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Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind - King of Dragon Pass spiritual successor

Merlkir

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
1,216
I think we triggered Codex by the release platform thing.

Anyway, it should play just fine on the iPhone! I only just watched it on the twitch stream for the first time ever and it looks very ok.
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Shit, these Alkothi are scary.

Loving the bigger emphasis on shamanism. It will do until the Prax game comes up.

Combat is better in theory, but too arcane so far. It feels like a complex variant of rock-paper-scissors. I feel like I should intuit my opponent move and play a counter. But so far I had little success.
 

Merlkir

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
1,216
For combat, make sure you read the manual. It explains which options are more useful in what situations, which ones are risky etc.

The Alkothi are awesome, I also really love their visual design by Simon Roy.
 
Self-Ejected

DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
Codex just happens to be the type of place that complains about mobile games being shit, while getting angry when good games are released on mobile. Very sensible.
 

Merlkir

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
1,216
Build a watchtower, or run the Defense venture. (One of the Elmal blessings might help too, not sure)
 

eric__s

ass hater
Developer
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
2,301
Dude.

A game where you play as Yamnaya people in the King of Dragon Pass universe and engine. And it just came out. I can't believe I missed this. I am so unreasonably excited about this.

I think I'm going to get an iPhone just for this.
 

Archibald

Arcane
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
7,869
I am so exited to play this on Monday. I am (un-) lucky enough to own an iPhone. Though I seems very strange to release it first on iOS, it is one of the few games where I think it will play just as well on as on pc.

I think its due to original King of Dragon Pass selling like shit on PC and doing actually okay on Apple and Android mobile phones. So it is reasonable that iOS release was a priority.
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I'm writing a blog post about that, with a video going through my research library. Should be out today, or in a few days.

(TL;DR though - kind of Scythians, yes.)
Link to your blog?

Build a watchtower, or run the Defense venture. (One of the Elmal blessings might help too, not sure)
Did it. Watchtower and Elmal didn't work but the Defense venture yes. Thanks!
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Lost my first game by entering a death spiral of famine and lack of cattle. Defending kept swingy until the end, with raiders slipping past my patrols ~80% of the time (even with Defense venture on). The game overall seems more tighter with resources than KoDP, and the geopolitics harder - perhaps it's an early impression but clans now are more active, with the hostile a pushing back at you more actively, and your friends bringing more gifts etc. they are more "alive" in a way. Funnily I found the Heroquests/Rituals easier this time.

Will start as a Nyalda clan this time and focus on subsistence. Elma's definitely didn't work for me.
 

Merlkir

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
1,216
The game's been in "featured" games on both the iPad and iPhone, even the number one selling app in Finland (I think).
We already have about two thirds of review that KoDP has, which is also helpful.

How Heroquests are different in this?
They're less opaque, the game hints more at why you failed etc. And of course, they're not heroquests.
Rituals use a similar process, spending magic and reenacting a past deed, but it's less "You must reenact what the god did to get a reward-" and more "You start acting like the god, so we're able to shoot you into the God's War properly".
It's like an aiming device, aligning you with the appropriate god's essence. Once you're in the Sky World, you do your best to help the god. (and again, this is somewhat like a heroquest, because you're doing what the god did, but you're also doing it at the same time as they did it. This is the Storm Age, everything is happening at the same time, because time doesn't exist.)

Mechanically - success and failure is not all or nothing, you are actually allowed to fail parts of the process and still get a positive result.
 
Self-Ejected

DakaSha V

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
436
Ive played KoDP off and on, but barely know how the system actually works. Apart from heroquests, are any of the decisions for the events inherently, and always bad? (Or good for that matter?), or is there a mix of randomness, and situational difference in what makes for the best choice? I know that in some cases your choice is dependent on past choices, but I'm asking more generally. Do events exist in which one or some of the choices will always be "wrong"?

Im incredibly big on replayability, and long term unpredictability, and ive never put too much time into the game because i always feel like if i just knew the best answers, i can play an almost perfect game (which would inadvertently happen after a few restarts)

Im asking due to my interest in the new game of course, as the systems seem to be basically the same.

For the record im not putting down the system regardless of how it works. KoDP is special, even if it really is just an elaborate CYOA. Personally i just need more "game" than what im fearing the system may entail.
 

Archibald

Arcane
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
7,869
I have played only KoDP. In theory there are no wrong decisions, but in practice you obviously will be pushed towards certain decisions due to your earlier choices. Like why would you bring in slaves if your clan was always against slavery? As for "perfect game", events that you get are randomized (as well as omens at the start of the year) so even if you might know "best" answer to each event it is likely that you simply won't be able to pick it because you spent some key resources on another event already.
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Ive played KoDP off and on, but barely know how the system actually works. Apart from heroquests, are any of the decisions for the events inherently, and always bad? (Or good for that matter?), or is there a mix of randomness, and situational difference in what makes for the best choice? I know that in some cases your choice is dependent on past choices, but I'm asking more generally. Do events exist in which one or some of the choices will always be "wrong"?

Im incredibly big on replayability, and long term unpredictability, and ive never put too much time into the game because i always feel like if i just knew the best answers, i can play an almost perfect game (which would inadvertently happen after a few restarts)

Im asking due to my interest in the new game of course, as the systems seem to be basically the same.

For the record im not putting down the system regardless of how it works. KoDP is special, even if it really is just an elaborate CYOA. Personally i just need more "game" than what im fearing the system may entail.
Your impressions are really far off imo. Events don't work on the principle of right and wrong answers but of resource managenent and risk-reward. How you answer to an event depends on what your current situation is and what your goals are. A war prone clan may respond to the same chain of events in a completely different manner than a pacifist clan. Same goes for a rich-but-hungry vs poor-but-fed, or a traditionalist vs open-minded, or one interested in gaining allies vs one interested in getting strong by itself.

The game is really a simulation of living among a complex culture where right and wrong mostly depends on perspective and interest more than anything.

Tl;dr: It's more of a rogue-like-4X hybrid in text form than a Fighting Fantasy book in electronic form, if that makes sense.
 
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Thal

Augur
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
413
Ive played KoDP off and on, but barely know how the system actually works. Apart from heroquests, are any of the decisions for the events inherently, and always bad? (Or good for that matter?), or is there a mix of randomness, and situational difference in what makes for the best choice? I know that in some cases your choice is dependent on past choices, but I'm asking more generally. Do events exist in which one or some of the choices will always be "wrong"?

Im incredibly big on replayability, and long term unpredictability, and ive never put too much time into the game because i always feel like if i just knew the best answers, i can play an almost perfect game (which would inadvertently happen after a few restarts)

Im asking due to my interest in the new game of course, as the systems seem to be basically the same.

For the record im not putting down the system regardless of how it works. KoDP is special, even if it really is just an elaborate CYOA. Personally i just need more "game" than what im fearing the system may entail.

Ultimately there is only one way succeed in King of Dragon Pass, which is to come to understand what it means to be Orlanthi and, in doing so, becoming an Orlanthi.

In a way, playing the game is your hero quest. After succesful completion, you will have re-enacted a great Orlanthi myth and can through its divine wisdom bring prosperity to your clan and kin.

For more information, see here what well placed grant-money can achieve:
http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/paper_41.pdf
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Stil finding the game hard as fuck. I'm faring better now than my first attempt, but it seems I have to sweat blood to get anything I want.

Some things that perhaps needs revision/consideration for future patches are:

1) the impact of raiding on your economy. It seems too harsh now, if the RNG sends 3 or 4 raids on your way in succession your cattle may vanish too fast and you may enter a spiral of famine that's hard to recover from.

2) attackers slipping past your patrols. I'm sure there's something off here as no matter what you do the frequency that you're surprised is too big. The exception would be if this time getting surprised is more or less intended as the default mode (maybe Rider culture is not that good in patrolling their lands? Don't know). This would mean the balance is pending to the attackers, meaning the game rewards more aggressive clans now. Which gets to my third point..

3) our clan seems a bit more unidimensional regarding potential profiles in contrast to KoDP. In the later I could be a full pacifist, warring or neutral, with different main deities allowing different venues of expression (I did a full sanguinary Humakti war clan once and it was completely different than anything I've tried before). This time I'm not feeling this. It seems no matter my choices on the clan questionnaire it results in mainly the same clan profile with only (very) subtle distinctions. Take this with a grain of salt, though, as I'm still 10 or so hours on.

Merlkir , any feedback from other players so far regarding those points?


About the series, If the next games to be released follow the saga of the Hyalorings during the great darkness and the return of the sun eras I will be happy. But I'd be happier yet if we got the opportunity to play Lunars, Trolls or Praxians somewhere along the way. :)
 
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