Game News Age of Decadence May Update

[Infinitron]

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

The May update for Age of Decadence is out, once again a couple of weeks too late. This one's a lot about the city of Ganezzar, which is currently in production. It might not be what you expect:

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Notice the dock for the flying ships to the right. Speaking of flying ships, technically, what we have is not a flying ship but a flying fortress.

Schedule

So, we released 16 locations out of 22 so far. Our plan is to work on Ganezzar, Al-Akia, and the Hangar in June (visuals & writing) and July (scripting), start the beta test at the end of July, test for 4 weeks and release. It seems realistic. Testing Maadoran took 8 weeks, but we had 7 locations there and substantial system and combat changes.

The remaining 3 locations (aka the Endgame content) will be released at the end of September. At that point the content of the game will be done and all that will be left is to tweak and polish, which shouldn't take longer than a month. Either way by that time the game will be fully playable from start to finish and available to the Early Access crowd whose support has been invaluable.
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So, that means the new estimated release date for Age of Decadence is October. Check out the full update for more information about the evolution of the flying fortress concept, and for a dialog sample with Athanasius, one of Ganezzar's ambitious inhabitants.

 

[Excidium]

AoD release date estimates roflmao

I like the screenshots, p. good job there.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

AoD release date estimates roflmao

I like the screenshots, p. good job there.

I'm actually fine with the fluctuating dates since we at least get updates that show continual progress and increasing polish. Unlike other games with a long development timeline... <cough> ... Grimoire ... <cough>...

 

[Elhoim]

AoD release date estimates roflmao

I like the screenshots, p. good job there.

Thanks!

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Looks great! Remembering what the game used to look like and how much progress has been made (2009 and previous):

Spoiler

 

[t]

Oh shit, that last screenshot!

Anyway, keep up the good work, guys

 

[Ninjerk]

Ugh. Sounds like I'm going to have to buy this.

 

[DarKPenguiN]

...Shit. Looks good.

Will be watching this one.

 

[MicoSelva]

Potential release dates:
October 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th.

Which of these Thursdays will be graced to become The One Thursday? Time will tell.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Christmas!

 

[Jasede]

Better visuals were sorely needed, so good on you.

(In before someone starts a gameplay > graphics debate; fuck that guy.)

 

[Septaryeth]

Been keeping my hands off from early access, but it's so tempting after trying out the demo.

I thought the final beta test is going to take 3 months at least, and possibly 4 months due to the large number of paths and options?
So shouldn't that be somewhere November, and maybe December?

Well, as long as it's not 2015...

 

[Junmarko]

Haha awesome, had no idea AoD was going to include elements of sci-fi in the backdrop. Can't wait for this.

 

[WetWorks]

If Aod comes out before Grimoire, does it mean we can finally hammer in the last nail and bury the neanderthal and his supposed game? Isn't it time we gave those "gifts" back to to the earth from whence they came?

 

[inwoker]

So VD is actually working on his game. Not just arguing about politics in GD. )))

 

[Infinitron]

So VD is actually working on his game. Not just arguing about politics in GD. )))

Or maybe it's Elhoim who's working on the game.

 

[Balor]

I think this game should serve as an example of a planning fallacy.
But hey, I'm not in a hurry .

 

[Vault Dweller]

I thought the final beta test is going to take 3 months at least, and possibly 4 months due to the large number of paths and options?

Keep in mind that the first 16 locations have already been tested, which makes things much easier. Sure, we need to test Teron's different stages after you leave and come back, but that's a very minor thing.

Overall, the most time-consuming and hardest to script locations are the towns as that's where we have all the interwoven questlines, branches, options, multiple stages, reactions, etc. It's a pain to script, especially when you have an NPC like Gaelius who is involved in many different questlines and there are many different reasons for you to talk to him. When you have to script 3 different dialogues, it's one thing. When you have 8-11 variations, it's another.

So, Ganezzar is the last big challenge but so far we're on schedule and made good progress. I'd say it's half done at the moment.

'Lesser' locations like the Hangar or even Hellgate can be scripted with 95% accuracy and tested by the developers as there are no different guilds and a multitude of NPCs there. They are fairly focused and even if you have a good number of options there, it's still a breeze compared to the towns.

Thus, we're planning to take a month testing Ganezzar and a month testing the endgame (where it involves the towns).

So shouldn't that be somewhere November, and maybe December?

We're aiming for Nov. Ideally, we'll stick with the schedule and have everything ready by the end of September and then take a month to tweak and polish and add a few more NPCs here and there.

 

[mikaelis]

What is the status of possible physical-boxed editions? (sorry if it was asked before).

 

[Vault Dweller]

From another discussion:

"I'm not sure there is enough interest. We can probably sell 70-100 boxed copies, but the quality I want requires a run of at least a 1000. I don't see us selling that much."

 

[Zed]

how much cross-zone reactivity is there?
e.g. kill a dude in town A, be recognized as killer of that dude in town B.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Oh my god those screens. So awesome!

From another discussion:

"I'm not sure there is enough interest. We can probably sell 70-100 boxed copies, but the quality I want requires a run of at least a 1000. I don't see us selling that much."

So, how many copies sold in total at this point?

 

[Elhoim]

Oh my god those screens. So awesome!

From another discussion:

"I'm not sure there is enough interest. We can probably sell 70-100 boxed copies, but the quality I want requires a run of at least a 1000. I don't see us selling that much."

So, how many copies sold in total at this point?

 

[Vault Dweller]

how much cross-zone reactivity is there?
e.g. kill a dude in town A, be recognized as killer of that dude in town B.

Um, a lot? You can't have proper consequences/reactivity if it's all local. We have a lot of 'cross-zone' checks in the game.

Some examples: If you double-cross a loremaster in town A, he will flee and resurface in town C as a trusted adviser to a local lord, making your life there needlessly complicated. If you make a deal with a raiders' leader (instead of killing him), you can use his name to intimidate another gang of raiders in one location and it changes another location (if you kill the raider, you'll deal with the oracle and his followers, otherwise, the raiders will make their way there and enslave them - you can buy a few slaves from him though and sacrifice them). If you negotiate a peace between the Imperial Guards and a local lord in town A, you can use this alliance in town C as a quest solution, etc.

 

[AbounI]

From another discussion:

"I'm not sure there is enough interest. We can probably sell 70-100 boxed copies, but the quality I want requires a run of at least a 1000. I don't see us selling that much."

Does it mean you want it to include a vinyl OST?