Game News Age of Decadence August Update

[Infinitron]

Tags: Age of Decadence; Iron Tower Studios; Vault Dweller

The Age of Decadence Early Access has received its eighth update. The accompanying monthly update has the details on the additions and improvements in the new version:

Welcome to update # 8. It’s a big update that adds all kinds of things but very little new content, unfortunately.

1. You can return to Teron now. There isn’t much to do there yet as the unfinished quests have been resolved without you (thanks for nothing) and new content will be triggered by the events in Ganezzar, which hasn’t been released yet.

So much like Caer-Tor, the new Teron maps (there are two actually, one where the Imperial Guards took over, the other where House Daratan reigns supreme and the town is swarmed with mercenaries) are nothing but a foundation on which new content will be build.

Still, you can walk around, chat with people, admire Antidas’ grave, stop in front of crucified Miltiades, meet a mercenary captain who will replace Mercato if you had him killed, and report any bugs and consistency issues (people who should be dead being alive and kicking, etc).

2. We split the Teron map into 3 to improve performance. The old map included the mine and the raiders’ camp, which wasn’t the best way to handle it. Now Teron, the mine, and the camp are truly separate locations, which - in theory - can cause all kinds of issues but hopefully won’t.

We tweaked the mine location a bit, replacing the old tower with something equally Roman but more combat-friendly, plus made it easier to explore it outside of text adventure. Overall, there is less ‘teleporting’ now.

3. We tweaked Alchemy as per very helpful players’ suggestions

• Added more reagents to Maadoran and Teron alchemists' inventories
• Increased poison damage by 1 point for all levels.
• Bombs and liquid fire no longer miss.
• Bombs critical chance (knockdown effect) is now 50 - (victim's constitution - 6) x 15.
• Alchemy level 9: Black Powder Bomb (Frag) has vsDR 5.
• Alchemy level 10: Berserk potion homeostasis gives 3 DR and takes 5 HP at the end of the effect.
• Alchemy level 10: Neurostimulant (Eagle Eye) gives 25 THC bonus.

4. Difficulty

As many of you noticed the difficulty takes a nosedive in Maadoran. One of the reason for that is that the metal bonuses greatly increase your offensive and defensive capabilities. Each metal adds 2 points. Whereas in Teron adding 2 points is a good bonus (and iron weapons are harder to find), it's relatively easy to buy high quality gear in Maadoran and increase your damage output and/or DR by 5-7 points, which is too much.

So, the no-name crafted items are removed from trader inventories (if you want them, invest in Crafting). Some of them have been replaced by much more expensive unique items. Coincidentally, each metal now adds only 1 point, so getting your hands on some blue steel will increase your damage/DR by 3 instead of 6.

We also tweaked some stats of unique items to make sure they are consistent with the overall balance.

5. A number of bug fixes and minor improvements.

* * *

As always, thank you for your continuous support and patronage. This update is a stepping stone toward a much larger update which will include 3 new locations, so your feedback and suggestions will be much appreciated.
​

A return to Teron, eh? I hope that doesn't take too long to implement. See the full update for a few new portraits and inventory item icon images.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Good stuff, tho the pace of content updates is a bit worrying considering release is not that far away.

 

[Applypoison]

Cool, personally I find thought-out tweaks like these just as exciting (if not more) than new content. If anything, it enters the definition of content, due to things like replayability and branching character development.

Vault Dweller, about community-sourced mods (is that the right term?) mentioned in the previous update, when can we hope to see something endorsed by Iron Tower? And how would someone qualified/interested go about contributing?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Good stuff, tho the pace of content updates is a bit worrying considering release is not that far away.

We're behind the schedule but we keep pushing forward, which is all we can do, really. "Back to Teron" took 3 weeks of work, 10-12-hour a day avg. It's one of those things that doesn't seem like a lot of work until you start doing it and realize just how much work is actually needed there.

Anyway, some of Ganezzar's options need Teron so it had to be done. IF you need an army, which is an option for 1 out of 10 players, Teron is the only place where you can get it. Ganezzar will probably be released in October. The rest is relatively easy as towns are the hardest, most time-consuming part due to nearly insane amount of scripting required.

Vault Dweller, about community-sourced mods (is that the right term?) mentioned in the previous update, when can we hope to see something endorsed by Iron Tower? And how would someone qualified/interested go about contributing?

It depends on what the goal is.

If you want to improve an area of the game (like Alchemy, for example), you can write a thoughtful post and if we agree, we'll take it from there:
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,4418.msg119266.html#msg119266

If you want to add some models, you can discuss it with us. For example, the wolf-pelt helmets are a contribution. They fit the theme and the period and are relatively easy to add.

If you want to make your own mod doing different things like going back to 1-100, changing passive effects, combat rules, etc, you'd have to wait until the game is done and then present your changes for discussion (mainly for us to estimate the amount of work involved).

 

[Infinitron]

We're behind the schedule but we keep pushing forward, which is all we can do, really. "Back to Teron" took 3 weeks of work, 10-12-hour a day avg. It's one of those things that doesn't seem like a lot of work until you start doing it and realize just how much work is actually needed there.

There's a reason I mentioned it in my post. From what I understand (from a developer quote which I can't quite remember) designing two "phases" of the same area is almost as much work as designing two entirely different areas.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Almost. Well, now that the foundation is there, the rest is relatively easy. Overall, consequences and different outcomes are a bitch to implement and often require extensive workarounds. I certainly understand why most studios prefer cosmetic differences and linear design. Like Gaider once said, it does increase the amount of work exponentially.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Dude, Vault Dweller, I am fucking stoked for this game. Bought it, haven't played it yet, will get at least a few other guys I know to buy once it is finished.
Fucking glad for you guys that it's still going strong.

 

[Somberlain]

I'm not sure why I hadn't bought this game yet, but now I did. Salutations to Vault Dweller and the glorious incline.

Spoiler

Even though it's a Fallout ripoff

 

[Sitra Achara]

Almost. Well, now that the foundation is there, the rest is relatively easy. Overall, consequences and different outcomes are a bitch to implement and often require extensive workarounds. I certainly understand why most studios prefer cosmetic differences and linear design. Like Gaider once said, it does increase the amount of work exponentially.

Do you suppose that sort of thing can be systemized or somehow expedited through proper tools / framework? How would you handle it in Colony Ship?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Almost. Well, now that the foundation is there, the rest is relatively easy. Overall, consequences and different outcomes are a bitch to implement and often require extensive workarounds. I certainly understand why most studios prefer cosmetic differences and linear design. Like Gaider once said, it does increase the amount of work exponentially.

Do you suppose that sort of thing can be systemized or somehow expedited through proper tools / framework?

No. When people who don't know much about gaming ask me about AoD (usually after inquiring if it's anything like Angry Birds and if I've heard about Angry Birds), this is how I explain the concept of choices & consequences.

Take a well known book like The Three Musketeers. At some point Richelieu offers D'Artagnan to join the Dark Side. He refuses, but what if he's an opportunistic bastard and agrees? It requires a different story, running parallel to the original. Could be the same events but seen from a different angle, the opposite goals, etc. The other characters (the actual three musketeers, Treville, etc) should have appropriate reactions and Rochefort, the former enemy, should becoming either his best bud or a different kind of rival (based on D'Artagnan's diplomacy skills). Then you give every key event the same treatment and see how it changes the story - what if Buckingham survives the assassination in London? What if Buckingham is killed in Paris (in the book D'Artagnan starts a fight with him but backs off once he realizes who it is, but what if he doesn't?)? What if the diamond studs are never recovered? What if D'Artagnan manages to kill Rochefort in the beginning of the story - rolls 20 and scores a critical? All these choices should affect the story, which means that it should branch off and change, which means that the game based on the book would have three times more text and contain several very different storylines, not once.

You can't do it by systemizing or using tools. You have to write all these stories and make them work within the existing framework, which is often the tricky part. For example, it made sense to allow the player to destroy Maadoran but the events in Ganezzar requires a siege. No Maadoran - no siege. Thus we need to create an alternative scenario where Meru is emboldened and unopposed and the fight for control is between him and Antidas, which should be very different than the Meru vs House Aurelian confrontation, otherwise it's just green shirt vs red shirt design.

How would you handle it in Colony Ship?

No idea. So far I only worked on the setting when I needed a break from AoD. No reason to go deeper at this point. Overall, we want it to be a different game with a different feel/style. Hex-based grid. No teleporting, more environment interaction/exploring, focus on ranged combat, no parallel guilds like in AoD, instead a lot more individual choices & consequences (basically, in AoD the focus is story-telling, in the Colony Ship RPG the focus will be reactivity).

 

[likaq]

How would you handle it in Colony Ship?

No idea. So far I only worked on the setting when I needed a break from AoD. No reason to go deeper at this point. Overall, we want it to be a different game with a different feel/style. Hex-based grid. No teleporting, more environment interaction/exploring, focus on ranged combat, no parallel guilds like in AoD, instead a lot more individual choices & consequences (basically, in AoD the focus is story-telling, in the Colony Ship RPG the focus will be reactivity).

 

[throwaway]

(basically, in AoD the focus is story-telling, in the Colony Ship RPG the focus will be reactivity).

Alright, I'm at a risk of coming off as a huge fanboy, while I've only tried the demo and don't plan to make time for AoD until well after Thursday (mid 2015) but isn't it already the most reactive RPG to knowledge?

 

[set]

Eh, it depends on your definition. To me, Dwarf Fortress or maybe something like Net Hack -- which has established a ridiculous amount of mechanics and "reactions" for your in-game actions - is more reactive. It's more accurate to say AoD has the most scripted branching story paths to take, I don't think I can conceive of a game with more, but I could be wrong.

 

[StaticSpine]

No idea. So far I only worked on the setting when I needed a break from AoD. No reason to go deeper at this point. Overall, we want it to be a different game with a different feel/style. Hex-based grid. No teleporting, more environment interaction/exploring, focus on ranged combat, no parallel guilds like in AoD, instead a lot more individual choices & consequences (basically, in AoD the focus is story-telling, in the Colony Ship RPG the focus will be reactivity).

 

[Metro]

Hopefully it'll be just in time for a nice 50% off during the Holiday sale.

 

[BGMD]

How would you handle it in Colony Ship?

No idea. So far I only worked on the setting when I needed a break from AoD. No reason to go deeper at this point. Overall, we want it to be a different game with a different feel/style. Hex-based grid. No teleporting, more environment interaction/exploring, focus on ranged combat, no parallel guilds like in AoD, instead a lot more individual choices & consequences (basically, in AoD the focus is story-telling, in the Colony Ship RPG the focus will be reactivity).

 

[kris]

Spoiler

Even though it's a Fallout ripoff

Ah, cool! I also loved fallout 3 and this game also seems to have VATs and be turned-based real-time. Is Liam Neeson voicing any character?

 

[Makagulfazel]

Liam Neeson voices your conscience.

Great job, guys! I have been going with the flow on my play-through since save scumming is too costly; the combat is brutal. Helmets are for chumps.

 

[Abu Antar]

I bought Age of decadence today. I am looking forward to their next game in 2020.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Alright, I'm at a risk of coming off as a huge fanboy, while I've only tried the demo and don't plan to make time for AoD until well after Thursday (mid 2015) but isn't it already the most reactive RPG to knowledge?

A lot more can be done without the focus on storytelling. With the colony ship RPG I'd like to experiment and do something different. We've learned quite a lot over the years and I'd like to put that knowledge to good use. It doesn't mean that the game won't have a story or extensive dialogues/text adventure elements; the main difference will be that you'll be an 'explorer' rather than a pawn/agent.

 

[Jaesun]

A lot more can be done without the focus on storytelling. With the colony ship RPG I'd like to experiment and do something different. We've learned quite a lot over the years and I'd like to put that knowledge to good use. It doesn't mean that the game won't have a story or extensive dialogues/text adventure elements; the main difference will be that you'll be an 'explorer' rather than a pawn/agent.