New AoD article

[Vault Dweller]

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/749/749013p1.html

Let me know.

 

[Ahzaruuk]

ARGH!!

God Damnit! My dad's been getting way too totalitarian with the norton security. Anything that so much whispers of anything gaming related is now blocked. CURSES. :evil:

I can't wait till I can get my own damned computer...

...but anyways, I am unavailable for comment

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

I like the use of text to convey the performance of specific, animation-intensive actions. It should allow you, the designers, to come up with creative ways for the player to resolve matters suited to his character.

I did notice that specific quest gave the player, for the most part, only two actions to perform. Is that indicative of the quests in general, or is that more of an anomaly?

 

[Greatatlantic]

Nice. It looks like you are putting a lot of work into creating a ton of different roleplaying options. I like! Of course, I'm probably much easier to please then the average Codexer. The only worry I have is the consequences of your actions won't always be apparent. I'm not suggesting something as blatant as a long monologue warning you of the dangers of choosing X. I just hate it when players make an aribitrary choice and have something they never could have guessed that occurs. Example:

You are dring do you,

A) turn right.

B) turn left.

Outcomes,

A) You just turned into a drunk driver and died.

b) You just turned into the the Macy's parade and are being cheered on by millions! Million dollar book deal follows.

Obviously, killing a guild member should result in the guild hating you. But don't make consequences to arbitrary.

P.S. You mention play testers... what's a Codexer have to do to get in on that?

 

[Vault Dweller]

I did notice that specific quest gave the player, for the most part, only two actions to perform. Is that indicative of the quests in general, or is that more of an anomaly?

What actions? To kill the commander or the assassin? There are more options. The focus of the quest is not assassinating, but getting out. You can take the window or the door. Once you are outside, you can split or try to make it to the guild together. You can even decide not to go to the guild (as it aint over yet), but to leave the town.

It looks like you are putting a lot of work into creating a ton of different roleplaying options.

Yep.

Obviously, killing a guild member should result in the guild hating you. But don't make consequences to arbitrary.

No, everything is predictable if you take a moment to think about what you do and why.

P.S. You mention play testers... what's a Codexer have to do to get in on that?

Not much, I'm afraid. My PnP buddies usually play the game at my house to give me some feedback and bitch about things that didn't work or confused them too much. They test quest lines and such.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Looks awesome. Fucking hell, this is great shit. Of course this still won't be up to the standards of the wankers here but I will claim that this kind of design is totally revolutionary. VIVA LA REVOLUTION! Elaborate branching was done in probably 3 games max, and not all that properly. But here it looks to be quite extensive. I bet it'll be full of bugs. Too many conditions to check for, right? Brilliant, I love it.

 

[Perishiko]

Looks awesome. Fucking hell, this is great shit. Of course this still won't be up to the standards of the wankers here but I will claim that this kind of design is totally revolutionary. VIVA LA REVOLUTION! Elaborate branching was done in probably 3 games max, and not all that properly. But here it looks to be quite extensive. I bet it'll be full of bugs. Too many conditions to check for, right? Brilliant, I love it.

It's a development nightmare I bet... Heh, have to make sure every little nilly thing works right.

I really can't wait till it comes out. I'm dry as hell games wise.

 

[golgotha]

You just moved to the top of my most anticipated titles list.

 

[callehe]

A: Sometimes they don't, sometimes they do. When they don't, they come after your guild. So, if you come "home" one day and everyone's dead (that actually happened to one of the play testers), it's not a glitch; it's something you did.

wow, that's cool, really. but will the actual killing of your guild members will happen at a specific time in the game? i e will it be possible for you to be at home at the particular moment your adversaries storm through the doors and perhaps take a chance to save the day, or will the event just "happen" out of the players control. or might the assasination attempt even fail, due to random factors of the battle?

 

[callehe]

also question about the skill check option dialogue: is the skill checked option always the "best choice"? obviously that's the case in the quest in the interview (pick the non skill check one and you're toast). i wouldn't mind some cases where it would actually be more advantagous to use a non skill check option if your skill isn't high enough or that that particular skill isn't apropriate in that situation. OR that the player is given several dialogue choices linked to one particular skill... that would actually make you think.

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

Chinese Jetpilot wrote:
I did notice that specific quest gave the player, for the most part, only two actions to perform. Is that indicative of the quests in general, or is that more of an anomaly?

What actions? To kill the commander or the assassin? There are more options. The focus of the quest is not assassinating, but getting out. You can take the window or the door. Once you are outside, you can split or try to make it to the guild together. You can even decide not to go to the guild (as it aint over yet), but to leave the town.

Poor clarification on my part. Callehe explained it much better:

is the skill checked option always the "best choice"? obviously that's the case in the quest in the interview (pick the non skill check one and you're toast). i wouldn't mind some cases where it would actually be more advantagous to use a non skill check option if your skill isn't high enough or that that particular skill isn't apropriate in that situation. OR that the player is given several dialogue choices linked to one particular skill... that would actually make you think.

Also, is there an indicator to ascertain what your standing is with the other factions (or alignment in general), or is that done behind the scenes without the player knowing what others think of him? I personally prefer the latter option.

 

[John Yossarian]

Well in the screen that gives you option A)Fight and B)Disguise[Skill] if you have low disguise and are a good fighter then you're probably better off with the nonskilled option A. Although im not sure if you would get the disguise option if the skill was too low.

 

[John Yossarian]

Also, is there an indicator to ascertain what your standing is with the other factions (or alignment in general), or is that done behind the scenes without the player knowing what others think of him? I personally prefer the latter option.

That might just resurrect Saint.

 

[MountainWest]

Those drilled holes in the wall alone raised my expectations to new (unreachable?) heights. And the "You're dead dumbfuck"-screen made my eyes water. Ah, memories of adventures long gone.

A couple of questions:

1) With all the back-stabbing, double-crossing and so on and so forth, is it possible to come to a point where you've pissed just about everyone off and thus can't finish the game?

We use the text adventure mode a lot. It gives us (and the player) all the freedom we can handle without wasting too much time on them. Want to climb the wall? Sure. Want to cut a window with a diamond ring? Go ahead. How about crafting a trap, attaching it to a door, and then knocking and retreating to a safe distance? Be my guest. It's literally a blast when you learn how to handle gunpowder, but it works like a charm with some arrows too.

2) Are these options all the time? Or just inside a quest? Can I climb any wall with my rope as long as I have the skill and gravity on my side and a long enough rope to do so? Reading the interview again I think the latter, but it's better to be sure. If the latter, will the owner of the house I just climbed get pissed if he sees me?

3) If you double-cross a faction does that automatically mean that they will know about it? Say you have ten quests in total for the assassins; on the ninth one - you're supposed to assassin a mother and her child as they try to pass the bridge leading out of the city; they happen to be the imperial commanders wife and child - you realise that this is something you don't want to do. If you abort the quest or even help the mother/child get away (without the assassins seeing it), will the assassins then hate you? Or can you continue to work for them, with a bruised reputation?

4) How about the exploration-aspect of the game? Can you stumble on the old hermit in the deepest woods who'll teach you the meaning of life? Can you hear a vague rumor that'll lead you to some old magic-bomb-shelter from the lost civilization? What it comes down to, is there (more than a few) things to discover in the world that you don't have to discover? Or is AoD mainly focusing on the "choosing faction"-part?

5) How is time handled? If you go out to explore the world for a couple of weeks, will you miss quests in town then? I hope quests that should be time-bound are time-bound, but at the same time, that the majority of non-taken quests waits for you.

Anyways, it looks great graphics-wise. I think you're on a point where you'd have to invest a lot of money to attract the next level of graphic-whores. Of course, those screenshots does look a bit a like... but at the same time, they're from the same quest and vicinity so that's to be expected, I guess.

 

[SanguinePenguin]

I have to say it's looking pretty damn good.

 

[Ivy Mike]

You've come a long way baby! If the quest used in the interview is but one of many, and the whole faction interaction works, this is going to be one helluva cRPG. I'd even go so far as to say it's going to be ammong the best in recent memory.

Text adventure: text = immersion
...
Take a look at this Darklands screen and tell me it's not the most immersive and beautiful thing you've ever seen.

Preach brother! You get another copy sold for mentioning both text as a heavy factor for immersion, and Darklands as the beautiful game it is.

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

Fucking awesome, VD. with any luck, you can put the CRPG genre right back where it belongs.

 

[The Idiot]

Looks awesome but I have one question. What if you decline to do that quest from Assasin's Guild? Will it sit there and block your progress in the guild, will they give you another quest putting this one on hold or will those not undertaken quest play out on their own?

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

oh well, I despise the hype about AoD (mainly iniciated by the forum users and not VD) and didnt bother to much with it.

But really, this article sounds friggin awesome. Good luck with the game, looking forward to it.

 

[RAG]

Either way, to determine your future and your world's...

T3h ch0$3n 0n3 !!!!


Just joking

 

[Vault Dweller]

Looks awesome. Fucking hell, this is great shit.

Thanks

but will the actual killing of your guild members will happen at a specific time in the game? i e will it be possible for you to be at home at the particular moment your adversaries storm through the doors and perhaps take a chance to save the day, or will the event just "happen" out of the players control. or might the assasination attempt even fail, due to random factors of the battle?

Specific time. Yes, you can be there, but most likely you will die unless you manage to get the fuck out. When someone wants to hit an entire guild and hit it hard, they won't send a couple of lvl1 grunts.

also question about the skill check option dialogue: is the skill checked option always the "best choice"?

No. Depends on the situation, obviously. Sometimes you may have 3 different skill check options in the same dialogue. It's up to you to decide what's best for your character.

http://www.rpgcodex.com/screenshot.php? ... alogue.jpg
It's the first and rather ugly screen, but it illustrates my point nicely.

Also, is there an indicator to ascertain what your standing is with the other factions (or alignment in general), or is that done behind the scenes without the player knowing what others think of him? I personally prefer the latter option.

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/images/1.jpg

Those drilled holes in the wall alone raised my expectations to new (unreachable?) heights. And the "You're dead dumbfuck"-screen made my eyes water. Ah, memories of adventures long gone.

1) With all the back-stabbing, double-crossing and so on and so forth, is it possible to come to a point where you've pissed just about everyone off and thus can't finish the game?

No. You'll still have a chance even if you are chased by an angry mob and have nowhere to go. In fact, there is a spectacular ending for such an option. The double-crossing, back-stabbing scum will be pleasantly surprised.

2) Are these options all the time? Or just inside a quest? Can I climb any wall with my rope as long as I have the skill and gravity on my side and a long enough rope to do so? Reading the interview again I think the latter, but it's better to be sure. If the latter, will the owner of the house I just climbed get pissed if he sees me?

All the time. Hmm, good question about the owner. The guards definitely will though.

3) If you double-cross a faction does that automatically mean that they will know about it? Say you have ten quests in total for the assassins; on the ninth one - you're supposed to assassin a mother and her child as they try to pass the bridge leading out of the city; they happen to be the imperial commanders wife and child - you realise that this is something you don't want to do. If you abort the quest or even help the mother/child get away (without the assassins seeing it), will the assassins then hate you? Or can you continue to work for them, with a bruised reputation?

Yes, you can fail a quest and yes, sometimes you may have to make a moral decision and abort a mission. Your reputation with the guild will be lowered. Once it reaches a certain value, you will be kicked out. If it reaches a certain lower value, they will act against you.

4) How about the exploration-aspect of the game? Can you stumble on the old hermit in the deepest woods who'll teach you the meaning of life?

No.

Can you hear a vague rumor that'll lead you to some old magic-bomb-shelter from the lost civilization?

Yes. Some locations will be added to your map only if someone tells you exactly where they are (FO2' Sierra Army Depot for reference)

What it comes down to, is there (more than a few) things to discover in the world that you don't have to discover?

Yes. You can forget about the factions and focus on the exploration aspect (lore, discovering the pre-war stuff, figuring out what really happened and looking for the missing pieces of the puzzle, etc)

Or is AoD mainly focusing on the "choosing faction"-part?

No, it's one of the several aspects.
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/story.htm (there is a detailed answer to your question here)

5) How is time handled? If you go out to explore the world for a couple of weeks, will you miss quests in town then? I hope quests that should be time-bound are time-bound, but at the same time, that the majority of non-taken quests waits for you.

Some quests have time-limit (where it makes sense), some don't.

You've come a long way baby!

Looking at the first screen, we sure did.

If the quest used in the interview is but one of many...

One of many.

...and the whole faction interaction works...

Hopefully.

...this is going to be one helluva cRPG. I'd even go so far as to say it's going to be ammong the best in recent memory.

Thanks.

Looks awesome but I have one question. What if you decline to do that quest from Assasin's Guild? Will it sit there and block your progress in the guild, will they give you another quest putting this one on hold or will those not undertaken quest play out on their own?

You can decline any quest, in which case a declined faction quest will be handled without you. Your rep will drop. If you refuse another quest, you will be kicked out for obvious reasons.

Anyway, how are the non-dialogue screens (the guild, the room at the inn with the drilled holes, and the combat "after hours" screen)? How's the writing?

 

[Nicolai]

Sounds pretty neat to me.

One question, though. Shouldn't it be "tears start running down your face/your cheeks/the side of your face/something to that effect" instead of "tears start running down" in this dialogue option?

 

[Vault Dweller]

One question, though. Shouldn't it be "tears start running down your face/your cheeks/the side of your face/something to that effect" instead of "tears start running down" in this dialogue option?

Maybe. My writing is far from being flawless.

 

[Monolith]

VD, if all you're saying is true, that game will be legendary. I hope you'll make shitloads of money so you can keep on doing games like that. I just told Buck Satan of Gamebanshee about that article just to make sure it gets the newspost it deserves.

The screenshots are fine for me. There ain't much clutter in the assassin's guild HQ but it's an assassin's guild HQ after all so overly much clutter wouldn't fit I think. The inn looks fine, the drilled holes give it a damn nice touch. Just one question: you can miss if your crossbow skills is low, right? Now *if* your crossbow skill is low, are there other options left? Poisoning that other assassin's bolts perhaps?

 

[Vault Dweller]

VD, if all you're saying is true, that game will be legendary.

It's true. Out of curiosity though, what part sounds like bullshit or wishful thinking?

I hope you'll make shitloads of money so you can keep on doing games like that.

Games like that don't sell a lot, which is why nobody is interested in making games like Darklands or Torment. Sad, but true.

I just told Buck Satan of Gamebanshee about that article just to make sure it gets the newspost it deserves.

Thanks.

There ain't much clutter in the assassin's guild HQ but it's an assassin's guild HQ after all so overly much clutter wouldn't fit I think.

They are very business-like. When you enter the guild for the first time, it will be described and the business-like "may I take your order?" nature of the establishment will be noted.

The inn looks fine, the drilled holes give it a damn nice touch.

Yep.

Just one question: you can miss if your crossbow skills is low, right?

No. I've considered such an option, but decided against it. I don't recall now what screens I gave to RPG Vault (and I'm too lazy to check), but it goes something like that. The guildmaster asks if you are good with crossbows. If you say no, he tells you that xbows are easy to handle (which is true) and that you can't miss from a few meters. He also sends you to a guy who will give you a few tips (increasing your skills by up to 10 points if it's too low), and that's it.