RPGWatch Feature: Let's Play AoD!

[Dhruin]

Vince D. Weller takes us through a pictorial example of actual play from The Age of Decadence, in this first of a new series based on a game on the official forums. Since Vince's introduction explains the concept well, let's take that as an excerpt:
A few months ago we decided to start a "Let's play AoD" (The Age of Decadence (http://www.irontowerstudio.com/)) thread. If you aren't familiar with the "let's play game X" idea, here is how it works: someone plays a game, posting screenshots documenting each step of his/her progress and letting the audience make all decisions, from the character system to quests and in-game choices. In my opinion, that's a great way to present a new game, as it's more honest and straightforward. It shows you not what developers want to show you, but what the audience wants to see. Anyway, while you're welcome to visit our forums and participate in the Let's play AoD (http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=149.0) thread, it's a 50-page long beast filled with arguments, counter-arguments, argument-busters, and tactical nuclear arguments, so if you are only interested in the screens and some commentaries, this article, the first in a short series, is for you.
Read it all here.
(http://www.rpgwatch.com//forums/../show/article?articleid=79&ref=0&id=2)
More information. (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=8345)

[Dhruin]

This was fun and I look forward to the next one!

[txa1265]

That was *so* much more digestible than trawling that massive thread ...

[DR490N]

Hey, that's like eating in front of a starving child, you bastards ! Gimme your game.

[Foss]

Pretty cool.

Had seen one those threads on the AoD site, but never got myself to go through it all.
This is nice though, and I think it will be a good game. Not sure I have ever bought an indie game before though. But this might just be the first :)

[Dr.Strangelove]

Thank you, Vince.
This is a game about choice and consequencs(a rarity these days) with developers who actually care about and want community feedback to fine-tune the game(even rarer). This article was really needed to allow new people to appreciate the game and participate to the "Let's play" thread without being scared of by its size.
Oh, and I feel like starving DR490N, too...

[screeg]

I really like the way Vince is taking indy development, from his belligerent defense of turn-based combat to the exhaustive fan review of every type of content, from combat to the interface to dialogue to etc.

He's really setting the bar for game developers. Seeing the immediate success of Eschalon (at least to the extent that a sequel was promised within weeks of release), I'm confident AoD is going to be a hit.

[dteowner]

I think this game just officially hit my radar. This summary is a very effective selling tool, Vince. I look forward to further installments.

[Squeek]

Nice. I'll definitely have to give it a try!

[chamr]

Great idea! Thanks, VD. Looking forward to the next installment...

[Corwin]

Good one VD. Enjoyed the piece and was sorry when it finished. Always great when you leave people wanting more!!

[jaikbenrichard]

Thanks for this !
it is a nice read and makes me longing for this game even more !

[Terry]

Nice presentation I will certainly be keeping an eye out for more info on this one. Good to see more indi products with a professional look to them.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Reminds me a bit of the small "What's in a game" (http://www.larian.com/Site/english/divinity/special.html)-Series by Larian Studios (for Divinity).

[mlmarkland]

Looks awesome.

[zahratustra]

LOL I just LOVE this bit from "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" interview:

"...Vince: I’m a big fan of the “honest and blunt” approach. An internet reader has a right to visit a game site and read “Did Oblivion really suck or what?” or “Molyneux has gotta be on drugs!”, don’t you think? Instead every journalist pretends that Oblivion was a 10/10 brilliant masterpiece, that Molyneux isn’t a lying old kook, and that Dungeon Siege wasn’t a screensaver. Then Chris Taylor says that he’s making Space Siege even simpler and everyone nods in agreement: Right on, man! It’s about time someone makes a game for the amputees. BRA-VO!..." :D

[Badesumofu]

Always enjoy reading Vince. That was a lot easier to follow than the forum thread, too. Interesting to read a few pages of the thread to see the thought processes going though. I'm curious to see what role the loremaster plays in that opening set-piece. Looks like this will be my first Indie RPG since Dink Smallwood.

[booboo]

I remember seeing something about this game some time ago, but I didn't really follow it up. Having seen the avi and popped on over to the web site I'm pretty intrigued! Looks like it could be a really interesting play and certainly a game I would buy. Great to see that small creative companies still exist. Vince sounds like a interesting character - tells it like it is! Shine on you crazy diamond...erm...or something like that.

Any rumours on a release date? Looks like it's quite far along...but so far all I can find is TBA (!). I see they are also without a publisher? Is that the hold up?

[GhanBuriGhan]

I remember seeing something about this game some time ago, but I didn't really follow it up. Having seen the avi and popped on over to the web site I'm pretty intrigued! Looks like it could be a really interesting play and certainly a game I would buy. Great to see that small creative companies still exist. Vince sounds like a interesting character - tells it like it is! Shine on you crazy diamond...erm...or something like that.

Any rumours on a release date? Looks like it's quite far along...but so far all I can find is TBA (!). I see they are also without a publisher? Is that the hold up?

No, its more down to extensive polishing and testing, and that is taking a long time. The game is basically done, but rough. If you look at the original thread or the forums in general, you can see how it goes - They polish the writing, the quests, the interface, the graphics, then the quests again, a little new feature here and there, etc., etc., . A release this year still seems realistic, but I won't bet my wife and daughter on it...
I think VD is pretty concerned that if he has a messy release, he loses his one chance to break into the business and turn to game development in earnest.

[Corwin]

Also, if VD messes up, he has a reputation behind him which could come back to haunt him for a VERY long time!! :)

[VDweller]

Any rumours on a release date? Looks like it's quite far along...but so far all I can find is TBA (!). I see they are also without a publisher? Is that the hold up?
Nope. The game will be available for download when it's ready. Professionally produced boxed copies will be mailed to those who prefer this option.

As for the publishers, the game has generated a lot of attention and we've received a lot of publishing inquiries, so signing up with a publisher [for non-English speaking markets] won't be a problem.

Regarding the release date, this year sounds reasonable, but our priority is not to ship the game asap, but to deliver a quality game. If Blizzard can teach people anything is that polish and attention to details is much more important than shipping something playable.

Thanks for the interest, guys.

[booboo]

Nope. The game will be available for download when it's ready. Professionally produced boxed copies will be mailed to those who prefer this option.

...

Thanks for the interest, guys.

Ah ok! I live in one of those bandwidth-starved countries where I have a rather low monthly cap, so downloading probably won't be an option for me. Unless it's a few 100 MB. Also outside of the main game markets, I guess, so it's unlikely to get here with great ease. sigh.

[Dhruin]

I think a few hundred Mb should definitely cover it. Any comment on the anticipated size, VD?

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I'd prefer boxed copies, too.

[txa1265]

I'd prefer boxed copies, too.

Games in boxes, patches on print magazine disks?!?! C'mon Alrik - time to leave the 20th century behind :D

[Arhu]

Games in boxes, patches on print magazine disks?!?! C'mon Alrik - time to leave the 20th century behind :D

Hush. He was running Win 98 still in 2006, if I recall correctly, long after it had officially stopped being supported. Maybe he's just being old-fashioned. Or maybe it's his way of life. ;)

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I was running Win98Se still until September 2007. ;) Then my motherboard died. ;)

I agree that I'm quite conservative in these terms. But I have my reasons: A game on a CD-ROM stays there much longer than o a harddisk, I assume.

Of course, you can always have backups, or reinstall it from the downloading server, but that's still different to me.

It's similar of streaming vs. on CD to me: One is never physically there, only a shadow, a scent, a hint of something, meanwhile I can physically touch what's on CD.

It's like going to McDonalds vs. buying everything and cooking a meal all by and for myself.

[SantAnder]

Also you can't get a manual, cloth map and a diamond encrusted case with a Digital Download, I miss the times where game boxes used to come with all sorts of fun stuff.

[booboo]

Yes, I must admit that I'm also one of the guys who likes my printed manual (which I actually read...much to the amazement of my friends ;-) PDF files are all very well, but unless I print something out I can't refer to them while I'm playing. And, well, I just like leafing through all that info, which shows (hopefully) the intricacy of the game I'm playing. I was just leafing through my IWD manual - which I'm busy replaying - aahhh!

Also, for me, the cost of downloading a 1-2GB+ game is about 30% of the cost of buying one (!).

[Dhruin]

So, you'll just use the mail-me-the-box option, right? No problem.

[booboo]

indeed ;-) unfortunately postal officials here tend to have unnaturally long fingers...have lost game orders from overseas before (Gothic 2 !!!) . Some US sites insist on couriering things to "darkest Africa" at $50 per item :bigcry: ... so it can be a costly proposition. In that case I might just be forced to download the everything and forgo my box. Would def be cheaper.

[Corwin]

Your other alternative is to have a friend in another more mail friendly country get the box for you and send it personal mail. I only got caught with the $50 courier costs once and that was enough!! :)