Age of Decadence interview at RPGDot

[Brother None]

RPGDot has done an interview with Iron Tower Studios over their post-apocalyptic cRPG project, and it sounds pretty great:<blockquote>RPGDot: Can you give us a summary of Age of Decadence and the gameplay it will offer? What are your high-level design goals?

Iron Tower: From our brand-new website:

"The Age of Decadence is an isometric, turn-based, single-player 3D role-playing game set in a low magic, post-apocalyptic fantasy world, inspired by the fall of the Roman Empire. The game features a detailed skill-based character system, non-linear gameplay, multiple skill-based ways to handle quests, choices & consequences, and extensive dialogue trees."

The gameplay & my "high-level design goals" revolve around making very different, logically fitting choices and seeing very different, logical consequences. Action - Reaction. There are seven factions with different agendas, operations, allies & enemies. It's impossible to do something that won't affect a lot of people.

Each quest has 3-6 different ways of solving it. That should encourage players to approach quests more carefully, consider pros & cons of different choices available to them, and pick what fits your character the most.</blockquote>Link: interview at RPGDot
Link: Iron Tower website

 

[The Vault Dweller]

I dont believe it.

No really...

Except for the 3-D graphics I would expect everyone to look at the "turn-based" and such as "old" and ignore it. Hopefully they can get in good enough with the niche that still respects such things (like us) and it'll sell.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller

 

[SuAside]

sounds all good & promising, too bad it looks like crap. i hope they clean up the mess a bit.

 

[Briosafreak]

This one is all about gameplay not shiny graphics SuAside

 

[SuAside]

o rly? you don't say!

...

i think the fact that i still play FO1/2, arcanum, GC1, CS (lol) and so on kinda means i'm not much of a graphics junky.

i've never cared much for SHINY TM, but that doesnt mean you can pass off a game looking like some amateur mod without any graphic talent.

the ui layout aint bad, it's just fugly. some polishing could do wonders. same goes with the 3d graphics. as said, they look like an amateur mod at best, using some cheapass prebuild gamecreator program.

i dont wish to hurt anyones feelings, but this game probably deserves better, dont you think?

 

[Sander]

No, SuAside, the graphics in this case are purely abotu functionality. And as such, they do a decent job. Games like Neverwinter Nights often had much, much worse UIs anyway.

This is a really promising game, I've been following it a bit over the past months and it should be quite interesting.

 

[VDweller]

...but that doesnt mean you can pass off a game looking like some amateur mod without any graphic talent.

I completely agree. If people can't make great looking games, why are they making games in the first place?! These people should learn from Bethesda - now that's a company that knows how to make great games.

 

[Sander]

Hey, VDweller. Looks like you took out the clues in the dialogue ([barter] and such), which is good.

Do you have any clue as to the release date?

 

[VDweller]

Hey, VDweller. Looks like you took out the clues in the dialogue ([barter] and such), which is good.

Actually, I didn't.
link 1
link 2
link 3
If I have time, I'll add an option to turn [] tags off.

Do you have any clue as to the release date?

Probably this fall, if everything goes well.

Btw, thanks for the interest, guys.

 

[Egis]

If it turns out even half as good as described then its a game worth looking foward to.

 

[SuAside]

No, SuAside, the graphics in this case are purely abotu functionality. And as such, they do a decent job. Games like Neverwinter Nights often had much, much worse UIs anyway.

as i said, ui is fine, it's just fugly... some new art could work wonders.

This is a really promising game, I've been following it a bit over the past months and it should be quite interesting.

i really dont doubt it is. it sure caught my interest

...but that doesnt mean you can pass off a game looking like some amateur mod without any graphic talent.

I completely agree. If people can't make great looking games, why are they making games in the first place?! These people should learn from Bethesda - now that's a company that knows how to make great games.

well sorry if i hurt your feelings bud, but with an interesting project like thisone, cant you get better graphic talent? (or more if you got an overworked poor graphics team)

really, it doesnt have to be SHINY The Empty Scrolls: Oblivious - style, but you gotta admit it could use some polishing? the characters, the grid, the scenery & so on?

you also might wanna turn up the filters a bit if you're taking screenshots to post on the websites. some FSAA & such can work wonders.

i call it as i see it: this project could clearly benefit from better graphics... i find it funny how you guys react as if nicer graphics would harm the gameplay & screw up the genuine intend to make a great RPG.

what else do you want me to comment on? from the info we have the setting seems alright, from the site we see a lot of promises, we cant say anything about the gameplay, as we havent played it yet. what we do see plenty of, is the graphics.

 

[Sorrow]

Looks very promising.
And it looks like it will run on my computer .

 

[VDweller]

well sorry if i hurt your feelings bud, but with an interesting project like thisone

You didn't, your reaction is amusing though.

... cant you get better graphic talent?

I got pretty good artists, the engine leaves much to be desired though.

Anyway, have you seen the models (characters, towns, buildings, etc)? Have you seen the animations? Here is one:
http://media.putfile.com/sword_2h_area_top

Some models:
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/images/11.jpg
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/images/15.jpg
Check the forums for more stuff, if you care.

really, it doesnt have to be SHINY The Empty Scrolls: Oblivious - style, but you gotta admit it could use some polishing? the characters, the grid, the scenery & so on?

I'm perfectly aware that this game won't win any graphics award, but I don't think it looks that horrible.

what else do you want me to comment on? from the info we have the setting seems alright, from the site we see a lot of promises, we cant say anything about the gameplay, as we havent played it yet. what we do see plenty of, is the graphics.

People see what they want to see. Y'know, the eye of the beholder and all that crap.

 

[SuAside]

You didn't, your reaction is amusing though.

well, i dont know from where it comes, but i believe the graphics to be subpar for this gaming era. i'm not in the gaming industry, but i am in the middle of software dev and other informatics crap. just doesnt seem right to me, with the current possibilities to let a game with so much potential loose potential fans simply because it looks unpolished or 'passé'.

i myself will play it either way when it comes out i suppose, but atm you're only aiming for a small niche of hardcore players. with some polishing you can get out of that niche, open up the target audience a bit & lure in some other players as well. i'm not suggesting any shiny oblivious crap or flashy jap attentionwhore stuff.

in truth, i usually dont comment on mods & smaller projects much, but this looked like it has a lot of potential, but also room for improvement. do with it as you wish, just trying to give an honnest opinion.

 

[VDweller]

well, i dont know from where it comes, but i believe the graphics to be subpar for this gaming era.

That goes without saying, especially considering that graphics is the only thing that this gaming era cares about.

...with the current possibilities to let a game with so much potential loose potential fans simply because it looks unpolished or 'passé'.

I remember all the complaints about the dated look and resolution when Diablo 2 was released. Not that I'm comparing AoD to D2 in any way, of course. That didn't stop it from becoming a bestseller, did it?

Anyway, it's not that I don't want to make it a better looking game, but great graphics don't grow on trees, and I see no reason to spend an extra year on particle effectz (Feargus' reference)

...do with it as you wish, just trying to give an honnest opinion.

Fair enough.

 

[Brother None]

NMA is the last place I would've expected someone to go "omfg the graphics aren't shiny enough"

There may be hope for BethSoft yet.

 

[SuAside]

I remember all the complaints about the dated look and resolution when Diablo 2 was released. Not that I'm comparing AoD to D2 in any way, of course. That didn't stop it from becoming a bestseller, did it?

i'd like to point out you're not Blizzard & that D2 has better graphics than your game

D2 sold for wholely different reasons than your game will.

Anyway, it's not that I don't want to make it a better looking game, but great graphics don't grow on trees, and I see no reason to spend an extra year on particle effectz (Feargus' reference)

sadly true, but if i were a graphic dev i'd be iching to contribute to a project like yours. surely some help can be found in the bowles of ze intarnet.

NMA is the last place I would've expected someone to go "omfg the graphics aren't shiny enough"
There may be hope for BethSoft yet.

*sigh*

not even worth a reply...

 

[Sander]

i'd like to point out you're not Blizzard & that D2 has better graphics than your game

D2 sold for wholely different reasons than your game will.

Not really. No one is going to buy this game for the graphcis, no matter how much they're going to improve over the next couple of months. This is a game which revolves around the gameplay, which is exactly why I'll buy it when it comes out (if It's not going to require a creditcard or paypal to buy) and which is exactly the reason why anyone is going to buy it.
This is a game for the hardcore RPG crowd, a crowd famous for its not caring for fancy graphics, and hence why the graphics won't really matter.
Graphics are all about atmosphere anyway, so as long as he can grasp the correct atmosphere this will look good enough.

sadly true, but if i were a graphic dev i'd be iching to contribute to a project like yours. surely some help can be found in the bowles of ze intarnet.

More graphics code will require more extensive testing, and a lot of it as well. This will really cost a lot of development time, and for a game that doesn't focus on graphics in any way, that's pretty much a waste of time.

 

[SpeaK]

Anyway, it's not that I don't want to make it a better looking game, but great graphics don't grow on trees, and I see no reason to spend an extra year on particle effectz (Feargus' reference)

What thing about just polishing the GUI a bit requires you to spend a year on particle effects? I think you're overreacting to SuAsides suggestions. No one said you gotta completely redo the graphics, because your game can't be good with the current ones. It's just that polishing the GUI even just a bit could do wonders to the enjoyability of the game. I for one would like this game to be enjoyable for my eyes, even though I certainly enjoy even games like NetHack and ADOM.

Polishing the GUI could do wonders to the first opinion people get when just looking at the screenshots. I don't think "OMG LOL NAB GAMES ARE MUCH MORE THAN JUST GOOD GRAPHIX" is really justified here against this simple suggestion.

Anyways, the project sounds interesting.

 

[VDweller]

i'd like to point out you're not Blizzard & that D2 has better graphics than your game

Did you miss "Not that I'm comparing AoD to D2 in any way, of course"? It was an analogy. A game with strong mechanics and subpar graphics was released and did very well.

D2 sold for wholely different reasons than your game will.

Same reason (mechanics), different markets.

No one is going to buy this game for the graphcis, no matter how much they're going to improve over the next couple of months.

Exactly.