The Age of Decadence

[Evnissyen]

Yeah . . . isn't this the one we've all been waiting on for like two years, now? The one where you visit their forums and they've all gotten so sick of waiting for the game that they've all torn down the walls, started campfires and actually begun imaginary campaigns, as if the game development were just an excuse to get people to play online D&D, or something?

(Maybe I'm thinking of another game.)

[ido]

The game looks absolutely awesome, but it seems doubtful it will ever be released.

It reminds me a bit of Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader, a good but flawed commercial RPG. It started out really good but after a few hours got a lot more thin on content.

The lesson to learn here is I think to know your limits and plan for the right scale: I rather play a relatively (compared to the classics) small RPG like Eschalon than a game that has about the same amount of content but which thinly spreads it over a lot more levels.

[AK_Marty]

Yeah . . . isn't this the one we've all been waiting on for like two years, now? The one where you visit their forums and they've all gotten so sick of waiting for the game that they've all torn down the walls, started campfires and actually begun imaginary campaigns, as if the game development were just an excuse to get people to play online D&D, or something?

(Maybe I'm thinking of another game.)

You are correct sir. This game will be in development until the coming of the apocalypse. The ongoing line is "We don't want to sell it until it is perfect." Ten thousand years of tweaks later, it may be released.

[sapper_astro]

I can wait it out. From the sounds of the combat demo it will test the brain as well, which is like music to my ears.

[azraelck]

Two years? Is that all? Grimoire has been in development since the last century at least. It's been "coming soon" and in beta testing for at least 5 years that I can recall.

[quasimodo]

I have high hopes for AoD. I know they are trying to make a game I want to play. Of course nothing is certain so they may fail, but if they are satisfied then I believe I will be too.

This is in contrast with pretty much all AAA game studios these days. The mainstream developers seem to be making games for someone else these days.

[AK_Marty]

The latest news on the AoD forum is a combat demo will be released by December 31. Let's hope this is for real.

[Evnissyen]

It's about time(?)

[BasiliskWrangler]

The combat demo is out. I'm with family and can't test it until Monday. I'd like to hear some opinions on it.

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/files/AoD_demo.exe

[AK_Marty]

Iron Tower website is nearing overload of bandwidth so you can also use this link:

http://www.filefront.com/15216873/AoD_demo.exe/

I will get it after work tonight.

[Elveronion]

i've played it for about 30 minutes. i guess i should post my findings over at irontower than here, but I assume someone from there checks in here regularly!! here are my thoughts.

1) the installation falied to put an icon anywhere on my system, either the desktop or start menu. i had to launch the game from the .exe within the install directory.
2) their 3D engine is sloooow. not that i have a powerhouse system, but given the 8-year-old look of the game, it should have run like a banshee. i got maybe 10-15 fps most of the time for 2 low-polygon characters in an empty arena at 1024x768???
3) the game (i know just a combat demo) is decent. good interface, lots of attention to detail. without this i think it would pretty much suxorz but the interface definitly makes the game more enjoyable.
4) i've read a lot about how the combat model is supposed to be so good, so advanced. for me it still came down to lots of str and dex, click-click-click, hope the dice rolls go my way. how is this any different than eschalon which some of the hardcore crowd says combat is too simple??????? still, i like the feel of aod combat, but revolutionary? no.
5) i give my experience with it a solid "c+". it is good and i am still buying the full game (support the indies!!), but i think i expected to be really impressed. it is good just not great.

[Evnissyen]

Won't be able to download that one for another week because I'm out of town and :

1. I'm on... ahem... dial-up... sigh.
2. I'm on a Mac and haven't yet expanded my storage capacity and configured my system for it to use PC executables. I've decided to buy an external drive so I don't have to transfer everything onto a new drive (although the dealer next door said he could simply replace the internal drive for me [relatively] cheaply... but this implies I'll have to transfer everything temporarily to my old (now my brother's) XP, a very big, long chore sure to make him really, really irritated... or to pay extra for the transfer. I'm not willing to do this. ...But this is all beside the point.

Perhaps I'll review AoD when I get around to it? ...Not that anyone is expected to agree with me when I do so.

Thanks BW & AK for the links... BW: yours isn't working (odd, I think, since it's from the original site... but I'm sure I can always go to the Iron Tower site and navigate from there... when I'm ready to download it).

[BasiliskWrangler]

Thanks BW & AK for the links... BW: yours isn't working (odd, I think, since it's from the original site... but I'm sure I can always go to the Iron Tower site and navigate from there... when I'm ready to download it).

I'm sure Iron Tower took it down after the bandwidth drain nearly shut down the site! Must be popular! Looking forward to trying it.

[screeg]

i've played it for about 30 minutes. i guess i should post my findings over at irontower than here, but I assume someone from there checks in here regularly!!

What a truly bizarre thing to assume.

RPGWatch has links to two download sites here. One thing ITS needs to work on more is self-promotion. At first glance, I couldn't find a download link through the official site.

Players with certain builds are having issues with the demo. I helped out with the beta testing for this release and can say problems appearing now are all new. Fortunately, most of them have quick workarounds, and of course Nick is working right now to resolve them. If you like turn-based combat, definitely try it!

[BasiliskWrangler]

i've played it for about 30 minutes. i guess i should post my findings over at irontower than here, but I assume someone from there checks in here regularly!!

What a truly bizarre thing to assume.

Yes, I don't think anyone from Iron Tower has an account here. Screeg is the closest thing to an ITS employee who comes by once in a while.

Thanks for sharing your opinions Elveron. You really should post your finding on ITS forums. This "shake down" test will really help the quality of the final game.