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Age of Decadence May 2018 Update

AbounI

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Game is updated :
We constantly update the build sitting on the public test branch and every now and then move it to the default branch, so it's business as usual.

This time around we fixed two recently reported issues: high level poison was applied incorrectly to arrows and Gaelius' troops accompanying him to the temple were too weak and didn't stand a chance against the Imperial Guards holding the Dead River pass.

While we were at it, we decided to add Sunfire's (who's a giant among men) most excellent and comprehensive mod. The list is too long to include here, so here is a summary of fixes and improvements:

- Death screens and endings
- Quest and combat rewards (sp, cs, reputation)
- Minor consistency issues (when Faelan is killed or Ganezzar is taken)
- Map visuals, interaction, and passability
- Added proper banners and soldiers when House Aurelian or the Imperial Guards take Ganezzar.
- Typos and minor dialogue issues
- Russian and Spanish localization issues

While it's not a major update, there's always a chance of new issues popping up when you change something. If you see any, let us know and we'll fix it asap.
 
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Sacred82

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uh my esteemed VD

why does Steam all of a sudden run an update forcing me to install a user made mod for a game I've bought from you?

Reading up on it, this is about as non-controversial as Drog's patch, probably moreso, seeing as how AoD only came out in 2015.

Some excerpts:

Modification:
- restored the location "The Broken Bridge";
(click to show/hide)
You need to buy the Astrolabe to be able to access it, and pass a serie of checks.
- added the World Map interaction scripts with it;
- added 5 SP for visiting it 1st time;
- added the note in your journal about it;
- added some alchemy reagents and a scorpion to the location;
- moved the start point to another side of the broken bridge;
- added the interaction dialogue to the Astrolabe;
- added the Damaged Power Armor (w/o gauntlet, power helmets and mods, can use 2-h weapon, can be powered up with a module, use the item icons from early versions);
(click to show/hide)
You can obtain it in new location by passing variative series of checks.

and there are about a dozen of those things.

You release a game you painstakingly balanced, and then decide to throw a huge fucking lot of subjective, probably arbitrary third party changes in the mix?

:rpgcodex:


:keepmymoney:
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
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uh my esteemed VD

why does Steam all of a sudden run an update forcing me to install a user made mod for a game I've bought from you?
I believe you're referring to the community mod, which wasn't included in the update for obvious reasons. The mod we integrated contains nothing but fixes and minor visual improvements, not custom content, extra locations or dialogues.
 
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Sacred82

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uh my esteemed VD

why does Steam all of a sudden run an update forcing me to install a user made mod for a game I've bought from you?
I believe you're referring to the community mod, which wasn't included in the update for obvious reasons. The mod we integrated contains nothing but fixes and minor visual improvements, not custom content, extra locations or dialogues.

While we were at it, we decided to integrate Sunfire's (who's a giant among men) most excellent and comprehensive mod into the core gameplay files. The changelog is too long to include here, so here is a summary of fixes and improvements:

- Death screens and endings
- Quest and combat rewards (sp, cs, reputation)
- Minor consistency issues (when Faelan is killed or Ganezzar is taken)
- Map visuals, interaction, and passability
- Added proper banners and soldiers when House Aurelian or the Imperial Guards take Ganezzar.
- Typos and minor dialogue issues
- Russian and Spanish localization issues

quest and combat rewards are kind of consequential, but as you put it, you picked and chose which of those to include?
 

Vault Dweller

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quest and combat rewards are kind of consequential, but as you put it, you picked and chose which of those to include?
Sunfire is the translation team's lead who went through the dialogue files line by line and noticed things that we missed and nobody reported. He followed the established rules and added nothing that shouldn't have been there in the first place. We wouldn't have included his changes if we didn't agree with them 100%.
 

Fenix

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While there is fix for poisoning prospector in Sarossa, I think this issue still exist.

If you fail Streetwise check in dialog with Prospector in Sarossa, then ---> Leave, and then come closer to him, combat begin, and you get no combat skill point when you kill him.

Just to let you know, not harrasing or anything.
 
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Sacred82

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it's not really the question wether you (or anyone really, including the devs) thinks it doesn't unbalance their game. You spend money to get a developer's creative vision, not that of someone else. I always install Drog's Arcanum patch, but I wouldn't want it to be bundled in with the game. Also I get to pick and choose if I want the more subjective changes.

Unless they explicitly told the guy what to do, it's someone else's idea of how the game should work, not the devs'. They may agree in hindsight (for whatever reason), but arbitrating on e.g. quest rewards is not something I want from a user. If I want to download a user mod/ fixpack, yeah, my choice.

I hope there will be none of these shenanigans for Dungeon Rats? After all, you stopped updating it after two patches, if I got that correctly. If someone comes out of the woodwork now with a mod that doesn't just fix things that were supposed to work but didn't, but changes quest rewards, it had better be an optional download.
 

Vault Dweller

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it's not really the question wether you (or anyone really, including the devs) thinks it doesn't unbalance their game. You spend money to get a developer's creative vision, not that of someone else.
Fixing things we missed isn't giving the player someone else's creative vision or "idea of how the game should work". Sunfire did a very thorough job fixing issues that most people missed and thus never reported. We had 3 choices:

1. do nothing; since most people didn't complain about these issues they don't exist
2. pretend we fixed them and say nothing about Sunfire's role, thus claiming the credit
3. integrate Sunfire's work so that everyone could benefit from it because we believe he did a great job and agree with his fixes.

Would you really prefer option 1 or 2?
 
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Grab the Codex by the pussy
it's not really the question wether you (or anyone really, including the devs) thinks it doesn't unbalance their game.
Dude, he just fixed bugs and typos. He didn't add any new content. You are just jealous that Vince praised another player in public and now you are trying to rationalize a way to ignore this player's work.
 

AbounI

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I would say Sunfire is a great active community member, and without him, I wouldn't be able to work on a French translation of AoD. And while working at it, we've spotted lots of typos (the list is long believe me) he fixed in his hotfix.
We should rejoice having someone like Sunfire in the AoD community.
 
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Sacred82

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it's not really the question wether you (or anyone really, including the devs) thinks it doesn't unbalance their game. You spend money to get a developer's creative vision, not that of someone else.
Fixing things we missed isn't giving the player someone else's creative vision or "idea of how the game should work". Sunfire did a very thorough job fixing issues that most people missed and thus never reported. We had 3 choices:

1. do nothing; since most people didn't complain about these issues they don't exist
2. pretend we fixed them and say nothing about Sunfire's role, thus claiming the credit
3. integrate Sunfire's work so that everyone could benefit from it because we believe he did a great job and agree with his fixes.

Would you really prefer option 1 or 2?

uuuuhhhh

4. http://www.irontowerstudio.com/

or, alternatively, him uploading his mod on ModDB. You know, like everyone else does with their fixpacks.
 
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Sacred82

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it's not really the question wether you (or anyone really, including the devs) thinks it doesn't unbalance their game.
Dude, he just fixed bugs and typos. He didn't add any new content. You are just jealous that Vince praised another player in public and now you are trying to rationalize a way to ignore this player's work.

Yes. That's probably it. I'm jealous it's not my fixes arbitrary changes that get crammed into people's game files wether they want it or not.

I appreciate the work of anyone going to the trouble of modding games, wether I agree with the changes they make to the product or not. However, all of that should stay optional.

Welp, actually, I guess VD's option #2 happens fairly regularly. They could simply have labeled it an update and be done with it. However, that only works if people are willing to have their work go unrecognized, for the good of the game and/ or developer. As it is, things seem a bit strange. It's as if this Sunfire dude wanted to make sure he gets a shoutout AND people have to install his 'fixes'.
 

AbounI

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Just to make sure people know what we're talkng about, here are the feats of Sunfire's hotfix in question:
- fixed small logical error with Legatus/Decanus name in Al-Akia;
- added Outpost Dellar Report Fix;
- fixed dead zealot merc in the Hellgate so you can loot him;
- fixed SP gain when you told Maadoran healer that there are no vats or elixirs in the Mountain Monastery;
- added altered text in the dialogue with the Portal being if you kill Balzaar or never met him;
- added 1 combat SP for killing 2 guards when escaping from Inferiae pit;
- changed combat SP reward for dealing with Darganus, his mercs and zealots from 2 to 1-3, depending on fights difficulty;
- added 1 combat SP for killing Fake Meru in Al-Akia;
- fixed Centurion's dialogue about fake badge after visiting Maadoran palace before meeting him;
- fixed Senna's dialogue after visiting Harran's Pass and public baths' VCO;
- fixed Clemens eye implant and heal bugs;
- fixed Mehrab bug in Hermon dialog when the Abyss is closed;
- fixed empty ending slides after the Temple and Ganezzar;
- fixed double Abyss slide after 2nd and 3rd acts;
- fixed power tube teleporting bug (back to the chest from Decanus' corpse) in the Mining Outpost;
- fixed the passability grids in 58 missions, thus fixing numerious visual glitches (like these and this);
- fixed increase in honor for torturing Sohrab;
- fixed sitting Carbo in Caer-Tor when IG joins HC;
- fixed Raenas mentioning Carbo as a new Caer-Tor leader when IG joins HC;
- removed a flying graffiti in Teron_IG;
- fixed underpaid Tiresias' training;
- added CS training for killing Faelan by successful critical strikes;
- fixed Combat SP reward for killing Faelan while under drugs and for killing the thieves;
- fixed Meru conversation when Faelan is dead after AG8 and TG8;
- added 2 HC guards in the airship dialogue when flying to Ganezzar;
- removed the opportunity to break the siege of Ganezzar with the airship by having a parley with dead Hagnon after his killing in AG7;
- fixed the treasure door opening when failing its lockpicking in Ganezzar MG building;
- added more banners when HA or IG takes Ganezzar;
- changed HC guard to HA or IG guard near the plagued prospector's house when HA or IG takes Ganezzar;
- added HC throne room and fort guards when Fabianus becomes new Ganezzar leader;
- fixed Laevinus' interact bug from 1st floor of Ganezzar inn;
- fixed the bug with 2 doors, "The Mole-Rat" quest status #3, and infinite Combat SP loop in Ganezzar Castle Basement Tunnels;
- fixed "Power to the People" quest bug;
- fixed "The Enemy of My Enemy" quest bug;
- fixed incorrect finishing of "The Rightful Owner" quest;
- removed the unfinished quest "Getting new contracts" for HA praetor;
- added a stairs to the watchtowers in Maadoran Merchants Plaza, Teron_IG Shanty Town;
- fixed the (im)passability tiles of Aemolas shop in Teron, Teron_IG and Teron_MG;
- fixed some inoperable + added more MapTeleporters in Teron, Teron_IG and Teron_MG;
- changed some "Eye" interactive icons to "Chest", "Door" and "Stair" in Teron and Zamedy;
- hided interactive icons from 2nd floor when entering 1st floor of Maadoran Inn;
- hided the lab doors and interactive icons from 2nd floor when entering 1st floor of Al-Akia;
- fixed black space bug when approaching the wall behind the control panel in Al-Akia;
- fixed resurrected Cado and Bouncer when you kill Teron thieves in MG1;
- removed the fences in Maadoran Palace;
- relocated training HD guards in TG3;
- changed HD guards cloaks to HD from IG in TG3;
- removed the mention of Bracchus' helmet in TG3;
- fixed the mercs giving you money instead of taking it when using trading option in TG3;
- fixed visual/logical error when HD wipe out IG in MG3 + hided IG posters along with IG banners;
- removed IG survivor and IG posters from Teron_MG;
- removed the shelves visual glitch in Zamedy, and landed some rocks, columns and cobbled roads;
- fixed the Arch portal stay open after using it again while exploring it with Aegis;
- fixed free Teron movement in AG and merc vignettes exploit;
- fixed double Maadoran ending via the Healing machine;
- added 1 Combat SP reward for killing 2 guards in Castle Ganezzar basement tunnels in TG7;
- added CS training and bodycount reward for killing 2 guards on Harran's Pass when escaping to the Ordu camp;
- removed the possibility to examine the remains through the wall in Al-Akia;
- removed double reward notification when reporting to Dellar after completing the Bandit Camp;
- added a name to nameless IG patroling the Barracks in Teron;
- changed "quintus" name to "Quintus" in Teron;
- added putting on previously acquired Centurion Helmet in Teron palace infiltration TA;
- changed the notification about "two" ingots of sky metal to "ten" when searching for the debris in Maadoran well;
- fixed Spanish PlayGUI_600 codepage to UTF-8;
- removed "F and R for panning camera" hint;
- added "R for reloading crossbow" hint;
- changed the "iron" attribute (1) of some NPCs' leather armors (Leather, Reinforced Leather and Phrygian), bows and crossbows to "bronze" (0), restoring their damage (protection) range to nominal;
- removed the "color" attribute of some NPCs' metal armors and helmets, 'cause they shouldn't have it;
- changed "red" cloaks color attribute of some IG NPCs to "IG";
- changed "green" cloaks color attribute of some MG NPCs to "MG";
- changed "purple" cloaks color attribute of some HA NPCs to "aurelian";
- changed "yellow" cloaks color attribute of some HD NPCs to "daratan";
- changed some NPCs' shields color attribute according to their factions;
- changed "IG" color attribute of Harran's Pass blacksmith's and quartermaster's tunics to "red" so that they become visible;
- changed the IG1 recruits' cloaks and armors to the Raider ones;
- differed the appearance of HC NPCs at the Breach fight;
- added a few Throwing skills levels to NPCs who have some throwing weapons;
- fixed numerious NPCs' skills and equipment inconsistencies;
- added 5 SP for visiting Aemolas Village and Caer-Tor 1st time;
- added 1 SP for poisoning the Saross prospector;
- added 1 SP for lockpicking, sneaking, stealing and traps setting/disarming where it should be (excluding looped dialogues);
- removed 1 SP reward for failing to disarm the trap in Belios' house;
- fixed the rewards in Teron Palace infiltartion;
- fixed Explosion Expert in TG2;
- fixed numerious typos here and there.
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,7451.msg151989.html#msg151989

And it's not the latest version, but the one which is officially integrated in AoD

edit for the sake of clarity:
Not exactly a mod, but rather some huge hotfix named "Bugs Fix 1.6.0.0105" (v.33) is already included in the official May 2018 update (build 1.6.0.119).
 
Last edited:

Drowed

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You spend money to get a developer's creative vision, not that of someone else.

I spend money to get a good game. The reason you spend yours is your problem.

By the way, this:
Elhoim (developer) mai 6 16:43
It was just the bugfix pack, which we checked and merged to the base game. No game changing mods were included.

Are you really butthurt abouts this? I mean, really?
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
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it's not really the question wether you (or anyone really, including the devs) thinks it doesn't unbalance their game. You spend money to get a developer's creative vision, not that of someone else.
Fixing things we missed isn't giving the player someone else's creative vision or "idea of how the game should work". Sunfire did a very thorough job fixing issues that most people missed and thus never reported. We had 3 choices:

1. do nothing; since most people didn't complain about these issues they don't exist
2. pretend we fixed them and say nothing about Sunfire's role, thus claiming the credit
3. integrate Sunfire's work so that everyone could benefit from it because we believe he did a great job and agree with his fixes.

Would you really prefer option 1 or 2?

uuuuhhhh

4. http://www.irontowerstudio.com/
We don't have time for this now. We fixed everything that was reported but we never had time to go through the files with a fine comb, which is what Sunfire did, God bless him. So again, either we claim his work as our own, do nothing, or integrate his work.

or, alternatively, him uploading his mod on ModDB. You know, like everyone else does with their fixpacks.
His mod was freely available to all. He's never asked us to do anything with it.

He didn't change the item stats, skill bonuses or formulae, didn't add new items, or dialogues, NPCs, or quest solutions. He didn't change the game in any way but fixed a lot of minor issues, so I really don't understand what the problem is.
 
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Sacred82

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Just to make sure people know what we're talkng about, here are the feats of Sunfire's hotfix in question:

emphasis added.

a quick look here http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,7451.0.html reveals a lot more stuff changed by the Sunfire mod.

And it's not the latest version, but the one which is officially integrated in AoD

'officially' integrated?

from the Steam update:

The changelog is too long to include here

what you posted is hardly too long for a common update post on Steam. It would be considered a considerable update maybe, but certainly not too extensive to list all the changes. And why, if they relied so much on that guy's work/ agree with his changes, would they pick and choose just a fraction of them?
 

Vault Dweller

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Just to make sure people know what we're talkng about, here are the feats of Sunfire's hotfix in question:

emphasis added.

a quick look here http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,7451.0.html reveals a lot more stuff changed by the Sunfire mod.
He has several mods, not one. We integrated the 'bugfix' mod not the community mod, which does take some liberties with the game.

what you posted is hardly too long for a common update post on Steam. It would be considered a considerable update maybe...
From my experience, nobody considers a list of minor bug fixes a considerable update as that's not what 95% of players are looking forward to.

And why, if they relied so much on that guy's work/ agree with his changes, would they pick and choose just a fraction of them?
Because there is a difference between a bugfix pack and extra content pack?
 
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Sacred82

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what you posted is hardly too long for a common update post on Steam. It would be considered a considerable update maybe...
From my experience, nobody considers a list of minor bug fixes a considerable update as that's not what 95% of players are looking forward to

Not that this has any bearing on anything, but IME, with a changelog like that, you'd get 2/3 ratio of posts saying 'thank you!!!!' and 1 saying 'when are you finally going to fix issue X reeeeeeeeeee'

And why, if they relied so much on that guy's work/ agree with his changes, would they pick and choose just a fraction of them?
Because there is a difference between a bugfix pack and extra content pack?

is there even a 'bugfix mod' by that guy that is not the 'Community Mod'? Link please, because Google says there's no such thing. The changes AbounI listed are scattered across your forum, which would make it seem like you picked and chose.
 
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Grab the Codex by the pussy
Player suggests dozens of quality of life improvements, bug fixes and correction of typos. The developer accepts these suggestions and implement them in the game. Awesome.

Player makes dozens of quality of life improvements, bug fixes and correction of typos. The developer accepts these modifications and implement them in the game. End of the world. I want a refund.

You are just jealous that Vince thanked another player in the update. All these fixes have been posted on ITS forums multiple times before. They do not change Vince's core design or anything. Stop crying.
 
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Sacred82

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Player suggests dozens of quality of life improvements, bug fixes and correction of typos. The developer accepts these suggestions and implement them in the game. Awesome.

Player makes dozens of quality of life improvements, bug fixes and correction of typos. The developer accepts these modifications and implement them in the game. End of the world. I want a refund

bullshit, there's no difference between a developer simply accepting all the subjective changes a user suggests and accepting files that user has already compiled. Same shit, except with even less work involved on the devs' side in the latter case.

So this guy comes up with all kinds of changes for quest rewards, and the devs go 'hell yeah, that's EXACTLY what we would have done! Wait, why didn't we actually do it that way?'

:hero:


You are just jealous that Vince thanked another player in the update. All these fixes have been posted on ITS forums multiple times before. They do not change Vince's core design or anything. Stop crying.

idk what your major malfunction is, maybe you should stop crying about people being jealous without any context whatsoever. Are you suffering from a lack of appreciation in your life? Tell us how you really feel.

The whole thing is highly unusual, and unpleasant to boot. If what you've got on your plate smells strongly fishy, that may already be a reason to complain. But if you didn't even order fish, you better start asking some questions.
 

Big Wrangle

Guest
So this guy comes up with all kinds of changes for quest rewards, and the devs go 'hell yeah, that's EXACTLY what we would have done! Wait, why didn't we actually do it that way?'

Vault Dweller said:
He followed the established rules and added nothing that shouldn't have been there in the first place. We wouldn't have included his changes if we didn't agree with them 100%

[Perception:100]
 

Sacibengala

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I can't understand what is the problem with the said update. I'm trying to see if something is wrong but I just can't, at all.
 

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