Incline Amazing cultivation simulator

[Perkel]

It is miracle that they even were able to mash so many fucking things in just one game as their first game. My mind was blown when i stared at world map and i understood that this is not just rim world rip off but legit game with unique content not just random crap shooter calculator.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Oh yeah, for sure. The game itself is an absolute marvel. Really nothing like it out there, made extra amazing by it being the studio's first project. Something only the concentrated passion of everyone involved could achieve. Passion to create, not to make a buck. Glad it paid off for them in the end though.

 

[Sarathiour]

Pretty close fight, spellcasting was probably not the best idea here, especially given I've fucked up the early focus and only got one part despite the spread. Will probably make another attempt tomorrow.

 

[Perkel]

interview/devlog about ACS2.



rough summary
- while ACS1 was simulation game 80% with roleplaying 20%, ACS2 will be roleplaying game 50% with simulation 50%.
- they are targeting artstyle to be like in ACS2 trailer
- only 3 people made ACS1 (which is fucking crazy ffs)
- they first figured out all the systems and then made game about it (another huge thing)
- since release of ACS1 they hired more people which is why they target more
- they realize it is not easy task to create ACS2 in a way they said they will
- they are currently trying to solve issue of combat as it is very hard problem to solve in this kind of systems
- pretty big part of their dev will be/is on special effects (not just general graphics) due to above
- character creation overhaul and disciples overhaul. They want each disciple to feel unique and be precious.
- seems like they are actively working on this for a while
- from their words, the world of ACS2 will be essentially the islands from ending of ACS2 trailer. Players will be hopping from one island to next questing etc.
- like previously communicated it will be much more roleplaying game.
- they are using Houdini (pretty advanced tool for creation in 3D with proc gen used by top tier AAA studios rn)
- they plan to revise faithbased and body cultivation in ACS2 to be not disjointed as in ACS1 (read better)
- they finished mostly sect building part, they work on cultivation, alchemy, artifact crafting etc.

 

[Joggerino]

That was a boring video to watch so thanks for the summary.
I don't mind the greater RPG focus as long as sect building remains a big part of the game.

 

[Perkel]

That was a boring video to watch so thanks for the summary.
I don't mind the greater RPG focus as long as sect building remains a big part of the game.

I am more concerned about 3D than this. With their current game you can see it has seed of something great and frankly it fits sooo well sect building aspect. If you take away rpg focus and leave just sect building alone it would be imho much worse game.

--------------

Lately i spent another 30h into it and I have to say that probably this is the closest game to perfect there is. I just can't find any fault.

 

[Joggerino]

Maybe the storyline that has time gated events that you're not told about. It really is a spreadsheet game in terms of gameplay information you need to know. We were lucky the Chinese players already grinded that out by the time they released the translated version.

 

[Perkel]

Maybe the storyline that has time gated events that you're not told about. It really is a spreadsheet game in terms of gameplay information you need to know. We were lucky the Chinese players already grinded that out by the time they released the translated version.

Oh right the talk system. You are right this is definitely worst part of game.

But that's just drop in sea of great design.

There are just so many system that tie with eachother perfectly and mash so well it is unreal. At some point it really starts to look like half of your game is emergent in good way.

Good example of this is whole Qi mechanic. Max Qi is super important to everything to the point it effectively decides limit of character and this one stat has so much layers that is hard to fathom how to design it well and yet they did.

You have main stats CON/PER/INT that decide its base value, then you have background which gives it mallus/bonus to level which in turn gets multiplied by those base stats, then you have laws themselves that can give direct boost, then you have inner calduron which is decided by POTential stat which is limit to long term growth, then you have medicine that can modify it permanently, then you have artifacts that can have their own Qi with its own stats that work as Qibank in combat and few other things like diseases etc.

And then you realize that Qi alone outside of defense does nothing so you need other stats.

So even character creation is uber fun as you roll different chars trying to do different goals and even then it is not straight path toward victory as many factors other than roll determine character future.

They build so many great system that just pile on each other and cross reference that it is insane to even thing about such design in first place.

Yet someone when you break initial amateur barier is such a rich game to play compared to something like RimWorld or even DF.

 

[Perkel]

Another great thing about that complexity is how simple thing as basebuilding changes to reflect that.

In something like rimworld/DF you only follow efficiency or if you like artistry. If you try both then usually ends up in mess you need to micromanage or spend 100s of hours on one playtrough to get it right.

ACS literally forces you to do both at the same time. Feng Shui mechanic forces you to watch for elements and how buildings are places on other hand your own inners decides whole other sphere of design.

Boring temperature management becomes art in this game literally when you have to prepare rooms for cultivation for both buildings and characters.

Simple weather stuff which in other game wouldn't have much impact here it has.

Systems pile on each other in wonderful ways.

 

[Joggerino]

The talk system kinda sucks but I meant more that you are pushed into playing while having 3 guides open, maybe even more. But maybe this is what makes the game great as well, the complexity and depth.

 

[Perkel]

The talk system kinda sucks but I meant more that you are pushed into playing while having 3 guides open, maybe even more. But maybe this is what makes the game great as well, the complexity and depth.

I think playing with any guide doesn't make any sense in any game. Guides just take away reason to play game in first place. Usually it is the exploration of game, its word, its system is what brings joy to me. Guide should be at the end of someone ability to comprehend game as a way to progress futher and you won't play game otherwise with beating that problem.

"Losing is fun" from DF is imho correct way to deal with this game and other games like this one.
You learn something each time you start a new or lose.

I for one didn't know jack shit about feng shui when i started to play game and for few good runs that didn't improve. But game gives you a tool to play with it. The calendar thingy. Once you have that you can per square see effect of your design on feng shui.

 

[Perkel]

Been playing it again lately. Nearly 70 hours in fact. Trying out immortal mode. Damn it, this game is easily one of the most systemic games out there and yet it manages to produce enough content for meaning to exist for what you do.

 

[Joggerino]

My regret is I never got powerful enough to invade other sects and only managed to defeat the first boss (the dragon). Gotta replay I guess.

 

[Perkel]

My regret is I never got powerful enough to invade other sects and only managed to defeat the first boss (the dragon). Gotta replay I guess.

I have constant reroll problem. Far worse than Baldur's Gate 2 one... The worst is that after nearly 150 hours I still find completely new things that change how I approach to the game. Just recently got around info about how maturity of plants work and whole World Qi shenanigans and Qi Voids.. I mean what the fuck.

 

[Joggerino]

Wait, "World Qi", "Qi Voids"???

 

[Sarathiour]

Honestly, I consider the extensive qiburst/fountain manipulation akin to cheating. It's nice that people know it works and that you are allowed to do that if you want to do some absurd flex later on, but having the equivalent of lategame array with just spirit feel too cheap and autistic to me, and it's not like you need those shit to have fun with character and base building.

Also, most of the info is unfortunately on discord. Last case of retardation I ran upon was some guys complaining about some of the tribulation +option (which I fully get, some seems fun, other difficult, but a few of them sound about as appealing as swallowing a cactus whole. Triple amount of whithdrawn people ? Merchant only buying one type of item ? Holy shit ). Except the guys still wanted to play in trib IX ( which means all the option checked), so his solution was modding out the optional option he checked earlier.

 

[Perkel]

Honestly, I consider the extensive qiburst/fountain manipulation akin to cheating.

I am not talking about that.

Wait, "World Qi", "Qi Voids"???

WorldQi.
When you start new game game map has few spiritual veins that are invisible to user from which Qi spreads out. As game progresses the amount of Qi generated increases. Ground tiles just like anything else has a Qi that builds up over time and some mechanics deplete that Qi in ground much like fertilization can be depleted with constant farming. The closer you are to spiritual vein the faster Qi builds up in ground. Other part is that this WorldQi is what causes "Qi absortion" materials to work. They don't generate their own Qi they channel it from WorldQi. So the closer you are to vein the better it works.

Qi Void.
It is when you completely deplete Qi in one area by having too much qi absorption by something. The area gets "disconnected" from worldQi. The Qi absorption usually behaves like a sink so if tile near it has low Qi then Qi from other tiles will flow to it faster. But with something that has huge Qi absorption this can drain Qi so fast that it can't pull anymore World Qi from other titles quickly enough. Which is why then you have to build so called "bridges".

Those two things are essential for spiritual trees as they can quickly gobble up worldQi around them without management and stop growing. Spritual trees are on themselves topic that goes deep as hell....

 

[jungl]

Started playing this day or 2 ago. I do not see the appeal. The base building is basic you are done with it fast. Talk system makes oblivion speech mini game look genius. The main thing the game is about "cultivation" is arguably the most boring watching you generic dudes mediate to get inspiration and other numbers go up why should I be invested and care about this dull process? Then there is the story but what is the point when the sandbox gameplay is shallow. Do people read a book or watch a movie and let the game run in the background? Amazing AFK simulator.

 

[Perkel]

Started playing this day or 2 ago. I do not see the appeal. The base building is basic you are done with it fast. Talk system makes oblivion speech mini game look genius. The main thing the game is about "cultivation" is arguably the most boring watching your dude mediate to get inspiration or whatever. Then there is the story but what is the point when the sandbox gameplay is shallow. Do people read a book or watch a movie and let the game run in the background? Amazing AFK simulator.

Did you get at least to Golden Core ?

Game is very easy to start but is treacherous in giving you false sense of security and knowledge. Sooner or later you quickly learn that you know nothing and once you start to realize systems behind why you are behind then you "get" game and realize that the "easy" is just a mirage build on ignorance.

It's hard to even talk about stuff without spoiling. Imho the best part of game is actually exploration of it and failing.

 

[Sarathiour]

I am not talking about that.

I mean, it's sort of linked, qiburst is especially tied to the knowledge of the behavior of World. Anyway, you're absolutely right, and I even a noob can realize this by itself. I sure was puzzled at first when looking around for a good breakthrough spot realizing that some area outside were completely outclassing my shitty three spritiwood array.

 

[Lhynn]

The base building is basic you are done with it fast.

 

[Abu Antar]

The base building is basic you are done with it fast.

 

[jungl]

Finding the rare mats you need so ur dude can masturbate properly in his room sure takes a long time but 90% of it you done with in 20 in game days.

 

[Lhynn]

Finding the rare mats you need so ur dude can masturbate properly in his room sure takes a long time but 90% of it you done with in 20 in game days.

Its not materials, not just that, its furniture, direction rooms face, overall structure, element of the materials, soil you built it on, etc.

You will not find a game in which there are more factors to what makes a good base than this one. In fact a properly built base according to the way of heaven is practically an art.

 

[Raghar]

Why is this in JRPG. It's a sect building builder, and kinda strategy game.