Game News AoD demo released

[tarkin]

Finished downloading and am seeding like crazy over this torrent.

Aod demo on the piratebay

As for the combat i like it so far but only had time to beat the first 2 guys. Great feel and atmosphere. Good job.

I'm going for my Risen character as my first build, tough axe wielding mofo with a shield. Probably will get raped soon.

 

[deuxhero]

The text when you die in the lower left says you close your eyes forever, but the game over screen describes stuff from a first person perspective that would require sight.

Personally I have been using a "A graceful whirlwind of singing steel!" (Dagger, crit and dodge). Worked fairly well up to that guy with the enchanted sword (that I suspect is just upgraded), got to figure out how to beat him.

"To die with a sword" is pretty cool.

 

[The Vanished One]

Tried it ten minutes. A couple of notes:

-display:

Regardless of driver choice, I can't set 32 bit as color depth in the options menu. If I do, the setting is apparently not saved, because after clicking "apply", closing and then opening the options again the color depth is always set to "default".

When loading, on the loading bar I get these two messages:
"Not enough memory. Loading DOS into upper memory block."
"Super VGA driver detected. Setting colour depth from 8-bit to 16-bit"

This doesn't seem to cause problems, though I can't determine whether I'm actually running in 16 or 32 bit. My specs: Core2 Duo T9300, 4 GB ram, GF 8600M GT, Vista 32 bit.

-other:

Nice art/music. Graphics are good enough, too much bloom though. Combat looks satisfying.

The description of the arena master in the dialogue box doesn't match the better one in the UI log window, don't know if it's intentional or not.

I wish that clicking on characters/objects with the left mouse button would get your character near them, then activate them, instead of having to get near with the right button first, then activate with the left.

 

[deuxhero]

The loading messages are gags.

 

[Elwro]

:D

 

[Burning Bridges]

I did not find the key for the overview map

would it be possible to use a larger font for high resolutions? it's no fun reading miniscule text

there should be information when the mouse is moved over something, e.g. npcs/items should light up, something similar should happen when I move mouse over the ground, so I don't have to use try and error and click everything

I wish that clicking on characters/objects with the left mouse button would get your character near them, then activate them, instead of having to get near with the right button first, then activate with the left.

I noticed the same thing right away

 

[Monolith]

Unfortunately the game freezes when talking to the arenamaster. It worked right before the first fight. But when I go shopping before talking to him or after the first fight it simply freezes, the sound looping. Might have something to do with the inventory, dunno, because everytime it happened I modified it (buying stuff, looting). Changing shadows doesn't make a difference and turning off the sound doesn't even work (can't find an .odd file and the game crashes).

 

[Jora]

Unfortunately the game freezes when talking to the arenamaster.

That seems to be a very common issue.

 

[Fowyr]

Unfortunately the game freezes when talking to the arenamaster.

Every word is right. Fuck... I want play game.

 

[Turok]

Game crash on windows 7 64 bit (when i try to talk with a npc blocking the arena entrance).

 

[callehe]

The Arena master problem can be bypassed by standing 1 extra square from him when talking, try it out.

 

[fastpunk]

Some early impressions here:

The demo gives a rather basic (maybe too basic) idea of what the game will be like, it only shows off a few dialogues, a sample of the combat system, and a very general idea of the setting. Can't even get a proper feel of the ruleset, since the general skills are locked for the demo. I guess the Let's Play AoD threads on ITF will have to do for all the other aspects for now.

Right, moving on to the demo. The combat is decent, feels very Fallout-y. I played with an axe-centered build first and that was OK, but I had the most fun with a bow (though truth be told I only played the first two battles with a bow-wielding char). It's funny to pick an opponent apart from a distance. Hitting arms makes them drop their weapons, hitting legs slows them down etc. Got a critical hit to the head and the guy collapsed in a pool of blood. Nice stuff!

What would have been nice: some floating tool tips for buttons, it took me a bit to figure out which button ends the turn and where my HP and AP are. Also, at high-res, fonts are a bit too small.

Graphics and sound: the game looks better than in screenshots, definitely better than I expected. The sound effects are kind of muted for some reason. And the volume is turned all the way up, dunno if it's a bug or not. Still, the audiovisual presentation is surprisingly good overall.

Now for the really bad things: the camera sucks, plain and simple (seriously, the much scorned NWN2 camera is better). It just feels sluggish and I never feel like it's where I want it to be.

Also, I get poor performance. I'm currently playing Mirror's Edge at 1680x1050 with medium details and it runs flawlessly, yet your game chugs along at 20-25 fps on the same resolution. Not to mention that the framerate dramatically drops when entering a house (you know, when that hide roof effect occurs) and it persists for the entire time I stay in-house. Seems like the game needs further optimization.

In terms of bugs, crashes, graphics corruption etc. there's nothing to report. I had none of those issues, and the game even responds to alt-tabbing.

You guys have got an interesting game here, the demo swayed me towards purchasing it when it comes out. But it seems to me you've got plenty of optimization to do until that happens.

P.S.: The writing in the demo was very good. The death screen was actually intimidating. :D

 

[JarlFrank]

Downloaded the torrent and seeding now. Installing the game now and going to check it out a bit. Gonna post impressions later.
Can't wait till Thursday 2010.

EDIT:
Changed to window mode. Worked. Changed to highest possible resolution in windowed mode. Now I can't see the game window anymore. It just doesn't exist. It's there in the taskbar and I can hear the music but no window.
Reinstall seems to be the only option now since restart doesn't fix it either. Oh well. Gonna keep 1024x768 in windowed mode, then.

 

[MasPingon]

I had critical error of my OS while installing AoD demo. It took me 3 restarts to finally see my deskop. It has something to do with instalshield, I don't know wtf could that be. All I know is that I'm afraid to start installing it again. Any thougths VD?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Some early impressions here:

The demo gives a rather basic (maybe too basic) idea of what the game will be like, it only shows off a few dialogues, a sample of the combat system, and a very general idea of the setting. Can't even get a proper feel of the ruleset, since the general skills are locked for the demo. I guess the Let's Play AoD threads on ITF will have to do for all the other aspects for now.

It's a combat demo. It was meant to show nothing but the combat system.

P.S.: The writing in the demo was very good. The death screen was actually intimidating. :D

Thanks.

I had critical error of my OS while installing AoD demo. It took me 3 restarts to finally see my deskop. It has something to do with instalshield, I don't know wtf could that be. All I know is that I'm afraid to start installing it again. Any thougths VD?

We're using the Nullsoft installer. So, if the error mentions Installshield, then maybe the issue is with it reacting to Nullsoft. Can you post the error screens and your system/os?

 

[MasPingon]

I didin't take any screenshots, I must admit I freaked out. I'm working on Winxp profesional, service pack 2. Install shield just stopped working -> blue screen -> message about instalshield error after restart

 

[JarlFrank]

Vince, any tips on my windowed resolution issue?

Also getting the problem of not being able to scroll sometimes, but it works if I pan the camera. Controls are no problem, character creation was fun. Didn't have any problem with talking to the arena master, even after buying things from merchants and also after the first fight. Loading after death crashes the game, though. Combat is fun, reminds of Fallout quite a bit, but it would be quite more fun with controllable party members. I'm not complaining, though. It's fun and the graphics are good, too. No bugs yet except for the resolution one and the crash on reload.

EDIT:
Eh, the loading problem isn't connected with death at all, the game always crashes when I try loading that savegame. Savegame corruption I guess.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Downloading as I communicate this to you all. My Drakensang and Dragon Age review will most likely suffer because of this.

 

[Melcar]

Screw DA. Someone should do a mini LP on this.

 

[JarlFrank]

Yep, loading after death is fine, it was a corrupted savegame.

 

[bozia2012]

Ok, got to the fight with two Ordo - I guess, I'll have to start over wit' a new build or just try until I'll get lucky (I use the melee Ordo as a shield, but still - 3 hits and I'm dead).

Arena spectators look like they were taken strait from "Money for Nothing" video :D

 

[Shodan]

One thing that stands out the most to me is how the writing, what little of it is showcased in this combat demo, is excellent. It's hilarious to think how it's better than the shit in Bethesda's and BioWare's multi-million dollar blockbusters. Way to go.

The engine is very playable, I have faith that ZRPG will turn out as good as I imagine it will now.

 

[Sovard]

Eh. Made a throwing character, bought bronze pilum, clicked on the enemy until they died, bought more pilum, clicked on the next enemy until they died, bought more pilum, clicked on the next enemy until they died, bought more pilum, then the game crashed when trying to start the next fight.

I accept this as an act of mercy and have decided to not continue.

 

[Mortmal]

Very falloutish combat mode , but theres a few things that seems unbalanced to me, for exemple you can target limbs and disarm on a hit but the enenemy reequip without much AP penalty next round as it seems to me , so no point risking to miss a strike and its better to chain smaller AP attacks.
Another thing that seems unbalanced to me is dodge, if i put all my skill points in it hardly anything hit me in a fight, so its a low cost build , you dont have to buy expensive armor, just cloth dagger and dodge and you do much better than a fully armored warrior.That skill seems considerably more usefull than block, not only you have to buy an expensive shield but it break very easy, and you have to spend AP to replace it.
Technically the game is very good, the animations are ok for a final game, and the characters dont looks as blocky as they were in earlier screenshots, the music is great the graphics are fine and clean , however you should have included an anisotropic filtering option, i ve forced it on my drivers and AOD looks considerably better without the jagged edges.
The biggest issue with this demo was tthe corrupted save, its happens all the time and i wasnt able to see fights past the guy in armor with lance.

 

[Elhoim]

Ok, got to the fight with two Ordo - I guess, I'll have to start over wit' a new build or just try until I'll get lucky (I use the melee Ordo as a shield, but still - 3 hits and I'm dead).

Buy an armor with better critical defense. There are a couple of one for dodgers that have great critical defense stats.