Game News The Age of Decadence Christmas Update

[Captain Shrek]

:shrug:

 

[Crooked Bee]

Personally I like AoD the way it is. The kind of "modular" design it has lets me quickly test and even, if I'm lucky, complete the game with one build, then quickly replay it with a different build, or tweak the build and give the game another go, etc. It has the kind of replayability that only roguelikes have held for me before, and I think that's a great thing.

On a related note, I was replaying Anachronox recently and had to give up after Democratus, simply because I got tired of all the running around the game expected me to engage in. So unless the game is explicitly focused on freedom of exploration (like Ultima, for example), then that kind of thing can definitely kill replayability, at least for me.

Of course, I wouldn't mind if AoD had more optional content that would become accessible as you explore around, random events and such, but every game must know its own strengths and limits, and in AoD's case its main strength is quick replayability and the multitude of different builds/routes through the game; all other things should come second, if we want the game to be released within a reasonable timeframe.

 

[suejak]

I like thinking of it as a CYOA dialogue-based roguelike without any randomized content. Although the "one-quest-at-a-time" design philosophy is restrictive and bores the shit out of me, it's an interesting gameplay experiment.

More than Fallout, AoD has much more in common with a different lineage of games: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/alter-ego

 

[Vault Dweller]

It's not about dumbing down, quite the opposite. It's about keeping the experience focussed on the brainy parts.

This. That's exactly why we did it.

Rather than flesh out the dumb parts?

You can't flesh it out*. Everything that's been suggested (ambushes, chance encounters, side content, etc) is already in the game and does not require walking back and forth between NPCs (as that's the only thing that we removed).

* talking specifically about walking between NPCs within a quest in an urban environment in isometric mode. Obviously, walking between different locations in a game like Gothic, Daggerfall, or even Wizardry 8, where the focus is on exploration, is a completely different feature.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Personally I like AoD the way it is. The kind of "modular" design it has lets me quickly test and even, if I'm lucky, complete the game with one build, then quickly replay it with a different build, or tweak the build and give the game another go, etc. It has the kind of replayability that only roguelikes have held for me before, and I think that's a great thing.

That was the idea. Juggernauts like Fallout 2 and Arcanum aren't designed to be instantly replayable. You make a character and stick with him/her and the overall design supports it - you can't really corner yourself. AoD is a different game. You make a character, make decisions, see what happens. If your character dies, you make a new one because it's easy and you can get where you were when you died fast, but with a different character who made different decisions. You haven't lost anything because you haven't wasted a lot of time walking, fighting filler fights, grinding to get levels, clearing lengthy dungeons just to trigger the next part of the main quest, and you don't have to do it all over again.

I'd like to replay the Witcher because it was a decent game but it is the filler and running back and forth that's holding me back. It's fucking boring, at least for me.

 

[J_C]

But how long will the game be, if you can just rush through it? I don't expect 50 long campaign, but I hope it will be longer than an action game.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

But how long will the game be, if you can just rush through it? I don't expect 50 long campaign, but I hope it will be longer than an action game.

I'm playing the demo as a kind of light Rashomon campaign, where each playthrough provides a different facet of one story, rather than a playthrough being an entirely new story. Not sure if this will hold for the game proper, but if it does, then the campaign is really a series of parallel campaigns.

 

[Jasede]

Don't be like that, VD. Some people don't like some things. That's all.

I'll still get the game. Most will. You don't to be so defensive. It's as if you were asking for arguments about why some prefer the color green over blue. And I know you'll just disagree again... that's just the way you are. But I wish you'd just let it be. I know you have a reason for your design decisions. I know they all make sense from your point of view. I know all that. I think everyone voicing any criticism does.

Don't be like that. Empathize a little more. It's different. It'll take getting used to. All different things do.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Don't be like that, VD. Some people don't like some things. That's all.

Don't be like what? Have I attacked or insulted anyone in this thread? I've never expected everyone to like the game, not even on the Codex. Well, especially not on the Codex. So, I'm not upset that someone doesn't like something. I'm merely explaining why I felt strongly enough to make this decision even though I knew that it would rub some people the wrong way.

I'll still get the game. Most will. You don't to be so defensive.

Explaining one's reasons isn't the same as being defensive.

It's as if you were asking for arguments about why some prefer the color green over blue.

Well, it's not quite the same, is it? Green over blue is 100% subjective. Teleporting is a bit more than that, as you can see, and I'm not the only person here making arguments in favor of it.

And I know you'll just disagree again... that's just the way you are. But I wish you'd just let it be.

Let what be? I don't bring up this issue in every thread trying to convince people to like it. In case you didn't notice, I didn't say a word about teleporting until page 3, when other people started discussing it again. I hope I'm still allowed to join a discussion and offer my opinion without upsetting anyone.

Don't be like that. Empathize a little more.

^ Something you'd expect to see on Bioware forums.

 

[Jasede]

Not really... we all know each other long enough to know better than this. Maybe it's just because you're not a native English speaker and I'm not a native English reader that what you write comes off as overly defensive rather than as rational and logical as you might imagine it to be.

Can't you just ignore the recurring criticisms rather than argue them every time they crop up? Some people will never like certain things. Don't you understand what I'm trying to say? Am I really that off?

 

[made]

Rename game to Age of Teleportation imo.

 

[tuluse]

Empathize a little more.

 

[Elhoim]

I always read these threads regarding the teleportation implementation, hoping to see some good feedback (with exact issues on a particular situation in the game) on where would be REALLY good to avoid it, but most of the time I just see pointless bitching from people who only played the first release of the beta.

First of all, I agree that there the teleportation was out of hand, and I take responsibility for it since I did most of the scripting for quests. One of the reasons I did that was to avoid breaking quests, as I wasn't as confident as I am now on my scripting abilities. But after that first version there are almost no situations of forced teleportation inside the quests, except for when the only thing left to do is to report the completion of the quest, or when the quest takes you to another map. We added options to walk around and do stuff when teleporting brought a definite hindrance to the player, like not being able to loot when it made sense to be able to or when you are tasked with a combat encounter (ambushes don't count, of course).

While there are some situations in which we would like to add some more freedom of movement in the current beta, we overall are pretty happy with the current implementation.

Now, we would love to hear feedback on some particular situations in which you think that the game could be improved by adding the option to walk around. So if you'd like to download the latest beta (which has the alchemy system and it's really cool) and share some suggestions, we would be really grateful. Or you can continue bitching without playing the game, which takes far more less time.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Not really... we all know each other long enough to know better than this. Maybe it's just because you're not a native English speaker and I'm not a native English reader that what you write comes off as overly defensive rather than as rational and logical as you might imagine it to be.

Had the Codex (well, not the entire Codex, but the majority of reasonable and well regarded posters) been of the opinion that teleporting was a horrible blight upon humanity and I kept arguing, then you'd have a point. In reality though, a number of reasonable and well regarded people either don't mind the teleporting, or even appreciate it and its effect on the gameplay, or understand and agree with the reasons behind it. They make good arguments and well thought through posts. Do they come off as overly defensive too?

Can't you just ignore the recurring criticisms rather than argue them every time they crop up? Some people will never like certain things. Don't you understand what I'm trying to say? Am I really that off?

Am I allowed to join existing discussions (i.e. two parties arguing the merits of teleporting or lack thereof) and offer my opinion or is such behavior frowned upon these days?

 

[Infinitron]

Your candor is appreciated, Elhoim. That's what I thought the teleportation was about.

 

[Tigranes]

I thought teleporting was excessive in R1 and complained about it. As Elhoim says, a lot of that has been made optional, and I think that's just fine. Not exactly sure if everyone knows exactly what they're complaining about.

 

[J_C]

I'm still having graphical glithces in the conversation screen. Any ideas what causes this?

 

[Elhoim]

I'm still having graphical glithces in the conversation screen. Any ideas what causes this?

It's the antialiasing (AA) settings. Torque has issues with shaders and non-fullscreen windows rendering, we will try to dig into the rendering code to find a way to solve that.

 

[J_C]

Great. Thanks!

 

[Executer]

Personally I like AoD the way it is. The kind of "modular" design it has lets me quickly test and even, if I'm lucky, complete the game with one build, then quickly replay it with a different build, or tweak the build and give the game another go, etc. It has the kind of replayability that only roguelikes have held for me before, and I think that's a great thing.

That was the idea. Juggernauts like Fallout 2 and Arcanum aren't designed to be instantly replayable. You make a character and stick with him/her and the overall design supports it - you can't really corner yourself. AoD is a different game. You make a character, make decisions, see what happens. If your character dies, you make a new one because it's easy and you can get where you were when you died fast, but with a different character who made different decisions. You haven't lost anything because you haven't wasted a lot of time walking, fighting filler fights, grinding to get levels, clearing lengthy dungeons just to trigger the next part of the main quest, and you don't have to do it all over again.

I'd like to replay the Witcher because it was a decent game but it is the filler and running back and forth that's holding me back. It's fucking boring, at least for me.

I remember your less than flattering Morrowind review, It makes sense that you would eschew hiking simulator aspects that have put you at loggerheads with some Codexers.

 

[RK47]

is the way forward.

 

[Redlands]

Maybe the problem is that the interface is very similar in layout to Fallout, whereas the game itself is not. It makes people feel like they're expecting a Fallout-style game (particularly if they're just going by screenshots), but it sounds to be more like Darklands (at least where the "teleporting" stuff was involved; haven't been able to try anything but the combat demo).

 

[Tigranes]

is the way forward.

I am ashamed, ashamed that I can't quite remember where that icon is from...

 

[Infinitron]

It's something from Neverwinter Nights.

The Recall Stone probably.

 

[UserNamer]

I think teleporting is an excellent idea and I think every rpg should minimize unnecessary back and forth.