Author Neal Stephenson reaches fan funding target for swordfighting game 'Clang'

"I've been writing science and historical fiction for three decades," Stephenson explained to potential backers in Clang's pitch video. "Well, screw that. I wanna do a video game."

"There'll be lots of fighting, not a whole lot in the way of plot and character development -- but that's kind of what we do for a living, so we can always add that stuff in later once this thing is up on its feet."

"We're going to go about it in such a way that other people can use our tools to improve on what we've done."

Valve Corporation head Gabe Newell had even made a cameo appearance, hammering out a crowbar -- a weapon made famous in Valve game Half-Life -- and hitting it three times, setting some viewers on a hunt for ancilliary clues about Half-Life 3.

During a more detailed explanation, Stephenson spoke of his desire to see the sort of "obsessive attention to real-world detail" found in Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and the like brought over to swordfighting games, along with a "galaxy of real weapon styles and variations" and authentic fighting styles, as footage from Red Steel 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King was played.

Clang is to eschew the usual gamepad or mouse and keyboard controls, instead making use of "an off-the-shelf controller that anyone can buy today," using the PC's Razer Hydra motion controllers for prototyping purposes.

The game's estimated release date is February 2013.

Kickstarter page: kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang
Official website: subutai.mn/clang.php