killed.
Twinfinite Interview:
The people from Twinfinite asked Edmund questions that they gathered from a reddit posts. Check it out here.
Rebirth details
Nicalis will focus on remaking the entire game (Original + Wrath of The Lamb) with some tweaks, and then Edmund will step in to add the new content.
The art style will remain 16bit and the old art will not be included. Ed says that the style is getting there but needs some work, and that he will approve each piece of art.
Isaac's design especially is a WIP. His face will be bigger than it is in the original game because pixel art limits the amount of detail they can add with items, but how much bigger is still up in the air.
Arcades will be retooled so they aren't such a time sink, although he was unclear on how this would be done. He did say that the probability of machines blowing up will be higher than it currently is.
In general, there will be a greater incentive to spend less time on floors. Some new items will somehow be sensitive to time, which was impossible in flash. Ed's goal is that the average run time in the remake will be a little shorter than in the current game.
Choosing between going to Sheol or the Cathedral will be more meaningful. Ed admits that in the flash version there's not much point in going to Sheol if you've unlocked the Cathedral. He hints that there will be some extra floor equivalent to the Chest after Sheol and that the choice between them will be more interesting.
There will be plenty of new challenge runs, but no custom run option ("definitely will not happen"). Ed says he wants the challenges to actually have some reward (an unlock) and that custom runs (a la the cheat engine) are essentially about hacking the game to start with items. He feels that if this was included in vanilla Isaac it would "break the game".
There will be some other feature that "touches" on the concept of custom challenge runs, but is "much cooler". Ed declined to elaborate, but said that it's one of the ideas he wanted to implement in the flash game, but couldn't due to technical problems. "People who want custom runs will be very happy with this feature, but in a lot of ways it can be a challenge."
There will be no wiki-like feature, telling you what items do. Ed mentions that he doesn't like the wiki because it "kills the magic" of figuring everything out for yourself.
There will be a new ending, but Ed hasn't figured it out quite yet.
In a response to the wiki breaking everything down, Ed wants to add secrets that will be very hard to find and will stay buried for a while.
The stats screen is up in the air. Ed says he hasn't thought about it, but in general he wants it to stay vague.
There will be a Skatole-like item for spiders.
The remake will run "perfect". Little to no drops in the frame rate are a high priority. Fun fact, Ed actually refused to release Isaac because it had such a terrible frame rate. It was only until Tommy (the other half of team meat) took a look at the build that it got up to its current state, which Ed is still embarrassed by.
Lemon Mishap will get a buff. The creep will stay on the screen longer and it will recharge a bit faster. Overall, Ed says that there still will be bad items and powerful items, but some of the more worthless ones will be made more useful.
Ed says that he "overdid it" with flying items in Wrath of The Lamb. Flying items will not get cut, but chances are that there will be no new flying items in the remake.
Trivia
Florian programmed much of Isaac in German. Ed will have Florian on to translate his code for the remake.
Soul hearts going off the screen was a bug. You were supposed to only be allowed the visible number of hearts, but Ed liked the mystery of wondering how many you have left so they never fixed it.
Ed dropped out of community college after some weird guy got the same grade as him in a 3D animation course.
Edmund admits that he never really had a clear vision of the story (what actually is going on in Isaac) and that it's developed over time.
LethalFrag Stream:
Edmund talked about a few possible ideas with the Let's Player LethalFrag. Check it out here
Ed has written up an idea for a possible playable character for Rebirth that fans of Loki will like.
There was a concept for a playable character called Mystery Man, a character with a question mark for a face that starts out with two random items. Everytime you would beat moms heart (with any character) you would get a token, which in turn would allow you to play with the Mystery Man. Killing the final bosses (Mom's heart, Satan, etc.) unlocks new special items for him.
To quote: "This idea will definitely make it in. This will give an extra challenge to the hardcores".
"Show off your Isaac" will definitely be included.
As for Co-Op, Ed stressed the importance of "There is only one Isaac!"; something we should keep in mind.
More items for the shops. More items with modifiers and items like Habit and Mom's Purse. There was for example an item that raises the damage of blue flies. Or items that increase the power of familiars. Stores items can aid in more specific combinations.
Different item starting loadouts for all characters.
Trivia
Even Edmund does not know how the complete game works anymore, part to forgetting and part to bugs creating effects not intented.
Being able to slip past spikes was not planned (although contradicting answers are given by Edmund on this topic).
Northernlion Interview:
Ed gave some interesting details in his interview with Northernlion (which you can watch by clicking here)
Nothing here is definitively confirmed. There's still a lot of development time left, and Ed doesn't like to set things into stone. But, there's probably a good chance that most of these things will be a part of Rebirth. That said, Ed didn't confirm quite as much this time, at least compared to his interview with Twinfinite last year.
Progress Report: All of the pre-Rebirth content art has been completed, and now Nicalis is working on randomizing rooms and the new content exclusive to Rebirth.
Ed says that he wants everyone who has played the flash version to have a reason to come back and pick up Rebirth. Rebirth will take advantage of its new engine, which means new content that was never before possible due to flash's technical limitations. Ed specifically hints at "bullet hell" and maybe even different sized rooms.
Again, Rebirth will run much more smoothly than flash Isaac, so say goodbye to that chugging frame rate!
Sheol will be changed to be more interesting and difficult, so it could be an actual alternative to the Cathedral.
It's been confirmed before, but there will be some sort of Chest analogue after beating Sheol. Ultimately, Ed wants to make these two path parallel in terms of content.
The Mystery Man: Ed has hinted at this character before, but this time we get a more explicit explanation how he works. The Mystery Man starts with random stats and two random items, and then it's your job to go from there. You might get awesome stats or you might get terrible ones, it all depends on what you roll at the start of the run. The catch is that you have to pay some sort of token to play as the Mystery Man. You receive those tokens from beating Mom, so if you try and fail as Mystery Man you may need to go back to other characters to earn more tokens. Ed says there will be some balancing mechanic preventing you from rolling a super-powerful (or super under-powered) character right from the start.
Rebalancing Soul Hearts: Soul hearts will not be able to go off the screen. Ed says "what you see is what you get." That means 12 Heart Containers max, including Soul Hearts! Ed points out that this will make the game harder for experienced players who know how to exploit soul hearts, not newbies who are still learning the ropes.
Rebalancing Items and Trinkets: Some of the worse items will be improved, while others will be turned into trinkets. For example, Wiggle Worm is now a Trinket, being a part of a new set of 4-6 Trinkets that would change how your tears would move.
New familiars with differentiated abilities (Meaning that they won't just be turrets). In Rebirth you will be able to have more than 6 maximum familiars at the same time.
There will be plenty of bug fixes as well as more clarity on what items do. A lot of the bugs associated with Isaac are due to the limitations of flash and Action Script 2. With the new engine you can expect items to behave as intended. Ed also wants to make the game a bit more clear on certain things for players. By that he doesn't mean flat out telling you what items do, but he does want the short item descriptions and displayed stats to actually be helpful and reflect what is actually going on.
The bug where negative bad luck will get you more chests than usual will be fixed.
But there will more mystery as well. Ed wants the wiki to have to take a bit of time to catch up with all of the hidden content. The community will have to work together to find all of the extended secret areas (sort of similar to the secret areas in Spelunky).
Rewards for completing bosses/floors/runs under certain times to incentivize speed runs. By reward Ed usually means a new item unlock.
Rewards for ingenuity: What happens when I use the We Need To Go Deeper! item in Sheol? Nothing in the current game, but Ed wants to reward players who try! Maybe if you try using items in interesting places you'll open up new content!
Co-op Multiplayer: Ed has already hinted at some of this before, but it's worth re-mentioning. Multiplayer will be local only and Co-op based. A second player will be able to drop in and the game will scale accordingly. Both players will be on the same screen, however Ed affirms that there is "only one isaac". That means that Player 2 may be controlling a totally different character.
There are also plans to allow players to compete in fair races in Rebirth. Although there is no online multiplayer, you will be able to get a code for a particular isaac run. You can send that code to a friend, and when entered in into the game it will generate the same rooms, enemies, items, and floor maps for both players. This will make it possible for players to share runs and thus make it a more fair competition if you and your buddy want to race to Sheol.
Ed is not a fan of Isaac on touch screens, so I hope you're not holding out for Isaac for iPad.
New cutscenes and voiceovers? Only time will tell. Ed say he will not just remake the old cutscenes with 16 bit graphics. Either he will reuse the old ones and add to them, or remake them all. Ed also wants to get more of Matthias Bossi's narration in the game (he voices the intro cutscene). Since Bossi is doing the music for Mewgenics, Ed's other game in development, it's certainly a possibility.
A hint at one of the 100+ new items!
A new item called Tiny Planet:
Small moon shaped object which gets embedded in your head.
Effect: It maximizes your range stat but makes all tears revolve around Isaac's body, much like an attack fly. The idea is that there will be a ton of tears revolving around you, much like the Duke of Flies' flies. Each tear will rotate around you roughly twice and the idea is that it changes the whole dynamic of play. If you have laser it will make a ring of laser.
Northernlion/Bisnap Interview
Northerlion and Bisnap interviewed Edmund on a Twitch.tv stream [2], asking him various questions suggested by reddit users.
Edmund wants to support modders, although he has no idea how.
The Polaroid Trinket will be no longer be needed to go to The Chest, and will probably be removed/changed.
Edmund has designed 120 new items, although they are not actually in the game yet.
"Breaking" the game will still be possible, especially with the large number of new items. Edmund wants to avoid "breaking" the game in terms of crashing, however.
Edmund wants to balance unfair rooms and "ham-fisted" bosses that depend on the player's items rather than their skill. He said that he originally wanted The Binding of Isaac to be more of a bullet-hell style game, but it lagged Flash too much, resulting in the current Binding of Isaac.
There will definitely be more Challenges in the game, such as an All-Champion run.
Items:
Edmund likes The Candle how it is, but he plans to move it into the higher-priced Shop item tier. It could also be balanced by increasing the cooldown time.
Edmund considers Lemon Mishap to be the joke item of the game, so he doesn't want it to be over-buffed. Still, its range and duration will be increased.
Brimstone will not be changed, but the "Brimsnapping" glitch will be fixed.
The Kamikaze! glitch will be fixed, but the item itself will be buffed, probably by reducing self-damage.
Dr. Fetus and Epic Fetus will remain the same, but will simply be harder to find. Epic Fetus could be unlocked in a harder challenge, too.
The "Faith" stat will actually be in Rebirth, probably increasing the chance of an Angel Room appearing.
The Stats in the pause screen will not be any more detailed than they are currently, because Edmund does not want players to see the exact stat numbers. The bars themselves will be less confusing, though.
Edmund says that he does want to balance the characters, but not in terms of their stats. Certain characters being harder to play is supposed to be a part of the game.
The Mystery Man is confirmed, and at least one more character will be added.
There will be no items referencing famous people in the Binding of Isaac community, because Edmund doesn't want people to feel left out for not getting the reference. He also says that it feel like breaking the fourth wall, and is unnatural.
Edmund's Formspring
According to Edmund, there is virtually no chance for Rebirth to release for the Nintendo 3DS.
Online co-op will never be added in a future update, because it will extend the development time.
Some item pick-up quotes will get a rework so they are more understandable.
Ed considers a kind of option for 100% players that could enable so called "challenge runs"
A quick-save function.
20 cent items for Shops!
It might be possible for players to mod Rebirth, allowing them to get custom skins for items.
Rebirth will have a bit of an overarching theme.
There will be another page of Challenges in Rebirth.
Old content will get polished.
DannyB's soundtrack might be unlockable in Rebirth (High possibility).
A lot of changes to the effect of the "Everything's Terrible" Secret/Achievement.
There will be 2 new characters in Rebirth. Both of them will have Biblical names, but that's as far as it goes.
More Curses and graphical reworks for already existing ones.
An item that causes Bombs to explode in a cardinal cross pattern. (Similar to the Bomberman franchise)
Different starting item loadouts for all characters will also affect their sprites (small visual changes, so you know which loadout was chosen)
Bosses will get retooled, especially Scolex.
About +50% content is added to the existing game.
More special rooms!
Some graphical updates to make stacked items look better.
There's the possibility for an Angelic counterpart of Krampus in Angel Rooms
Edmund might "do a bestiary like spelunky did", but he will continue refuse to add detailed item descriptions.
The item Max's Head's name will be changed to Cricket's Head (One of Edmund's cats). The item's appearance will also be changed accordingly.
There will be a new key consumable that gives multiple Keys.
The new item tally in Rebirth is currently at about 112, and with 6 new pickups!
125-150 new items will be the maximum.
Possibly another Candle item.
A few elements that fans suggested made it into the game.
The double wave spawning bug in Challenge Rooms will be fixed
"No leveling system, though I might try one out if I ever do another Isaac down the road."
Consoles and Vita probably feature multiple save files
Ed only had 2 boss sketches for the expansion beyond wrath back then, and they both will be making it into rebirth, so there will be over 10 bosses designed exclusively for Rebirth.
"You can expect there to be more stuff in Shops and more stuff to do with Shops, but there will be the same number of shops per level"
As of July, the game is expected to come out in early 2014.
Edmund has said that Sacrifice Rooms will be more interesting in Rebirth.
Edmund has said that there is no chance of Rebirth coming out on the Xbox One, because he no longer wants to develop for Microsoft. He does not want to port rebirth to the Wii U, either, calling it a "waste of time".
When asked about promotional items for Team Fortress 2, Edmund said that he will try and see how Valve responds.
25 enemies and 16 bosses have been completed as of 17 October 2013.
Edmund's current goal is to improve the stacking of certain items, such as homing and Brimstone, which could result in a homing Brimstone laser in Rebirth.
Last edited by TomWanks; Aug 12, 2014 at 04:10 AM.
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