There will be Age of Decadence 2?

[Üstad]

I recall him once mentioning that sequels are not financially viable.
Maybe I'm misremembering though, anyone have the quote?

I recall that too. I think he said he'll make it about kantari domain if he will ever make age of decadence 2 game.

 

[Thal]

There's no need call it AoD 2, and sequel isn't even necessary, since the story is self-contained. But why not use the setting, when it is pretty strong and unique? Remember what Jeff Vogel about his business practice? When he remakes Exile/Avernum every 10 years, he can sell the game to an entire new audience, because it's a new game for them. Well, why not do the same, except make an new game instead of remake? Just use the same setting, but don't market it as being part of a series.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Games that are no sequels or remasters/remakes/reboots are so rare.

 

[Inconceivable]

A sequel to AoD would be a strategy god-game in which you have to direct your underlings to found new cities, collect resources, construct buildings, and finally erect shrines and majestic temples to have them serflings worship their savior. In later stages of the game you have to raise armies to defend from invading demons and wage war against equally divine rivals.

Not sure AoD RPG really needs a sequel, since it is one of the genuinely most replayable games I know that offer very different storylines depending on the background you choose to play as.

 

[Daedalos]

Would much rather have another sci-fi RPG than another AoD-like.

Colony Ship is shaping up to be amazing, so I hope it follows some DLC, and perhaps another sci-fi rpg or post-apoc.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Would much rather have another sci-fi RPG than another AoD-like.

Colony Ship is shaping up to be amazing, so I hope it follows some DLC, and perhaps another sci-fi rpg or post-apoc.

We're developing CS with a sequel in mind. Not because we're convinced it will sell like hotcakes and people will surely demand a sequel but because it's better to develop factions toward a specific 'destination' (once the ship lands). From an old update:

From Colony Ship's intro: "...after the Ship's launch a deep space probe transmitted highly detailed images of the surface, which revealed one minor setback: this very habitable world is already inhabited. Since the voyage is estimated to take close to 400 years, it’s possible that by the time the Ship arrives the colonists will encounter a mature civilization, corresponding to Earth’s Middles Ages."

The typical space opera trope is that when we make first contact, it is with aliens either corresponding to very primitive indigenous people (such as in Avatar), consisting of a nightmarish swarm (as in Starship Troopers), or at some extraordinary level of technology themselves (as in Star Trek or Babylon 5). Here, however, while the aliens are pre-industrial, they are well past the spears and face-paint stage, and have well-established political, economic, and military systems.

More importantly, they are alien, which means that while they may be humanoid (to make our animator's life easier), the fundamental logic of their society, religion, and power should be truly alien to ours and vice versa. The result is a highly asymmetrical kulturcampf.

For the record, it won't be a retelling of the conquest of the New World but on another planet. The ragtag Terrans who'd land on Proxima B after 400 years of space travel and in-fighting will be at a disadvantage and will have to fight for survival and adapt to this less than welcoming arid new world. Reinforcements won't be coming, so the Terrans will be on their own and each defeat will bring them closer to being wiped out for good. They will have to rely on crude firearms more than ever as the high-tech weapons and gear intended for the future colony were used up during the Mutiny and the civil war that followed. New factions will emerge in response to new threats, each offering a different way to survive and become part of this world.

 

[Drowed]

We're developing CS with a sequel in mind. Not because we're convinced it will sell like hotcakes and people will surely demand a sequel but because it's better to develop factions toward a specific 'destination' (once the ship lands).

Any plan, however superficial, where the player can use his CS1's save to somehow influence CS2's world, or is this something completely out of scope? Obviously I'm not talking about the same character, but the long-term consequences of the choices you made during the first game. I mean, I can totally understand that this may be something too complex for a small company, but a man can dream.

 

[Vault Dweller]

We're developing CS with a sequel in mind. Not because we're convinced it will sell like hotcakes and people will surely demand a sequel but because it's better to develop factions toward a specific 'destination' (once the ship lands).

Any plan, however superficial, where the player can use his CS1's save to somehow influence CS2's world, or is this something completely out of scope? Obviously I'm not talking about the same character, but the long-term consequences of the choices you made during the first game. I mean, I can totally understand that this may be something too complex for a small company, but a man can dream.

No, because the conflict, events, and factions need time to evolve. The sequel will take place 40-50 years after the landing. Your character will be Proxima-born not shipborn. This way it's your planet too, the only home you've ever known.

Needless to say, if the first game does poorly, there won't be any sequel. We're simply developing the factions with the possible sequel in mind, so that IF we do the sequel, the factions' evolution will make perfect sense to the player.

 

[daveyd]

Not sure if Ceres Games might do after successful Realms Beyond launch, a spin-off in Age of Decadence. It would be their own antique fallout

Ceres has expressed interest in making a few RB expansion packs if Ashes of the Fallen is successful enough to make that financially viable.

 

[Ibn Sina]

The idea is very interesting, but I do not see how there can be comparison between a post space travel society and that of a society of spears no matter how different they are. If the colonists have the knowledge to make firearms, no matter how rudimentary they are then they also posses the knowledge to make explosives and primitive rockets and artillaries. Even the most ragtag militias in the middle of the desert can fashion them from the simplest of items. They can fashion stuff like the Falak rockets of hezbollah when mass launched can cause massive havoc. Also making TNTs and artillary which can all be manufactured this day and age from local groups and does not require much knowledge.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The idea is very interesting, but I do not see how there can be comparison between a post space travel society and that of a society of spears no matter how different they are. If the colonists have the knowledge to make firearms, no matter how rudimentary they are then they also posses the knowledge to make explosives and primitive rockets and artillaries. Even the most ragtag militias in the middle of the desert can fashion them from the simplest of items. They can fashion stuff like the Falak rockets of hezbollah when mass launched can cause massive havoc. Also making TNTs and artillary which can all be manufactured this day and age from local groups and does not require much knowledge.

Shaka Zulu might frown upon such blatant disrespect for spears but I do agree that hordes of spear-wielding natives vs gun-totting Terrans isn't a very interesting conflict. The way I see it, the best answer to this dilemma is psionics as it would make the warfare perfectly asymmetrical.

Humans rely on tools, the natives rely on psionic abilities. They have no defenses (yet) against the firearms as they've never had to deal with such enemies before, whereas the Terrans have no defenses (yet) against their psionic attacks. Human minds are as unprotected and fragile to them as their bodies to 'us'. They will have other mental abilities as well: basic telepathy, mental suggestions, etc. Conversations should be fun to write and very different from AoD and CSG.

 

[laclongquan]

Gunpowder require some resource and if the landing area doesnt have the necessary mines (saltpeter), gunpowder weaponry wont be very long-lasting or widespread.

Witness the hurdles the Japanese had to go through in the Sengoku era to build up musket troops or cannon troops. (they had to sift through fece pool to gather crystals of niter for saltpeter)

 

[Ol' Willy]

Industrial capabilities will allow Terrans to produce a shitload of STEN-like simple, but effective firearms, but powder is indeed the problem. Black powder and full-auto are incompatible.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Game sequels (the movie industry is different) work best when you have a massive blockbuster like Skyrim or Witcher or BG back in the day. They don't work well for smaller games (XCOM 2, Legend of Grimrock 2, Banner Saga 2-3, Eschalon 2-3, Shadowrun games all sold less than the first game even though some sequels were of higher quality; Deadfire sold less than the first game too) and back then AoD 2 would have sold 60% of what AoD sold at best. 10-15 years later (counting from 2015), running on Unreal 4 - that's a different story.

When we had to make a decision about the next game, we sold 30-40k copies, iirc. Now it's 240k copies. The audience has grown over the years and the rating didn't drop below 81%, which is a good sign. While we don't have any specific plans at this point, we certainly would like to revisit the AoD world one day.

Can't it be a sequel but in name? Don't market it as sequel, but make it set in the same world, the story you plan, and title it away from age decadence. Fans will pick up on it, people who don't like AoD can be duped into AoD universe again.

I dunno instead of something like Age of decadence 2 or age of decadence: expeditions name it something like Qantari Mystery or other shit (im bad at names)

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I dunno instead of something like Age of decadence 2 or age of decadence: expeditions name it something like Qantari Mystery or other shit (im bad at names)

Decadence of Age.
Done.

 

[Rahdulan]

No, because the conflict, events, and factions need time to evolve. The sequel will take place 40-50 years after the landing. Your character will be Proxima-born not shipborn. This way it's your planet too, the only home you've ever known.

Considering that's the plan and you've brought it up I'd like to hear your thoughts on the age old question of "should franchises evolve past what made them appealing to their audience in the first place?" I've seen bantered at various outlets online. Example raised in such instances was usually Fallout and whether it should always remain stuck in (post)post-apocalypse or move past that as world naturally rebuilds to something different. Do you think core gameplay/design choices would draw people in more than obvious things like aesthetics, setting, etc in such cases?

 

[laclongquan]

OTOH, with a spacefaring remnant, gauss weaponry is a possibility. Electric power stored in high quality battery, power up gauss guns to launch metal bullets at mach or better speed.

E power come from spacecraft's engine, battery might be made by onboard equipment, all local~

There is a big gap between melee fighters using cold weapons (and stun stick), and ranged fighter using gauss guns, but there's you have it~

 

[Invictus]

I love AoD and the setting but getting more of the same is kind against everything VD and IT stand for... dont get me wrong I would buy it but it’s like Martin Scorseese movies; I rather have brand new stories and characters under the same core concepts and game values (strategic combat, C&C, interesting setting, well written dialogues and characters) with a studio I absolutely trust to make the best game possible with no compromises

 

[Vault Dweller]

Considering that's the plan and you've brought it up I'd like to hear your thoughts on the age old question of "should franchises evolve past what made them appealing to their audience in the first place?"

I'd say that franchises should definitely evolve as rehashing the same design will get old fast but the design core should stay the same. There's an equal danger in serving the exact same meal as in serving something completely different.

Do you think core gameplay/design choices would draw people in more than obvious things like aesthetics, setting, etc in such cases?

It needs to be both, in my opinion. In our case, landing the ship is a logical choice that changes the setting, gives the old factions a reason to change, split, merge, etc to adapt to new challenges, different enemies, evolved weaponry, psi, mind-reading natives affecting dialogues, etc.

 

[Ol' Willy]

I, for one, will welcome AoD 2 with the same engine, [mostly] same assets, but new story and quests, simply because there's so few games like it (if any). As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[HoboForEternity]

I, for one, will welcome AoD 2 with the same engine, [mostly] same assets, but new story and quests, simply because there's so few games like it (if any). As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Isnt torque a nightmare to work it ?

Colony ship looks great and UE4 is a pretty good and flexible engine. I think iron tower will stick to unreal, especially they prolly spent a lot of time tinkering the engine to work with their systems.

And if unreal 4 can be imported to 5 with not too much hassle, i see this what ITS is gonna use for a long time.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

mind-reading natives affecting dialogues

To have mind reading natives affecting dialogue, you are going to have players state their true intentions somewhere in dialogue? If so, how are you going to prevent players from lying about their intentions to the game, so they can outmaneuver mind readers? Or you are just going to have natives be able to know player all past actions?

 

[Black Angel]

Imagine Vince’s systems and writing in WW1-era Cairo with all the factions: British, Egyptian, Bedouin, French, etc.

A man can dream..

This will happen

I dunno instead of something like Age of decadence 2 or age of decadence: expeditions name it something like Qantari Mystery or other shit (im bad at names)

Decadence of Age.
Done.

Age of Dickadence: an Axel Braun parody

 

[Vault Dweller]

mind-reading natives affecting dialogues

To have mind reading natives affecting dialogue, you are going to have players state their true intentions somewhere in dialogue?

Where would be fun in that?

 

[Rincewind]

I love AoD, but I think the universe suffered from too many (often good) ideas articulated poorly. It consisted of too many disparate elements:

The strength of Fallout was the consistency of its setting. Characters and factions in AoD are some of the most interesting in RPG land, in some cases they're the best I've seen. But the unfocused nature of the setting undermines it.

To mix genres the way AoD attempted, it should be done in an original way that doesn't trivialize its disparate elements but instead shines new light on them. Fallout did this by basically inventing its own brand of retro-futurism. AoD on the other hand, simply alternates one solid idea with many questionable ones. Ancient cultures and religions are such a rich topic begging to be explored, why bring Stargate, Dune or HP Lovecraft into it?

Uh, not for me. I've enjoyed AoD a *lot* more than Fallout; to me they're not even comparable, AoD is so much better in literally every single aspect (gfx, music, COMBAT!, writing, story, atmosphere, C&C, setting, replayability, so everything).