Game News Age of Decadence August Update

[Dookins]

Had my eye on this for ages, but haven't followed too closely since release always seemed pretty distant. I know VD's no Cleve, but are the current October projections reliable or Blakemoreish "next friday" predictions?

 

[laclongquan]

How the hell would anyone knows? We only knows for true when we get a release in October. All else is just noise.

Mind you, if they fail the october date then they will have big trouble. november and december are the months of AAA releases with their big budget marketing ads. And 2016 would be a little too disappointing for the fans, since we actually expect AoD way earlier.

 

[veevoir]

Current early access has only microissues remaining. If the new stuff will get tested by ea users before release it is good to go. The very last day of october is more likely date, but still - Iron Tower should pull this off

 

[Irenaeus II]

I bought this game in 2012 and only toyed with it for 30 minutes and I liked it then. Haven't played any updates. I can wait a couple years more if they need polishing. Who cares?

 

[Elhoim]

Had my eye on this for ages, but haven't followed too closely since release always seemed pretty distant. I know VD's no Cleve, but are the current October projections reliable or Blakemoreish "next friday" predictions?

I already finished the game from start to finish several times in the past week.

And 2016 would be a little too disappointing for the fans, since we actually expect AoD way earlier.

Like 2009?

 

[laclongquan]

2009 didnt have the demo and several rounds of testing in place~ The hype was waaaaaaay lower.

 

[Goral]

I already finished the game from start to finish several times in the past week.

So if I start playing now I'll be able to see all the changes after the final update using saves from the current build or are there some significant changes planned in the future? I haven't played AoD for more than 4 months waiting on final release and I can wait another 4 unless only minor changes will be implemented.

 

[Elhoim]

So if I start playing now I'll be able to see all the changes after the final update using saves from the current build or are there some significant changes planned in the future? I haven't played AoD for more than 4 months waiting on final release and I can wait another 4 unless only minor changes will be implemented.

For the final release in October the savegames won't be compatible, but current ones should be with the sept 10 release.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I dunno why they're so keen on this october release date.

Like you said, "there won't be too much spots for good releases afterwards".

We knew that the game will be done by the end of August. Obviously, we can't release it right away and need 4-6 weeks to go over it, fix the remaining bugs, finally focus on the balance, add some flavor text, etc. So, the options are Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb. We don't want to push the game into 2016, besides, the conventional wisdom seems to suggest that Jan and Feb are dead months anyway. Dec? It's the biggest sale of the year, when you buy games you wanted for a few bucks. I don't know how well a newly released game that's not on sale and doesn't have a massive marketing push will perform there. Nov? Fallout 4. Of course we don't compete with Fallout 4 and most people who'd buy Fallout 4 wouldn't even look at AoD twice, BUT Fallout 4 has a mulltimillion audience, so we aren't talking about most people here but the tiny overlap that can make a huge difference for us.

I'd say that 80% of the active Codex members will buy Fallout 4 (just to, uh, see how bad it is) and we'll have a huge mega-thread about it. Overall, we can easily lose thousands of players and the way Steam works, weak launch leads to less front page exposure. I don't think we'll ever have a great and perfect launch window and if we have to 'compete' with other RPGs, I'd rather compete with already released ones.

 

[Pope Amole II]

Of course we don't compete with Fallout 4 and most people who'd buy Fallout 4 wouldn't even look at AoD twice

During the F4 prime time? Probably yeah. But sooner or later people will have enough of it and they'll probably want more post-apoc stuff. And that's what you are, no? Instead of thinking about competing with F4, you should try to get some of that wind into your sales somehow. Though, considering how very specific thematically-wise your post-apoc is, that is a better option for Styg than you. But then, it's all about making the right presentation anyways.

You should've made a move on all the "dying is awesome" wave (dunno if it has sailed away by this point or no), tbh. If totally mediocre project like NeoScavenger could sell on the merit of random and stupid deaths alone, so could've you. Maybe there's a chance of this wind increasing after the inevitable Darkest Dungeons success? Anyways, what I mean is that small developers probably should think in B-Movies terms - they don't just hope to compete with the summer mega-blockbusters or whatever, they name their movies Transmorphers and get the stuff done that way.

 

[Fenix]

And 2016 would be a little too disappointing for the fans, since we actually expect AoD way earlier.

I've been waiting three years! Or four. Not big geal to wait till 2016.

 

[Jaesun]

Has this been tested on Windows 10? Just to be sure...

 

[Excidium II]

It should run just fine, it's not like the OS architecture changed.

 

[Elhoim]

Has this been tested on Windows 10? Just to be sure...

Yes, it has been tested, works fine

 

[Septaryeth]

Anyways, what I mean is that small developers probably should think in B-Movies terms - they don't just hope to compete with the summer mega-blockbusters or whatever, they name their movies Transmorphers and get the stuff done that way.

That's a different story.
These movies are less than your original, indie B-movies.
These Transmorphers, Atlantic Rim, Thor The God of Thunder and whatever purposely named their movies with confusing titles and released them at the same time to ride on the blockbuster wagon.
In a sense they DO want that tiny overlap in the audiences, but more for the reason of scamming illiterate DVD renters instead of targeting alternate audiences.
The latter would be... um... closer to... uh... these XXX R-rated films, where people know... er... exactly what will happen and gladly... pay for it.
Anyway, this is not a metaphor saying AoD is one of these films!

Please don't ban me.

 

[commie]

I don't really understand the problem of releasing it anytime. For AoD let's face it, the same crowd will buy it no matter the release time, and that will be the vast bulk of initial sales. Afterwards like all niche RPG's it will be a nice slow burner for drip-drip sales until the inevitable Groupees, Indiagala or maybe if lucky a Humble Bundle release which in the end will fill the coffers more than any scheming about optimal release dates.

 

[Lurker King]

Umm, Fallout 4 makes no competition to the AoD. They live in two entirely different worlds. I mean, you think all the fallout 3 kiddies give two flying fucks about AoD? D:OS more or less caters to the oldschool audience. Wasteland 2 exists solely because of it. But F4? Sure, some oldschool fans will give it attention. But mostly its audience is drastically different so it shouldn't really matter.

Not on the Codex. People prefer to talk about triple-A games than play the good games, they prefer to be on the loop of the latest game gossip, than to make a detailed analysis about cRPGs, they make gigantic threads about Fallout 4, Skyrm and DA:I, with LP’s, memes and what have you, but will not bother to make a detailed comment about SitS, Underrail or AoD. That is just life. One way or the other, triple-A games always drains all the attention, because people are just people.

I'd say that 80% of the active Codex members will buy Fallout 4 (just to, uh, see how bad it is) and we'll have a huge mega-thread about it. Overall, we can easily lose thousands of players and the way Steam works, weak launch leads to less front page exposure. I don't think we'll ever have a great and perfect launch window and if we have to 'compete' with other RPGs, I'd rather compete with already released ones.

That is exactly right.

 

[Drowed]

I'd say that 80% of the active Codex members will buy Fallout 4 (just to, uh, see how bad it is) and we'll have a huge mega-thread about it. Overall, we can easily lose thousands of players and the way Steam works, weak launch leads to less front page exposure. I don't think we'll ever have a great and perfect launch window and if we have to 'compete' with other RPGs, I'd rather compete with already released ones.

That is exactly right.

I wouldn't say "buy", but yeah, 80+% will download it. For what it's worth, Fallout 4 is unreasonably expensive nowdays in third world countries: 250BRL here, which is a third of the minimum wage (no other AAA game is currently so expensive on STEAM). Age of Decadence costs one-fifth of this amount (55BRL), which makes it much more attractive to many people. Still, I know that we're a tiny fraction of the group would buy the game, and most people I know who are interested in the game have already bought it by now.

 

[Fenix]

I played F3 whan it was released. Just to have the arguments against it, and know what I'm talking about.
Believe me time was wasted absolutely for no reason - all I saw was already clear from trailers and such marketoud shit.
You'll get the same F3 which is onl shot up with ideas stolen from mods.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Believe me time was wasted absolutely for no reason - all I saw was already clear from trailers and such marketoud shit.

The trailers and marketing of FNV gave the impression of a very different game.

 

[A user named cat]

Mainstream gaming sites will ignore aod anyway so what's your point?

Not if VD sprinkles in SJW-approved material. Polygon and its brethren would squeal if there were playable trannies, rainbow-haired NPC's, romancable 8 year old cousins, etc.

 

[Elhoim]

Polygon and its brethren would squeal if there were playable trannies

We already have those, or at least that's what my wife thought when she saw the female models.

 

[Fenix]

The trailers and marketing of FNV gave the impression of a very different game.

I'm talking about F3.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

I'm talking about F3.

I'm just saying you can't always trust trailers.

 

[Kem0sabe]

I fully expect them to miss the expected release window, we are half way to October already. My guess is that it will be delayed to January.