Oldest AoD Screenshots (pre-Torque)

[JarlFrank]

A pal just asked me about the development history of Age of Decadence because I've been on the Codex for a long time and followed this game's development since my join date. And I distinctly remember seeing screenshots here on the Codex of an early pre-alpha version of Age of Decadence that had 2D graphics somewhat reminiscent of games like Eschalon of Jeff Vogel's games, before Vince switched to the Torque engine. I can't find them anymore though, but out of curiosity would like to look at them again.

Maybe Vault Dweller can help?

 

[Tacgnol]

There is a whole bunch on the Codex gallery page from looks of it:

https://rpgcodex.net/gallery.php?album=10

Probably the clearest one:

 

[Fowyr]

Yep, they were really pretty.

 

[JarlFrank]

There is a whole bunch on the Codex gallery page from looks of it:

https://rpgcodex.net/gallery.php?album=10

Probably the clearest one:

Thanks! These are what I was looking for.

 

[Farewell into the night]

Man, this is amazing! I didn't knew it was 2D in the past.

 

[Nano]

Wow, the old build looks way better.

 

[Konjad]

Yep, they were really pretty.

I'd say it would look good, but the complete lack for shadows is irksome...

 

[Bad Sector]

How does it look better? The trees have a squashed aspect ration and they are blurry, the wall tiles do not match properly, there is no lighting at all which makes some objects with similar materials (e.g. tables, chairs and floor) have very low contrast, the UI has a mismatch of aliased and antialiased elements and highlights that come from random directions and the text has off layout (off-center in some areas, bad padding in other areas).

 

[Vault Dweller]

Yep, they were really pretty.

I'd say it would look good, but the complete lack for shadows is irksome...

It's a very early stage, before any art pass, better objects, or added details. Nothing but a rough layout.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I unironically like AoD Torque graphics.

 

[Nano]

How does it look better? The trees have a squashed aspect ration and they are blurry, the wall tiles do not match properly, there is no lighting at all which makes some objects with similar materials (e.g. tables, chairs and floor) have very low contrast, the UI has a mismatch of aliased and antialiased elements and highlights that come from random directions and the text has off layout (off-center in some areas, bad padding in other areas).

Eh, I didn't focus on the technical stuff. I like it better because of its general art style and the more vibrant colors. And I prefer the font they used there.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Age of Decadence (1996) (shareware)

 

[CoronerZg]

Eh, I didn't focus on the technical stuff. I like it better because of its general art style and the more vibrant colors. And I prefer the font they used there.

Yeah, this look gives a more traditional D&D vibe... which makes me think; Vince and the team making BG1 type of game in a lush green world, with lots of interesting "companions" (and their hidden motives)

And I do like my post apocalypse (AoD is my favorite game in the genre), but I'm just getting tired of it lately and the whole brown-ish color palette. Everything is post apocalypse these days. Give us our green fields and forests!

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Eh, I didn't focus on the technical stuff. I like it better because of its general art style and the more vibrant colors. And I prefer the font they used there.

Yeah, this look gives a more traditional D&D vibe... which makes me think; Vince and the team making BG1 type of game in a lush green world, with lots of interesting "companions" (and their hidden motives)

And I do like my post apocalypse (AoD is my favorite game in the genre), but I'm just getting tired of it lately and the whole brown-ish color palette. Everything is post apocalypse these days. Give us our green fields and forests!

Still waiting for that inquisition game they promised some time ago.

 

[JarlFrank]

The Torque version looks way better than the old 2D version, which had pretty crappy (and obviously placeholder) assets. I don't know what you are all on about.

 

[Ol' Willy]

I unironically like AoD Torque graphics.

Talking about looks,
Torque AoD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> any Unity RPG

 

[Lord_Potato]

The old version had a certain Vogelesque charm, but for the type of a game they were going for raw, blocky, almost brutalist visuals provided by the Torque engine and the brownish color palette seem much more fitting. It's a violent post-apocalyptic setting, not a Forgotten Realms-like fairy tale.

 

[JarlFrank]

Vogelesque charm

Nah it's not quite Vogelesque

doesn't make puke leak from my eyes when I look at it so it

 

[Lord_Potato]

Vogelesque charm

Nah it's not quite Vogelesque

doesn't make puke leak from my eyes when I look at it so it

Not every game by Vogel has vomit-inducing visuals. It's mostly Geneforge 1 with its greenish menu. Outside of menu it looks okay. Simple, but clear graphics. Fresh green forests, grey labirynths etc. Nethergate also has decent looks.

Yes, the screenshots mostly remind me of Nethergate.

 

[Fowyr]

Nah it's not quite Vogelesque

doesn't make puke leak from my eyes when I look at it so it

Nethergate was fine.

Exile 3 was cute as button.

 

[Farewell into the night]

This last post reminded me of something. Time to replay Nethergate.

 

[Tacgnol]

Nah it's not quite Vogelesque

doesn't make puke leak from my eyes when I look at it so it

Nethergate was fine.

Exile 3 was cute as button.

Yeah Nethergate was fine. Pretty clean and lots of original artwork.

I forget how awesome Exile was graphically though. So colourful and clean at the same time.

Jeff really misunderstood what people wanted when they kept asking him for "Exile style" with Queen's wish.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Amazing that AoD went through fewer graphic overhauls over its dev cycle than what Copper Dreams Mechajammer does in one week.

 

[Fowyr]

Jeff really misunderstood what people wanted when they kept asking him for "Exile style" with Queen's wish.

I'm pretty sure that Jeff deliberately misinterpreted it. Just remember how he scoffed at just a thought that six men party, dual wielding or need to ID items was interesting. He hates his best games and thinks that they are mistakes.

 

[JarlFrank]

Jeff really misunderstood what people wanted when they kept asking him for "Exile style" with Queen's wish.

I'm pretty sure that Jeff deliberately misinterpreted it. Just remember how he scoffed at just a thought that six men party, dual wielding or need to ID items was interesting. He hates his best games and thinks that they are mistakes.

He hates Blades of Exile and Blades of Avernum because apparently offering an editor/mod support takes a lot more long-term support effort for a dev.

I call bullshit on that one because we have healthy mod communities in games where the devs just released the editor with barely any documentation and said "ok have fun with this", then never patched it ever again.
But somehow Jeff thinks if he adds an editor he has to offer support to all the people who have issues with user mods.

 

[Fowyr]

But somehow Jeff thinks if he adds an editor he has to offer support to all the people who have issues with user mods.

He was never very bright. One of the best things that he done with BoE was releasing its source code. Lo and behold, community made a patched version that fixed fucking bugs with nodes (iirc) in no time at all. Back in the times I made a scenario or two for the BoE and these node bugs were truly vexing. You needed to double-check everything.