Age of Decadence

[Gorth]

 

New AOD update, shows AI schedules and stuff like that.

I'm actually beginning to look forward to this game... I know it's silly, but I get this vibe of made by somebody who might share my taste in games

[Wrath of Dagon]

Wow, mad animations. Any chance the actual game part is coming out between now and the heat death of the universe?

They're promising the new demo before November.

[Purkake]

I'd rather skip the demo and see the game. I don't dig the 5 year trickle of teases.

[Jaesun]

The music in that was Awesome. <3

[Syraxis]

I'm really looking forward to this now; more so than Dead State.

 

I'd rather skip the demo and see the game. I don't dig the 5 year trickle of teases.

 

I'm with Purkake on this, I want the full version in my possession.

Edited June 18, 2011 by Syraxis

[sorophx]

Anyway, we are about to start the final private beta testing round. The feedback, which will be shared with you, as usual, will determine when the demo will be released (probably as public beta).

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,2419.0.html

[Gorth]

Anyway, we are about to start the final private beta testing round. The feedback, which will be shared with you, as usual, will determine when the demo will be released (probably as public beta).

http://www.irontower...pic,2419.0.html

I think I mentioned in another thread that there wasn't really anything I was "looking forward to". Maybe I should retract that statement. I hope this game gets a good release and a positive reception.

[Bos_hybrid]

The only reason I visit Iron Tower forums is to see how Dead State is doing.

 

Just hope I don't have to wait as long for Dead State as you guys have for AOD.

[Starwars]

Probably not as AoD is done by people who had never created a game before, that do it in their free time and on top of that chose to do a game that is pretty damn complex.

 

That said, indie-gaming is what it is. I don't think we'll see Dead State in the near future either. Even though Brian and Annie are veterans of the industry and the Iron Tower guys helping out are now a lot more experienced.

[mkreku]

I looked at the Dead State homepage yesterday (coincidence!) and saw that the last update is from May in 2011..

 

Interpret that as you want.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I looked at the Dead State homepage yesterday (coincidence!) and saw that the last update is from May in 2011..

 

Interpret that as you want.

 

I interpret that as you not looking at their forums (or heck, even on their Twitter feed) and missing the fact that they're releasing monthly updates and have just released another one recently.

[Bos_hybrid]

I looked at the Dead State homepage yesterday (coincidence!) and saw that the last update is from May in 2011..

 

Interpret that as you want.

 

I interpret that as you not looking at their forums (or heck, even on their Twitter feed) and missing the fact that they're releasing monthly updates and have just released another one recently.

 

I believe they haven't released an update for a few months now(November), that along with the request for free help, has me concerned.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I misread and thought he was talking about Age of Decadence. I'm not following Dead State as closely, in all honesty.

[sorophx]

I think I saw a tweet yesterday about a preview on RPGCodex. but isn't RPGCodex dead? anybody read that preview? I couldn't, the link wouldn't work for me

[Lexx]

The codex isn't dead and the demo preview is here.

[sorophx]

demo coming in two weeks

[Tigranes]

VD clarifies that the final-final demo build is now being tested, and he expects it up for consumption early next week.

 

That means end of next week, probably, but fine with me.

[Lexx]

Demo is out, installing right now.

[Tigranes]

 

 

Most exciting game news this year, GOGOGO

[Tigranes]

Best way to go is torrent, go to http://www.file-uplo...xe.torrent.html and click the little download link at center of screen.

 

Or watch the http://www.irontower...9.60.html for new download links

 

edit: God I hate the new forum automatic detect link things

[WDeranged]

I'm keeping my eyes to the heavens just in case Christ returns while I'm downloading this

[Tigranes]

Another link:

https://rapidshare.com/files/2722160238/AoD_Public_Beta.exe

[Purkake]

Meh, the combat's fun, but the rest is clunky as hell.

[Tigranes]

Alright, started as an assassin with 39 dagger and 10 DEX, died in the very first fight, though I nearly killed him. Got through on the fifth try, not that bad, then several characters followed who didn't last very long in general. I've now fiddled around for a few hours and tried a few characters, though never 'finishing' the demo.

Generally, a very fun, quite polished game that has its own style and delivers on the kind of experience it promised. Still clearly needs some touching up, though.

Writing and Quest Design

The writing in general seems fine. Nothing silly, nothing stupid. Occasional grammar errors or awkwardness but not enough to break the mood. I haven't seen anything that's really impressed me or made me laugh, but it does its job well, and there is plenty of flavour text that is really important for the gameworld.

The quest design is generally interesting, makes sense in the world, has multiple choices that are not obvious, and at least at the start, seems to have a design where different characters and different factions often show different sides of the same event or mission, which is great. I don't know if it's *more* reactive than RPGs we know and love, but it certainly seems to do a good job of all this in the confines of the demo.

Several people, in the beta and now, have raised the question of whether it's a good thing to cut out the 'fluff' of walking around and fade in/out straight to action. It's pretty surprising, and jarring, when you start; I tried assassin, mercenary and praetor, and in every case it's a lot of read, click continue, fade, teleport. Sure, it cuts down on the 'pointless' exercise of walking to the next building or opening a door and going in to talk to someone, but actually, that 'filler' can be a positive thing when used in moderation. I don't see why the game has to zip me through from an audience with my boss

Antidas

to the next quest dude

Linos

instead of letting me walk there and take detours. If I wanted to do it quick I'd use fast travel and it would hardly take any more time than now, and if I wanted to I'd do it the slower way, still not waste that much time due to the compact town design, and feel like it's actually a world and not a flow-chart. Now, I expect this is related to the idea that there is no filler combat, the typical thing inserted in such walkways. I don't think the 'teleporting' should be eliminated, but right now it is too much, at least at the start - it does feel like there's a little less of it later on. But the set piece combat design, which is good in itself, means that you're never really experiencing that sense of approaching a new/hostile area, scouting things out.

Character, Combat and Gameplay

Doesn't seem overly difficult, but then I toiled through the combat demo so know what is what. I think the opening fight could be a tad easier, as in the long run making that hard is not really doing anything for the hardcore players, and it can just frustrate newcomers who haven't had a chance to learn the system yet. It's not a question of stupidity, it's a question of not yet knowing what each weapon does, etc. In general, though, I thought the battles weren't that difficult, and work well.

Hard to say too much about the character development system in the demo, and I haven't finished yet.But every skill seems to have a reason to be there. The one downside perhaps is that often you end up hoarding a few skill points to use to solve the next text adventure quest - e.g. in the

mining outpost

one I don't know how many multiple solutions there are, but it all seems to come down to do you have enough points in this or that skill. Not a 'problem' per se, but we'll see how it all pans out.

Graphics, Sound, Interface

Looks somewhat like a mix of early 2000s first person 3D RPGs (say, in interiors) and late 2000s advanced lighting, grass, textures, etc. elsewhere - fine, works for me. The portraits are excellent, but we knew that already. Music is forgettable but doesn't seem to get in your way so much. The interface is generally pretty good. I'm not a fan of the fluorescent solid colours used in battle grids and such, especially in combination with the stone and brick feel of the rest, but the opacity on the grid can be turned down. What interface is there works well; would be better if there was a bit more of it, e.g. a button to highlight interactibles or in-world tooltips.

Small Suggestions and Fixes

• As others have said, an alt/tab button to highlight everything you can interact, short tooltips on characters when you hover would help. Also, something to replace that terrible, terrible neon green blob when you click to move.
  
• The Take All button in looting should automatically close the window, too. Or have an option for it.
  
• The minimap really needs a here-i-am.

Bugs

Playing on 1200x600 Windowed, 32bit Windows 7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570.

• The weird tooltips / buttons in char screen bug happens on 1280x720 windowed. Switched to 1333x768 (i think, the next up 16:9 ratio) and all was well. Not to mention the fonts actually got bigger and better!
  
• The known bug that after several deaths to the first enemy, you just keep dying immediately after the first convo. This actually seems to happen later in the game too.
  
• In the opening
  assassin
  fight, if I knock the opponent down on the far corner with the vase, even though I have 95% chance I missed 5 times in a row. Either bad luck, or some kind of bug.
  
• The AOD cursor seems to change into normal cursor in some places like death screens, main menu and character menu.
  
• One crash with Visual C++ runtime error, after lots of playing and reloads.

[sorophx]

the teleporting around part, and "pixel hunting" are killing me. dressed up, pressed the "1" key a couple of times, walked into a fight and died. confused