Dungeon Rats (the prison crawler) is now officially announced

[Cazzeris]

http://steamcommunity.com/games/aod/announcements/detail/975416562635551870

(I've put some additional info regarding AoD's last update under the spoiler tag)

Spoiler

While we didn’t post any announcements since March, we’ve been updating the game on a monthly basis (fixes, improvements, balance, tutorial, etc), so we continue supporting the game and paying attention to your feedback.

The final content update will be released in December (most likely). Think of it as a free DLC to thank you for your support and encouragement. It will extend the endgame and introduce a new ending (among other things).

Note for Radeon users: a couple of months ago we updated the engine to the latest version which didn’t go well with Radeon drivers, which caused slowdowns and forced some players to lower Lighting to be able to play the game. We contacted AMD , they managed to reproduce the problem and fix it, so if you have a Radeon card, make sure that you have the latest drivers (Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.9.1)

In other news, we’d like to introduce our new RPG that’s entering the final stages of development.

* * *

Dungeon Rats, named after the 7th Heavy Armored Division of the Imperial Guards, is a turn-based, party-based dungeon crawler set in the same world as Age of Decadence. This is an RPG focused almost exclusively on squad level tactical combat for players who enjoy turn-based games in general, and AoD's combat systems in particular. If fighting your way out of a prison mine - and frequently dying in the attempt - is your idea of a good time, you've come to the right place.

Starting out as a new prisoner at the bottom of the gangs-ruled prison hierarchy, and of the prison itself, you must fight to survive and develop your combat skills, acquiring better weapons and equipment as you go. Recruit allies to your struggle or carry on as a lone wolf, and kill anyone foolish enough to stand in your way.

Notable changes from The Age of Decadence:

• Party-based - the most frequently requested feature
  
• Flanking and other strategic bonuses. Positioning matters a lot.
  
• Manual placement of your characters before a fight
  
• Charisma determines the number and quality of your party members
  
• Skill points are split between the party members: more people means fewer skills points per person and slower level ups.
  
• 10 possible companions, not all of them human (maximum party size is 4).
  
• New weapons, armor, and creatures
  
• 3 difficulty levels: Nice Guy, Tough Bastard, Murderous Psychopath

Some screenshots (work in progress):

Looks pretty atmospheric!

EDIT: This has now its own subforum in the official forums, and in its first thread, Vince just said that a new update to the site will probably be up today tomorrow.

 

[Irenaeus]

Awesome!!

 

[Darth Roxor]

dungeon rats vs afrika korps

 

[Vault Dweller]

Added two more screens (CHA and PER checks; all stats will be checked in interaction with people and environment).

 

[Jaedar]

Multiple difficulty levels concern me. Part of why AoD is so good is that it is so tightly made and balanced.

What do difficulties do? More/less enemies? Please don't say hp bloat/damage buff etc...

 

[Markman]

Where is Infinitron with the news post?

 

[Vault Dweller]

AoD is also non-linear with many optional quests and fights. Some fights were designed to be beaten only by 10% of the players, so it's easy to tell someone who's struggling to skip the fight and do something else. We can't do it in a combat game, hence the difficulty levels. The only thing they affect is the enemies' THC, which makes a hell of a difference. I'm playing on Hard now and it IS fucking hard. You have to use tactics if you want to survive. Simnply ganging up on one enemy at a time will get you killed fast. I lost 3 party members in the my last playthrough even before I made it to the second level.

 

[Elhoim]

Multiple difficulty levels concern me. Part of why AoD is so good is that it is so tightly made and balanced.

What do difficulties do? More/less enemies? Please don't say hp bloat/damage buff etc...

The "Hard" difficulty is the default AoD balance, with all the love and care we gave AoD. Core rules, no fake modifiers to make it harder. The two other difficulty levels reduce enemy THC by 15% and 30%, making them easier for our less skilled patrons.

 

[Jaedar]

Multiple difficulty levels concern me. Part of why AoD is so good is that it is so tightly made and balanced.

What do difficulties do? More/less enemies? Please don't say hp bloat/damage buff etc...

The "Hard" difficulty is the default AoD balance, with all the love and care we gave AoD. Core rules, no fake modifiers to make it harder. The two other difficulty levels reduce enemy THC by 15% and 30%, making them easier for our less skilled patrons.

I see. So it's basically, scrublord, beginner, normal ? Or to put it in relation to AoD: merchant, fighter, hybrid.

AoD is also non-linear with many optional quests and fights. Some fights were designed to be beaten only by 10% of the players, so it's easy to tell someone who's struggling to skip the fight and do something else. We can't do it in a combat game, hence the difficulty levels. The only thing they affect is the enemies' THC, which makes a hell of a difference. I'm playing on Hard now and it IS fucking hard. You have to use tactics if you want to survive. Simnply ganging up on one enemy at a time will get you killed fast. I lost 3 party members in the my last playthrough even before I made it to the second level.

That's neat. However as I've beaten AoD multiple times it would be very dishonorabru to play anything else than the fair difficulty.

 

[aweigh]

this looks great!

how many items do you guys think will be in the final game?

are you guys aiming for quicker combat resolution? (such as an option to turn off combat animations)

 

[Elhoim]

this looks great!

how many items do you guys think will be in the final game?

are you guys aiming for quicker combat resolution? (such as an option to turn off combat animations)

There are about 20 new items compared to AoD between armors, weapons and misc items. Combat animation goes up to 4X, and it's a separate slider from non-combat gameplay.

 

[Goral]

Codex Dungeon rats review confirmed. Don Peste

Anyway, add iron man achievement, although I'm pretty sure only Eyestabber and 2 or 3 more people will beat it (if what you say is true and it's that difficult on hard), at least in the first few weeks. Also, I assume that grinding won't be possible? Because otherwise having a huge party would be a huge advantage. And could you tell more about "manual placement of your characters"?

 

[Wayward Son]

Can't wait. Good job Vince and Elhoim this is most likely a . This looks good.

 

[AbounI]

Can't waiit to fight rats this time :D

And for the most hardcore agents, can't you add another difficulty level: harder than hard?
Will we meet some fighters from the Madoraan Arena, you know the "murderous psychopath" needed"?

 

[Vault Dweller]

No grinding, of course.

Manual placement - we don't have the final interface for it yet, so it looks a bit rough, which is why we didn't show it. Note that the main interface isn't final either. Basically when combat starts, you have a 6x6 area a square away from your enemies (so you can't play your character right next to the enemy or surround one), you can place your characters anyway you want within that area, then start the combat stage.

Items - we have about 20.

^ you can fashion yourself from a scorpion's claw

Hardcore than hard? Trust me, it's pretty hard, I'd say harder than AoD. I'm fighting the first gang leader and his buddies (5 guys against my 3 guys) and I died 8 times in a row, never making it past the second turn. I have 8 points in Axes and Dodge, for the record. They just obliterate me with extreme prejudice.

 

[Infinitron]

Where is Infinitron with the news post?

At the gym faggit

 

[Goral]

Manual placement - we don't have the final interface for it yet, so it looks a bit rough, which is why we didn't show it. Note that the main interface isn't final either. Basically when combat starts, you have a 6x6 area a square away from your enemies (so you can't play your character right next to the enemy or surround one), you can place your characters anyway you want within that area, then start the combat stage.

So like in King's Bounty then (although the option of manual placing was available only after levelling up and you could swap your army in the first two lines). Will AI also have this advantage?

And I assume that there will be no women in this game? I wonder if that will deter the weaker sex from buying the game. One thing that was odd to me in AoD was that a woman could be as powerful warrior as a man. Good to know no such SJW garbage will be in Dungeon Rats .

 

[t]

Where is Infinitron with the news post?

At the gym faggit

Always the same lame excuse. Can't you newspost from the phone between the sets?

 

[AbounI]

from this

to that:

you start at the bottom of the mine so you won't have access to 'top talent' right away:

"All three men have seen better days. They look old but you have a feeling that one ages fast in this hellhole.

The man on the right is armed with a crude crossbow. He tries to look tough but you doubt that he’s ever been in a real fight before. At best he used his “crossbow” to keep the critters away.

The man on the left is holding a sword with practiced ease – a former mercenary or even a legionary, if you’re lucky. A coughing fit breaks the spell, specks of blood flying everywhere as he coughs harder.

The last man has the look of a farmer – strong as an ox and big enough to plow a field all by himself. He’s holding a wooden spear as it were a staff. Hopefully he can hit something with it."

I suspect this is the screen from how the game will start, though the left guy isn't wearing a sword but an axe, but still the guy wearing a cloak in front of them could be the PC. The lone man with a shield could be a guard, the 1st victim in the Dungeon Rats. Am I right?

 

[Vault Dweller]

That's the second camp (first camp on level 2), after you take it from its owners and loot their bodies.

 

[duanth123]

Dungeon Rats

Seriously?

 

[AbounI]

Dungeon Rats

Seriously?

Maybe it's not a total coincidence for the choice of the name

 

[Goral]

Got some inside information from a reliable source: this is the prison where all the people who were fucked over by Miltiades end up.They are forced into labour at an underground mine. With meager wages each day, they have to work for decades to pay off debts that Miltiades incurred.

 

[Infinitron]

Dungeon Rats official website: http://irontowerstudio.com/dungeon-rats-news

 

[Infinitron]

Vault Dweller "Buy Dungeon Rats" doesn't actually work yet, right?