Preview RPG Codex Preview: A peek at Legends of Eisenwald

[Micmu]

Nice!
Good potential but if this game ends too much like Disciples 2 (shit combat) or King's Bullshit (shit everything) I'll pass. Hex grid is super small so I expect some D2-like bastardization right there but they say it'll have more options, so... And I hope there will be some actual strategy elements in it (like conquering/managing/defending towns, mines, passages, etc. and shit), multiple heroes against AI and not just pointless combat after combat vs. "neutrals" like in that King's...thing.
Basically, general concept of D2 but with KB's combat would be ideal, but not the other way around. Another KB with D2's overly simplistic combat is a terrifying prospect.

 

[toro]

Looks good. Why cannot AOD look like this?

 

[Brayko]

What the fuck is "tasteful rape"? I still haven't figured out the origin of that one.

 

[A user named cat]

Loved the newer King's Bounty games, this is looking to be just as good if not better so far. Probably the most promising Kickstarter project I've seen.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

What the fuck is "tasteful rape"? I still haven't figured out the origin of that one.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/gahahaha-lets-play-sengoku-rance-nsfw.37634/

 

[Commissar Draco]

as always comes from the East.

 

[Kz3r0]

as always comes from the East.

 

[Petrell]

On the subject of movement, is there a limit on movement points? Or are the battlefields small enough that movement extends everywhere? I ask because you mention every turn requires an action and there is no partial move, and I'm wondering what restriction exist in regards to the movement of melee units. Or can a melee unit bypass frontline units to attack ranged units?

I must've missed the news on this item. I like the King's Bounty and Disciples games, so offhand the game appeals to me.

You may be able to make big enough hole in sides of enemy front to be able to engage back rows with your melee units. This must be done so that engaging back row unit(s) takes as many moves (hexes) as engaging frontline unit (you must always engage closest enemy and you have to kill enemy unit(s) to disengage). Intiative plays big role in battles as higher intiative makes it possible to slay enemies before they have turn and not all weapon types give automatic counterattack (and obviously, there's no counterattack against ranged attacks).

There's short explanation for current implementation and features (lot of features are still incomplete or missing, including magic user player character) in developers forums.

 

[Mother Russia]

I want more detail on the magic system, esp the mystic class.

Zed says the mystic casts mostly healing spells. However the official website and a screenshot say otherwise (i.e. plenty of flashbang attack spells) Hope that's true! Also hope for some daemon summoning! :D

 

[Petrell]

Nice!
Good potential but if this game ends too much like Disciples 2 (shit combat) or King's Bullshit (shit everything) I'll pass. Hex grid is super small so I expect some D2-like bastardization right there but they say it'll have more options, so...

The hex grid and combat was explained in third kickstarter update, well before end of KS.

And I hope there will be some actual strategy elements in it (like conquering/managing/defending towns, mines, passages, etc. and shit), multiple heroes against AI and not just pointless combat after combat vs. "neutrals" like in that King's...thing.

I can't comment on warfare aspect as I haven't decided what side if any I should take (hard to decide when you have little evidence and NPC lords blame each other for the (scripted) assault on your castle. What I know is that (at least in first scenario) you controll one group of max 12 characters. You are mostly free to wander the map unless you are one timed quest(s) (may be taken or forced upon you) and engage wandering or static hostiles. As far as I can tell, you can only take and hold castles, other locations can only be visited or cleared of hostiles (but this may well change in later scenarios or updates).

NPC lords have main army (where the lord is in person) and patrolling groups and I believe thay can take each others castles if they're strong enough (there was mention that (allied/subject?) lords may well turn on you if they grow stronger than you, ie they take your opponents holdings and have more than you do afterwards). There are watch towers and outposts that can have garrisons (as do castles) but as I have not engaged any lords yet, I can't say what purpose they play when war is declared or how they work.

Basically, general concept of D2 but with KB's combat would be ideal, but not the other way around. Another KB with D2's overly simplistic combat is a terrifying prospect.

Unless war opens more strategic options, there's currently little stategic aspects beside having big enough garrison to hold your own castle while yours main force takes on enemy lord/castle. As is it's more RPG with team combat (as quests play important role on how you progress in the game. You also play lot with equiping and leveling up your army and main character) than strategy game so it's closer to KB than to HoMM. Magic does play much smaller role compared to either (mostly healing and buffs so far and havent heard anything about spells of mass destruction) which is good thing in my book (in KB you'll end up annihilating entire armies with you spells/rage spirits by mid/late game).

 

[Petrell]

I want more detail on the magic system, esp the mystic class.

Zed says the mystic casts mostly healing spells. However the official website and a screenshot say otherwise (i.e. plenty of flashbang attack spells) Hope that's true! Also hope for some daemon summoning! :D

AFAIK, offensive magic is not implemented yet. Currently the magic user player character is also unavailable (as without spells he would be pretty useless). I really hope they don't implement any mass destruction spells ala KB and HoMM. They'll just fuck the whole game up as it becomes race of who gets to cast them first and, basically, win.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Petrell.

I have long held opinion that Legend of Eisenwald would be a great cRPG combat game while willfully withholding commenting about the writing. From my experience with the "prequel" I had an idea that the system put onto a grid would really make the game more interesting and tactically challenging (I am hoping the level of challenge is still the same).

But now that you have heard the criticism concerning the writing/the locations/gossip do you intend to make some changes to alleviate the "perceived" problems?

 

[EG]

Them's some fine graphics.

 

[Spectacle]

What the fuck is "tasteful rape"? I still haven't figured out the origin of that one.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/gahahaha-lets-play-sengoku-rance-nsfw.37634/

The origin goes way back before Rance. It was originally volourn who wanted to add "tasteful rape" to his NWN mod.

 

[J_C]

What happened to the combat, what's with that grid? They said that the combat system would be like Disciples 2, but now there is grid movement.

They had the grid system from the very start. They even had a screenshot.

 

[sser]

Looks good. The movement system sounds iffy, but also seems like something better done in practice than on paper. I'm a fan of both the KB series and M&B, but I'm wondering if a strictly non-fantasy based game in a genre full of monsters and spells is going to hold my interest. A major contributor to KB's fun is fighting all sorts of nasty creatures; and the fun of M&B is actually fighting your enemies. The game does look great, though, aesthetically speaking.

 

[G.O.D]

What happened to the combat, what's with that grid? They said that the combat system would be like Disciples 2, but now there is grid movement.

They had the grid system from the very start. They even had a screenshot.

This.

And to add to it:

I usually will defend Disciples, but not it's combat system.
At the time it was ok, but since there possibly is a better system in LoE.. Why would you even want the D2 combat system?

 

[Grunker]

Looks good. The movement system sounds iffy, but also seems like something better done in practice than on paper. I'm a fan of both the KB series and M&B, but I'm wondering if a strictly non-fantasy based game in a genre full of monsters and spells is going to hold my interest. A major contributor to KB's fun is fighting all sorts of nasty creatures; and the fun of M&B is actually fighting your enemies. The game does look great, though, aesthetically speaking.

Pretty much my thoughts. That's why I asked Zed about active combat abilities and that kind of stuff. My only worry with this game is that the combat system seems very thin somehow.

 

[Zed]

That's why I asked Zed about active combat abilities and that kind of stuff.

No you didn't.
But I can answer anyway: I have no idea. I grabbed a skill for my hero but I had no idea if it was a passive ability, or if it was an active skill (and what it did, and how to use it). That information isn't implemented yet.
As for abilities for normal units, it's like HoMM. If it's a healer you just click a friendly unit. Certain units, like a later version of pikemen, have counter-attacking as a passive ability. Rogues seems to have backstabbing as a passive.
It's hard to tell when the game doesn't say, I can only assume.

 

[Grunker]

That's why I asked Zed about active combat abilities and that kind of stuff.

No you didn't.
But I can answer anyway: I have no idea. I grabbed a skill for my hero but I had no idea if it was a passive ability, or if it was an active skill (and what it did, and how to use it). That information isn't implemented yet.
As for abilities for normal units, it's like HoMM. If it's a healer you just click a friendly unit. Certain units, like a later version of pikemen, have counter-attacking as a passive ability.

I didn't mean you actually, I meant Aterdux

I asked them about it in our interview. For some reason I pinged you though.

 

[Aterdux Entertainment]

First of all, thank you for great preview and all your comments! I wish we had more impressions like that, because we are still tweaking many things and feedback is very important. I think we will mention this in our next Kickstarter update to encourage more feedback and critique.

I am not quite sure what you mean, Grunker, but I assume you are talking about different skills like in King's Bounty where you can select at some turns different ways of attacking. For this, no, we almost don't have it. Almost, because heroes will have a different behavior based on their skills they can get during upgrades. And casting units can select different spells. But many units will have alternative passive abilities that can be activating by defending for one turn. As Zed correctly pointed out, the detailed information is not implemented yet but it will be at some point. Backstabbing already works, as well as counter attack and some other things.

While we love recent King's Bounty, we are not huge fans of the combat there - it feels quite repetitive when you play it longer. We want to make combat both fun and not too long, and our combat is definitely far more complex than Disciples 2 or Discord Times though.

 

[Grunker]

I am not quite sure what you mean, Grunker, but I assume you are talking about different skills like in King's Bounty where you can select at some turns different ways of attacking. For this, no, we almost don't have it. Almost, because heroes will have a different behavior based on their skills they can get during upgrades. And casting units can select different spells. But many units will have alternative passive abilities that can be activating by defending for one turn. As Zed correctly pointed out, the detailed information is not implemented yet but it will be at some point. Backstabbing already works, as well as counter attack and some other things.

What I'm talking about is whether combat will almost only consist of "click --> attack". From your reply I assume that it does, except for the passive skills you can use by defending

My concern is that with the removal of movement, this will make for a very "bare bones" combat system.

 

[Aterdux Entertainment]

Grunker, I think your concern is purely theoretic at this moment I know you are very busy but if you find time to try out beta, maybe you will have a better feel of it. I wasn't bothered at all by point-and-click attacks in Disciples 2 for example, but they were a bit too simple. That one could be called "bare bones" and our combat is simple yet diverse and dynamic, at least in my prejudiced opinion

 

[Grunker]

Grunker, I think your concern is purely theoretic at this moment I know you are very busy but if you find time to try out beta, maybe you will have a better feel of it. I wasn't bothered at all by point-and-click attacks in Disciples 2 for example, but they were a bit too simple. That one could be called "bare bones" and our combat is simple yet diverse and dynamic, at least in my prejudiced opinion

Of course it's only theoretic. That's why I'm trying to get a better feel for it. Until I turn in the paper I mentioned when we last talked, I won't have to time to try your game :/

 

[J_C]

Latest update for the game is up:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1684781151/legends-of-eisenwald/posts/367806?ref=activity

It seems that Aterdux didn't get as much feedback from the beta as they would like, so they open up the beta for the 15 dollar backers (this meas me, yey!). It is really a shame that people don't take these beta testing seriously. They just want a free sneak peak into the game. I hope the devs get more info from the new beta.