Age of Decadence February/March update

[Goral]

http://steamcommunity.com/app/230070/announcements

Week 4 changelog:

• Added House Crassus questline
• Added the ruins of Al-Akia (first pass, will be developed further in the upcoming updates)
• Added two NPCs in Ganezzar (a guard and a local guide)
• Added descriptions in Lowtown
• Added several new Dodge animations
• Fixed Critical Strike's bleeding effect
• Minor interface improvements (new talk icon, fade on dialogue start, AoO/IA tooltips on tiles, etc)

Some notes:

1) The issue causing NPC who should be gone or dead to return should be fixed or seems to be fixed. For now it's fixed in the beta only, so if you're playing the beta and run into this problem again, please post detailed reproduction steps.

2) The fight involving Faelan (where he takes over some enemies and turn them into allies) is too easy at the moment. The difficulty will go up once we improve the combat AI (the next task for our programmer).

Plans for next week:

• "Maadoran is destroyed" / "House Aurelian is ruined" questlines
• Al-Akia exploration improvements
• Visual improvements
• More NPCs and text descriptions

That would complete the faction questlines and allow us to focus on Ganezzar's side quests and visuals.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 5 changelog:

• Added 'Maadoran is destroyed' scenario that comes with several Mind Shield checks
• Added two NPCs in Ganezzar (a nobleman and a MG clerk), presenting a slightly different reaction to the religious fanaticism
• Added filler NPCs in the upper districts
• Improved Al-Akia exploration (text, visual improvements, the Qantari quarter, etc)
• Improved the combat AI

We started working on the combat AI. Step 1 - more regular and power attacks (before the enemies switched to fast attacks too eagerly, so now they will hit less often as their THC will go down but it would hurt more). Step 2 - aimed attacks, already working on our end, will be added in the next update. Step 3 - special attacks and alchemy.

Also, we're working on an exciting (well, I'm excited!) armor change. If all goes well (i.e. we test it and it would actually work well and not just on paper), you would be able to damage enemy's armor DR and since we're all about equal opportunities, the enemies would be able to damage your armor.

Anyway, for next week we're planning to add an option to break the siege using the ship, so get your saves ready. You'll need the jellyfish artefact (it's a must) and either the mantra from Antidas' treasure room or high lore.

'til next week!

The improvements are impressive and it's about time we would get out of the January thread. The things you can do in Age of Decadence are way more entertaining than in any other game. Slaying a dragon got boring long time ago, here you can break a siege with a Laputa castle.

 

[Agesilaus]

It just gets better and better

Gonna play it a bit today, see what all these new ganezzar characters are like. I do hope they add a power tube to Teron and a new quest or two in Maadoran, too.

Combat is already pretty good when it comes to the difficulty level, so I'm a little worried that changes might make it impossible. For normal fights, I imagine we'll still win regardless of what the AI does if we come prepared, but the really big fights might become too difficult.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

The incline... it is just too much, waiting for this game. Too much for me to handle.

 

[Agesilaus]

The new dodging animations look great, I'm a big fan. The new characters I found in Gannezar were well done, too; good job with the writing. I especially like the noble at the top of the stairs, although I don't think he's long for this world given the situation in Ganezzar.

The game definitely needs more SP, though. My sneak/steal/lockpick focused thief had no chance at all on the last mission in Maadoran; I need to have 4 in disguise or a high charisma and streetwise to get in the palace? that's the end of that, then. When I get to Ganezzar... I need 7 in lockpick or suddenly need to pump traps/have huge constitution and medikits? Again, that's the end of that. Betraying the Guild for Aurelius wasn't much better, because again you need disguise or streetwise to get past the fort (or be the god of war); I have 6 sneak, so perhaps you could give me an option to sneak past at night.

Throwing weapons have a bug; if you set it to an attack like "head shot", and then your turn in combat ends because the last attack exhausts your AP, on the next turn it will automatically display "fast attack". However, if you attack it will use whatever you had selected during your last turn (in this example, "head shot").

When you deliver the parcel to Nero in the slums and he gets blown up, his hoodlums accost you. The thief response has a typo, "On word to Levir..." should be "One word to Levir..."

Crafting is too fiddly for throwing weapons. You have to reselect the weapon type, material, and upgrades every single time you want to create one. It's not fun clicking all over the place to produce a pile of throwing knives, please make an option box for the amount. Also, poison doesn't work with throwing weapons, you lose the effect after one throw. It should be like bows, where the next 20 arrows have poison on them.

Please put some alchemy plants around Maadoran and Ganezzar. I like collecting them in Teron when my character has the right skill.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The new dodging animations look great, I'm a big fan. The new characters I found in Gannezar were well done, too; good job with the writing. I especially like the noble at the top of the stairs, although I don't think he's long for this world given the situation in Ganezzar.

Thanks.

The game definitely needs more SP, though.

Will be added (we didn't have a chance to look at it yet and rep/sp in Ganezzar are nothing but placeholders)

Throwing weapons have a bug; if you set it to an attack like "head shot", and then your turn in combat ends because the last attack exhausts your AP, on the next turn it will automatically display "fast attack". However, if you attack it will use whatever you had selected during your last turn (in this example, "head shot").

Will pass it in to the programmer, thanks.

Crafting is too fiddly for throwing weapons. You have to reselect the weapon type, material, and upgrades every single time you want to create one. It's not fun clicking all over the place to produce a pile of throwing knives, please make an option box for the amount. Also, poison doesn't work with throwing weapons, you lose the effect after one throw. It should be like bows, where the next 20 arrows have poison on them.

It's on the list.

Please put some alchemy plants around Maadoran and Ganezzar. I like collecting them in Teron when my character has the right skill.

Will do.

 

[Goral]

Another impressive update from Iron Tower: http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php/topic,6268.msg133797.html#msg133797

Updated.

This week's changelog:

• Added a House Daratan quest if Maadoran or House Aurelian is destroyed and if you rejected Lord Meru's offer.
• Added a conversation with Meru at the ruins of Al-Akia (when you enter the complex)
• Added 'plague' side quest
• Added an opportunity to blackmail one of the traders
• Added the first quest in a longer branching side quest chain and corresponding characters - find Elias in one of Lowtown's buidlings to get the ball rolling
• You can continue to Ganezzar from Maadoran's catacombs
• Reduced armor penalties for blockers (cut in half)
• STR is now the governing stat of Block (once again and in light of recent changes)
• CON provides a small defensive bonus; we're considering a larger bonus to reduce armor's penalties (which makes sense)

The next update will be released by the end of the month. It will include:

• visual improvements and art assets
• new side quests, probably 4-5, maybe more
• new characters to talk to (working on an annalist who can tell about House Crassus' origins as we speak)
• extended conversations with the faction leaders (personal stories and such)
• hopefully new portraits - Hector needs one
• possibly a couple of items requested by the community: a custom short spear and a sledgehammer
• journal entries

As always, we thank you for your support and patience.

I think I'm going to wait on version 1.0 from now on though. I don't have as much time as I would like and I intend to be surprised once the game is released. From what I've seen though Ganezzar is becoming my favourite location - so many awesome things to do. If someone wanted to become a demi-god he will get that chance here.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

They are adding in more actual content instead of just balancing and items. Really impressed.

 

[Vault Dweller]

From what I've seen though Ganezzar is becoming my favourite location - so many awesome things to do.

7 months of work.

Overall, Teron and Maadoran have 6 main endings (not counting guilds and people you run into). Ganezzar has 13 main endings.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

It's been interesting to watch this come together, but it's a constant reminder of why a lot of devs use just cosmetic C&C to avoid the old "making content people will miss" issue. It really brought it home to me when I read the update about the effort involved in preparing two different versions of Teron. And stuff like: "Added a House Daratan quest if Maadoran or House Aurelian is destroyed and if you rejected Lord Meru's offer".

It's what makes AoD such an interesting and replayable game but, when the average prospective buyer on Steam just asks questions like "how long will it take to finish" I can also see why it is quite unique in this respect.

 

[Lurker King]

And it is also a confirmation that you can only expect a full-fledged ambitious cRPG from an indie developer that don’t compromise his work worried about time. The reality of professional developers nowadays is jarring. The common expectation is that a studio will come out with good combat, writing and reactivity in two or three years. An expectation that is almost impossible to fulfil. How many modifications in the combat system and addition of new skill checks ITS made until now? How many bugs they smashed? Even a bigger team with more money and fans can’t have that crazy amount of polish and sophistication. The level in AoD is so high that that this will completely ruin my experience with older and new games.

 

[34scell]

What if they just released a game half as long and just expanded it out with DLC?

 

[Agesilaus]

What if they just released a game half as long and just expanded it out with DLC?

That's an idea, makes me think of paradox with games like CK2. On the other hand, that's somewhat similar to what is happening with AoD. You could go back a couple of years and take the combat release as a public demo, and Teron as the full product minus DLC. Then Maadoran got released and new features were point in, now Ganezzar is here, and soon the ending will be, too.

 

[Vault Dweller]

At some point (when we were wrapping up Teron) we considered doing chapters (spit the game into 3 chapters, 8 bucks each), but decided against it. While business-wise it makes sense (lower price point, start selling earlier - a released game, even in the chapter form, would always sell more than a bigger game still in development , etc), the game is meant to be played as a whole.

 

[Lurker King]

What if they just released a game half as long and just expanded it out with DLC?

If they had done that, players who have a pathological need to feel important would use this as an excuse to bitch that the base game is too short and that the DLCs take too long. Moreover, when you sell DLCs, you are just selling more content of the same gameplay, but ITS is in the constant process of polishing and revision of the basic systems. The fact is that is impossible to accomplish what they are trying to do if the process can be hindered by eager players. Also on this point about independence, when VD mentioned in an interview that he wouldn’t jump on the kickstarter bandwagon I thought he was making a mistake due to a control freak mentality. But in hindsight he couldn’t be more right.

 

[Lurker King]

At some point (when we were wrapping up Teron) we considered doing chapters (spit the game into 3 chapters, 8 bucks each), but decided against it. While business-wise it makes sense (lower price point, start selling earlier - a released game, even in the chapter form, would always sell more than a bigger game still in development , etc), the game is meant to be played as a whole.

This. It would be like trying to sell each chapter of a novel separately because the book will take too long to write.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Also on this point about independence, when VD mentioned in an interview that he wouldn’t jump on the kickstarter bandwagon I thought he was making a mistake due to a control freak mentality. But in hindsight he couldn’t be more right.

As I mentioned in Sui Generis thread - link - money isn't a magical answer to everything. Had I taken AoD to KS a few years ago and got 200k, for argument's sake, it would have changed nothing. I wouldn't go and hire more people because hiring, training, checking their work, redoing it, managing them (you pay someone, they have to deliver what they signed up for; they don't, you have to deal with it, being ready to fire a person who can't manage his time working remotely and start hiring, interviewing again) will take too much of my time.

This last in the game it's a huge hassle. You think you're putting together a team to speed things up, but you might be slowing yourself down.

 

[Lurker King]

Also on this point about independence, when VD mentioned in an interview that he wouldn’t jump on the kickstarter bandwagon I thought he was making a mistake due to a control freak mentality. But in hindsight he couldn’t be more right.

As I mentioned in Sui Generis thread - link - money isn't a magical answer to everything. Had I taken AoD to KS a few years ago and got 200k, for argument's sake, it would have changed nothing. I wouldn't go and hire more people because hiring, training, checking their work, redoing it, managing them (you pay someone, they have to deliver what they signed up for; they don't, you have to deal with it, being ready to fire a person who can't manage his time working remotely and start hiring, interviewing again) will take too much of my time.

This last in the game it's a huge hassle. You think you're putting together a team to speed things up, but you might be slowing yourself down.

But even if experienced developers have a lot of know-how that speeds up the process, they still have to create a solid combat system and good writing in a rush. They are like a director who have all the actors, but need to pick pieces of script from different writers while shooting the movie or as if they were sailors that must reconstruct their ship on the open sea. This will affect the quality of the game in the end. There is no way around this. Besides, with the money from the backers you also have their self-entitlement and bitching, which will also affect the quality of the game.

 

[34scell]

Well AoD is also Iron Tower's sole portfolio. I was thinking how a major dev could pull of something of comparable quality. Like a Telltale game that isn't shit.

 

[Lurker King]

Well AoD is also Iron Tower's sole portfolio. I was thinking how a major dev could pull of something of comparable quality. Like a Telltale game that isn't shit.

Exactly. Besides, if they decided to sell the game in chapters, someone could use this as an excuse to diminish the importance of their work saying things like “ITS have three small games. They are solid but they are very small”.

Changing the subject, VD, is there any chance that in ITS next game you would be willing to invest more in some of the beautiful things that everyone saw in POE? I’m talking about text-adventure illustrations, hand-crafted backgrounds, houses with interior design, etc.

 

[Goral]

I'm hoping they will go for Kickstarter sooner rather than later. With AoD in their portfolio even the biggest ignorants won't say that it's a scam.

 

[GlutenBurger]

At some point (when we were wrapping up Teron) we considered doing chapters (spit the game into 3 chapters, 8 bucks each), but decided against it. While business-wise it makes sense (lower price point, start selling earlier - a released game, even in the chapter form, would always sell more than a bigger game still in development , etc), the game is meant to be played as a whole.

This. It would be like trying to sell each chapter of a novel separately because the book will take too long to write.

Like Dickens and Dostoevsky did? Didn't hurt them.

But I do prefer to wait for a complete product.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Changing the subject, VD, is there any chance that in ITS next game you would be willing to invest more in some of the beautiful things that everyone saw in POE? I’m talking about text-adventure illustrations, hand-crafted backgrounds, houses with interior design, etc.

I'd love to, of course, but it's very expensive. Our artist is working part-time (he has a well-paid full-time job). As much as I'd love to hire him full time for 2 years, for example, I don't see the game making that kind of money. Obsidian has quite a few full-time artists whose pay is covered by multiple projects but for us it's a luxury for the foreseeable future.

The next game will have much better art direction (the spaceship setting would allow us to do more with less) but it won't look as good as PoE, that's for sure.

I'm hoping they will go for Kickstarter sooner rather than later. With AoD in their portfolio even the biggest ignorants won't say that it's a scam.

Not planned at the moment.

 

[hivemind]

So is a second game from ITS confirmed?
I mean, will you start working on something new regardless of how many more sales AoD makes once it's released?

 

[Lurker King]

At some point (when we were wrapping up Teron) we considered doing chapters (spit the game into 3 chapters, 8 bucks each), but decided against it. While business-wise it makes sense (lower price point, start selling earlier - a released game, even in the chapter form, would always sell more than a bigger game still in development , etc), the game is meant to be played as a whole.

This. It would be like trying to sell each chapter of a novel separately because the book will take too long to write.

Like Dickens and Dostoevsky did? Didn't hurt them.

But I do prefer to wait for a complete product.

One could argue that a mob of cRPG players will not have the same appreciation that Dickens and Dostoevsky readers had. Although, to be honest, the last Shadowrun DLC has been well received, and they seem to be simplistic and linear, to say the least. I think that they should release all “chapters” in one single game as a matter of principle and taste: the game will be better and much more appreciated this way. Of course, all this is easier said than done for players that had been waiting this game for ten years.

 

[Lurker King]

I'd love to, of course, but it's very expensive. Our artist is working part-time (he has a well-paid full-time job). As much as I'd love to hire him full time for 2 years, for example, I don't see the game making that kind of money. Obsidian has quite a few full-time artists whose pay is covered by multiple projects but for us it's a luxury for the foreseeable future.

The next game will have much better art direction (the spaceship setting would allow us to do more with less) but it won't look as good as PoE, that's for sure.

Oh, oh.

Its ok, we can't have it all. And by the way, is not as if AoD looked bad either.