Sentenza
Member
Not really, it's more Diablo with some fallout-like roleplaying added on top.
And it ditches the RPG part in its second half.
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Age of Decadence - Fallout with Swords
- Thread starter Bossman
- Start date
And it ditches the RPG part in its second half.
fizzelopeguss
Banned
the similarity is the SPECIAL system and that's it.
While this is funny and mostly true, I didn't have to fight once with the Praetor. Though I'll say I couldn't finish the assassin's storyline without betraying my brothers and leaving town: all other scenarios involved some sort of impossible fight. The progression is much too rigid, and fixed skill checks don't really reward jacks of all trades.
just tried mercenary background.
combat kicks me in the balls but I was able to kill the assassin on my third try with maxed out sword. I wasn't able to protect the other dude though.
I definitely like the game and will buy it.
But they won't be able to live from revenues when they start selling it. Vince said he didn't want to kickstart his second game and I see why but this won't sell enough for them to go into full-time development. This is much harder than Fallout, Baldur's Gate and so on. It goes back to very early RPGs which were dead hard. Even not everybody from hardcore crowd will be able to enjoy it. The progression is very unforgiving.
combat kicks me in the balls but I was able to kill the assassin on my third try with maxed out sword. I wasn't able to protect the other dude though.
I definitely like the game and will buy it.
But they won't be able to live from revenues when they start selling it. Vince said he didn't want to kickstart his second game and I see why but this won't sell enough for them to go into full-time development. This is much harder than Fallout, Baldur's Gate and so on. It goes back to very early RPGs which were dead hard. Even not everybody from hardcore crowd will be able to enjoy it. The progression is very unforgiving.
So now that they've made public quite a few changes they'll be making to the game I thought I'd give my impressions of the first beta. I like it, but it has lowered my expections quite a bit, mostly as to polish and presentation. Combat is good and the writing okay (good quest hooks and power play), but it feels like a very barren experience.
Like, barren in the sense of feeling very locked in your play. You get a quest, head (or teleport) to your objective and if you're offered text, see if you succeed with the skill check and if not, reload to gain some experience before attempting again. I'm not a meta gamer, in fact I try to avoid it since it's boring, but the game design seems to encourage doing that. I suppose that's a problem of coding a very skill checky game, it will feel very stiff as opposed to either games with less options that lets you flow through them or more open but emergent games that may offer less options but more freedom in thinking of them yourself.
I'm probably expecting too much from too little game here, it might get much better late game with tons of skills and allegiances in play. Like, the most interesting development by far isn't adding five skill points to anything, but seeing Word of Mouth and different Reputations go up and down through your choices. If they have thought of uses for those in the rest of the game in the way you'll actually have to think about how to approach quests that should be some stellar entertainment through choices and consequences. As of now, the quests aren't too interesting and I do think that they should polish them up a lot in this first town. First impressions and all that...
They should also fix their camera angle, let me zoom and rotate freely but jiffing around with the actual angle is horrible. Plus Teron is a pretty boring place to navigate, a lot of brown houses and a very few signs pointing out merchants. Finding your way without using the map or dialog to teleport is horrible and adds to the "barren" effect.
Phew, this post became very negative. I like the beta, it's just always easier to point out problems than actually good stuff. Plus my expectations to polish were way off which contributes a lot. I will be buying the game and can't wait to see how their changes from feedback will work in the updated beta, whenever that releases.
Like, barren in the sense of feeling very locked in your play. You get a quest, head (or teleport) to your objective and if you're offered text, see if you succeed with the skill check and if not, reload to gain some experience before attempting again. I'm not a meta gamer, in fact I try to avoid it since it's boring, but the game design seems to encourage doing that. I suppose that's a problem of coding a very skill checky game, it will feel very stiff as opposed to either games with less options that lets you flow through them or more open but emergent games that may offer less options but more freedom in thinking of them yourself.
I'm probably expecting too much from too little game here, it might get much better late game with tons of skills and allegiances in play. Like, the most interesting development by far isn't adding five skill points to anything, but seeing Word of Mouth and different Reputations go up and down through your choices. If they have thought of uses for those in the rest of the game in the way you'll actually have to think about how to approach quests that should be some stellar entertainment through choices and consequences. As of now, the quests aren't too interesting and I do think that they should polish them up a lot in this first town. First impressions and all that...
They should also fix their camera angle, let me zoom and rotate freely but jiffing around with the actual angle is horrible. Plus Teron is a pretty boring place to navigate, a lot of brown houses and a very few signs pointing out merchants. Finding your way without using the map or dialog to teleport is horrible and adds to the "barren" effect.
Phew, this post became very negative. I like the beta, it's just always easier to point out problems than actually good stuff. Plus my expectations to polish were way off which contributes a lot. I will be buying the game and can't wait to see how their changes from feedback will work in the updated beta, whenever that releases.
IblisGinjo
Member
Valid impressions even if negative. Age of Decadence does many things well under the hood but the presentation and polish leaves much to be desired. For a long development, announced in 2004 I would have liked more by now.
Maybe it's a limitation of the Torque Engine or something but I wonder if they moved to the Unity engine or another engine could they make a substantial turn around. It's been this long why not take a little longer?
Maybe it's a limitation of the Torque Engine or something but I wonder if they moved to the Unity engine or another engine could they make a substantial turn around. It's been this long why not take a little longer?
Herbert Moon
Neo Member
I've only played the Praetor so far, but is the teleporting between conversations going to be in the final build, or is it just a beta thing? It just feels so cheap and "unfinished" the way my character just magically teleports to the next person he has to talk to.
Herbert Moon
Neo Member
I guess it just boils down to personal opinion, but I've never heard of an RPG that just teleported me to the next person I had to speak with to advance a quest. It feels more like a simplifying feature that would be added to the Mass Effect series, than a game influenced by the early Fallouts. It just feels completely unrealistic and rushed.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I never had a problem walking around to each person I had to talk to in any of the old RPGs.
I like having the option to teleport, but it kinda disconnects your character from the game world. At first it felt to me like I was just jumping between dialogues without any choice in the matter (which isn't really true all or even most of the time). I got more used to it as I played more so maybe it won't be an issue a few hours into the full game.
Anyway, they're "adding more options to leave the dialogue and not to be teleported. Thus, people who like it will be able to use it, people who don't will be able to walk around." They're also adding more intermediate outcomes to skill checks (which may fix one of my earlier main complaints).
Oh and another, absolutely crucial thing they're fixing is adding the option to visit the store for equipment before the opening vignettes. Just a few moments should be enough to ground characters into the world, understand what they're carrying instead of being immediately trust into combat and thus being more able to make decisions in the upcoming TA and fights.
They're opening up for preorders, which gives another release tidbit:
Edit: Confirmed $25 btw which is no surprise, I know why they're doing it but it's quite steep for an indie title. Way outside the realm of impulse purchases.
No surprise there but man, this has been a long ride.
Edit: Confirmed $25 btw which is no surprise, I know why they're doing it but it's quite steep for an indie title. Way outside the realm of impulse purchases.
You went from "I'm shelving the game forever" to "I'm preordering it 1 year before its release".
It can't be the success in the assassin fight alone, that changed your mind about it. What else in particular?
You went from "I'm shelving the game forever" to "I'm preordering it 1 year before its release".
It can't be the success in the assassin fight alone, that changed your mind about it. What else in particular?
no, that was it. I had no qualms about the game other than totally unbalanced combat but that happened because I was making a thief instead of an assassin.
also the game has something... some games have it and some do not, it's as simple as that. This game has it despite all its flaws.
Well some Fallout quests teleport you directly to wear you have to go.
Like when you rat out Deckard to the cops in the Hub, the cop tells you if you're ready and you teleport with him in Deckard's office.
bigmit3737
Member
I got to try it out a little bit, I'm really impressed by the graphics and interface, especially since it's an indie game.
Apparently, they are listening to the criticisms of fans with the whole "metagame" (which apparently means something along the lines constantly saving and reloading to figure out aspects of the game, which should be more obvious.)
I just wish there was magic in this game.
EDIT:
Just tried out the game. I find it interesting and boring at the same time.
Interesting concepts and choices, but for some reason I find the game a little boring.
Maybe it's just this town, or I haven't explored the town enough.
With the battle system, do we get more attacks?
I'm using a sword and I just have an attack and shield bash.
I haven't played much of Fallout 2, so maybe I'm not playing this game properly.
I feel like I'm only scratching the surface, and maybe when I understand the concepts of the game, then I will like it a lot better.
Apparently, they are listening to the criticisms of fans with the whole "metagame" (which apparently means something along the lines constantly saving and reloading to figure out aspects of the game, which should be more obvious.)
I just wish there was magic in this game.
EDIT:
Just tried out the game. I find it interesting and boring at the same time.
Interesting concepts and choices, but for some reason I find the game a little boring.
Maybe it's just this town, or I haven't explored the town enough.
With the battle system, do we get more attacks?
I'm using a sword and I just have an attack and shield bash.
I haven't played much of Fallout 2, so maybe I'm not playing this game properly.
I feel like I'm only scratching the surface, and maybe when I understand the concepts of the game, then I will like it a lot better.
bigmit3737
Member
Any more impressions on the game?
I'm pretty sure they're in (my assassin had several options) though that might indeed depend on your stats.
So one year later I decided to try their 3.01 beta.
So far it's signifficantly better. I played it on normal but appreciated an option to choose AWESOME level of difficulty. I decided to see how my first fight goes. I chose the assassin, dumped points into dagger, sneak, throwing, critical strike and dodging - vital assassin skills as I see them and went to the inn. The fight didn't go well - I died. "Here we go again" I thought and prepared to endure at least 10 more tries. But the second fight went much better because I found poison in my inventory. I haven't noticed it the first time. I applied it to the dagger and killed the guard easily.
I immediately reloaded and tried to kill him with a crossbow (instead of throwing it). This fight went well too. It seems that the game was tweaked a lot which can only be a good thing. Looking forward to the release, I wonder when it happens.
So far it's signifficantly better. I played it on normal but appreciated an option to choose AWESOME level of difficulty. I decided to see how my first fight goes. I chose the assassin, dumped points into dagger, sneak, throwing, critical strike and dodging - vital assassin skills as I see them and went to the inn. The fight didn't go well - I died. "Here we go again" I thought and prepared to endure at least 10 more tries. But the second fight went much better because I found poison in my inventory. I haven't noticed it the first time. I applied it to the dagger and killed the guard easily.
I immediately reloaded and tried to kill him with a crossbow (instead of throwing it). This fight went well too. It seems that the game was tweaked a lot which can only be a good thing. Looking forward to the release, I wonder when it happens.
A bigger part of the game is now available for anyone who has preordered - the rest will come in 2014!
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,3493.0.html
It's... pretty damn good, so far in. I've made it to Maadoran with two different characters, and two wildly different success rates (my first mercenary character was personally kicked out after being too much of a schemer for his intelligence, my second merchant having helped the guild take a dominant position in the town and starting to spread it's influence around). I previously mentioned being worried about consequences not showing up in the demo, they definitely do that in this build - it's very interesting to see how differently my two characters could approach the situations, as well as seeing the conflict from two different sides. I've seen a lot of potential for other builds to have fun, too.
If I have one complaint it's that some quests seem very straight forward in that the journal often reveals which characters to speak to, and once you see a skill check you know what options you can aim at and level your character accordingly. It might be that some of those options actually are feints, i.e. an honorable guard might not be persuaded to leave his post regardless of your skill in persuasion, forcing you to think about which options actually are the best ones. Difficult to tell without playing a lot
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,3493.0.html
It's... pretty damn good, so far in. I've made it to Maadoran with two different characters, and two wildly different success rates (my first mercenary character was personally kicked out after being too much of a schemer for his intelligence, my second merchant having helped the guild take a dominant position in the town and starting to spread it's influence around). I previously mentioned being worried about consequences not showing up in the demo, they definitely do that in this build - it's very interesting to see how differently my two characters could approach the situations, as well as seeing the conflict from two different sides. I've seen a lot of potential for other builds to have fun, too.
If I have one complaint it's that some quests seem very straight forward in that the journal often reveals which characters to speak to, and once you see a skill check you know what options you can aim at and level your character accordingly. It might be that some of those options actually are feints, i.e. an honorable guard might not be persuaded to leave his post regardless of your skill in persuasion, forcing you to think about which options actually are the best ones. Difficult to tell without playing a lot
Captain Tuttle
Member
In very interested in this game, thanks for the update!
Well, for you and others: It's now available on Steam Early Access!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/230070
It's a shame that Valve no longer places Early Access games on the "New Releases" tab, it has made me check a fair share of games I wouldn't have otherwise.
First review is golden:http://attackofthefanboy.com/reviews/age-decadence-review/ Choice quotes:
I, uh, what?
Throwing things requires passing a throwing skill check? Shocking!
Haha, I'll admit that I've been irritated when discovering that I need an additional skill to pass some test. There aren't very many games with skill systems more detailed than having a Stealth skill covering most of that. But the game is fair about telling you what is needed up front, so it's easy to either roll with the punches and most of the time try again later after leveling the skill a bit.
Of course, those are skill points that could go into your other specialisations which is what makes it interesting at this point.
nonadventurer
Neo Member
This is a really really unforgiving RPG! I had to restart a few times before learning the ropes and making a more or less successful Assassin character; really enjoying the game so far.
There's also an extensive free demo available from the Steam page, by the way.
There's also an extensive free demo available from the Steam page, by the way.
There's a free demo that has a fair amount of content to try out.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
What happened?
Already played it many times, but it's always great to read about new stuff
(Don't feel like buying half the game just yet)
The Steam page says about 60%
Man I forgot about this thread. It's been so long that I don't even remember most of the stuff I was talking about in those posts.
Anyway early accesses huh I think I will have to check it out. 25 is a little steep I was hoping for at most 20 and preferably 15, but I might have to pick this up come pay day. I haven't played or even paid much attention to it since I played the beta and wrote those impressions in this thread. Will be interesting to see how much and what changed.
Anyway early accesses huh I think I will have to check it out. 25 is a little steep I was hoping for at most 20 and preferably 15, but I might have to pick this up come pay day. I haven't played or even paid much attention to it since I played the beta and wrote those impressions in this thread. Will be interesting to see how much and what changed.
Sentenza
Member
Do you remember that old joke thread cleverly titled "First Half-Life, 3 screenshots"?
Well, FACE made his own version of the same joke.
EvilLore didn't appreciate the pun too much, not after heavy load was already hitting this forum pretty hard in those days.
Nothing too bad, but some people suggested that when the boss bans someone it's usually just a one-way trip... And it was a damn long ban, so I was expecting the worst at this point.
I was banned for a year at first, but someone was feeling forgiving that day and my ban was reduced.
I've tried the newest demo and it was surprisingly fun. They have reduced skill points scale from 100 to 10 as I understand thus giving it some clarity and I had no problem with combat anymore. It's still hard but at least it feels fair now.
Strife In a Teacup
Member
Looks interesting, hadn't heard about this before, might give it a go.
This is out on Steam Early Access. Apparently systems-complete and 60% of the game is done:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/230070/
Looks absolutely amazing. Can't wait to play.
EDIT: Oh, it's been out since the 14th... I didn't realize.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/230070/
Looks absolutely amazing. Can't wait to play.
EDIT: Oh, it's been out since the 14th... I didn't realize.
Played the new (?) Steam demo. Still find it a bit strange that the game teleports me to various quest-related locations; kind of kills the sense of place. Takes me out of the game. Other than that, it's pretty ambitious. Combat is more forgiving, which is a relief. Will wait for the full version.
nonadventurer
Neo Member
To be fair, it's very ambitious for a basically two-man (designer + programmer) indie game with zero budget, plus they're constantly revising the systems based on feedback. No wonder it's taking them so long.
The early access version's pretty good and substantial though, so I hope they can finish the game within the next year or so.
I know, it's just surreal how this started deep in the pre-kickstarter territory and will finish way into it.