Preview AoD locations at RPG Watch

[NiM82]

Looking very good, infact it looks almost as good as NWN2 in some shots (particularly the fort). Are these all rendered in-engine? The lighting/shading looks an awful lot better than the earlier screenshots.

 

[callehe]

I tried to keep things small as I don't like walking from one town's end to another (traveling through BG2's city maps was a chore), so the size doesn't really matter here. It's the number of quests and the local politics that count. Still, to answer your question, one town is huge, one town is medium, and two towns are small.

yeah if you put it that way, 4 is perfectly fine... I was just suprised that of 20 locations, only 4 was towns.

ah yes, I hated the walking in BG2, I had to use the console just to use the teleporatation cheat to rid all the walking... great to hear that that is adressed in AoD.

Looks like things are coming together nicely... I never expected AoD to progress so much. The last 6 months have been very interesting for an observer to follow the development here on the Codex.

 

[Elhoim]

Wow, didn't know Elhoim was the creator of Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul...

Oscar worked on several mods for Oblivion (including Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul)

I think Elhoim isn't the creator of OOO but he contributed to it.

That's right. I made textures for it, like armors, monsters and clutter, and I also was part of the beta testing team.

The only mod I completely made is the Better Ship Scale mod for Civ IV, and I made the textures of many units in the EDU mod. You can see some of those units in Beyond the Sword, the expansion pack for Civ IV. As a matter of fact, I textured most of the new etnic units that appear there.

 

[Haraldur]

This lurker = hyped by the bloom.

Not that I wasn't already somewhat hyped by the other stuff...

 

[Elhoim]

Looking very good, infact it looks almost as good as NWN2 in some shots (particularly the fort).

Well, if we had normal mapping maybe we could make something of somewhat similar quality...

 

[Vault Dweller]

yeah if you put it that way, 4 is perfectly fine... I was just suprised that of 20 locations, only 4 was towns.

Personal preference.

Looks like things are coming together nicely... I never expected AoD to progress so much. The last 6 months have been very interesting for an observer to follow the development here on the Codex.

Thanks.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The locations seems very distinctive from one another yet still hold a cohesive style. I'm definitely looking forward to exploring the world you created VD. Btw did you ever find an artist to help you with location differentiation? Are these screens the pre or post AoD locals? Just curious.

Nope. Didn't find anyone yet. I guess I'll have to do it myself.

The environmental diversity is astounding.The game has truly come a long way since its... announcement. It not only promises to be a deep, engrossing role-playing experience, but also seems to look absolutely spectacular.

Thanks.

 

[Amasius]

Well, I think (I like thinking) people shouldn't get overexcited about the graphics. The Torque engine surely isn't next gen and AoD won't compete with actual million-$-shooters. The screens just show that it is possible to make some great artwork with limited possibilities.

 

[Elhoim]

Well, I think (I like thinking) people shouldn't get overexcited about the graphics. The Torque engine surely isn't next gen and AoD won't compete with actual million-$-shooters. The screens just show that it is possible to make some great artwork with limited possibilities.

I agree that it looks pretty good.

 

[Amasius]

Well, if we had the Advanced version we could make some pretty stuff, using normal and glow maps, for example.

I'm just trying to keep my excitement down. :D

And glow maps? Sounds... shiny.

Edit: Hey - you edited your post. Well, to late I saved it for eternity.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The engine is decent enough, especially after a few years of tweaking. The high-res combat video looked good, imo. Anyway, an updated video is coming. This time we'll show a rich environment and you will be able to see what the engine can do.

I do agree that AoD will not compete with "million-$-shooters", that's for sure. It's a decent looking indie game, and that's already an achievement.

 

[pkt-zer0]

I'd say that animation and art style contribute much more to my enjoyment of a game's graphics than ultra-hi-res textures, a million shaders and polycount approaching infinity. So it's all good.

 

[Elhoim]

I'd say that animation and art style contribute much more to my enjoyment of a game's graphics than ultra-hi-res textures, a million shaders and polycount approaching infinity. So it's all good.

I truly agree. Look at Fallout or the IE games. Their artwork quality is timeless. I'm glad that you like the artwork in AoD. I try hard to make it cohesive but different enough to make locations distinctive.

 

[inwoker]

Keep your good work. All looks nice. Do good rpg please, for codex not to be only the place of angry all-rpg-hating cunts, but community, that can show how to do the job.
VD, post some more details on quests, please. For example, you said, that it'll be 20-25. What percent of them would be /small/medium/large/? Is each quest deep and interesting or say we have /not so deep/deep/very deep/? Is each quest class/skills/stats based/dependant or we have some for all chars? etc.... etc... How much dialogue? Fallout 1 or Arcanum ammount?

Oh yes, Elhoim, I agree that good artwork shown here is much better than Oblivion like graphics with latest shaders and all that crap.
And question. I somehow missed it. Will you use fallout-like tiles in 3d or like ToEE backgrounds or combination?

 

[Vault Dweller]

VD, post some more details on quests, please. For example, you said, that it'll be 20-25. What percent of them would be /small/medium/large/? Is each quest deep and interesting or say we have /not so deep/deep/very deep/? Is each quest class/skills/stats based/dependant or we have some for all chars? etc.... etc... How much dialogue? Fallout 1 or Arcanum ammount?

I would prefer if someone else answers these questions. Jora has seen a fair amount of quests, so I'll ask him to share his opinion.

 

[Jora]

I don't have the text files on my new computer but if I remember correctly...

Some of the quests in the starting town are longer than others. A thieves guild quest to find a way to smuggle ore out of town could take your character to three different places of interaction while a merchant quest to find and sell that ore shipment only involves talking to one character and either fighting him or passing the right [persuasion] or [magnetic personality] skill checks. The quest after that one again involves only one character and conversation.

The most often used skills seemed to be persuasion and fightig ablities. Trading was used only to haggle which is something I was disappointed with. There didn't seem to be much use for the alchemy or etiquette skills either but I didn't see all the quests. VD said he's improved the quests and, I guess, added more uses for skills. I think he also said that the starting town quests are meant to be introductory and not overly complex.

The first Imperial Guards quest is a raiding mission with some extra fighting excitement in the end, but it was a well written quest so the lack of options didn't really bother me. You knew you were in for a bloody career when you signed up.

The assassin quests were my favorite. They were full of options and cool things to do, especially the second (you can see it in the RPG Vault article, BTW) and the fourth one. The latter has many ways of fulfilling your contract and one of them is VERY hilarious. The third quest is mainly a well done flavor quest with little interaction until the very end where you are given a nice choice. There's a strong feeling of an exciting fantasy adventure in the assassin quests.

The main quest to gain a audience with lord Antidas had MANY ways to complete using different skills and interacting with different people.

The amount of dialogue doesn't rival PS:T but there was enough of it and it is all very well written. Even the short conversation quests are interesting. No complaints about the NPCs either.

The starting town is definitely more complex than, say, Junktown or Shrouded Hills but some of the side quests are pretty simple. Others have plenty of options.

(Sorry if I remembered it all wrong)

 

[inwoker]

Sounds very interesting so far.
VD, deal about salo is still in place?

 

[The_Pope]

Oscar worked on several mods for Oblivion (including Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul), Rome: Total War, and Civilization IV (Better Ship Scale, and Ethnically Diverse Units).

WTF no kingcomrade post?

 

[Bradylama]

Looking good. I like the fact that there are so few towns compared to other locations. It feels like there's a focus on exploring the setting instead of negotiating a few quest hubs.

 

[Elhoim]

Oscar worked on several mods for Oblivion (including Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul), Rome: Total War, and Civilization IV (Better Ship Scale, and Ethnically Diverse Units).

WTF no kingcomrade post?

Why?

 

[Jora]

VD, post some more details on quests, please. For example, you said, that it'll be 20-25. What percent of them would be /small/medium/large/? Is each quest deep and interesting or say we have /not so deep/deep/very deep/? Is each quest class/skills/stats based/dependant or we have some for all chars? etc.... etc... How much dialogue? Fallout 1 or Arcanum ammount?

VD asked me to post all my criticism and reservations about the quests, so here are some more thoughts:

Of the quests I read, I liked the merchant questline the least. You'd think a merchant would find some interesting use for the trading skill but it's never used in the major negotiations where VD has put in persuasion checks instead. Trading is pretty much like the appraising/haggling skills in all RPGs. I'm sure it's somewhat useful as money appears to be very scarce but it's not used to achieve quest objectives.

The number of other options in the encounters was also a little disappointing. Persuasion and combat seemed to be the only means to solve the problems. For instance, in the third merchant quest you're summoned to meet an internal investigator of the Commercium. He gives you a chance to either change sides and join him or fight him and his lackeys. It would've been nice to have more ways to deal with him. The merchant character is barely more than a hired thug which kind of bugs me.

There are side questlines for all the seven professions and some are more interesting than others.

 

[psycojester]

I can't remember if i've asked this before, but have you read Viriconium by chance V.D?

 

[Kingston]

The graphics are definitely a notch higher now, so great job to the team. The game appears to have a more "epic" vibe now, don't know if that was your intention.

But lets not get completely wrapped around the graphics, as they certainly aren't on the top of my priority list when purchasing games (pretty though they are). Jora's thoughts are very promising. Jora, what's the overall mood of the game?

 

[inwoker]

Jora, for me it was no doubt that quests for some chars would be more interesting. I just cannot figure out in my head how to make quests IN ONE GAME equally interesting for ALL classes. It may be near but not equal.

It is important that for all chars there were some line that states - quality equal to this line or better. And for nothing to be lower than this line.

VD, from what Jora said, can you improve something about merchant?

 

[Jora]

Jora, what's the overall mood of the game?

Hard to say exactly. The society and politics are all about power struggle and money. The major NPCs are all ruthless bastards who can and deserve to be stabbed in the back. They can also be quite funny and likeable so you can choose a side to root for. It's a bad world but the people inhabiting it are just humans. There's also a strong feeling of a good fantasy adventure in some of the quests.

I think VD crafted a really great setting and, if my instincts are correct, the player will immediately feel like he's really an active part of it. He's thrown straight into the middle of the action right from the beginning. No grinding, no useless or boring FedEx quests or anything like that. Everything feels... logical and plausible. The quests make sense. The backstory is heavily present and influences the events. Very much like how in Arcanum the history of the world has a great effect on what happens in the main storyline and the side stories. And how it feels *logical* that humans in a Victorian age would abuse the rights of the orcs and half-orcs.

It's pretty much what Jeff Vogel said he wanted to see in RPGs when he wrote that article for RPG Vault.