Game News SKALD: Against the Black Priory Teaser Trailer

[Rincewind]

the art direction is completely on point.

Who said anything bad about art direction? AoD has great art direction too for comparison but that game is still pretty ugly.

AoD looks just perfect, I think it's very nice, and I did play through it many times. Tbh, if you need "better" gfx, I think you're in the wrong forum...

 

[jackofshadows]

AoD looks just perfect, I think it's very nice, and I did play through it many times. Tbh, if you need "better" gfx, I think you're in the wrong forum...

Are you even capable of discussing graphics alone? Wtf do you even mean by perfect?! It had even worse 2d graphics before the move to torque and for some unfathomable reason they're making their new game on unreal. Now why would they do that if it looks "perfect"? Jesus. Yes, otherwise the game is great, one of my all time favorites, believe it or not. And yet it's rather ugly. Like, below average on a scale from atrocious, offensively ugly to breathtakingly beautiful. Distractingly enough ugly. At the same time - great art direction starting from architecture, location design in general, characters to small stuff like weapons and gear.

 

[Darkozric]

if you need "better" gfx, I think you're in the wrong forum...

Now this is just retarded.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I should know by now to upload and link pic rather than hotlink from site.

 

[Luzur]

So still no clear answer on the woke dev thing LOL

 

[Rincewind]

Are you even capable of discussing graphics alone?

To some extent I think I am, but then I'd argue you cannot completely remove a piece of art, in this present discussion the in-game art, from its context when discussing its qualities. You wouldn't hold any game art to the same "quality standards" as Leonardo Da Vinci paintings, would you? Similarly, "ranking" cave paintings by the same quality standards you would appply to classical paintings would be rather retarded, I think.

Similarly, directly comparing pixel art to say ink drawings is a bit meaningless as they're very different mediums. Well, comparing ink drawings to photographs to oil paintings wouldn't make too much sense either, to be honest.

In the same vein, trying to rank 8-bit and 16-bit pixel art on the same scale is rather pointless too. No wonder there are separate categories for each type of art in demoscene competitions for each category (e.g. "oldskool pixelgfx", "modern pixelgfx", "raytraced gfx", "freestyle" which could include scanned traditional art, etc.)

they're making their new game on unreal. Now why would they do that if it looks "perfect"?

I could think of a very long list of reasons for switching the engine, none of them having anything to do with the quality of the graphics. But if you *really* want to know, perhaps ask them?

Wtf do you even mean by perfect?!

Thanks for asking! By perfect I mean the graphics of Age of Decadence continued to amaze me and evoke feelings of awe and wonderment while I was roaming its desert filled landscapes illuminated by the golden light of the dying sun. And that quality has nothing to do with a few blurry textures here and there, or some blocky low-poly models. Those are technicalities, and art is greater than the sum of its parts.

Yes, otherwise the game is great, one of my all time favorites, believe it or not.

Mine too, and I believe you.

And yet it's rather ugly. Like, below average on a scale from atrocious, offensively ugly to breathtakingly beautiful. Distractingly enough ugly.

Sorry to hear you had been distracted by the graphics. It never happened to me -- quite the opposite, as I described above. Many times I just stood there for minutes, taking in the scenery while listening to the phenomenal soundtrack. *Never once* did I think "oh this game could be so great if it wasn't ruined by the horrible graphics".

...

Yet all this doesn't say that much about the art of Age of Decadence in an "absolute" sense, I hope you realise that. We just enjoy different things.

Now I am genuinely curious, and I'm asking this without irony: can you list your top 5 games where you're 100% happy with the graphics? Preferably RPGs, but it can be anything.

if you need "better" gfx, I think you're in the wrong forum...

Now this is just retarded.

Not really. Fans of more cerebral types of games (RPG, Strategy, Adventure, etc.) have always prioritised subtance over style (both the creators and the players). All the kids in the 80s who only cared about gfx were playing actions games and shot'em ups, then FPSs in the 90s and beyond. This hasn't changed much at all to this day.

 

[Darkozric]

Fans of more cerebral types of games (RPG, Strategy, Adventure, etc.) have always prioritised subtance over style (both the creators and the players). All the kids in the 80s who only cared about gfx were playing actions games and shot'em ups, then FPSs in the 90s and beyond. This hasn't changed much at all to this day.

We're not talking about mechanics or substance. The argument is about graphics and art direction. What do you mean "fans of more cerebral types of games have always prioritized substance over style?", Sierra games had substance and style.
Also why is someone in the wrong forum if he wants better graphics, are we going to banish the codexers who like PoE2 graphics?

 

[Rincewind]

Fans of more cerebral types of games (RPG, Strategy, Adventure, etc.) have always prioritised subtance over style (both the creators and the players). All the kids in the 80s who only cared about gfx were playing actions games and shot'em ups, then FPSs in the 90s and beyond. This hasn't changed much at all to this day.

We're not talking about mechanics or substance. The argument is about graphics and art direction. What do you mean "fans of more cerebral types of games have always prioritized substance over style?", Sierra games had substance and style.
Also why is someone in the wrong forum if he wants better graphics, are we going to banish the codexers who like PoE2 graphics?

Most prestigiuos people here value gameplay over art, you know that.

Compare pre-Eye of the Beholder SSI games to any action game from the late 80s/early 90s. If you're only comparing the graphics, there's no comparison -- those action games always look a lot better and have more polished graphics by *miles*.

Yes, later adventure games from the 90s are a lot better looking.

But compare something like Rise of the Tomb Raider or any modern FPS with any modern RPG. No RPG has "AAA-level" graphics, so it you're a graphics whore, you'll always be disappointed.

 

[Darkozric]

Most prestigiuos people here value gameplay over art, you know that.

Gameplay always comes first but for some reason you seem to insist about substance and gameplay while your initial disagreement with jackofshadows was about art/graphics.

There's no need for so many game examples, fuck AAA titles, the disagreement is specific. You said AoD looks perfect and if someone needs better graphics than this he's in the wrong forum.

And I ask you again, codexers who like PoE2 and Beautiful Desolation more than AoD are gfx whores? Do we need to banish them for that? Because both these 2 aforementioned games are more visually appealing than AoD.

 

[jackofshadows]

To some extent I think I am, but then I'd argue you cannot completely remove a piece of art, in this present discussion the in-game art, from its context when discussing its qualities. You wouldn't hold any game art to the same "quality standards" as Leonardo Da Vinci paintings, would you? Similarly, "ranking" cave paintings by the same quality standards you would appply to classical paintings would be rather retarded, I think.

Similarly, directly comparing pixel art to say ink drawings is a bit meaningless as they're very different mediums. Well, comparing ink drawings to photographs to oil paintings wouldn't make too much sense either, to be honest.

In the same vein, trying to rank 8-bit and 16-bit pixel art on the same scale is rather pointless too. No wonder there are separate categories for each type of art in demoscene competitions for each category (e.g. "oldskool pixelgfx", "modern pixelgfx", "raytraced gfx", "freestyle" which could include scanned traditional art, etc.)

I see where you're going with this but like I pointed out already, Skald is a modern PC game, period. I don't mind games being made with even ASCII graphics today but praising them for it would be bizarre, don't you think?

I could think of a very long list of reasons for switching the engine, none of them having anything to do with the quality of the graphics. But if you *really* want to know, perhaps ask them?

I'm not 100% sure so don't quote me on this but as far as I remember, the poor graphics WAS the main reason for the switch. You see, it's pretty obvious for most people including devs themselves but you, apparantely.

Those are technicalities, and art is greater than the sum of its parts.

Now imagine if technicalities were there to match the art direction! Ah, right, AoD's perfect already, my bad.

Now I am genuinely curious, and I'm asking this without irony: can you list your top 5 games where you're 100% happy with the graphics? Preferably RPGs, but it can be anything.

Here's not top 5 perhaps but just random 5 off the top of my head: X-COM TftD, Diablo, Civilization, PoE2, CP2077.

Not really. Fans of more cerebral types of games (RPG, Strategy, Adventure, etc.) have always prioritised subtance over style (both the creators and the players). All the kids in the 80s who only cared about gfx were playing actions games and shot'em ups, then FPSs in the 90s and beyond. This hasn't changed much at all to this day.

This is tiresome. Prioritize one <> don't care about the other. If I'll have the time, I will create a separate thread regarding this: why people think these are mutually exclusive things? Why we supposedly have such high standarts for the writing, for combat especially (better yet, cherry pick a few RPGs with the best combat systems or outright take a couple of tactical games with RPG elements and then declare all the other RPGs as shit and anyone who likes them as filthy storyfags) but not for the looks? As if it doesn't matter what you actually see on your fucking display the entire time while playing.

But the solution is simple: ignore Twitter and shit like that if it bothers you. I have literally no idea what's going on there; the only time I check some Twitter posts is when I click one posted on the Codex...

Ostrich policy is a luxury which we cannot afford when the scum decided to taint our hobby among other things. Be aware of who exactly create games you're about to play. Cases when creators don't insert their agenda into products they made are rather exceptions these days, unfortunately.

 

[Tweed]

If they give us an editor we can probably just take the pozz out.

 

[0sacred]

So still no clear answer on the woke dev thing LOL

apparently digging through his Twitter account is enough

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Wait? You like CP2077? Isn't that a very agenda driven company and game? POE2?

Pillars Of Eternity 2 Getting Woke Puts Pillars Of Eternity 3 In Jeopardy - Reddit

Woke agenda invading Cyberpunk 2077 : r/Gamingcirclejerk - Reddit

Yeah, fucking reddit links but still. Seems they may have shitty political agendas so why the bitching here?

 

[jackofshadows]

Wait? You like CP2077? Isn't that a very agenda driven company and game? POE2?

Pillars Of Eternity 2 Getting Woke Puts Pillars Of Eternity 3 In Jeopardy - Reddit

Woke agenda invading Cyberpunk 2077 : r/Gamingcirclejerk - Reddit

Yeah, fucking reddit links but still. Seems they may have shitty political agendas so why the bitching here?

Spoiler

Yeah I can't open those links on the phone and ain't installing their whatever app. Anyway. As the quote suggests, I was listing games where I was happy with the graphics. That's it.

However since you brought it up, I'm curious of what exactly reddit marks as woke there because those two games aren't terribly woke at all. PoE2 has annoying "players-gender" sexually oriented companions plus maybe a bit unhealthy amount of strong wymbyn in general but that's about it as far as I remember. As for CP2077, that's another story and the company itself is definitely woke as shit now but surprisingly enough, aside from irrelevantly mentioned character's transition I cannot recall anything worthwhile and note that my woke-tolerance levels are low as ever.

In any case, regarding awareness: it's needed for two things: decision about whether to support the product with $ or not and how strongly is expected the spoiling. For instance, if creators are woke and the game is story-oriented then it's pretty much hopeless (see Swansong for reference) but if it's some sort of action game or puzzle or whatever then it becomes much less important.

Lastly, I didn't actually bitch about supposed wokeness of skald dev.

 

[Tweed]

How is that retarded? People have been modding out faggotry and black people from games for awhile now.

 

[bandersnatch]

So still no clear answer on the woke dev thing LOL

Hey I tried. I posted a recent woke tweet from the publisher/devs of this game... but it got deleted for some reason and moved to retardoland along with other members positive responses to it.... so yeah. Keep in mind I was only answering some elses question by posting a tweet from the devs in their own words.

But lets face it, even if the mods and other 10% of woke on the Codex are trying really hard to "protect" and promote woke RPG companies on the Codex it won't matter in the end.... woke companies always self-destruct because they make stuff that nobody really wants, just like Disney's gay buzzlight year movie. Their woke agendas are their religion and like religion, it influences everything they touch. They hate you unless you are as woke as them. That is becoming more and more clear in this world and I actually like the fact that devs and other companies are actually being honest about it now.

You're starting to see more and more companies say don't buy our stuff if you aren't woke like us. You have to wake up and understand this is the new normal. I expect more devs and publishers come out with this stance as polarization increases. At least that's more honest than tricking you into buying their stuff and then ramming their woke agendas down your mouth! I could say more, but I've been banned once before for simply bringing up the woke agendas of devs (using their own words) on the Codex so I'll stop.

 

[Alex]

So still no clear answer on the woke dev thing LOL

Hey I tried. I posted a recent woke tweet from the publisher/devs of this game... but it got deleted for some reason and moved to retardoland along with other members positive responses to it.... so yeah. Keep in mind I was only answering some elses question by posting a tweet from the devs in their own words.

But lets face it, even if the mods and other 10% of woke on the Codex are trying really hard to "protect" and promote woke RPG companies on the Codex it won't matter in the end.... woke companies always self-destruct because they make stuff that nobody really wants, just like Disney's gay buzzlight year movie. Their woke agendas are their religion and like religion, it influences everything they touch. They hate you unless you are as woke as them. That is becoming more and more clear in this world and I actually like the fact that devs and other companies are actually being honest about it now.

You're starting to see more and more companies say don't buy our stuff if you aren't woke like us. You have to wake up and understand this is the new normal. I expect more devs and publishers come out with this stance as polarization increases. At least that's more honest than tricking you into buying their stuff and then ramming their woke agendas down your mouth! I could say more, but I've been banned once before for simply bringing up the woke agendas of devs (using their own words) on the Codex so I'll stop.

I am guessing Infinitron is butthurt because they try to keep "gd" stuff separate from game stuff. Of course, since the dev himself didn't seem to care, I don't see why should we.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

You know what, I could give a flying fuck if someone else doesn't buy or like the game. You bitched your bitch ass remarks and said you ain't buying. Ok. We don't need to read all your damn reasoning of what is woke or shitty graphics. Go make a thread about shitty gfx, sfx, interface, plot, design, and wokeness. I don't even fucking know what woke shit you supposedly see in this game.

This is SKALD the trailer and some of us want to see what comes to be.

 

[Rincewind]

I don't even fucking know what woke shit you supposedly see in this game.

Based on what I've seen so far, some guys here are running a rather simple algorithm:

1. Have any of the devs said *anything* I don't agree with? If so, goto 2
2. The dev is "woke" (whatever that might mean), DON'T GIVE THEM MONEY!!!1111!

Advanced level, add step 1/b:

1/b. Have any of the devs *implied* in any way they sympathise with people who have views I don't agree with? If so, goto 2

 

[Luzur]

So still no clear answer on the woke dev thing LOL

Hey I tried. I posted a recent woke tweet from the publisher/devs of this game... but it got deleted for some reason and moved to retardoland along with other members positive responses to it.... so yeah. Keep in mind I was only answering some elses question by posting a tweet from the devs in their own words.

But lets face it, even if the mods and other 10% of woke on the Codex are trying really hard to "protect" and promote woke RPG companies on the Codex it won't matter in the end.... woke companies always self-destruct because they make stuff that nobody really wants, just like Disney's gay buzzlight year movie. Their woke agendas are their religion and like religion, it influences everything they touch. They hate you unless you are as woke as them. That is becoming more and more clear in this world and I actually like the fact that devs and other companies are actually being honest about it now.

You're starting to see more and more companies say don't buy our stuff if you aren't woke like us. You have to wake up and understand this is the new normal. I expect more devs and publishers come out with this stance as polarization increases. At least that's more honest than tricking you into buying their stuff and then ramming their woke agendas down your mouth! I could say more, but I've been banned once before for simply bringing up the woke agendas of devs (using their own words) on the Codex so I'll stop.

Guess ill have to wait and see then, but good work anyway *slaps banders ass*