AoD November Update is out

[LibertyRansom]

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/in ... 311.0.html


Talks about progress and adding mini-quests so exploration of the cities are more fun.

 

[Excidium]

I want some some pretty pictures.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

It is actually funny that making everything interconnected just turns the whole town into one big branching quest ride.

Good solution though. I'd call those urban encounters.

A memorable one that livened things up was the guy in BG2 who would appear out of fucking nowhere, bellow some shit, throw a perfectly normal scimitar at you and then be aghast at your survival. Of course it would be shit if it was one of many similar encounters like it, but as a lone and rare event lasting all of 3 seconds it does what it's supposed to.

Debate as you must about the roleplaying or intellectual design value of random encounters, but they can add a lot to a gameworld.

 

[LibertyRansom]

Agreed.

I don't mind a well placed Fed-Ex quest so long as theres an interesting back-story, characters or encounter. Maybe even a few choices to boot, such as whether to deliver or to whom. I think it's important to involve characters who have nothing to do with the main quest and I'm glad to see it happening.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Sounds pretty sweet, looks like they're catching up, and for once I won't whine about the release date. My fear with AoD in the last months (years?) was exactly that it would feel like being a variable in a script. This game will work on the principle of "if > x then". From a design standpoint, the if > x then can be pretty exciting, but I wasn't sure how it would hold up in actual gameplay. If you think about it, VD puts a lot of efforts on the form of the quests, but it seems as if the content takes a backrow. It might sound fun to just travel along the branching questliunes, and it's hard not to like the idea of seeing all that C&C in action, but will we actually care about what's happening in front of us? In theory AoD sounds like a blast, it always had - but that's in theory. As a game design doc, it's fucking fantastic. But then what?

So just by following the game I knew this problem was going to come up. The game needs fluff, to be blunt. It needs something so that you don't feel like your character is just a bunch of stats, and that you're pitting your stats agaisnt other stats, which open up different scenarios which are about different stats which bring outcomes which change stats, etc. You get my point. This shit will not hold up as an excel sheet, it can't work as a purely tactical experience. It's a quest-based RPG. So you need good characters and a good setting and good player motivation - because that's what the quests are based on. And you can really doubt if VD approached this game with the writing in mind first and foremost. On one hand, maybe this is a good thing, because we won't get another shitty output for some bad writer, but with no creativity beyond what's injected in the quest design, it won't hold up either.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

^^^

I think what you're saying is there needs to be an organic unevenness of sorts to the design, variance of circumstances that breaks up the framework of what would be a smooth manufactured iRPG experience. Extra vignette pieces with variation in quest urgency, theme, magnitude, relation to gameworld events, etc. It would be absurd to think that everything and everyone in a town should link together in one big stunning explosion of c&c like they were all actors in a specific play. What's wrong with giving some little stories their own space here and there? Let them be welcome distractions in their own ways without the need to link them all together.

"Are you related to the thing everyone h-, oh of course you are. This is one big setpiece."

I think a good way to describe it would be a rather messy wizard's room compared to his student's which is perfectly tidy with everything in its proper place, where nothing is unusable or spent and everything is labelled. The latter is a lot more presentable and easier to work with and efficient but the former is a heck of a lot more interesting.

 

[Cassidy]

The more I read about it, the more I hope it gets released next year. The idea of organic side-quests that aren't straight off the usual mold, the concepts of actions having long-term consequences and requiring you to do several things in several places in parallel with the "main plot". It is really something worth paying for and waiting for. I hope Vince will deliver it as promised by these updates, even if it takes longer to get it to make up all these promises, because since 2000 Age of Decadence is the only game I am actually having strongly positive expectations about.

It is almost sad you can count on your fingers the amount of replies this thread had compared to a certain Michael Bay grade blockbuster crap that doesn't deserve the level of attention it is getting.

 

[Stinger]

Well that was a really interesting read.

I like that the quests have a lot more focus and they've axed the pointless fetch questing and stuff.

AoD sounds better with every update.

 

[7hm]

It is almost sad you can count on your fingers the amount of replies this thread had compared to a certain Michael Bay grade blockbuster crap that doesn't deserve the level of attention it is getting.

AOD will have a lot of posts once it gets released.

The problem is it's been dragging on for a very long time. The attitude now is "tell me when it's done".

 

[deuxhero]

The "not what you think" quest mean's it's not Human ala Fallout?

 

[Excidium]

It is almost sad you can count on your fingers the amount of replies this thread had compared to a certain Michael Bay grade blockbuster crap that doesn't deserve the level of attention it is getting.

AOD will have a lot of posts once it gets released.

The problem is it's been dragging on for a very long time. The attitude now is "tell me when it's done".

P. much.

Still waiting for the demo...

...and controllable party members.

 

[ironyuri]

Every AoD update I read just gives me more reason to be excited.

So far I'm hoping it will stimulate both my enjoyment of and critical approach to rpgs/gaming in general.

I really can't say much about it other than it seems to be a game designed specifically for the discerning rpg'er.

 

[torpid]

Sounds pretty sweet, looks like they're catching up, and for once I won't whine about the release date. My fear with AoD in the last months (years?) was exactly that it would feel like being a variable in a script. This game will work on the principle of "if > x then". From a design standpoint, the if > x then can be pretty exciting, but I wasn't sure how it would hold up in actual gameplay. If you think about it, VD puts a lot of efforts on the form of the quests, but it seems as if the content takes a backrow. It might sound fun to just travel along the branching questliunes, and it's hard not to like the idea of seeing all that C&C in action, but will we actually care about what's happening in front of us? In theory AoD sounds like a blast, it always had - but that's in theory. As a game design doc, it's fucking fantastic. But then what?

That was also my fear, so this added content is definitely a move in the right direction. I find that exploration is often forgotten or underrated as an important part of RPGs. And though walking from place A to place B isn't particularly interesting in itself, teleporting from quest location A and its dialogue choices to quest location B and a new set of dialogue choices -- which is what AoD does in many quests if I'm not mistaken -- does emphasize the design doc aspect. Not having played the game obviously I don't know how it'll turn out, but it could create the feeling that the game/designer is feeding you the quests -- "ok no time to waste you've gone through this series of skill checks let's take you to the next series of checks." Now those various skill checks are the meat of the gameplay, but when doing pure diplomat-type runthroughs of Fallout for example, skipping most of the combat and exploration and beelining from quest to quest, I realized that the enjoyment derived just from the skill checks is a bit too meta, at least for me. You're sort of admiring/enjoying the design rather than the game. The exploration, the combat, and sneaking/stealing all add value to the skill checks.

 

[Rivmusique]

And it feels good for a change to feel the chosen one bullshit to other people.

Man I want this game. The Tester quotes at the bottom are such fucking teasers.

Also,

“You have to pay a levy to enter, “ explains the guard patiently, looking at one of the women with interest.
“We don’t have any money, “ pleads one of the refugees. “Our village was attacked. The raiders took everything.”
“These are hard times, “ agrees the guard lazily, “but we aren’t running a charity here. If you want the protection of House Daratan, you have to pay. If you can’t pay…,” he looks at the woman again.
“Please, show mercy,” begs the man. “We have nowhere else to go.”

...

Tastefully done ra-

No no, mustn't get too excited...

 

[Noddy]

Agree with everyone else that sidequests are important, but nice to see ITS experimenting with ideas instead of just cloning the old crpg model, and even nicer to see them throwing out the ideas that don't work.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

The thought is there, but I've heard the "we removed all the usual retarded RPG quests" thing too often before. So pardon me if I hold back my raging 12" boner until Thursday.

 

[laclongquan]

No Christmas release then? Let me cry gently into my beer.

 

[MetalCraze]

Games that are being made for too long usually turn out to be shit.

Simply because they are not being made but "fuck I'm so tired of making this game, I hate it so much, but I need to finish it, here I will add some shit and do nothing else for a week".

AoD most likely won't be any different.

 

[CappenVarra]

"Brother," you interrupt him, smiling gently and putting a hand on his arm. "I can see you're still struggling with the demons of uncertainty. It is difficult, I know, even for a holy man such as yourself to put aside doubt. But you must trust that They have a plan. Thursday is coming!"

 

[Turjan]

I hope they will be done before Windows 8 comes out. I can only imagine the testing that would encompass.

 

[likaq]

"Brother," you interrupt him, smiling gently and putting a hand on his arm. "I can see you're still struggling with the demons of uncertainty. It is difficult, I know, even for a holy man such as yourself to put aside doubt. But you must trust that They have a plan. Thursday is coming!"

 

[Oriental European]

- mindless running across maps and locations. You know, the typical "fedex" quests or "now run all the way back and tell the questgiver that you finished the quest!" It adds nothing to gameplay and just wastes your time.

What, no, the coming back with successfully completed quest OR part of it is a big part of interaction with characters. Remember Bessie Toone's mine quests in Arcanum? FedEx quests, but such interesting characters, the family members. Besides, without returning to quest giver some quest are impossible to implement, i hope Iron Tower know what they are losing.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Fed ex quests in Fallout 2 were quite pleasant due to the immersive writing.

 

[Vault Dweller]

- mindless running across maps and locations. You know, the typical "fedex" quests or "now run all the way back and tell the questgiver that you finished the quest!" It adds nothing to gameplay and just wastes your time.

What, no, the coming back with successfully completed quest OR part of it is a big part of interaction with characters.

Of course. We cut the running back not the interaction. If you choose "return to X" dialogue option, you'll be instantly teleported to NPC X.

Games that are being made for too long usually turn out to be shit.

Simply because they are not being made but "fuck I'm so tired of making this game, I hate it so much, but I need to finish it, here I will add some shit and do nothing else for a week".

Yeah, I guess that was the gist of the update.

 

[Oriental European]

Oh. Well, not a bad idea.