Age of Wonders: Planetfall Revelations - Interview with Game Director Lennart Sas

Wccftech interviewed Game Director Lennart Sas about Age of Wonders: Planetfall Revelations, which has been released today.

…

So the new hidden tech, in the trailer and in the game all have quite a magic feel to them still.

We created what we called a mythologic sci-fi, so it's more like Star Wars as opposed to hard sci-fi, and we did it not just for us but to make the transition easier for our fantasy fans. So the sort of almost magic sci-fi is intentional.

What do you think of the 4X genre at the minute?

It's an ancient genre, coming all the way from the early 90s. And I think it hit a golden age in the late 90s before recently having a resurgence. So I think there's plenty of opportunities to have a look at the genre. Maybe not as a leader, or nation, or empire but maybe as a corporate overlord. There's a lot of places the genre hasn't touched yet that I think would work well.

Are you considering any of these with your IPs?

We are fully committed to keep on developing Planetfall. So there are more expansions down the line, more free events down the line. We liked the reception, and of course, success can be measured in many ways: there's fan feedback, critical feedback, there's sales, and play data.

We also really focused on the simultaneous shipping with consoles, which is something we're really proud of. I don't think there's been another 4X game that has simultaneously shipped with all versions being equal across the platforms. We've got an entire pipeline running so that when there's a new build we can spit it out on very console at once. And in the past the way you would do that is to release it on PC and somewhere down the line, once all the bugs were fixed, you get someone else in to do the port. And that's been a big learning experience for us.

[…]

Thanks Farflame!

More information.

Sadly I expected something similar to the older games but was left playing something different. Anyway that's just my opinion as the main campaign felt meh at best.

The game has no main hero but has you playing different races to complete the story.

The expansion is an instant buy for me. Unlike Couch I thoroughly enjoyed playing through the campaign, the fact you only played two scenarios with each faction made even the campaign feel varied and fun (with some exceptions, Syndicate 2 was not a fun one).

I've put about 100 hours in so far, and will probably put in 25-50 more for each expansion, which I'd certainly say is good value for my money.

Previous games had a main hero that made choices throughout the game. So those choices allowed you to change races/factions, and by that alter the story & endings.

All that is missing now as it's a pre-defined story with various races, and no main hero to play. It also takes some getting used to as the mechanics are very different.

Sure it can be an enjoyable game but it's not an Age of Wonders game. Anyway I was excited when it was announced but I'm disappointed after playing it for a week.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Previous games had a main hero that made choices throughout the game. So those choices allowed you to change races/factions, and by that alter the story & endings.

All that is missing now as it's a pre-defined story with various races, and no main hero to play. It also takes some getting used to as the mechanics are very different.

Sure it can be an enjoyable game but it's not an Age of Wonders game. Anyway I was excited when it was announced but I'm disappointed after playing it for a week.

I hear you, and I never played AoW3 so I can't compare the two. I can just say I enjoy Planetfall a lot. I played AoW2 loads years ago but never got around to purchasing the third installment.

I was pretty excited about this game too but am left feeling "meh" about it. I didn't enjoy the campaign nor the general gameplay very much. I've played all the previous AoWs and had high hopes for them making this a bit more 4x. They've tried to do that but I feel the design and UI are rather poor in some areas - kinda like they bit off a bit more than they could chew. Also, it feels particularly like a lot of content is missing (perhaps part of Paradox's normal DLC strategy).