TBS Age of Wonders: Planetfall - AoW gone to space

[Hobo Elf]

Sad to see that most people are hung up by the sci-fi setting rather than the fact that it'll probably be just as shallow as AoW3 as it seems to be a reskin of that.

 

[Citizen]

Sad to see that most people are hung up by the sci-fi setting rather than the fact that it'll probably be just as shallow as AoW3 as it seems to be a reskin of that.

I consider myself a huge fan of AoW series, so of course I haven't played the third game.

 

[thesheeep]

The only really bad thing about AoW3 was that pretty much every race was very samey - as racial units were extremely "meh" and class units just better, so that's what everyone went for.
Also, siege battles got dumbed down.

I'd love to see a bigger difference in races, too, but... we don't know anything about this new game, do we?

 

[LizardWizard]

Apparently, the setting is from Stellaris' cannon or something

http://aow.triumph.net/forums/topic/aow-planetfall-collected-knowledge/

The game will feature:

• 6 “major” races. Pre-release name: Space Dwarves made it into the game! \o/
• Various “technologies” which roughly correspond to classes or spheres of magic of the previous AoW games.
• Permanently flying unit mechanics have returned as the game now has a stronger focus on ranged combat, with cover and overwatch mechanics built in.
• Larger battlefields than AoW3 with interactive objects that can used for cover and even destroyed under sustained fire.
• Leader and hero units with many capable of being upgraded and changed to meet different threats. This keeps low tier units competitive through micro-management.
• A similar dwelling system to AoW3 with 4-5 races being featured such as the “undead” in the form of cyborg warriors. They may have a greater impact on the game.
• Sector system is a refined and upgraded version of the mystical city upgrades from AoW3.
• Sector system lets you snake across the map and effects where your settlements can be built.
• Sectors can be broken apart by the enemy further incentivizing economic wars.
• Random Map Generator content during the campaign. Main story lines are fixed, however, most of the maps will be randomly generated. This results in secondary storylines which effect later campaign levels!

General information:

• In contrast to AoW3, your Race is flavoured by your Class, as each race has its own unique mechanics.
• Diplomacy will be more relevant than in AoW3.
• Adjacent hex system has returned.
• Stack size remains at 6, akin to the AoW3 model.
• The overflow of excess production and research points has been confirmed.
• The possibility of battlefield concealment abilities, such as cover (Perhaps this means stealth too?).
• Strategic maps are based around a single planet. (Perhaps campaigns are system or galaxy wide.)
• Existence of magic has neither been confirmed nor denied. If its there, its much lesser of an impact. Though technology should may replace it.
• In tactical combat, you can call in orbital bombardments or call in marine reinforcements from space.

Mod tool details:

• Strong liklyhood mod tools will be released during the games launch.
• We will be able to craft new tactical combat maps, and partially randomize them. For example, you could make a fort and then randomize the locations of the trees and rocks around it, in an area you specify. To a site, you can assign a list of possible tactical combat maps, and a random one will be picked.

 

[thesheeep]

• In contrast to AoW3, your Race is flavoured by your Class, as each race has its own unique mechanics.

Well, there we go. Good thing they listened to my comment

 

[Lacrymas]

Not only were the races samey, they were very bland compared to previous AoWs, only the goblins were cool. I played only with humans and goblins. Yeah, strong racial differentation should be emphasized, otherwise you might as well only have 1 race, but a looooot of options to customize them however you wish. Samey races is the worst possible option. Also, space dwarves....... Inb4 space halflings, space elves, space draconians, space humans (this is obvious, though) and space orcs.

 

[fantadomat]

Also the setting was very meh. Also i didn't like visuals,the older games were more aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I'm on the fence with this one.

On one hand, I enjoyed AoW3 a lot with the expansions and fully patched and wouldn't mind more games as "shallow" as it was this day and age.

On the other, I get bad vibes from the nonsensical idea of calling this game Age of Wonders and it looking like some total conversion mod for 3 with yet again these horrible graphics (those screenshots from tactical layer look like nu-firaxis and Elex had a baby, in other words: they look bad).

Also, keeping the maximum stack size at 6 is decline, this was by far the biggest problem of the otherwise very good tactical combat that was the meat of AoW3.

 

[rezaf]

Mod tool details:

• Strong liklyhood mod tools will be released during the games launch.

Strong likelyhood that they will remind everyone they didn't promise anything and just pointed out a likelyhood they sadly cannot deliver on ...

 

[Lacrymas]

Here's some more info -


The game will feature:

• A mythological science fiction setting, based around a long forgotten fallen empire called the Star Union.
• 6 playable races and a currently unknown number of “classes”, each themed around unique ancient technologies.
• Up to 5 dwelling based races, each with a greater impact on the game than in AoW3.
• Both leader and hero units will make a return and the mount system has been expanded to include various types of vehicles.
• An interesting module & blueprint system, allowing you to design and upgrade units, speccing into whatever you need at the time and allowing you to micromanage low tier units to remain useful throughout the game.
• A sector system, which is akin to the Mystical City Upgrades from AoW3 has been woven into the core design of the game.
  • Sectors are around the size of a typical cities domain in AoW3 and instead of always containing a settlement, they instead contain various unique assets that once captured allow you to enhance your current cities or expand your burgeoning empire. They can also provide you with story content, such as quests and side missions.
  • The Random Map Generator is hooked into all areas of the game, including the campaign for maximum levels of replayability. Core sectors will remain the same for plot reasons, but what you find in between may be different every time and is likely dependant on your difficulty settings.
  • An upgraded version of the AoW3 game engine has been used, giving more control over the world and tactical map to the player as well as greatly improved visuals.
  • Larger battlefields containing interactive objects that can be used for cover and even be destroyed under sustained heavy fire.
  • A stronger focus on ranged combat than ever before, allowing permanently airborn unit mechanics to make a return to the franchise. This also brings new ranged based mechanics such as an overwatch stance and staggering opponents to the franchise too.
  
  
  Spoiler

  What we know about the races:
  
  

  • 3 of the 6 Playable Races have been confirmed
    • The Vanguard are a race of mechanized humans that include units such as power armored soldiers, tanks and bi-pedal mechs.
    • The Amazons are a brutal race of warrior women who biologically engineered themselves as well as savage alien races to better crush their foes. A parallel has been drawn between them and elves. (I assume very dark, evil elves)
    • An insectoid race – though very little is known about these people.
  • 1 of the 5ish dwellings have been confirmed
    • Skeletal & otherwise Undead Cyborgs.
  • 2 other races have been mentioned, but it is unknown which category they belong to
    • Miners & Space Dwarves have both been mentioned and are likely the same race.
    • Terraformers have been mentioned by name only.
    • Nothing else is known about either of these races, however, we do know that at least 2 races are based around psychic abilities.

  What we currently know about Gameplay:
  
  

  • In contrast to AoW3, your Race is flavoured by your Class and each race has its own unique mechanics.
  • The “Class” system is represented through the use of Star Union technology and research is represented through your study and understanding of said tech.
  • One confirmed class is themed around “Purification by Fire” and is called Prometheus technology.
  • You create your own “house” and play under its banner. How this affects the game is completely unknown at this point.
  • Diplomacy has been revamped and has taken some beats from other classical video games, such as casus belli mechanics aka – reasons for war.
  • The Adjacent hex system has returned and a stacks maximum unit count remains at 6.
  • Excess production and research points will overflow so as to not go wasted.
  • A large element of the game is themed around eXploration. Seeking out what happened to the Star Union may be an in-game condition or system.
  • Lennart gave strong hints towards game elements related to the mystery and uncovering of hidden information relating to your races past and its connections to the Star Union.
  • A new colony (aka city) management system is in place – “colony allocation resources” has been mentioned and appears to the be connected to the Sector system.
  • Magic may not exist in the game at all, however, psychic powers certainly will. Outside of this, the magic effects found within previous AoW games will likely be replaced with technological equivalents.

  What we know about tactical combat:
  
  

  • Technology replaces magic: You can call in orbital bombardments or summon marine reinforcements from space.
  • Stances: Overwatch & Guard have been confirmed.
  • Ranged Overwatch: Use your action to enter overwatch instead of attacking.
  • Melee Overwatch: Melee units go into a melee range overwatch even if they made another action that turn.
  • Stagger: Stagger is a type of attack like Guard Breaker.
  • Action Points: A similar system to that of AoW3, however draining action points works a little different now that ranged combat reigns supreme.
    • Certain attacks and abilities can stagger an opponent which knocks them out of stances like overwatch or guard mode and also drains their action points too.
  • Hit Chance: A combination of AoW2s hit chance and AoW3s Action Points has resulted in the chance to Hit for full damage, Graze for half damage or Miss for no damage. This will likely result in much more countering and careful advances than previously and an increased focus on ranged units should make this quite an interesting mechanic.
  • Unit Upgrades & Specialisation: A fairly unique system whereby you research “modules” – each of which can only be applied to specific unit types.
    • In order to build units with those modules, you need to design a blueprint and then build its prototype. Each new unit of that type built after the prototype will use the set design and previously built units can be also upgraded to that design too.
  • Types of Damage: At least some ‘elements’ of the old damage system remains, such as elemental types of damage! (see what i did there? ^^)
    • For example, a unit module could add a bleeding effect to an attack, or additional lightning damage to instead.
  • Tactical elevation: While nothing has yet been set in stone, raised and lowered elements of terrain is planned and should affect cover, hit chances, movement, the value of flying units, etc.

  What we know about the world map:
  
  

  • Terraforming on the world map makes a return, including the ability to lower and raise terrain and likely even erect new mountains altogether.
  • Happiness mechanics have been revamped and should work “better than in AoW3” on both the tactical and world maps.
  • The world map is based around a single planet, though its probable that campaigns are system or even galaxy wide. Who knows what the campaign map will look like ^^
  • Various map layers, such as underground, shadow realm, atmosphere and orbit are in a concept phase at the moment and may not make it into the game at all. *sad face*

  What we currently know about the lore:
  
  

  • The Star Union was an ancient empire that spanned thousands of worlds.
  • Some form of cataclysmic story event separated all these worlds from each other for an incredibly long time.
  • The game begins not long after the hyperspace lanes reopened.
  • The various races/factions/houses of the game were once close before the fall of the Star Union, but after so many years of isolation, they no longer recognise each other.
  • The AoW fantasy world of Athla is more than likely somehow connected to the AoWF universe, based on an interview with Lennart Sas at PDXCon2018.

  Modding & mapping tools:
  
  

  • 
    The devs expect to release mod tools alongside the games launch.
    
    
  • We will be able to craft new tactical combat maps, and partially randomize them too.
    • For example, we can make a fort map and then randomize the locations of the trees and rocks around it, in any area we specify.
    • You can assign an array of maps to an encounter site and one will be picked at random.
  • Though its not confirmed yet, the devs are pushing to have the Randomly Generated Maps savable for future editing and personal use as scenarios. The hope is that you could take a campaign map and designate which sectors are randomly set.
    • Procedural generation is already tied to sectors and sectors are tied to the story of the Star Union. So fingers crossed!

The Amazon race sounds ...hopw roewur ne.

 

[fantadomat]

This sounds very...meh. Very few cliche races and everything else is the same to AoW 3 more or less. I can't see it being any good.

 

[Jacob]

Lutheran priest vs rejected WH40k minor race concept art.

 

[Lacrymas]

The alien creature does look overdesigned. Aliens can be literally anything, they can be clouds made out of microscopic organisms or organic geometric shapes that reflect light in strange ways, yet devs default to very specific, animal-like designs.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

Sad to see that most people are hung up by the sci-fi setting rather than the fact that it'll probably be just as shallow as AoW3 as it seems to be a reskin of that.

AoW3 with full DLC and patching was the best game in the series by far.

 

[thesheeep]

Here's some more info -
The game will feature:

• • The Random Map Generator is hooked into all areas of the game, including the campaign for maximum levels of replayability. Core sectors will remain the same for plot reasons, but what you find in between may be different every time and is likely dependant on your difficulty settings.#

Color me interested. One thing that has always bothered me about AoW campaigns was their "only play once", "only win if you know what's coming" and "rush or die" nature.
Not sure if a certain randomization can solve the last one, but it will hopefully alleviate the first two.

There is no worse mission design than that which places full armies in your backyard the moment you do event X in the campaign.
Not knowing that will happen = restart mission (in a game where you already played for an hour up to that point).
Knowing that will happen = easy win.
Both variants suck, and there is no in-between.

Also, those who are bothered by it being NuXCOM-like:
One important difference is that X-COM was always asymmetric, your handful of soldiers always dealt with a much larger force.
I think it could be interesting to see what happens if both sides have (potentially) equal forces on the battlefield instead.

 

[Beowulf]

The alien creature does look overdesigned. Aliens can be literally anything, they can be clouds made out of microscopic organisms or organic geometric shapes that reflect light in strange ways, yet devs default to very specific, animal-like designs.

With full evolutionary convergence. They like the same atmosphere composition, the same gravity, hell - they even communicate verbally on the same frequencies, etc...
Sadly, this area is creatively bankrupt, except for some good sci-fi writers. MORE showed good concept designs for the alien races, but it's a vapourware at this point.

I think that Star Wars (and Star Trek to some extend) did a massive disservice by popularizing this trend, where aliens are just altered humanoids (mostly). Or they did the smart (business wise) move, and created them guessing right on what the general audience wants - a story within familiar bounds?

 

[Norfleet]

I think that Star Wars (and Star Trek to some extend) did a massive disservice by popularizing this trend, where aliens are just altered humanoids (mostly). Or they did the smart (business wise) move, and created them guessing right on what the general audience wants - a story within familiar bounds?

To be fair, Star Trek is limited by the constraints of its budget and the need to have its aliens playable by members of the Film Actors' Guild. Star Wars actually had some fairly alien aliens that WEREN'T simply humans with rubber forehead appliances, with aliens that absolutely did NOT breathe the same atmosphere or communicate in human language: You saw aliens that were wearing breathing gear to enable them to breathe in the same room as the main cast, and aliens that just communicated with each other via funny noises and were simply incapable of human speech.

 

[Beowulf]

I think that Star Wars (and Star Trek to some extend) did a massive disservice by popularizing this trend, where aliens are just altered humanoids (mostly). Or they did the smart (business wise) move, and created them guessing right on what the general audience wants - a story within familiar bounds?

To be fair, Star Trek is limited by the constraints of its budget and the need to have its aliens playable by members of the Film Actors' Guild. Star Wars actually had some fairly alien aliens that WEREN'T simply humans with rubber forehead appliances, with aliens that absolutely did NOT breathe the same atmosphere or communicate in human language: You saw aliens that were wearing breathing gear to enable them to breathe in the same room as the main cast, and aliens that just communicated with each other via funny noises and were simply incapable of human speech.

Well, Vader also wore breathing apparatus.
And dogs are also incapable of human speech and communicate with each other via funny noises and more. But they are also able to perceive sounds outside of human perception frequencies.
Besides, most of those creatures shows the creators anthropomorphic bias.

That is the stuff we call lack of imagination. It's not truly alien. It's familiar with a (larger or smaller) twist.

 

[Norfleet]

And dogs are also incapable of human speech and communicate with each other via funny noises and more. But they are also able to perceive sounds outside of human perception frequencies.

And probably use those ranges for communication, but the human audience cannot hear those sounds, and therefore, will not perceive them. For all we know, Han has a relatively limited comprehension of Wookiee because he cannot hear the full range, and doesn't even try to reproduce those sounds.

 

[Lacrymas]

There is no worse mission design than that which places full armies in your backyard the moment you do event X in the campaign.
Not knowing that will happen = restart mission (in a game where you already played for an hour up to that point).
Knowing that will happen = easy win.
Both variants suck, and there is no in-between.

Isn't that a problem with the mission design, rather than the map itself? I usually dislike random elements because they feel samey and sometimes nonsensical. It works for multiplayer, where playing the same maps over and over is boring, but not for a campaign that should be handcrafted and that's how devs show mastery in their medium. It's easy to get into the trap of designing a map like a puzzle, however, where you have to do something specific to get the ball rolling, the second (?) map of the "evil" campaign of HoMM2 comes to mind, where it's really tedious and hard to win the "legit" way, but it's very easy if you get the genies that are conveniently placed close to your castle. Spawning armies is cheap and weak design, something that won't be fixed by map randomization, or any randomization.

 

[Citizen]

Isn't that a problem with the mission design, rather than the map itself? I usually dislike random elements because they feel samey and sometimes nonsensical. It works for multiplayer, where playing the same maps over and over is boring, but not for a campaign that should be handcrafted and that's how devs show mastery in their medium. It's easy to get into the trap of designing a map like a puzzle, however, where you have to do something specific to get the ball rolling, the second (?) map of the "evil" campaign of HoMM2 comes to mind, where it's really tedious and hard to win the "legit" way, but it's very easy if you get the genies that are conveniently placed close to your castle. Spawning armies is cheap and weak design, something that won't be fixed by map randomization, or any randomization.

Can't "YES" enough. TBS campaigns should be about introducing some interesting combinations and ways to win to the player, not just multiplayer maps with "plot". Random invasions from AI are bad, but there's a good and cheap way to make invasions interesting - player gets a rumor about "enemy lord invading in X weeks", and starts a fight against the clock to fortify his positions.

 

[thesheeep]

There is no worse mission design than that which places full armies in your backyard the moment you do event X in the campaign.
Not knowing that will happen = restart mission (in a game where you already played for an hour up to that point).
Knowing that will happen = easy win.
Both variants suck, and there is no in-between.

Isn't that a problem with the mission design, rather than the map itself? I usually dislike random elements because they feel samey and sometimes nonsensical. It works for multiplayer, where playing the same maps over and over is boring, but not for a campaign that should be handcrafted and that's how devs show mastery in their medium.

It is a problem with mission design, yes.
The randomization might make it somewhat less likely for a dev to design crap like that, though. Of course, it is still possible, so I guess we'll see...

I usually like random elements because hand crafted ones I can enjoy exactly once and that's about it. I never play multiplayer in those games, anyway.
I've lost count with how often I attempted to replay the AoW2-3 campaigns, just to give up a few missions in because I already know everything, from the events to the map. And the problem just gets worse over the years as you'll get to know the first maps even "better" and are even more likely to give up upon having to do them again.

Of course, if you took a typical AoW campaign and made the terrain a bit random, that wouldn't do much of anything, so I hope they do a bit more than just that.
Circuit 's idea would be one example of a randomizable event that would work well with some missions.

 

[fantadomat]

There is no worse mission design than that which places full armies in your backyard the moment you do event X in the campaign.
Not knowing that will happen = restart mission (in a game where you already played for an hour up to that point).
Knowing that will happen = easy win.
Both variants suck, and there is no in-between.

Isn't that a problem with the mission design, rather than the map itself? I usually dislike random elements because they feel samey and sometimes nonsensical. It works for multiplayer, where playing the same maps over and over is boring, but not for a campaign that should be handcrafted and that's how devs show mastery in their medium.

It is a problem with mission design, yes.
The randomization might make it somewhat less likely for a dev to design crap like that, though. Of course, it is still possible, so I guess we'll see...

I usually like random elements because hand crafted ones I can enjoy exactly once and that's about it.
I've lost count with how often I attempted to replay the AoW2-3 campaigns, just to give up a few missions in because I already know everything.

Of course, if you took a typical AoW campaign and made the terrain a bit random, that wouldn't do much of anything, so I hope they do a bit more than just that.

Play the first AoW,it have a lot of branching,it is pretty hard to remember all the missions. I did enjoy the the second game because it felt like actually you are building,expanding and accomplishing something. I really hate games that ignore the progress from your last map and just give you a new random generated map and call it a day.

 

[Nirvash]

Will the ai be fucking decent for once?

 

[Humanity has risen!]

I can't believe you people, this looks more than decent. A deep strategy game, just like the Codex wants, with very little watering down for the masses.

You guys also complain all the time about the lack of sci-fi settings.

And yet when they actually try to appeal to you, you then have the gall to say "Lame, they're just copy/pasting AoW in space!"

And then you wonder why gaming keeps going down the shitter???