Game News Dungeon Rats, Iron Tower Studio's Age of Decadence dungeon crawler, officially announced

[Drudkh]

My most anticipated crpg of 2016, can't wait

 

[Luka-boy]

Here's a very important question.

Will it have a release trailer made by felipepepe ?

 

[Goral]

From IT forums: http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,7253.msg146605.html#msg146605

With a party of 3-4 the early game is easier, but the SP spread gets bigger and bigger as the game goes on, so you have a party of so-so characters, vs a smaller group of much more developed ones. You can compensate it by having CHA 9 and 10 which yields a couple of very good characters, but your player character will be quite weaker in stats (which also makes you lose some exploration opportunities).

We've just finished implementing the solo mode. You get no companions at all, CHA is lowered to 2, but you get 2 extra stat points at character creation (and all the SP to yourself). Combat is quite brutal as positioning bonuses are much higher than AoD. Ironman, solo, murderous psicopath is the ultimate challenge for the game.

I'll try hard with companions first, then solo and lastly iron man (it will most likely take many replays, or I might fail miserably and give up, who knows). Not sure when I'll have the time to play this game though, November is not a good time for me.

Vault Dweller
Have you beaten the game yet?

 

[Junmarko]

Combat will be very hard, and it's set in a mine, so why not call it Mine Kampf?

Genius.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Why not just call it Second Chance and have done?

 

[Excidium II]

Why not just call it Second Chance and have done?

Because that sounds more like a visual novel than a dungeon crawler.

 

[duanth123]

Why not just call it Second Chance and have done?

Because that sounds more like a visual novel than a dungeon crawler.

Excidium, is there something you need to tell us?

 

[Mastermind]

Would be interested in VD's reasoning for the name. I don't like it and think it sounds bargain bin, but that's subjective; more interesting is that he's eschewed any direct brand connection with AOD.

Otherwise, we knew what was coming, and it sure looks good.

AOD fans are probably gonna buy it anyway and are informed about iron lore's affairs, they don't need the connection. People who hate AOD otoh (and there are probably quite a few) but might like a combat centric version are probably better persuaded not knowing about the connection (at least at first).

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

But will it have thingies and stuffies that Crooked Bee and Black Cat liked about dungeon crawlers?

 

[Jrpgfan]

Will buy, no questions asked, even though i'm probably the only one wishing it was party-less. The more time goes by, the less i can be asked managing multiple PCs for the job of one.

On the description it says you can go lone wolf route and you get the same number of skill points to split between your party regardless of the number of members, so I'm assuming playing it without a party is doable.


I can't wait. It's gonna be D1P for me.

 

[Darth Roxor]

My guess was it was trying to be a play on the Vietnam war Tunnel Rats.

No, it's actually a play on the Desert Rats, British 7th Armoured Division.

Dungeon Rats, named after the 7th Heavy Armored Division of the Imperial Guards

Can't wait to fight field consul Rommelius at the end.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Is this a dungeon crawler like AoD is a roguelike?

 

[Esquilax]

Also, the joke was already made on Page 2.

Didn't realize it up until now. Should have realized that folks would be quicker on the draw with that joke given the political leanings here.

Will there be prize women like in gothic?

Given that it's set in a prison, there will only be prize men. Anything else would be immersion-breaking.

 

[FUDU]

How about..

Escape from Decadence.
Escaping Decadence.

or


or


The Great Escape.

 

[Black Angel]

Zone Rats, yo.

 

[Elhoim]

On the description it says you can go lone wolf route and you get the same number of skill points to split between your party regardless of the number of members, so I'm assuming playing it without a party is doable.

In Solo mode you get no companions at all, CHA is lowered to 2, but you get 2 extra stat points at character creation (and all the SP to yourself). Combat is quite brutal as positioning bonuses are much higher than AoD. Ironman, solo, murderous psicopath is the ultimate challenge for the game.

 

[AbounI]

Does it mean the game will start by choosing a solo mode with a premade character (or at least no poosibility to select PC CHA) or a party based mode?What if some players want to solo the game with a better CHA score in order to bluff/convince potential ennemies like in the example given by Vince

Charisma is often checked in dialogues (enemies changing sides, getting better companions, convincing someone, etc)

Quick example: you and your new best friend go against 5 guys. It's a very tough fight. You can try to convince them that resistance is futile and you have a couple of point in Charisma, one guy will stand down, so now it's 2 against 4, much better odds. However, if your Charisma is actually good, that guy will switch sides and join you, so now it's 3 against 4, plus you get to keep the guy

That's not very clear for me, sorry.Can you explain more please Elhoim ?

 

[Lomer2]

Does it mean the game will start by choosing a solo mode with a premade character (or at least no poosibility to build our own CHA) or a party based mode?What if some players want to solo the game with a better CHA score in order to bluff/convince potential ennemies like in the exemple given by Vince

Charisma is often checked in dialogues (enemies changing sides, getting better companions, convincing someone, etc)

Quick example: you and your new best friend go against 5 guys. It's a very tough fight. You can try to convince them that resistance is futile and you have a couple of point in Charisma, one guy will stand down, so now it's 2 against 4, much better odds. However, if your Charisma is actually good, that guy will switch sides and join you, so now it's 3 against 4, plus you get to keep the guy

That's not very clear for me, sorry

And while we are on this subject, will the companions contribute to stat checks (e.g. Charisma, Perception)?

 

[Lurker King]

To be perfectly honest, while it makes perfect sense to require some skill to have followers; this seems weird in a game whose main attraction is the party system. This implies that that everyone will invest heavily on charisma to have a party. You could just as well assume that you can have X number of followers because they all want to leave the prison and use charisma for something else or scrapt it altogether.

 

[Lomer2]

To be perfectly honest, while it makes perfect sense to require some skill to have followers; this seems weird in a game whose main attraction is the party system. This implies that that everyone will invest heavily on charisma to have a party. You could just as well assume that you can have X number of followers because they all want to leave the prison and use charisma for something else or scrapt it altogether.

While I agree with you in principle, in this case this approach will increase the replay value of the game (one walkthrough with the best party (demon, construct) but with weak main character; one walkthough with competent main character and some weaklings; one solo walkthrough with the ultimate badass PC). Besides that, we all know that VD is designing the game primarily for his tastes and he prefers solo play (the party was a compromise due to popular demand):D.

 

[Lacrymas]

They have to trust you enough to want to escape the prison with you, so it makes sense. People are inclined to believe or trust good-looking/charming individuals, just look at the MO of many serial killers. Very few games make the effort to explain why the people who are following you are following you. Off the top of my head - Planescape Torment and KotOR2 (maybe MotB, but that's stretching it), that's it. It's very weird for people to throw themselves into potentially life-ending situations just because you are the PC.

 

[Lurker King]

I’m talking about gamey design decision to please the players. People will play this to kill creatures with a large party. They could just as well assume this as a design element to prevent frustration. Besides, I’m not sure this is so implausible. If you are in the depths of a mine prison and some hard men are inviting you to embark on their escape, I would say that most prisoners would gladly accept the invitation at the drop of a hat.

 

[Lomer2]

Besides, I’m not sure this is so implausible. If you are in the depths of a mine prison and some hard men are inviting you to embark on their escape, I would say that most prisoners would gladly accept the invitation at the drop of a hat.

Unless the supposed leader looks grossly incompetent. Even the most desperate escape attempt requires some hope.

 

[mindx2]

Can't wait as I love me some dungeon crawling!! Also love having a party to go adventuring dying with.

 

[Vault Dweller]

To be perfectly honest, while it makes perfect sense to require some skill to have followers; this seems weird in a game whose main attraction is the party system. This implies that that everyone will invest heavily on charisma to have a party. You could just as well assume that you can have X number of followers because they all want to leave the prison and use charisma for something else or scrapt it altogether.

You get 2 party members with CHA6, which isn't a huge investment.

Besides, I’m not sure this is so implausible. If you are in the depths of a mine prison and some hard men are inviting you to embark on their escape, I would say that most prisoners would gladly accept the invitation at the drop of a hat.

The prison has its own hierarchy, so it's not just the prisoners vs the guards but the weaker prisoners at the bottom of the mine against the local gangs and such.