Realms of Antiquity: The Shattered Crown - Ultima-like retro RPG

[rikkles]

How long is the game ?

Everyone who completed it seemed to say it's a bit more than 100 hour long.

That’s about right, and if you want to meticulously map everything probably more. My fastest speedrun was around 3-4 hours, at highest emulation speed.

Wow, 3-4 hours? That's extreme. I played it at least for 150 hours. By the way I never understood how one can have the wish to haste through these games, I always try to experience them slowly and with all senses. Speedgaming for me is like you have, after a long and ardeous path of courting, the most beautiful woman you really deeply admire and imagine to build a future with in your bed for the first time - but then plough her like the cheapest pornhub whore in about 2 minutes just to squeeze the juice out of your sorry little prick. But maybe I just don't understand the sportive aspect of speedgaming. And of ploughing.

Very… graphic .
But I’m with you. I played RoA once. Then again. Then again. Then I thought… let’s see. How can I be more efficient? Then again. And again. And again. etc…
So I appreciated the most beautiful woman slowly and with respect and maximum enjoyment for the both of us. Then we played kinky games.

 

[rikkles]

]
Deathlord Relorded is a magnificent remake! Why is there no way to spend you some bucks for it? The work must have been herculean.

Thank you but:
1. This isn’t my IP to make money off of
2. Most players probably need that cash more than me.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

How long is the game ?

Everyone who completed it seemed to say it's a bit more than 100 hour long.

That’s about right, and if you want to meticulously map everything probably more. My fastest speedrun was around 3-4 hours, at highest emulation speed.

Wow, 3-4 hours? That's extreme. I played it at least for 150 hours. By the way I never understood how one can have the wish to haste through these games, I always try to experience them slowly and with all senses. Speedgaming for me is like you have, after a long and ardeous path of courting, the most beautiful woman you really deeply admire and imagine to build a future with in your bed for the first time - but then plough her like the cheapest pornhub whore in about 2 minutes just to squeeze the juice out of your sorry little prick. But maybe I just don't understand the sportive aspect of speedgaming. And of ploughing.

Very… graphic .
But I’m with you. I played RoA once. Then again. Then again. Then I thought… let’s see. How can I be more efficient? Then again. And again. And again. etc…
So I appreciated the most beautiful woman slowly and with respect and maximum enjoyment for the both of us. Then we played kinky games.

Yeah, in hindisght a bit too wild an analogly, I agree. To my defense: I'm a bit inebriated atm. It's the Codex after all, you can't survive here for long without being regularly drunk.

OT: As for Deathlord Relorded: I thought if you'd make the game a free download but with the "pay what you want" aspect it'd be okay in regards to the IP. I'd see it as nothing but right to give a bit for the honest work of transport such a behemoth of an RPG in modern times and adapt it for a more mordern audience. But I very much honor your stance on this point.

 

[mediocrepoet]

What are the highlights of the game? I mean, I get that it's something of a technical achievement, but on its own merits as an RPG factored against other RPGs on whatever system, what's the draw? I think the art and presentation is fine, just wondering about some of the specifics.

This video sold me on it originally. You just have to skip past some of the Ti-99 specific stuff he rambles about at the start (unless you have a spare Ti-99 you plan on using).

Just watched it, nice review. It made me quite excited for the game.

More or less agree. The art and soundtrack is great. Just not sure if the reviewer is the whitest man in the galaxy or the ghost of nerds past.

Either way, this looks pretty good.

 

[Rincewind]

Just read a post from the dev that it took 191 hours (!) for one of the playtesters to complete the game. Seem like we'll definitely get our 10 buck's worth!

 

[Taxnomore]

How long is the game ?

Everyone who completed it seemed to say it's a bit more than 100 hour long.

What the fuck.

How much of this is combat padding ?

 

[rikkles]

Everyone who completed it seemed to say it's a bit more than 100 hour long.

What the fuck.

How much of this is combat padding ?

The world is huge, the story is massive, there are dozens of quests (none of them bullshit fetch quests), actions in one quest have real impact on others and your decisions do change the world state.
As to combat padding, that’s a tricky question. It all depends on 2 main factors: your emulation speed (1x for true old-skool and proper sound, faster for quicker gameplay) and the number of characters in your party. The fewer characters in your party, the quicker the battles. Kind of like the Ultimas.
Again, to give you a sense of the scale, I can win the game in less than 4 hours when playing at max emulator speed, solo, only required quests, knowing exactly where to go and what to do, and fleeing from every non-crucial battle. 4 hours is literally forever in the world of speed-running.

 

[Jarpie]

Just bought this, should I create full party or just one character, and how many recruitable NPC are there?

 

[rikkles]

Just bought this, should I create full party or just one character, and how many recruitable NPC are there?

You can play in one of 3 ways:
- create a full party from the start. Pros: you control, easy start, powerful. Cons: no hero, no party banter.
- start as a hero. Pros: easy mode, could do it all solo or recruit. Cons: easy mode.
- start as a non-hero. Pros: classy. Recruits and banter. Cons: harder start

There are recruitable NPCs of all the classes except hero. Some are easier to recruit than others, who may need you to succeed at a quest.

 

[Rincewind]

Tell me rikkles, do certain choices lock you out of a significant part of the game? E.g., certain quests or even areas being unavailable without having certain NPCs in the party. Such things could make replaying the game worthwhile.

 

[Jarpie]

Just bought this, should I create full party or just one character, and how many recruitable NPC are there?

You can play in one of 3 ways:
- create a full party from the start. Pros: you control, easy start, powerful. Cons: no hero, no party banter.
- start as a hero. Pros: easy mode, could do it all solo or recruit. Cons: easy mode.
- start as a non-hero. Pros: classy. Recruits and banter. Cons: harder start

There are recruitable NPCs of all the classes except hero. Some are easier to recruit than others, who may need you to succeed at a quest.

How big difference is it hero vs. non-hero with difficulty?

Edit: also can I replace the party members I've created with recruitable npcs?

 

[Darkozric]

How does the save system work here, one slot or multiple? Also, which magic school provides healing spells?

Did a quick view on the manual and it seems that red magic deals with fire damage spells but also healing? Which is unusual.

Finally, can a bard replace the rogue?

 

[rikkles]

Let me try to answer all these questions while adamantyr is asleep…
The hero is a master of everything so it’s the easy mode. But once you fill up your party of 4 it doesn’t matter much any more.
It is NOT possible to replace party characters. You have to choose wisely.
Save system: one slot. But very easy to just back up the save folder for as many saves as you want.
Healing: any magic user can use any spell, it’s just less expensive if you have affinity. Look at the different spell books, they have certain specializations. Yes heal is red magic, but there’s regen and others from other schools.
Bard vs rogue: the rogue has a special hide skill. But the bard can cast spells. There are spells to handle all the rogue trap/hidden skills so yes, the bard can replace the rogue.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Just bought this, should I create full party or just one character, and how many recruitable NPC are there?

I always played it hero style. I just like the idea of being that regular dude of our world that gets thrown in this whole mess against his own will and has to crawl out of it on his own. Discovering the potential party members is fun and their own backgrounds, as meagre as they may be, help me better immersing myself in the story than five other random guys I create myself. Yeah, the Hero gets pretty strong (and already starts pretty strong as a matter of fact) but it just gives me these Ultima Avatar vibes to play with this class. There are still quite some pretty nasty encounters even for a maxed out hero.

 

[rikkles]

Tell me rikkles, do certain choices lock you out of a significant part of the game? E.g., certain quests or even areas being unavailable without having certain NPCs in the party. Such things could make replaying the game worthwhile.

Not companion choices. But:
1. Your _choices_ in certain quests lock you out of certain options. Replayability is good.
2. Choosing certain party companions gives you different banter for the fun.

Replayability is very good because you have many quests that can have different decisions and ultimately potentially closed off options, and in any case I’d be surprised if you found everything your first time around.

 

[Fatberg Slim]

My potentially helpful observations on the game are provided here. It's a great game, very highly recommended!
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...ima-like-retro-rpg.132229/page-8#post-7804044

I went with creating a hero and hiring NPCs. I think there is an NPC available for each class besides hero, but some of them can potentially take a while to get to and you'll be shorthanded until you reach them.

I found having a thief very convenient for automatically spotting hidden doors, but their combat effectiveness tapered off very sharply towards the end of the game. If I were to play again, I'd go for a more generally useful character and see if I could use magic to handle typical thief skills.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Is that channel which posted the trailer the dev or just someone who likes the game?

 

[Ladonna]

Is that channel which posted the trailer the dev or just someone who likes the game?

The one I posted? Just someone who is a Ti-99 enthusiast that playtested and reviewed the game. I think he did a few early game walkthrough videos as well.

I don't think Adam (the dev) has a youtube channel.

 

[Dorateen]

Been following with interest for a while. Is Realms of Antiquity available on another platform besides steam?

 

[Butter]

https://adamantyr.itch.io/realms-of-antiquity-the-shattered-crown

 

[rikkles]

Been following with interest for a while. Is Realms of Antiquity available on another platform besides steam?

itch.io

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Been following with interest for a while. Is Realms of Antiquity available on another platform besides steam?

itch.io

Or here: https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/Realms-Of-Antiquity-Digital-Edition/p/275592155

 

[Dorateen]

Been following with interest for a while. Is Realms of Antiquity available on another platform besides steam?

itch.io

Or here: https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/Realms-Of-Antiquity-Digital-Edition/p/275592155

Good to see there are so many alternative distribution options. I'm still using Windows 7 for gaming.

Planning a party of Fighter, Paladin, Rogue and Wizard.

 

[adamantyr]

Thank you rikkles for answering questions! I was sleeping in.

 

[Darkozric]

Nice
https://af.gog.com/en/game/realms_of_antiquity_the_shattered_crown?as=1649904300