Game News Iron Tower's next game is Heralds of the Third Apocalypse, a Lovecraftian bronze age tactical RPG

[luj1]

Really should just go for AOD 2.

Maybe they are trying to do a Troika

No one, and I repeat, no one, will ever pull off a Troika. In their short tenure they managed to produce one of the best storyfag RPGs (Arcanum) and the best combatfag RPG (Temple of Elemental Evil), satisfying both camps of the RPG duality. Really even with completely disregarding Bloodlines. Possibly the greatest CRPG studio that ever existed.

 

[Hydro]

one of the best storyfag RPGs (Arcanum) and the best combatfag RPG (Temple of Elemental Evil)

Such best, so that, except for a handful of autists, nobody gives a crap about

Arcanum aka “yeah combat is dogshit so you need to struggle through the whole game because StORy.” You know I’d rather play Disco that doesn’t torture the player with any such nonsense

&

ToEE aka “YOU JUST NEED TO FINISH HOMMLET I PROMISE BRO IT’S GOING TO GET BETTER FROM THERE”

Greatest studio my ass

 

[luj1]

You sound frustrated. Perhaps these games are too much for your brain.

I’d rather play Disco

Why don't you go (back) to Reddit?

 

[Hydro]

Perhaps these games are too much for your brain.

I wish they were, yet Troika have never managed to get them finished. At that time Cain and Boyarsky probably had already been busy conceptualizing their next big hits such as TOW and Avowed.

 

[MASLV]

One of the best parts about Dungeon Rats was disassembling the gear of the people you killed and reassembling it into gear you want. Like I had no steel, so an acquired damaged steel armor which became a steel dagger or helmet with a different bonus. Felt good. Also dragging the smith into combat just to collect xp for him and put it exclusively into his crafting level.
This is probably one of the best crafting implementation I enjoyed.
The few implementations being:
1 assembling parts of an artifact, which is not really crafting, like in bg2
2 using parts of animals or gear to upgrade and customize my existing gear, like in battle brothers expansion or underrail
3 dungeon rats way

Sometimes I think there can be a system wehre some modifier runes like in hack and slash games could create an interesting system. But its usually just stacking something. Like in Underrail, there is really no 2 ways you could build an item. The base strenght of it is fixed and the upgrades that fit are obvious.

 

[Infinitron]

What makes Dungeon Rats crafting satisfying isn't really the implementation, but the fact that you need to engage with it in a game with no stores.

Same reason why people might have second thoughts about crafting in Fallout New Vegas after playing Dead Money.

 

[MASLV]

No, its definitely the implementation that makes it satisfying, it restructures successfully gained raw material that has to be economically managed. And you absolutely dont have to engage with it beyond making poison. Play teh game before you open your mouth.

If the game had a store with every possible combo of item, I would still disassemble my earned gear.
If the crafting system was to collect multiple armors and combine them for a quality upgrade, it would be shit.
The act of making somehting usable out of something marginal, repurposing with for your own creation is appealing.

 

[false Kalin]

You can have "lovecraftian" horror in any era, but you can't have "lovecraftian" horror in a game where you mainly kill stuff.

“All my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large ... To achieve the essence of real externality, whether of time or space or dimension, one must forget that such things as organic life, good and evil, love and hate, and all such local attributes of a negligible and temporary race called mankind, have any existence at all.

“…when we cross the line to the boundless and hideous unknown—the shadow-haunted Outside—we must remember to leave our humanity and terrestrialism at the threshold.”

But yeah, just continuing with the common thread of fighting tentacle monsters and fish people is like so lovecraftian, man.

Howard's Conan character is a heroic rejection of Lovecraft. "A terrible, incomprehensible, immaterial god that feasts upon its own people? Gay. I will throw myself at it with an axe." Conan doesn't care what other people think, so he's not going to care that good and evil, love and hate, are arbitrary local attributes. He'll just continue acting as he pleases. Of course, this mindset defangs the "horror" from Lovecraft.

 

[MerchantKing]

Lets hope that the combat is not as janky as colony ship.

 

[luj1]

Yup. Exactly what happens in The God in the Bowl, which is a detective story not unlike The Maltese Falcon. It basically shows Conan’s disinterest in the supernatural horror. I have to agree with Beans. I don't think VD knows what he is saying or doing when he slaps words together.

 

[Infinitron]

Am I really the first in this thread to say that this theme isn't really new for ITS? Agathoth, Balzaar and the other void-dwelling elder gods of the Age of Decadence setting are clearly Lovecraftian/Lovecraft-inspired characters. And yes, they can be defeated by mortals (or at least their earthly avatars can).

 

[luj1]

We are talking about *vibe*, shill. Not monster design.

EDIT:

Yes, these esoteric, occult concepts such as having a vibe are beyond your grasp. That much has become evident over the years.

 

[luj1]

... this theme isn't really new for ITS? Agathoth, Balzaar and the rest of the void-dwelling elder gods of the Age of Decadence setting are clearly Lovecraftian...

And yet none called Age of Decadence "Lovecraftian". Bingo. According to you Quake is Lovecraftian.

 

[Infinitron]

Meh, who cares?

I get it, you're triggered by the term "Lovecraftian" because you associate it with Cthulhu-plushie hipster appropriation of Lovecraft's works. However, Vault Dweller is not a hipster, so maybe just chill and let him use the term to get clicks on his game's Steam page?

 

[luj1]

Meh, who cares?

Well, you don't. That's for sure. You never cared about meanings of words, just like you never cared about this genre. You're just like, whatever man. Let them do whatever. Sure, everyone can do what they want. But that soft stance of yours is why we have video game decline.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

According to you Quake is Lovecraftian.

Yeah.
There's nothing lovercraftian about Shub-Niggurath.

We are talking about *vibe*, shill. Not monster design.

EDIT:

Yes, these esoteric, occult concepts such as having a vibe are beyond your grasp. That much has become evident over the years.

Temporal, ultimately meaningless victory is possible in tales of Lovercraft.

 

[luj1]

... maybe just chill and let him use the term to get clicks on his game's Steam page?

I'm not going to chill because that's exactly what everyone seems to be doing. Ergo, namedropping and hoping it will work (in this particular case out of desperation). Here, let me show you my PsYcHoGeOgRaPhiC RpG. Nah man, that's not good enough. Just admit you're out of ideas. Also, fuck you for enabling this behavior.

 

[luj1]

One more thing. Your biggest problem, Infinitron, is that you think the devs are your friends. Let's help Sawyer, let's help Vault Dweller. Let's sUPpOrt the devs. Nah man, fuck you. They chose this. Let's help this genre. That way you can help both the genre you love *and* help these guys. I may be brutal but that's because you are spineless.

 

[Alienman]

Point is, we don't know anything yet. Maybe it's just the backdrop for the world, and you won't be fighting tentacles and ancient horrors on a constant basis. I think it could be a great setting, if it doesn't lean into the tropes too hard. Just having it take place in a doomed bronze age world where the gods are evil could be cool.

 

[vota DC]

Lovecraftian means cheap cop out aimed at people who don't know better, essentially an indie cash grab. Wow.

No,It means tentacles to lure female players (if they exists) too.

 

[Maxie]

Lovecraftian means cheap cop out aimed at people who don't know better, essentially an indie cash grab. Wow.

No,It means tentacles to lure female players (if they exists) too.

Why bother cracking jokes about this. Lovecraft is the latest 'nerd' fad we're destined to suffer, after zombies, pirates, and what-not. If you haven't personally seen your normie friends suddenly get real invested in Cthulhu RPG and developing a keep interest in yet another reedition of Lovecraft short stories, you can consider yourself lucky. It's degrading to develop Lovecraft-scented crap, and positively spineless to namedrop him or his works in your blurbs. Vault Dweller probably knows this very well, and pursued the trend purely for money reasons.

 

[Ol' Willy]

One more thing. Your biggest problem, Infinitron, is that you think the devs are your friends. Let's help Sawyer, let's help Vault Dweller. Let's sUPpOrt the devs. Nah man, fuck you. They chose this. Let's help this genre. That way you can help both the genre you love *and* help these guys. I may be brutal but that's because you are spineless.

So far it's quite evident that you don't really care about the coming (or past ITS) gaems, you just have a beef against VD or ITS in general and grind your axe ITT

 

[Beans00]

So far it's quite evident that you don't really care about the coming (or past ITS) gaems, you just have a beef against VD or ITS in general and grind your axe ITT

He probably just thinks ITS games suck. Can't blame him for that.

 

[Infinitron]

In Vault Dweller's case, he is actually a friend of this website.

 

[Maldoror]

Lovecraft is the latest 'nerd' fad we're destined to suffer, after zombies, pirates, and what-not.

If you consider "latest" to be 15 years or so ago. I mean, hell. Darkest Dungeon was 9 years ago.