Age of Decadence - Peek #2 (Combat and Video) @ RPG Vault

Dhruin

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RPG Vault has (finally) published their second Age of Decadence Peek, which offers a detailed description written by VD of the game's turn-based combat system, seven new screens and the very first video footage. The ~48Mb, 3:25 trailer shows a single full encounter. Here's a snip from the humorous opening and then one on the actual combat system:
We call our new revolutionary combat mode "Xtreme". The recent advances in rocket science have allowed our engineers to slow down bullet-time significantly, achieving the above-mentioned and very next-generationy mode. It gives the player enough time to react and do all kinds of cool cinematic things in proper sequence. While to an untrained eye, it may seem that the game is still turn-based, we can assure you that you couldn't be more wrong, and what you are about to witness in the video accompanying this text is the cutting edge, Xtreme bullet time design of tomorrow. [...]
Speaking of armor, in The Age of Decadence, it doesn't increase your chance to avoid attacks. That's what the Dodge and Block skills are for. Armor absorbs the incoming damage when you failed to dodge or block successfully. Light armor absorbs only a few points, but doesn't limit your mobility, manifested in Action Points and Dodge. Heavy armor absorbs quite a lot, but it does limit your mobility, and can even make you easier to hit, so you must consider carefully what your fighting style is, and choose your equipment accordingly. Going for the heaviest armor and the biggest weapon may not be such a good idea.
More information.
 
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Looks half decent....is there a problem with frame rate at the moment which makes the guys go that slow or was that a choice on part of the developers....seems like it should be sped up a notch or two.

Also, do your bolts and arrows adjust damage for distance...I would assume an bolt shot at a few feet compared to far away would have a better chance of punching through armor.

Just some thoughts.
 
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Nice use of the grid, and ability to swap out weapons in mid combat--couldn't tell but I'm assuming it uses some AP to do that? Liked the look of the inventory screen as well.
 
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Fantastic. Nice to finally see the game in action.
 
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Well, looks very decent for an indie game, animations were much better than I expected. The Fallout heritage is clearly visible in the combat design, which will be a good sign for most. He needs some combat sound though.
 
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Yeah it looks really good to me. I agree with other comments, the speed could certainly be faster, if not movement then at least the attack anims and you'd be surprised what a big difference sound effects can make. Ooh, and a little blood spatter on the floor never did any harm.

It would be nice to see a couple more combat vids showing different elements like using the net etc. Perhaps the same encounter with different character builds?
 
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Really liked the Assassin's stabbing animation. Nice no-nonsense to-the-guts action. The spear/javelin throw and death animation from it was great too.
I agree with others that the speed's a little sluggish, but not too much.
Good stuff.
 
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Huh, I expected a flood of comments - part support for the project and part abuse. Does this mean everyone loved it or hated it?

I was impressed with how fluid and detailed it all looked, I wasn't expecting that degree of polish.

While it was nice to see lots of combat options which can clearly control the way a battle plays out, I was a bit disappointed with how dumb the opponents seemed to act and how ineffective that crossbowman was.
The crossbowman at such short range was doing next to nothing against the player character, when really, those bolts would be tearing through the armour of the PC. And I was surprised that the "assassin" seemed to have no assassination attacks, when the PC turned his back to the assassin, the latter's attacks were useless. I was also hoping to see the last remaining enemy turn to run, which would've made sense, but no he stayed to fight to be killed so the PC could get the rewards. It's a convention I'm accustomed to, but still always hope I'll see more realistic behaviours from enemies.

I guess the overall impression the movie gave me was that the game looks great and has very nice options and a good interface, but combat isn't that dangerous for the PC and the usual enemies that exist soley to be killed are present. I suppose I had some higher expectations there, given VD's general attitude of expecting more from game developers.

Still, one video of one fight is hardly indicative of all that much, as it's a fight without context.
 
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<justified criticism>
As the article says, there are balance issues that are dealing with at the moment. Currently fighting against 3 opponents is a suicide mission. We even tweaked the armor to make sure that the PC character lives long enough to last throughout the video (the bastard still dies in the end, which is why the remaining fighter doesn't run, btw). The crossbowman was very effective as well, too effective perhaps, which is why we had to tweak the armor.

Anyway, the video shows the overall feel of the game in motion, nothing else. We are planning to release another video in a month or so, improving the weak visual aspects (dodge, animation speed, etc) and showing the actual mechanics this time.
 
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As the article says, there are balance issues that are dealing with at the moment. Currently fighting against 3 opponents is a suicide mission. We even tweaked the armor to make sure that the PC character lives long enough to last throughout the video (the bastard still dies in the end, which is why the remaining fighter doesn't run, btw). The crossbowman was very effective as well, too effective perhaps, which is why we had to tweak the armor.

Ah, ok. That's good to know! Those things make sense, and I'm glad to see them explained as it lifts the concerns I had.

Anyway, the video shows the overall feel of the game in motion, nothing else. We are planning to release another video in a month or so, improving the weak visual aspects (dodge, animation speed, etc) and showing the actual mechanics this time.

Well, the game in motion looks excellent, and as I said, much better than I had anticpated. The speed didn't really bother me that much, but then I do like slower games. The animations looked solid, the only nit-picky thing I could comment on was that the PC's sword seemed to disappear on a certain animation.
 
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The animations looked solid, the only nit-picky thing I could comment on was that the PC's sword seemed to disappear on a certain animation.
That's the dodge animation. It will be completely redone.
 
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Bizarre, I know I made a comment on this. Maybe I timed out and didn't notice or maybe it ended up in the wrong thread. oh well.

VD, the video looks great. Much better than I anticipated.

I noticed that players can rotate the camera, or at least it moves. Is the Height locked on it? One thing that annoys players that devs don't seem to realize is when cameras are limited.

The best example is the two year fight between Bioware and the guy that unlocked the camera on NWN. Bio eventually conceded as we all know. I think a number of games had their sales hurt from demos that showed limited cameras.

Good work VD, keep it coming. It looks very professional.
 
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None of the attack animations have any weight to them. They look like they're rehearsing a fight scene at half speed, not trying to kill each other. And the movement rates look worse than Fallout at the default setting. I'm sure you're working on it, though.

Actually, and though I feel silly for drawing attention to it, my biggest issue is with the ground textures. Those of us with less than perfect eyesight tend to rely on the use of contrast to separate the foreground from the background, highlighting the significant elements of the scene. In those screenshots, the characters are dressed in softly graduated tones, while the "sand" is a riot of high-contrast detail, jumping up and down and demanding my attention. I don't know whether it's just those two textures, but if it's more widespread than that, I'd find this very tiring to play.
 
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Nice animations indeed, but the animation speed for movement and attacks needs to be much faster or else the combat will crawl forever with multiple opponents (one of the pitfalls of tb combat, like you didn't know that already Vince ;) ). By the way, the music in the video was good. Is it composed for the game or from somewhere else?
Lucky Day:
I noticed that players can rotate the camera, or at least it moves. Is the Height locked on it?
Free camera rotation would be nice in a 3d game.
VD:
We are planning to release another video in a month or so, improving the weak visual aspects (dodge, animation speed, etc) and showing the actual mechanics this time.
I see you have the animation speed already on to-do list. God speed with your polishing so you can release this game already. :thumbsup:
 
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Nice animations indeed, but the animation speed for movement and attacks needs to be much faster or else the combat will crawl forever with multiple opponents (one of the pitfalls of tb combat, like you didn't know that already Vince ;) ). By the way, the music in the video was good. Is it composed for the game or from somewhere else?
For the game. We have over fifteen different tracks, if I'm not mistaken.

Free camera rotation would be nice in a 3d game.
It's free.

I see you have the animation speed already on to-do list. God speed with your polishing so you can release this game already. :thumbsup:
Thanks.
 
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Looks great. The death ani's are especially good.

I, for one, vote for NOT speeding up the ani's too much. I find fast combat animations in most games looks phony and spastic. The pace in your vid looked just about right. Maybe a teensy bit faster.
 
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