Game News Age of Decadence September Update

[Crooked Bee]

Tags: Age of Decadence; Iron Tower Studios; Vault Dweller

VD has posted another of Age of Decadence monthly development updates. It looks like the expanded backer-only demo is on its way for the mid-October release (a new version of the public demo is also likely to be released soon):

- The testing goes well and so far we’re on schedule for the mid-October release [VD here means the new demo, not the full release; don't get your hopes up too much - CB]. Naturally, there’s still work to be done and issues to resolve, but all the major problems have been fixed. Still, we want to be sure, so if you want to lend to hand and test the upcoming release, please report to the nearest recruiting station.

- At the moment, we’re working on ‘Teron to Maadoran’ transition issues at the moment, fixing issues created by the switch to 1-10 system, and finishing up the pass and the tower.

- Oscar’s also tweaking the fight with the Ordu at the pass, adding various states and variables. Maybe you weakened the Ordu, maybe you just pissed them off and they came in great numbers, huffing and puffing. Maybe you managed to boost the defenses, skills, and equipment of the defenders. And finally, if you go for the Ordu’s leaders and manage to kill them first, their men will be demoralized and suffer combat penalties. Of course, fighting the leaders when they are surrounded by their men is a risky business – they pack quite a punch and are surrounded by their men. Shaping up like a fun fight.

- Nick's almost done with the system changes, Ivan's putting on finishing touches on the demon's animations, which underwent several rounds of revisions, Mazin continues making cool concepts and icons

- I added two gangs to the Slums, another character to the pass, "expanded" a couple of characters, wrote faction and personal endings, and now I'm working on death descriptions to commemorate your failures.​

Also new screenshots look pretty sweet (click images for higher res):

​

For even more screenshots and images, head to the original update thread.

 

[cherry blossom]

Sweet mother of blur! DoF in my oldschool RPG?

 

[DeepOcean]

So I can look to one of the thursdays of october in antecipation.

 

[Metro]

How are the Steam trading cards coming?

 

[Mantic]

At the end of the day, of all these "old-school" RPGs coming, AoD is the only one that will truly satisfy, because it has been designed uncompromisingly, and of course because of the beta demo. Vault Dweller is the only designer I really trust to make a hardcore cRPG because I don't recall I have ever read a single thing the man has written on game design or just an opinion, which I didn't wholeheartedly agree with. I mean, can you really trust Brian "iPhone" Fargo or Josh "I want to eliminate min/max'ing" Sawyer when they needed to beg for your money on Kickstarter, as opposed to someone who has been working for years on his grand design?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Thanks. I know that AoD isn't for everyone, but those who liked what we said/showed/done so far, won't be disappointed. This release (chapter?) is bigger and better than the first beta in practically every way.

 

[Infinitron]

Oh, good catch, Bee.

Vault Dweller If you'd like us to post your monthly updates more promptly, it would help if you cross-posted them to some sort of blog with an RSS feed.

 

[VioletShadow]

I'm truly excited about this game.

 

[Saduj]

I'm going to have to buy this when the new content comes out. Probably should have done it already considering the arena and Teron demos by themselves have provided enough entertainment to justify the purchase price......

My only concern would be that I'm "spoiling" the full game but really by the time it comes out in 2018, I won't remember much anyway.

 

[Junmarko]

You've really pushed that engine to it's limits, the textures and building architecture look amazing. Good job VD, can't wait to play it.

 

[Lorica]

Cool. I see that you guys also broke 900 pre-orders. I hope that feels great!

 

[J_C]

I mean, can you really trust Brian "iPhone" Fargo or Josh "I want to eliminate min/max'ing" Sawyer when they needed to beg for your money on Kickstarter, as opposed to someone who has been working for years on his grand design?

And this is the reason W2 and PE will be releaed, while AoD will be vaporware forever.

Just kidding. :D The update is great as always, and the game look promising. As always. But when will it come out goddammit? Demo at mid-October, cool. So what's the ETA? 2014 february?

 

[ghostdog]

So what's the ETA? 2014 february?

ETA hasn't changed for a long time. It's still Thursday.

 

[cherry blossom]

Surprised nobody else pointed to the depth of field blur. Vault Dweller?

 

[eric__s]

Just preordered. This is the first game I've ever preordered.

 

[cvv]

Tried some kind of demo about a year ago and absolutely loved the kindda Roman setting and the writing.

I remember an unusual feature though, you could "jump" between locations straight from the conversation screen or something like that. Is that still in there? 'Cause that was the only thing I was not really sure about in this game.

 

[groke]

FFS inXile shitting up our games with superfluous ugly depth of field in an iso-style rpg...

Oh wait.

 

[laclongquan]

Imma writing a scathing review of this game in Friday
...
..
.
if it's interesting.

 

[Volrath]

Can't wait to play this teleportation simulator!

Spoiler

 

[codexian reject]

You could use few more polys for the telescope ( in before tire models ), but overall these shots look great.

 

[Untermensch]

Surprised nobody else pointed to the depth of field blur. Vault Dweller?

No need to point out since it can be turned off.

 

[Mortmal]

Those screenshots are great,keep up the good work!

 

[IT came from the Glow]

Wait, you're trying to tell me that AoD will be really released in october 2013? Like in 2 weeks?

Just preordered. This is the first game I've ever preordered.

This.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Wait, you're trying to tell me that AoD will be really released in october 2013? Like in 2 weeks?

Did you even read the OP?

It looks like the expanded backer-only (?) demo is on its way for the mid-October release:

EDIT: Added a note to the text of VD's announcement for even more clarity.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Tried some kind of demo about a year ago and absolutely loved the kindda Roman setting and the writing.

I remember an unusual feature though, you could "jump" between locations straight from the conversation screen or something like that. Is that still in there? 'Cause that was the only thing I was not really sure about in this game.

We reduced it by 90% or so. It was done for convenience originally, but I do agree that it was jarring.

Wait, you're trying to tell me that AoD will be really released in october 2013? Like in 2 weeks?

No, the second release (let's call it the second 'chapter'). From an older post:

"There are three towns (in total) in the game. That's where all the scheming, plotting, and back-stabbing take place. So, from this point of view, each town is roughly 33% of all that goodness. There are 20+ locations in the game. The + stands for minor stops that we don't count as locations. The first demo had 3: Teron, the raiders' camp, and the mine.

The second demo has 7: Maadoran, the Abyss, the tomb, the mountain pass, the Ordu camp, the tower of Zamedi, and another raiders' camp. So, that's 10, which is 50%. If you like exploring old places that should have stayed buried (similar to the tower and the Abyss), the endgame is where it's at."

We didn't plan to release anything else after the first proper demo (i.e. not the combat one), but it took us longer than we thought and we want to give something to those who have pre-ordered the game, as a way to thank them for their support, since many people have asked for some kind of 'beta participation' or 'early access'.