RPGWatch Feature: Let's Play AoD!

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) 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 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.

More information.

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

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

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

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

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…

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Reminds me a bit of the small "What's in a game"-Series by Larian Studios (for Divinity).

Looks awesome.

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!…"

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.

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?

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

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