Blackguards - Now on Early Access & New Teaser

Couchpotato

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Daedalic Entertainment sent us a new press release informing us that Blackguards is now available on Early Access on Steam, and released a new teaser to go with the news.



Blackguards: Early Access


Hamburg, November 6th, 2013. Today marks the start of Daedalic Entertainments Blackguards in Steam’s Early Access programme, giving gamers the opportunity to try out the game three months before the official release. A new teaser, published today, gives a little taste of the captivating battles, the game has to offer:

http://youtu.be/0CBGhGymP8Y

http://store.steampowered.com/app/249650

Blackguards will be published chapter by chapter while in Early Access: Today Daedalic Entertainment releases the first part of the game, all other chapters of a total of five will follow after three weeks’ time each.

Early Access is designed to allow players to play a game before its official release, and to influence the development process by mailing in their feedback based on pre-release builds.

Daedalic Entertainment offers several packages for interested Early Access participants – in any case, players will secure access to the final version of Blackguards, by paying a lower price as when purchasing the game after its official release. Additionally, they have the opportunity to purchase exclusive extras that will only be available before the official release: For $24.99/£18.99/€24.99, players receive the Standard Early Access Edition of Blackguards, including all chapters for PC at their earliest availability, and the full PC & Mac version of the game after the official release. For $34.99/£26.99/€34.99, players receive the Blackguards Early Access Deluxe Edition, additionally including an approx. 150 page artbook, as well as developer interview videos and six exclusive wallpapers. Priced $49.99/£29.99/€49.99, the Blackguards Early Access Contributor Edition additionally includes an appearance of a buyer’s name within the game’s credits, as well as the first Blackguards DLC and a copy of the The Dark Eye point & click adventure Chains of Satinav for free.

All additional contents will be accessible after each item’s completion.

The official release of Blackguards is scheduled for late January 2014. The game will be available for PC & Mac, priced €39.99, further local prices to be announced.
More information.
 
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Downloading now. I'm pretty swamped, but I'll try to get in twenty minutes or so of playtime later this evening and post some first impressions here.
 
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Saw this earlier and was about to pull the trigger but after reading there FAQ I'm not so sure about it.

These concerned me :

"Why is there no 360° camera?
We wanted to keep interaction in towns simple, without too much time going into the search of certain characters or dialogue partners. On the battlefield, this also contributes to a fast paced gameplay with good navigation. However, you can still tilt the camera in different angles for an optimized view.

Why do piles of crates and barrels always fall into a certain direction?
Piles are placed in certain strategic areas. If they'd fall randomly, they'd probably impair a maps intended design.

Why can't I declare an attack by clicking a portrait?
The portraits are useful for showing initiative sequences, but are not suitable to display complex tactical situations. Declaring actions by relying on portraits could result in pretty frustrating mistakes.

Why are there no flanking modifiers and why can you parry attacks from behind?
We experimented with a flanking system, but ultimately, we ditched it. It would've caused unwanted 'tactical' patterns, having players running around enemies every turn just to get a flanking bonus/backstab.

Why aren't there more character customization options?
Character creation was made deliberately simple to ensure a quick access to the actual game. You can freely skill and level up your character. You can decide which spells, skills and attributes you favor. The only preset you have to choose is a character type at the game's beginning."

None of these are really deal breakers but it has put me on the fence as to wether or not I want to try it now or wait for someone else to take the plunge and provide feedback.:)
 
Well. I gave myself about 15 mins or so on it. Enough time to get a feel for how it's going to work, but that's about it for tonight. I can't really give much insight into the combat mechanics just yet, as it starts off rather simple (typical tutorial-style beginning). Though there is a bit of menu text that isn't fully implemented and other small issues along those lines, the game looks and feels quite polished.
1) char gen is simple, but it seems to fit the design of the game
2) sound effects and music are quite good. I still have the music in my head as I type this
3) voice acting is surprisingly good so far, though the timing is a bit rough here and there
4) character interaction seems simple and scripted, but again it feels like it's doing what it's supposed to do
5) graphics are nice, and definitely establish the mood of the scene
6) performance is very good on my mid-range PC; the game's initial load time is the only real noticeable load so far
7) I've only seen the first two battle maps, but after the initial disconcerting feel of not being able to rotate the map, they have played well and with good fluidity
8) the inventory/character sheets are nice and detailed

The biggest thing I can say about the game right now is that though I haven't had time to really fiddle with it, I am completely intrigued and can't wait to get a chance to sit down and seriously dig in. Nothing so far has indicated that I will be disappointed, and that is saying a lot since I've had high expectations for this game for quite a while.
I will try to get some real playing time in tomorrow and give a more informed and thoughtful early review.
 
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Michael, you need to post more often :) Thanks for the quick view.
 
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This looks like a very nice little side game (Fantasy Xcom does indeed seem like a fair assessment) that I'd definitely be interested in for the right price (read: a Steam sale).

But the Character generation and combat need to be pretty involved and detailed. If it is simple and streamlined I see no point to this.

So, eager to hear more from Michael and anyone else determined to invest in this (and thanks in advance :) )...
 
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Heythere! Thank you all for your interest in Blackguards! If you have any questions or comments please check our dedicated forum on steam. The developers themselves answer specific questions and you can get more detailed information :)
Thank you very much :)
 
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I was able to take another half-hour on Blackguards during lunch today. After being a developer in the industry for many years, if nothing else I've become quite adept at quickly spotting shovelware/garbageware/rushware and uninspired, derivative games. I am happy to report that it is very clear to me that this is none of the above. There is a lot of creativity and attention to detail in this game. I can't yet judge scope, but the game is certainly ambitious and obviously there is a lot of heart put into it. There are already quite a few early mini-reviews on the Steam forums, so I won't beleaguer the points already made. Instead, suffice it to say that this game is worth your early-access dollars and more. It's the type of game I've been waiting to see for quite a while.
 
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Will there be a boxed version later? - or is it a Steam online-only game?

-> I'll play this :)
 
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Cool, that's enough for me. I'll pick this up this weekend.
 
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No thanks. I am not paying to beta test. That's ludicrous.

Couch, why are you promoting this bad practice by posting articles like this? And ignoring suggestions to post actually interesting and insightful articles about progressing the state of the art like this?

http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22334
 
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No thanks. I am not playing to beta test. That's ludicrous.

Couch, why are you promoting this bad practice by posting articles like this? And ignoring suggestions to post actually interesting and insightful articles about progressing the state of the art like this?

http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22334
You made a forum thread already, and people can go there if it interests them. I don't like this either but it's news. Also I never got a single reply or pm telling me people want more posts like the one you linked.
 
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I made a forum post because you continue to ignore news post suggestions for interesting articles. Might as well delete the submit news button from the front page if you are just going to ignore suggestions.
 
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I made a forum post because you continue to ignore news posts suggestions on interesting articles. Might as well delete the submit news button from the front page if you are just going to ignore suggestions.
No Thrasher I received your news submit after you made your thread. Most of the news submitted is posted, or news I'm ready to post already. Quit acting like the offended party here I told the reason why already.

Now this is the last time I will comment on this consider it closed, and move on.
 
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No Thrasher I received your news submit after you made your thread. Most of the news submitted is posted, or news I'm ready to post. Quit acting like the offended party here.

You failed on multiple occasions to reply or even acknowledge suggestions in the past. In this occasion, and in the future, I pretty much have given up on making news post suggestions, since you always ignore them. This is a LONG standing bad habit of yours.
 
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You failed on multiple occasions to reply or even acknowledge suggestions in the past. In this occasion, and in the future, I pretty much have given up on making news post suggestions, since you always ignore them. This is a LONG standing bad habit of yours.

Leave the potato alone, he puts a lot of effort into the site and has always been responsive to suggestions. Also he's very sensitive and we don't want him to get pissed off.
 
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You failed on multiple occasions to reply or even acknowledge suggestions in the past. In this occasion, and in the future, I pretty much have given up on making news post suggestions, since you always ignore them. This is a LONG standing bad habit of yours.

The solution is simple Thrasher; join the team and become a News poster yourself. Currently Couch is posting about 90% of all the news on the site and doing an excellent job. I'm sure he'd be quite happy to have someone else share the burden!!
 
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