KickStarter The Iron Oath - turn-based strategy RPG with awesome pixel art

[agris]

their marketing for this is so strange. the focus on the art screams "we have nothing else to show", yet the gameplay trailer hints at some actually interesting systems that would make this title stand out more than just being pixelArt_project37

 

[Darth Canoli]

their marketing for this is so strange. the focus on the art screams "we have nothing else to show", yet the gameplay trailer hints at some actually interesting systems that would make this title stand out more than just being pixelArt_project37

They're probably procrastinating. They show some old pixel work so we don't forget about them and think they're hard at work...

 

[Salvo]

their marketing for this is so strange. the focus on the art screams "we have nothing else to show", yet the gameplay trailer hints at some actually interesting systems that would make this title stand out more than just being pixelArt_project37

That's because today's market is flash over substance

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Anyone with plans to get this or am I gonna take the plunge?

 

[agris]

Nice, this is a much more meaty video that shows all the systems that they've been diligently ignoring in their marketing campaign!

From the video, it looks like the devs were heavily influenced by Battle Brothers. You run a merc company, taking contracts and have to navigate various political factions and nicely discretized reputation system while there is also an implied overall threat emerging in the world, something with demons and/or demon dragons. It looks like a mix of BB, darkest dungeon with a little bit of jRPG in how navigating dungeons is handled. I'm tempted to say the mechanics look a little superficial but that may be the right amount of depth if you have a *lot* of systems working together, which this seems to.

While the NPC portraits tend to have what I'll call "current year face", overall I'm really excited to try this.

Despite being irredeemably lazy, I decided to grab some shots of the non-combat interfaces. I figure that I've been griping about this long enough that, if there are others who are skeptical like me, they can quickly see some of the mechanical meat on these pixel art bones without watching a video. Infinitron as there really isn't any coverage of the non-combat mechanics for this yet, feel free to use any of these shots if you end up making a news post.

mechanics shots

 

[agris]

Anyone with plans to get this or am I gonna take the plunge?

I backed it on KS, I think this was the very last game KS got money out of me for, so I'll report back what I find.

One big change from the Kickstarter campaign is that, if memory serves, we were supposed to be managing a multi-generational mercenary company. I don't think that's in the cards any longer and I think this is more like BBs. It'll be interesting to see how much churn the roster can support, the original pitch implied high lethality ala X-com.

Also not sure if the world is randomly generated or not. For this to have legs, I think it needs random world gen like BB. May be hard if they're going for a more narrative approach. Anyone know? Zombra

 

[Reinhardt]

i liked characters more when they were just sprites.

 

[Zombra]

Anyone with plans to get this or am I gonna take the plunge?

Proud kickstarter backer ... but the game isn't actually releasing next week. It's releasing in Early Access. I might dink around a little but nowadays I don't play a lot of unfinished games.

One big change from the Kickstarter campaign is that, if memory serves, we were supposed to be managing a multi-generational mercenary company. I don't think that's in the cards any longer

You took a lot a screenshots but didn't watch the whole video I guess 2:38 shows a guy getting old and retiring.

Also not sure if the world is randomly generated or not. For this to have legs, I think it needs random world gen like BB. May be hard if they're going for a more narrative approach. Anyone know? Zombra

I don't remember hearing anything about a procedurally generated setting. Personally I am fine with a hand crafted world. After 600* hours of merc side jobs and the big finish of defeating the mega chaos dragon, I doubt I'll feel the need to replay this.

*Made up number. But I can easily see a lot of content here. Even if it's only 20 hours I'll be very satisfied with my $15 investment.

 

[agris]

One big change from the Kickstarter campaign is that, if memory serves, we were supposed to be managing a multi-generational mercenary company. I don't think that's in the cards any longer

You took a lot a screenshots but didn't watch the whole video I guess 2:38 shows a guy getting old and retiring.

i was too busy with my assburgers. i did see that, but thought it was more a way for a member to leave the company without being killed, rather than reflecting a campaign that is going for 10+ years. Hope you're right!

I just took a peak on the steam forums and a dev has said they have a fixed world, so it's not like BB in that regard. You're right that 15 hours is a good payback, doesn't mean I can't hope for greatness though!

 

[Tyranicon]

I might get it if there's new content, but if it's just more linear combat I don't think I will. Game's been in development since 2017 and very little of the open world is shown in action. My pattern recognition senses are tingling over this one.

Good pixel art can only carry a game so far. I mean, unless you're Stoneshard, then you'll make a shit ton of money apparently.

 

[jac8awol]

Reckon I'll get this day 1. Give them the benefit of the doubt. I haven't been burnt by a cash grab in a while, the pain has almost faded, it's time to get scammed again!

 

[Salvo]

Reckon I'll get this day 1. Give them the benefit of the doubt. I haven't been burnt by a cash grab in a while, the pain has almost faded, it's time to get scammed again!

This thing is barely a step above NFTs imo

 

[Zombra]

Spoiler

Really nice wallpaper art given as part of the "welcome pack" on the gog version. And they didn't fuck it up by putting logos on them! Thank you sennin!

 

[HoboForEternity]

I am with Tyranicon in this. At first the pixel art looks amazing. However they decided to show nothing but pixel art. Even in kickstarter updates that i bother to read, barely showing any systems /gameplay elements. Kinda sus.

 

[Zombra]

Welp, it'll be a shark feast tomorrow with the early access release - no need to wonder any more how it really plays.

 

[Tyranicon]

Welp, it'll be a shark feast tomorrow with the early access release - no need to wonder any more how it really plays.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. This has all the indications of a well-selling and well-received game if it ever completes. It may not be codex's particular cup of tea, but very little is and it's not something most devs worry about.

sennin was last seen: Jan 7, 2021

Yeah, probably practical at some point to avoid the codex like the plague, at least if you're a normal person.

 

[Ibn Sina]

Woke garbage. There is a tab to change pronoun of women to men or it or xir, so you can play as gender transformers

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Meh. Whatever, it's their game. I ignore that shit at this point.

Still, do we know a full list of classes / jobs, nationalities (if that affects things), races, etc.?

 

[Zombra]

There is a button I don't have to push in this game but my feelings are hurt by being given the option therefore the game is bad

 

[Zombra]

I wouldn't be so pessimistic.

Not pessimistic! A shark feast can be a joyful event.

 

[Serus]

Woke garbage. There is a tab to change pronoun of women to men or it or xir, so you can play as gender transformers

They unfortunately won't lose a lot sales because of nonsense like this but I'm one. It isn't even that this is worse that many already existing crap or it can't be easily ignored in game. However it is a bigger issue. Same kind of people who force the pronoun nonsense are also behind medieval Europeans all of a sudden changing their skin colour (rewriting history has a tradition) or all the forced homosex in games. It also influences the design itself of many games. Why we can't have pretty half-naked women in games anymore? This is graphic/art design. Same kind of people are responsible, or mostly. Why Japanese devs have to make version for western markets because their games aren't feminist or inclusive enough? Why some themes (like slavery or racial issues) are becoming more and more like a minefield that devs are willing to avoid to not risk shitstorms?
I would be responsible for all of this if I gave my money to such games. And so are you.
And f*** everyone who thinks such rant is out of place. It always amazes how shortsighted a human being can be. It's a miracle that some people can even plan for more than a few weeks in advance.

 

[Ironmonk]

Besides, the pronoun thing is a big alert that the writing might be infested with woke preaching... and you known, all woke advocates are terrible writers/coders/etc.

And yes, this game could be a exception with good everything, except the pronoun shit... But still, there is too many games, too little time/will to play... so, not going to buy/pirate/etc.

 

[Salvo]

Woke garbage. There is a tab to change pronoun of women to men or it or xir, so you can play as gender transformers

It's not even hidden, it's literally the first thing, above even gender

 

[mkultra]

lol.. do they think they're Hollywood?
There's no reason to include woke shit if you're indie, you have no gigantic investors who might demand wokeness and it's not like ESG score is important for a small developer. So they're just mimicing Hollywood or big AAA gaming studios (UBI-soft etc) and not even profiting of it in any way, they're just alienating potential buyers.