Age of Decadence's Choices and Consequences

[DarkCorp]

So somebody tell me. It mentions the fall of the old empire and its supposed to be post apocalyptic. However, I didn't see any gun skills or technology related skills so it makes we wonder we talking like post apocalyptic wasteland like from the dark ages after the fall of rome or the one that more resembles the fallout/wasteland where technology has gone made huge leaps and bounds before the end came.

 

[bhlaab]

So somebody tell me. It mentions the fall of the old empire and its supposed to be post apocalyptic. However, I didn't see any gun skills or technology related skills so it makes we wonder we talking like post apocalyptic wasteland like from the dark ages after the fall of rome or the one that more resembles the fallout/wasteland where technology has gone made huge leaps and bounds before the end came.

It's post apocalytpic Rome

...ish

 

[Lexx]

It's the funny part that mostly everyone thinks by "post apocalyptic" about modern world has fallen.

 

[DarkCorp]

It's the funny part that mostly everyone thinks by "post apocalyptic" about modern world has fallen.

Agreed.

I think it stems from the fact that the more technology we discover/advance, the softer we get. No doubt the world post roman empire must have seemed bleak for a lot of survivng roman citizens. However, life had always been harsh so I think not as much was taken for granted as opposed to the world today with all of its conveniences. IMHO, I think an end to modern civilisation is much scarier and thats why most people always think of the idea that modern civilisation going to hell is scarier than something that happened in the past were people just kind of dealt with shit and moved on.

I remember a passage either in the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks or World War Z. Somewhere Max or one of his character states that a zombie invasion would not only have a less psychological impact on our ancient predecessors but that also people were simply much better conditioned to living a "spartan life".

In the end, regardless of the tech level of the world, a lot of significant events of the past would have been considered post apocalyptic.

 

[Serge 13]

hmmm....looks really sweet. But the problem with these independent games is that you can never be sure if they will be released or not. I mean look at afterfall, it looks great but only god knows when it will be released.

 

[aenemic]

I have a hard time imagening a post-apocalyptic world in the Roman Empire setting being interesting.

what makes a post-apocalyptic setting interesting like in Fallout, Waterworld or Mad Max is that there are scarce resources like ammo, fuel and medicine. these things don't even exist in a Roman Empire setting. hell, most npc's in the Fallout universe actually seem to live a better live that what I can imagine a lot of people did in the Roman Empire. so how much worse can it get?

ok, so the social structure has fallen into pieces... big deal, I'd hardly call that post-apocalyptic. so is it a natural disaster thing? ok, well... like I said, there's no such thing as medicine and technology for people to strive for to help them survive. survivors wouldn't last long enough to make anything interesting happen.

 

[Crni Vuk]

I have a hard time imagening a post-apocalyptic world in the Roman Empire setting being interesting.

One cant really describe the time after the roman empire as real post apocalypse anyway.

 

[DarkCorp]

One cant really describe the time after the roman empire as real post apocalypse anyway.

Well alot of post apoc themes were still present. Warlords, lack of a real unified nation, poverty, starvation, constant conflict, etc, etc. However, as I stated earlier I think it doesn't make such an impact because atleast in our minds, we figure it was a way of life back then. Now did people back then view the fall of a huge empire as a something inevitable or did it shake their very belief in a civilised world watching something so great begin fragmenting with barbarian hordes at every doorstep.

 

[Dionysus]

I have a hard time imagening a post-apocalyptic world in the Roman Empire setting being interesting.

what makes a post-apocalyptic setting interesting like in Fallout, Waterworld or Mad Max is that there are scarce resources like ammo, fuel and medicine. these things don't even exist in a Roman Empire setting. hell, most npc's in the Fallout universe actually seem to live a better live that what I can imagine a lot of people did in the Roman Empire. so how much worse can it get?

It's not actually the Roman Empire. It's fictional, and there's magic, which could take the role of technology in the way that you are thinking about it.

 

[VDweller]

...
b) the combat is hard and challenging, without cheap tricks like 500 HP enemies or insta-kill attacks. In fact, not many people will be able to beat the demo, so maybe, just maybe, you won't die of boredom. If you think that you'll simply click on enemies until they die, you are mistaken and won't get very far.

so combat will have more tactical choices then Fallout 1/2?

Fallout combat can hardly be called tactical. Jagged Alliance, on the other hand, is probably the pinnacle of TB tactics and depth. Anyway, AoD isn't as tactical as JA (can't even be compared to JA, in fact), but it's a lot more tactical than Fallout. In my humble opinion, of course. The demo should answer all your questions.

hmmm....looks really sweet. But the problem with these independent games is that you can never be sure if they will be released or not. I mean look at afterfall, it looks great but only god knows when it will be released.

Well, Afterfall developers talked the talk and even managed to outhype Pete Hines, but what have they really shown you? Nothing but some renders.

what makes a post-apocalyptic setting interesting like in Fallout, Waterworld or Mad Max is that there are scarce resources like ammo, fuel and medicine. these things don't even exist in a Roman Empire setting.

INT 3 PER 10?

ok, so the social structure has fallen into pieces... big deal, I'd hardly call that post-apocalyptic. so is it a natural disaster thing? ok, well... like I said, there's no such thing as medicine and technology for people to strive for to help them survive. survivors wouldn't last long enough to make anything interesting happen.

I bow to your powers of divination. Why visit the site and get some basic info when you can make idiotic assumptions?

 

[aenemic]

what makes a post-apocalyptic setting interesting like in Fallout, Waterworld or Mad Max is that there are scarce resources like ammo, fuel and medicine. these things don't even exist in a Roman Empire setting.

INT 3 PER 10?

ok, so the social structure has fallen into pieces... big deal, I'd hardly call that post-apocalyptic. so is it a natural disaster thing? ok, well... like I said, there's no such thing as medicine and technology for people to strive for to help them survive. survivors wouldn't last long enough to make anything interesting happen.

I bow to your powers of divination. Why visit the site and get some basic info when you can make idiotic assumptions?

hey now, I didn't mean any offence. and I'm not assuming anything. I have checked out your site and read about the game in the past and the setting didn't catch my interest much at that point either. the gameplay looks really nice though and I'm not saying I'm not gonna give the game a try when it's finished.

the setting just doesn't speak to me.

 

[Eyenixon]

The only way to fix it would be to add in party members, and that would take far too much effort on their part, so I really doubt anything is going to happen.

Not really. We do have the "party members" system (you'll be able to get some temporary allies every now and then, but you'd never control them directly), so theoretically, it won't take too much to add permanent party members, but it's not that kind of game.

I'll just rest easy that this is going to be another one of those games where I slowly die from various diseases connected to severe fits of boredom as I struggle through tedious combat while waiting for the next NPC to give me some bits of C&C dialog.

Well...

a) if you hate combat that much, you can play through the entire game without ever fighting anyone.

b) the combat is hard and challenging, without cheap tricks like 500 HP enemies or insta-kill attacks. In fact, not many people will be able to beat the demo, so maybe, just maybe, you won't die of boredom. If you think that you'll simply click on enemies until they die, you are mistaken and won't get very far.

Is the team planning on adding a lot of context sensitive abilities within the game? Stances and stuff like that which force you to react to situations within a battle dynamically? That could potentially make combat interesting, but I don't see how just making the combat tough will make it better.

 

[Crni Vuk]

One cant really describe the time after the roman empire as real post apocalypse anyway.

Well alot of post apoc themes were still present. Warlords, lack of a real unified nation, poverty, starvation, constant conflict, etc, etc. However, as I stated earlier I think it doesn't make such an impact because atleast in our minds, we figure it was a way of life back then. Now did people back then view the fall of a huge empire as a something inevitable or did it shake their very belief in a civilised world watching something so great begin fragmenting with barbarian hordes at every doorstep.

To really get started over it would let the topic explode, since you can open a whole own threat about the fall of the Roman Empire.

What I mean though is that it doesnt qualify as a "post-apoc" idea from a historical point cause the Empire did not colapsed from one day to another, which meant a slow change in the sociaty, economy and the nations around it over time. And the empire as whole did not stoped to exist, the west part of it colapsed in around the 500 a. Chr but the eastern part, known to most as the Byziantine Empire which has seen it self for a very long time as the "true" Roman Empire still existed till the late medieval time which got conquered and replaced by the Ottoman Empire at some point (and even their leader Suleyman wanted to draw near the "roman idea"). The great colapse that has thrown "Europe" in the dark age, well mainly affected the central part of Europe, Rome, Itally and what was around it (France, Spain or known as Gaul in that time). Africa, the midle east and mainly Aisa have been rather unffacted from it since Africa and the midle east already a long time for example managed to shake of the roman empire (see persian wars for example and empires that followed it). China for example was next to the Roman Empire one of the most advanced societies in economy, phylosopy and technology which almost completely unaffected from Rome moved forward in its own development (one could as well mention here the Sassanid Empire). It was just simply to far away. Thats why one can hardly speak about a "post" apocalyptic scene in conection with the Roman Empire. It was hardly anything that affected all of the world nor caused it a great cataclysm for everyone. Unlike for example a event comprable to a nuclear war that would (almost) touch the whole world and downsize anyting to a time described as the Stone Age. Definetly the fall of West-Rome was for the people "there" and the romans living in Germany/France/Spain and their allies a incredible bad evolution, but when it comes to the whole world it gets by many overrated. That would be like the fall of the Egypt or Greek empire for example which as well had great effects in the areas they touched but did not caused a complete cataclysm for everyone. The room was pretty fast filled by others.

I think the idea notheless for a game (as it seems to be Similar in Age of Decadence) can be very interesting since you have here a world with Magic as well and technology that is out of our world (or the usual mind to speak so) which has a much different effect on everything. A cataclysmic event that would let in a world with everyday use of magic for example let (almost) everyone forget about it or how it is used could be compared to a situation where suddenly all kind of electronic gagdgets in "our" world for example would simply stop to work or cause a situation where no one would know anymore how to use it. Imgaine that, not even a simple toster, TV or anything would work anymore or no one would simply know how to use it anymore. Anything around it would be seen as a miracle and at some point only as mystery (remeber how in Mad Max 3 the children have been fascinated by the most simple mechanical toy?)

 

[jfreund]

When I first heard about this game, I was finishing reading Jack Whyte's "Camulod Chronicles" - historical fiction based on the Arthur legend set largely in Britain at and after the fall of Rome. Definite post-apoc elements - not just the breakdown of "social order", but the abrupt disintegration of law, trade, and infrastructure coinciding with an influx of hostile, violent raiders.

I know AoD isn't based on a literal Rome, but I'm willing to give Iron Tower the benefit of the doubt in the post-apoc angle.

Want. This. Game.

 

[DarkCorp]

To really get started over it would let the topic explode, since you can open a whole own threat about the fall of the Roman Empire.

What I mean though is that it doesnt qualify as a "post-apoc" idea from a historical point cause the Empire did not colapsed from one day to another, which meant a slow change in the sociaty, economy and the nations around it over time. And the empire as whole did not stoped to exist, the west part of it colapsed in around the 500 a. Chr but the eastern part, known to most as the Byziantine Empire which has seen it self for a very long time as the "true" Roman Empire still existed till the late medieval time which got conquered and replaced by the Ottoman Empire at some point (and even their leader Suleyman wanted to draw near the "roman idea"). The great colapse that has thrown "Europe" in the dark age, well mainly affected the central part of Europe, Rome, Itally and what was around it (France, Spain or known as Gaul in that time). Africa, the midle east and mainly Aisa have been rather unffacted from it since Africa and the midle east already a long time for example managed to shake of the roman empire (see persian wars for example and empires that followed it). China for example was next to the Roman Empire one of the most advanced societies in economy, phylosopy and technology which almost completely unaffected from Rome moved forward in its own development (one could as well mention here the Sassanid Empire). It was just simply to far away. Thats why one can hardly speak about a "post" apocalyptic scene in conection with the Roman Empire. It was hardly anything that affected all of the world nor caused it a great cataclysm for everyone. Unlike for example a event comprable to a nuclear war that would (almost) touch the whole world and downsize anyting to a time described as the Stone Age. Definetly the fall of West-Rome was for the people "there" and the romans living in Germany/France/Spain and their allies a incredible bad evolution, but when it comes to the whole world it gets by many overrated. That would be like the fall of the Egypt or Greek empire for example which as well had great effects in the areas they touched but did not caused a complete cataclysm for everyone. The room was pretty fast filled by others.

I think the idea notheless for a game (as it seems to be Similar in Age of Decadence) can be very interesting since you have here a world with Magic as well and technology that is out of our world (or the usual mind to speak so) which has a much different effect on everything. A cataclysmic event that would let in a world with everyday use of magic for example let (almost) everyone forget about it or how it is used could be compared to a situation where suddenly all kind of electronic gagdgets in "our" world for example would simply stop to work or cause a situation where no one would know anymore how to use it. Imgaine that, not even a simple toster, TV or anything would work anymore or no one would simply know how to use it anymore. Anything around it would be seen as a miracle and at some point only as mystery (remeber how in Mad Max 3 the children have been fascinated by the most simple mechanical toy?)

So your saying in a way that the instantaneous destruction of a "globalised" world is the key to a post apocalytpic world?

Or the destruction of a way of life due to the instantaneous loss of common everyday tools we take for granted?

 

[pexxx]

Looks really good. But I have writen it for 100th time now. So I hope I will be able to finaly buy game this year.

 

[Crni Vuk]

...
So your saying in a way that the instantaneous destruction of a "globalised" world is the key to a post apocalytpic world?

Or the destruction of a way of life due to the instantaneous loss of common everyday tools we take for granted?

I guess from a realistic point of view, its not easy to simplify it. But I would assume somewhat that its never just one single factor. Could be a combination of many things like just the things you mentioned. I mean a society like the native inhabitants of the amazonas region definetly would not be very affected from a complete loos of electronical technology in any way I guess. But a whole nuclear war might even leave them not without harm.

Considering how many nations today are somewhat conected with the global economy and how many are just right around the courner to enter it I guess a colapse of it will not leave (almost) anyone intact. In any way the complete destruction of electronics would mean at one point as well a colapse of economy I guess if you just think about how strong the use of chips, computers and all kind of small electronic gadgets have grown in the last 30 years.

 

[Radwaster]

This looks really promising to me.

The collapse of the western Roman Empire was pretty fast and must have seemed apocalyptic to the romanised peoples that survived it. The Romans were forgotten quite rapidly by at least some of those who came after if Anglo Saxon poetry is any guide...

(The ruins of Bath)

Wondrously wrought and fair its wall of stone,
Shattered by Fate! The castles rent asunder,
The work of giants moldered away!
34 Its roofs are breaking and falling; its towers crumble
In ruin. Plundered those walls with grated doors —
Their mortar white with frost. Its battered ramparts
are shorn away and ruined, all undermined
By eating age. The mighty men that built it,
Departed hence, undone by death, are held
Fast in the earthâs embrace. Tight is the clutch
Of the grave, while overhead of living men
A hundred generations pass away.
The city
wall Long this red wall, now mossy gray, withstood,
While kingdom followed kingdom in the land,
Unshaken âneath the storms of heaven — yet now
Its towering gate hath fallen. . . .
Radiant the mead-halls in that city bright,
Yea, many were its baths. High rose its wealth
Of hornèd pinnacles, while loud within
Was heard the joyous revelry of men —
Till mighty Fate came with her sudden change!
Wide-wasting was the battle where they fell.
Plague-laden days upon the city came;
Death snatched away that mighty host of men. . . .
There in the olden time full many a thane,
Shining with gold, all gloriously adorned,
Haughty in heart, rejoiced when hot with wine;
Upon him gleamed his armor, and he gazed
On gold and silver and all precious gems;
On riches and on wealth and treasured jewels,
A radiant city in a kingdom wide.
The hot
baths There stood the courts of stone. Hot within,
The stream flowed with its mighty surge. The wall
Surrounded all with its bright bosom; there
The baths stood, hot within its heart. . . .

 

[Verd1234]

This game looks really awesome...

Actually, after looking at that site, I have to say that this is now my most anticipated RPG...even though this may not be released for a very long time...

I find it interesting that the indie RPG games seem to be so much more in-depth than the mainstream ones...

I have a feeling that this game and Afterfall will blow Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age Origins, and Alpha Protocol out of the water...