Game News Shovelware Alert: Realms of Arkania HD Remake released in unplayable state

[thesheeep]

I seriously hope they had pressure from a publisher. Because otherwise, that would mean they did this knowingly which... I mean... nobody can be THAT evil, right?
RIGHT?!

 

[evdk]

They also promise daily patches for the next month, which makes no sense for a cash grab in the traditional sense of the word.

To be perfectly honest "daily patches" make no sense period, because that means that the released product was in such dire state it would need at least a month work of updates to make it playable. Jesus wept.

 

[Stabwound]

I asked the dev on the official forums why he released the game in this state. No response yet.

The only explanation is that the publisher demanded a deadline, or they are just idiots. This is the greatest fuckup launch in the history of games, and that includes Sim City.

 

[Bobbles]

They also promise daily patches for the next month, which makes no sense for a cash grab in the traditional sense of the word.

To be perfectly honest "daily patches" make no sense period, because that means that the released product was in such dire state it would need at least a month work of updates to make it playable. Jesus wept.

Apparently this is par for the course in the browser game scene. That was the lead dev's argument anyway. I'm inclined to believe it, since they openly admitted to having zero experience with programming for Windows.

 

[Severian Silk]

I was looking forward to this too.

The devs will probably abandon the game before many bugs get fixed.

 

[evdk]

They also promise daily patches for the next month, which makes no sense for a cash grab in the traditional sense of the word.

To be perfectly honest "daily patches" make no sense period, because that means that the released product was in such dire state it would need at least a month work of updates to make it playable. Jesus wept.

Apparently this is par for the course in the browser game scene. That was the lead dev's argument anyway. I'm inclined to believe it, since they openly admitted to having zero experience with programming for Windows.

So are cash shops. Will you buying supplies in RoA with your daddy's credit card? I mean there's not having experience with a platform and then there is this. Daggerfall needed less patching.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Worse NPC than M&MIX, wow zow. Game stink like M&MIX.
So that's where Gothic3 devs throw G3 development refuses. With the power of publisher radiation and heft eye RoA HD become real.

4 DSA games? Really? At least one decent?

 

[Bobbles]

Apparently this is par for the course in the browser game scene. That was the lead dev's argument anyway. I'm inclined to believe it, since they openly admitted to having zero experience with programming for Windows.

So are cash shops. Will you buying supplies in RoA with your daddy's credit card? I mean there's not having experience with a platform and then there is this. Daggerfall needed less patching.

I posted this before, but they've already hinted at offering extra, all-new content for real life money down the line.

4 DSA games? Really? At least one decent?

I have high hopes for Daedalic's adventure game (sequel to Chains of Satinav) AND for their tactical strategy game set in the far south (which is traditionally dominated by slavery, drugs, jungles, demons, fall-of-rome style decadence and a death cult).

All previous DSA games have kinda undersold the strengths of the setting by exclusively taking place in the northern third of the main continent.

 

[circ]

Is this that german game that got a bunch of german press sometime last year? Or was that something new in the Dark eye uni?

There are currently four German DSA games in development: Blackguards, Memoria, Realms of Arkania 1, and Demonicon. All are slated for a 2013 release.

I guess it was this one then. Don't remember the interview mentioning a remake though. Some bald hyperactive developer kept talking up the game and some german woman was doing the interview. They showed off hex combat, but none of the shots here seem familiar.

 

[Bobbles]

Sounds like Blackguards. Daedalic generally gets better PR than any other German developer (plus the guys behind RoA HD aren't actually German).

 

[evdk]

Sounds like Blackguards. Daedalic generally gets better PR than any other German developer (plus the guys behind RoA HD aren't actually German).

Blackguards with its static towns didn't look so hot either. Chains of Satinav 2 though...

 

[m_s0]

Thankfully it's just a remake and from the look of things the original is superior in every way so no harm done, but I do feel a bit sorry for the devs since remakes of old, semi-obscure mid-90s German crpgs don't exactly scream 'cash-grab'. I wonder what went wrong.

 

[Turjan]

I went to the official forums http://forum.nordlandtrilogie.de/in...75&s=ce9ae8e05c26af97d0d92a27b6f695b9331c1396 and thought it was funny that the chief devs forum title is "CHEF DEV." Yes he is the lead developer and also cooks breakfast for the crew, maybe that's why theres so many bugs because he is too busy cooking!

It's much less funny if you consider that "Chef" is just the correct German translation.

But yes, this looked promising. Very disappointing outcome. And as severe as the bugs are, there's little hope this will get fixed.

 

[Infinitron]

http://forum.nordlandtrilogie.de/in...51&s=176e2ba92a4729bb31a099834b920ab597a9a55c

We had an extensive Beta and thought that most of the Problems were ironed out. Most "terrible Bugs that make the game unplayable" are actually not that hard to fix, but can be very annoying and make the game seem "literally unplayable". Just give us a little time, we are working day and night to get the game into a really satisfying state for you and us both (which currently isn't the case, definitely). And I'm just certain that you will find this game really is not only far from alpha, but a real gem and fun and immersive to play.

Why do you lie?

 

[Excidium]

Keeping the european dev tradition alive

 

[Baron Dupek]

Releasing games in beta state is open secret. Just some dev gropus don't have strong fanbase to denying true.

 

[Stabwound]

Yeah, but this isn't even beta. It's alpha. The laundry list of bugs the game has seriously makes it look like it needed about 6 month more in development time before release. Yeah, item descriptions of <item_sword#212> is pretty normal and good.

 

[Bobbles]

The official line by the community manager is that the retail version was late alpha and the release day patch brought it straight through beta into gold.

 

[Stabwound]

Well, the Steam version has all of these bugs including broken dialogue/text etc, so that is just a straight up lie unless the gold version is no better.

 

[Mary Sue Leigh]

Spells and combat seem not implemented properly yet
Also, enemies are labelled wit hthe wrong names (like I encountered skeletons and orks named Great Stag or Steppe Dog).

Sadly I don't see them fixing this horrible mess in any way, the challenge was too big for them. I had a good laugh at the horribly dilletante work they have done with this (lots of little things, like if your camp is ambushed, the enemy group appears around the campfire, your group being far off at the edge of screen as if you were assaulting them) and such.
It's not pretty - in fact the graphics remind me strongly of Might and Magic IX - and mechanically awkward. Even if compared to the old DOS version.

I'd say get the Realms of Arkania pack on GoG and play the original.

This is far from completion. It wouldn't even pass muster as "early access" or beta stage game. Oh well, I didn't expect much from my fellow germanz but this is a disgrace even by our crappy standards :D

 

[tindrli]

I'm so depressed. Came here on a whim while I wait for the game to install (bought it before it came out). Why was I so stupid to purchase this? I was happily enjoying Shadowrun Returns and thought, "yay, another tactical, turn-based RPG, and heck, I never did play the originals when they first came out! I'll have some faith and support this kind of game with a pre-purchase!"

Might as well cancel the install.

Contact Valve and ask for a refund. The game is in a bad enough state that there's a good chance they'll grant it.

I will do that. I think even if the bugs were fixed and the game were in English, it would still be an absolute shambling monstrosity. I guess it will be a fun trainwreck for people to review, though. (You know, those reviews that become must-reads just because the game is so horrendously, hilariously poorly put together.)

I fumbled through the title screens, managed to figure out which icon to click to leave the temple of the undecipherable name, saw a woman with no neck talking to a man who looked worse than a giant-sized, same-poly character from the first 3D Populous (PSOne-era), heard my walking steps echo loudly on the grass, watched the trees wiggle wildly as the frame-rate shuddered, and managed to quickly find the exit icon and uninstall.

It would have been so nice to play an actual, decent remake. I wouldn't care if the character graphics were bad if the rest worked... :/

Off to e-mail Valve.

can we see a screenshot ??

 

[Infinitron]

 

[tindrli]

god damn i think we have an absolute winner of all times

 

[Mary Sue Leigh]

Oh yeah and beware of combat. Often times my guys would kinda not-quite-finish their attack move and become unable to attack again or move or do anything else, even skipping the turn is then unavailable and you have to restart. The whole thing is mostly a guessing game anyway since there is never any indication if the attacker has hit, or how much damage they caused, and I did not find a way yet to make a spellcaster attack in a regular way since it brings up the spellbook when I click on an enemy - which is not very good when it's a dedicated healer mage or something. Specialised spellcasters are no longer available anyway, the character creation was skimmed down a lot. In contrast, auto-levelups are not an option anymore and it doesn't recommend suitable characters for tasks and skill checks by highlighting them as it used to in the old game.

I'm currently working on a way to start the game without crashing, I think you have to keep it in windowed and the quality on low, don't change to fullscreen until you have started and loaded your save.

 

[Bobbles]

Looks like the Mac version is way more old-school than what we got on PC. Strongly considering buying both versions.