Save 25% on Age Of Darkness: Final Stand during the Steam Base Builder Fest!
Get ready to build your base defences and hold the nightmares back for less! đ ď¸
Age Of Darkness: Final Stand is now 25% off during the Steam Base Builder Fest event until Jan 30th đ¤
Prepare to construct walls, watch towers and Ballista towers and pray that they can hold back the hordes of nightmares that wish to extinguish humanity!
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
October marked our one year anniversary of our Early Access launch of Age of Darkness: Final Stand. As we approach the end of 2022, we wanted to take this opportunity to show our appreciation for our loyal fans, showcase what we achieved this year, and give you all a taste of whatâs to come.
From the beginning, we wanted our journey through Early Access to be undertaken alongside our community. On behalf of the dev team, we appreciate and value everyone's support throughout this period and look forward to bringing you even more exciting content through to v1.0.
This year saw us take Age of Darkness: Final Stand to both Gamescom and PAX Australia to showcase our latest updates. We were also humbled to receive the Australian Game Developer Award (AGDA) for Best Technical Achievement for SwarmTech, our internally-created technology that helps us render up to 70,000 units on screen at once.
To all our regular players, your fight against The Veil hasnât gone unnoticed! Over the last year you have slain more than two trillion Nightmares and survived almost 30,000 Death Nights. Unfortunately, some were not so lucky, with over 13 million Units and more than 350,000 Heroes fighting valiantly until their dying breath.
NEW FEATURES IN 2022
In 2022, our main goal for Survival Mode was to begin building and solidifying Faction Identity across the board. We wanted each Faction to feel unique, replete with Heroes, Units and Buildings that fit within the world of Erodar and simultaneously represent their Factionâs playstyle.
The Rebellion and Volatist Factions each gained a new Hero to champion their forces:
Vizargo, The Consumed Hand, who was tempted by the Veil and corrupted by the Dark Essence he consumed.
Cyrus, The Rebel Arm, a valiant long ranged Hero of the Rebellion, who will do anything to protect the lands that were taken from his Queen.
Along with the new Heroes, our existing two, Edwin and Aelis, levelled up and gained a new ability each to continue to cleanse Erodar of the evil that plagues it.
To join their fearless leaders on their quest to defend their land, each Faction was granted several new Units to bolster their defences:
The Pikeman joined all three Factions, which added a new melee Unit to defend the Keep.
The Order looked to the Light and were bestowed with the Siege Catapult and Lightbearer.
The Rebellion gained strength for their expansion with the Rogue and Hunter.
Last but not least The Volatists continued their dark experimentation, creating the Cultist and Harbinger.
Across all Factions, a plethora of new Buildings were introduced which expanded the different gameplay styles and build options available to players. Over this year, five new buildings were released: the Watchtower, Triage Tent, Fishing Port, and Refined Lumberyard.
It remains incredibly important that each Faction plays and feels differently, so as an addition on top of the unique Units, the unit modifiers for each Faction were changed slightly. This means that depending on the Faction you choose, your starting Units and Resources will differ, meaning different strategies are required for each.
Along with all these exciting new features, there was also a focus on quality of life implementations, the most notable of these being Priority Targeting and Enemy Inspection. The new Armour system meant that players needed to change their tactics when it came to their Death Night strategy, with each Unit now having a specific place thanks to the need to shred Armour.
New Hardships, Blessings and Malices were created for those who crave an extra challenge â Time Waits for No One and Mortal Coil Hardships, the Rigged Defences Blessing and Catalysing Injuries Malices. Alongside that, we created a more grounded feel to the world with the new Map Progression update, which showed the corruption of The Veil as you explore the Map. To help you find your way around, the Mini-Map filtering system was put in place to better highlight your Hero, Units, Resources and Enemies.
WHATâS ON THE HORIZON
As much as we would love to show you everything we are working on, we have to keep some things a secret⌠but we promise itâs worth the wait!
In the meantime, we can let you in on some things we know you will be excited about. We look forward to sharing more about them when we can.
The Veilâs corruption continues, with a new Hero joining the ranks of The Volatists!
2023 will see the release of our Campaign Mode, featuring bespoke Missions that tell the tale of a long brewing conflict between all the major players in Erodar. During Campaign gameplay, you can look forward to choices that will affect your objectives as well as curated in-game cutscenes.
Follow the conflict that is unfolding throughout Erodar with the Mission Select Map. This that updates at the end of each Mission showcasing which Factions are now occupying which lands.
You will also be treated to stunning cinematics throughout the Campaign to immerse yourself in the journey across Erodar and cultivate the beautiful storyline and lore within Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
Lastly, we know youâve been patiently waiting for an update on Multiplayer Co-op. Donât worry... More info is coming soon.
This has definitely been the most hotly-requested feature from our community. It is a gameplay mode that we want to get right from the get go and rest-assured there is a lot of time being poured into it. While we donât yet have a timeline weâre ready to publicly announce, we are continuing to work towards this alongside all the other content we have planned.
Weâre just as excited for Multiplayer as much as you are and canât wait to see the alliances that form from it! For now hereâs a sneak peek at whatâs to come.
THATâS IT, FOR NOWâŚ
Over the next two weeks, our dev team will be taking a well-earned break and coming back refreshed early January. This means that there will be no further Updates for the rest of the year and that we will be a little quieter in Discord.
Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. The Age of Darkness: Final Stand community is the reason we strive for the best, and we look forward to continuing this journey together in the New Year.
Donât forget to keep your towers lit, your defences armed and villagers safe, you never know whatâs hiding in The VeilâŚ
Until next year, For The Light!
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes youâve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the âbug-reportingâ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool. Till next time Protectors of the Light⌠AoD Social Links:
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hotfix Update v0.8.4
Protectors of the Light,
Off the back of our latest Content Update, Rebellionâs Rise, we are bringing you a new Hotfix Update to ensure your playing experience is as smooth as possible.
We are aware there have been some issues with the potential to hinder gameplay, therefore we have prioritised a hotfix to allow Age of Darkness: Final Stand players to enjoy the game over the holiday break without any interruptions.
Going forward, players will also have the choice to roll-back their builds to the previous Content Update should they wish to. This will be available from today and will be an ongoing feature of our future Steam Releases. Please note that our previous Content Update, v0.8.1, is currently available as a roll-back option.
To access the v0.8.1 Content Update, please follow these steps:
Launch Steam.
Navigate to your âLibraryâ and look for Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
Right click Age of Darkness: Final Stand and go to âProperties.â
Navigate to the âBetasâ tab in the âPropertiesâ window.
In the Beta Dropdown select: v0.8.1_opt_in
This will auto-enrol you in the Beta Branch and trigger a game update (there is no password for this Beta)
You should now have access to the previous Content Updates from v0.8.1 onwards! But be warned, save files created in later Release Versions will not be compatible with earlier versions.
Our development team will be taking a break over the holidays and will be coming back in the second week of the new year, so this will be our last release of 2022. As always please continue to report bugs to our Steam forums or in the bug reporting channel on our Discord, as we will continue to monitor those channels where possible.
Check out the full patch notes below:
Release Notes
QoL Improvements
Updated Credits to include Voice Actors for Cyrus, Rogue, Harbinger and Lightbearer.
Update the Version Number on the General Feedback panel.
Crashes
Fixed a crash that would occur when Final Stand is triggered.
Fixed a crash where players would be notified of a unit under attack after they had already been killed.
Fixed an issue where selling a building while it was researching or queuing units could cause a crash.
Fixed an issue where there could be invalid unit data between Order & Volatist units that could cause a crash.
Fixed a rare crash caused by hovering the cursor over a building as it was destroyed.
Added additional Sentry logging around areas of suspected crashes.
Fixes & Changes
Fixed an issue where the Reset button for Gameplay Tips was not functioning.
Fixed an issue where after tabbing through control groups, pressing tab with a building selected would cause the bottom row of icons to disappear in the build menu.
Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance.
--- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes youâve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the âbug-reportingâ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
A new loyal Hero has joined the ranks of the Rebellion. Introducing Cyrus Bravaris, The Rebel Arm â the first ranged Hero in Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
Cyrus was born into a noble family who served the Syren monarchy of old. Being the youngest of his family, he was driven to outperform his siblings and quickly gained recognition as a skilled marksman and tactician.
He was a key member of the Syren army during the Rebellion War, however, when the Syrens ultimately lost the conflict, his familyâs land was seized. Instead of fleeing with them to start a new life, he returned to save Aelis from the enemy. For his bravery and loyalty, he was appointed as Queen Aelisâ sworn protector and commander of her standing rebel army.
DESIGNING CYRUS
Each Heroâs backstory directly influences their art, design intentions and playstyle. While rescuing Aelis, Cyrusâ leg was badly injured, leaving him with a permanent limp. This created an intriguing and unique choice when it came to how he holds himself, the way he moves and his functionality in-game. This also ties into his gameplay and feel, as you will notice each Hero has a slightly different skill cap level.
When Cyrus is standing or walking, you will notice that he leans on his bow to use as a mobility tool. When itâs time to destroy his enemies, he plants his bow on the ground to stabilise himself.
Cyrus is very powerful, however, he moves at a slightly slower pace in comparison to other Heroes. To compensate for this, Cyrus has a long attack range. As they say, slow and steady wins the race â or in this case, the battle against the Nightmares that plague Erodar.
Cyrus is a proud leader within the Rebellion army, as represented by liberal use of red and a faction crest adorning his chest. Unlike other characters, Cyrus wears gold paint and adornments to reflect his noble background, and uses cloth and leather armour to afford extra dexterity. See concept art below:
CYRUS' SKILLS
Cyrus has four Skills, all of which allow him to put out consistent damage from a safe distance. He is highly capable against swarms, which will be indispensable when the Veil rolls in and the Nightmares crawl out.
Splintering Shot: Cyrusâ first Skill is a Passive Skill which gives his shots a chance to splinter, dealing damage in a cone-shaped area to Nightmares behind the main target.
Caltrops: Unlocking at Level Three, Cyrusâ Caltrops can be placed in a targeted area to cause serious destruction. Once placed, they will lay in wait for an unlucky Nightmare to stumble upon them, causing them to explode and inflicting Slow and damage in an area around them.
Snipe: The second Skill, Snipe, unlocks at Level Four. A manually activated Skill, Snipe charges an arrow that fires a long distance and inflicts high damage to all the enemies it passes through.
Violent Volley: Cyrus at Level Six will unlock his Ultimate Ability, Violent Volley. When Violent Volley is triggered, he will shoot arrows into air that will then rain down on the enemies, dealing damage in a circle where they land. Not only that, but for a short period after, Cyrus gains an increased chance to trigger Splintering Shot and Increased Attack Speed.
Itâs time to hone your senses and restring your bows â the enemy will regret the day they crossed Cyrusâ path. Serve your Queen and take over the lands for Rebellion honour!
Please report bugs or crashes to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the âbug-reportingâ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Rebellion's Rise Update v0.8.3
Dear Protectors of the Light,
We are ending the year with a bang with our final update for 2022, the Rebellionâs Rise Update brings some impactful and exciting new features to the world of Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
A REBELLION RISES
First up, we have The Rebel Arm himself, Cyrus Bravaris.
To champion the forces of The Rebellion, Cyrus is our first ranged Hero and Aelisâ sworn protector. Like our other valiant Heroes, Cyrusâ Skills consist of a Passive, two Active Skills and an Ultimate, to help wipe out all the Nightmares that come for you every night. Read more about Cyrusâs backstory, Skills and unique design in our recent blog post.
Furthermore, each Faction has been bolstered, with each receiving a brand new Unit. The Order will be blessed with the Lightbearer, a Support Unit who has the ability to heal Allied Units and cleanse them of their Horrified Debuff. The Volatists have harnessed Dark Essence to create the Harbinger, a Ranged Support Unit who can buff Allied Units to grant them increased speed. Finally, The Rebellion have gained the Rogue, a Melee Unit who can utilise their Stealth ability to sneak up on enemies as well as Gold-stealing abilities. We showcase these three new Units in the latest deep dive blog that explores their Skills and how each Units fits into their Faction.
Will Cyrus tempt you to change your allegiance to the Rebellion? Maybe youâll strive to live within the light like the Order do? Or perhaps youâll want to explore the Darkness that the Volatists have exploited. The choice is yours. Good luck.
Release Notes
Improvements
New Rebellion Hero: Cyrus
New Volatist Unit: Harbinger
New Order Unit: Lightbearer
New Rebellion Unit: Rogue
Localisation for New Features
Additional Changes
Functionality to Tab through selected Units within a Control Group to view their Skills.
Armour System Improvements to better showcase when Armour is being repaired, broken and across multiple Units.
Red âNo Villagersâ icon shows above Buildings if there are insufficient resources when building.
Visual updates the Skill Tree Icons.
UI added to the Fishing Ports when selected to show the amount of Nets being spawned.
Simplified UI to Unit Stat Icons, we now have a single icon for Melee / Ranged Range and Melee / Ranged Damage.
Control Group â+â button now disappears once all Control Group Slots are filled.
Added in Copy Functionality Map Seed on the Settings Pause Screen.
Added in a PlaySide & Team17 Splash Screen to appear on game boot-up.
Note: Age of Darkness: Final Stand has received a Steam Deck Compatibility rating of 'Playable'. The game is functional, however, some UI and text may be harder to read and interact with.
Balancing
Powerful Buff removed from all Units.
Spitter HP values lowered on every Tier.
Crusher HP values lowered on every Tier.
Design Notes: Powerful was an invisible buff added to the Arbalest and Impaler and all Heroes to grant them bonus damage against large Nightmares. The Armour and Shred system is intended to serve as a visible replacement for this, so we have removed the buff and rebalanced the large nightmares around its removal. Hunters were not benefitting from this, and were therefore dealing significantly less damage than Arbalests against these large Nightmares.
Ballista Tower research cost lowered from 700 to 400 Gold.
Hunter resource purchase costs lowered â Gold lowered from 800 to 450 and Stone lowered from 20 to 10.
Archers gain +2 Shred when Garrisoned in Towers
Harbingers gain +2 Shred when Garrisoned in Towers
Arbalests gain +5 Shred when Garrisoned in Towers
Hunters gain +5 Shred when Garrisoned in Towers
Design Notes: The first Death Night tended to funnel players to some very specific strategies. With shred granted to garrisoned ranged units, we have broadened defensive options, particularly early on, without also speeding up exploration.
Crashes
Fixed a crash that would occur with Alt+Tab input while Units are following an Attack + Move command.
Fixed a crash that could occur when walking through a Point of Interest.
Fixed a crash that could occur when fighting an Elite Nightmare and having it despawn on the Night to Day transition.
Fixed a crash that could occur from manually destroying a Crystal at night with the Encroaching Darkness Hardship active.
Fixed a crash that could occur when selling a Triage Tent as it was reviving a Unit.
Fixed a crash when loading a save from just before Final Stand.
Fixed several crashes related to Hero Skills and casting them.
Fixes & Changes
Fixed an issue where the Fishing Nets that spawned from Fishing Ports were not interactable.
Fixed an issue where the Lightning would not display on a Death Night to indicate where Nightmares would appear from.
Fixed an issue if Walls or Workshops were destroyed while researching something it could no longer be researched.
Fixed an issue where Target Priority was not functioning correctly on Arbalests and Archers Garrisoned in Towers.
Fixed an issue where the Armour icon is not displayed on Enemy Portraits when selected.
Fixed an issue where Armour would not display on buildings in the World UI.
Fixed an issue where Aelisâ Condemned ability did not affect Enemies.
Fixed an issue where Aelisâ Eradicate ability could spawn a guard without a buff.
Fixed an issue where painting Houses would charge double the amount of required resources.
Fixed an issue where the catapult could trap units underneath it.
Fixed an issue where Repairing a Building does not always deduct the correct amount of resources.
Fixed an issue where Dark Essence collected disappears after a Save/Load.
Fixed an issue where Dark Essence dropped cannot be collected after a Save/Load.
Fixed an issue where Unit icons do not appear on the Mini Map.
Fixed an issue where the hover text would not specify which Resources are insufficient when Building or Training Units.
Fixed an issue where the number of Skills available to upgrade was displayed as 00.
Fixed an issue where the Blessing UI is still present after completing the first Death Night with the âBlessed We Are Notâ Hardship applied.
Fixed an issue where the Hunter Trap icon was not showing the correct image in the Hotkey Override Menu.
Fixed an issue where Units Garrisoned in Towers could be drag selected.
Fixed an issue where the Move action markers would not appear.
Fixed an issue where the wrong animation would play on Units when selecting Hold while they are still moving.
Fixed an issue where Units will not path to a location correctly if the Attack + Move marker is placed on top of a Building.
Fixed an issue where after Vizargo uses his Ultimate Ability the SFX continue to play.
Fixed an issue where using Vizargoâs Ultimate Ability would not have him drop Dark Essence.
Fixed an issue where Nightmares would not climb out of the fissure on a Death Night.
Fixed an issue where the Fishing Nets splash VFX were missing.
Fixed an issue whether after discovering a Point of Interest the discovery Audio continues to play.
Fixed an issue where the Dangerously Familiar Hardship would turn all Points of Interest into Elite Spawns.
Fixed an issue where multiple Elite Enemies could spawn on a single POI.
Fixed an issue where Elite Points of Interest were missing their terrain.
Fixed an issue where the countdown to Death Night Audio is stuck on loop for the rest of the game after performing a Save/Load
Fixed an issue where the Music from the Death Night continues to play after the Death Night has finished.
Fixed an issue where loading into a game just before the Death Night begins breaks the Audio timing.
Fixed an issue where Hero, Stats and Abilities text on the Hero Select screen were not localised for non-English languages.
Fixed an issue where the Settings would not revert to Default Settings when applied.
Fixed an issue where Sentry Crash Reports were not being sent and received correctly.
Known Issues
Some minor instances of Nightmare Stacking have returned.
Potential crash when killing Elite Nightmares during the countdown to Final Stand while playing on Nightmare Difficulty.
Game will lose functionality if the player stays on the end of round defeat screen for more than five minutes.
Cyrusâ Splintering Shot ability can be heard when the camera is not near Cyrus.
When activating Vizargoâs Impaling Wrath ability during combat, it will sometimes not trigger the ability and enter a cooldown.
Some Hero & Unit Ability VFX can persist temporarily after being cast.
Under some circumstances Nightmare Pester Waves can spawn during the day.
Garrisoned Units displaying more vision than intended.
Trade Bazaar is rounding up purchasable quantities which may result in the player getting 1x less resource than is being displayed.
Visual issue with ranged units having projectiles fire off in a random direction if the target is killed with a projectile loose.
Horrified Status Effect can be applied before AOE VFX Explosion plays when killing a Wraith enemies.
Bursters are not displaying their Armour Shred Damage.
Map resource tiles may on occasion be visually missing a square. This missing square does not affect the resources gained when placing a Resource Gatherer on the tiles.
Points of Interest can display an Armour Icon next to their loading bar.
Locked Perk Tree Skills will display âUnlocks at âXâ Levelâ displayed underneath them, which should only be reserved for Hero Levels.
Minimap will display as black when loading an Auto-Save while in-game of the same game file.
Building Complete Dust PFX plays on buildings when loading into a save file.
Closing the Settings Menu after making changes without clicking âApplyâ can result in the changes being applied.
Reset Gameplay Tips button is currently not functioning correctly.
Some missing localisation strings on the Hotkey Overrides screen for both Cyrus and the Rogue.
A rare crash can occur related to audio systems initialising during game Start/Load.
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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes youâve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the âbug-reportingâ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here!
New Unit Deep Dive: Harbinger, Lightbearer and Rogue
Protectors of the Light,
During both Gamescom and PAX Aus, we gave you some sneak peeks of some upcoming Units making their debut in the next Content Update going live later this week. Ahead of this, weâre delighted to be diving deeper into each one and their place on the battlefield.
First up is the Harbinger, a Ranged Support Unit unique to the Volatists Faction.
The result of dark experiments aimed at creating a perfect and unwavering fighter, the Harbinger uses the power of the Veil to hurl damaging projectiles at foes or to empower their comrades in the frontlines with foul energies.
The Harbingerâs Active Skill, Dark Prophecy, Horrifies human Units within an AOE radius to grant increased movement speed. It can even be applied to other Harbingers â just not on the Unit that cast the Skill. Given its power, Dark Prophecy has a healthy cooldown, but use this power carefully, sacrifice your Cultists wisely and you may just survive the Death Night.
Training these Units requires both a Fortified Keep and Dark Essence, so start exploring at night with Vizargo to gain the resources you need â especially the Stone and Iron needed to upgrade your keep.
The Volatists are devoted to the Veil and harnessing it to gain strength, and no unit exemplifies this more than the twisted Harbinger. Will you be able to control its power, or will you let it consume you?
Next up we have the Lightbearer â a beacon of hope in a world growing ever darker.
Lightbearers work tirelessly on behalf of The Order to recuperate the injured, using the power of the Light to return valiant soldiers to the battlefield. Even though it is a Support Unit first and foremost, the Lightbearer can in desperation use its staff as a melee weapon to ward off any Nightmares that come their way.
The Lightbearer permanently bathes surrounding Units in the warmth and glow of their fire, cleansing allied Units of Horrify.
Along with this, they can grant Healing Over Time to up to three allied Units, healing a portion of the target's maximum HP. Healing can also be stacked on Units with a short cooldown, so that once their Heal Over Time has completed, they can be healed again. This skill is a manual cast, however in the heat of the battle, leaders are able to set it to autocast to automatically heal allied Units who lose HP.
The Lightbearer is available once the Triage Tent has been Researched.
Help protect your loyal allies and keep them from perishing⌠For the Light!
Last, but definitely not least, we have the Rogue â a fast moving tactical Melee fighter for the Rebellion. Rapid expansion is what this Faction is known for and the Rogue will be a key Unit in making this a reality for your Queen. Itâs time to help Aelis stake her claim for the kingdom!
The Rogue uses guerilla warfare tactics to move in the shadows and explore the lands unscathed. While not in combat, Rogues can enter Stealth Mode, rendering them invisible to enemy Units. Stealth will be removed any time the Rogue attacks an enemy or if they receive damage of any kind.
Along with their unique Stealth skill, this Unit has another distinctive perk that provides Rebellion leaders with the resources to build and expand their base faster than before. The Rogue steals gold from enemies they kill, provided they land the final fatal blow.
Build the Wood Workshop as soon as you can to train your new covert Unit. Their scouting and resource gathering abilities will assist you greatly when preparing for the impending Death Night and scourging the lands of the Darkness that poisons it.
Pledge your fealty to the Rebellion, and claim back what is rightfully yours.
We have more exciting content coming in this Update which we will announce soon. In the meantime, bolster your defenses and prepare for a fight.
Until next time Protectors!
May the Light guide you⌠or embrace The VeilâŚ
Please report bugs or crashes to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the âbug-reportingâ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Vote for Age Of Darkness: Final Stand in the Steam Awards!
Greetings Defenders of Humanity!
The Steam Awards are rapidly approaching, much like the Nightmares who wish to destroy your keep! We need you to help bolster our chances of success in our fight (for a Steam Award đ)
Do your duty to your heroes, Edwin, Vizargo and Aelis by voting for Age Of Darkness: Final Stand in the Labor Of Love category đđź
Age Of Darkness has come a long way since it launched into Early Access in 2021, and we're not done yet! We've got loads of content in the works, including new units, heroes and the full lore-filled campaign and multiplayer modes!
As always, if you come across any bugs or crashes, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the âbug-reportingâ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
As the poster child for Age of Darkness: Final Stand and our first hero, we needed to make sure he did a good job of representing the world for all the players that were going to engage with the game for the first time. We have Perry, our Project Art Lead, to walk us through the journey on how Edwin as you know him came to be.
What were the art goals for Edwin?
We wanted our first hero to have an easy barrier to entry into the world of AoD, leaning into a warrior archetype and not overloading the player with an overcomplicated design. He draws inspiration from well known characters like Geralt of Rivia and Beric Dondarrion, and plays into our core themes of Light vs Dark, while still not overextending too deeply into the lore weâre building. He also needed to be something that was quite distinct from the roster of units we had in the game at the time, so we really accentuated parts of his design to help with his silhouette, like the oversized collar and a large greatsword.
Early concepts for Edwin
How did you concept and experiment, and eventually land on the final design?
Initially Edwin had a full face helmet, with the intent that the player would be able to project themselves into the character if they wanted. But early after getting this version into game and playable he just wasn't eye-catching enough, and did not stand out as one of your most important characters in relation to the game around him.
Early character iteration with helmet
With the importance of our Hero characters, we really needed to push the silhouette and design behind Edwin and make sure he stood out among the other units he would be surrounded with during gameplay.
Something that really helped here was taking inspiration from games like Warcraft where Heroic and story relevant characters are typically quite oversized in comparison to a group of standard soldiers.
After we realised the helmet version wouldnât work we continued to experiment with how he should look. Edwin has a very significant impact on the Lore and story weâre creating for the world of AoD, and this directed a lot of our decisions behind his design:
Edwinâs a righteous, yet defiant knight who has served under multiple monarchies. He utilises his flame and combat skill to defend the wronged and is aligned with the disciples of fire and light. You can read some of his backstory here.
What he wears, having a military-esque apparel as well as considering how that would interact with the world around him, such as the studded arm braces to help prevent attacks and being able to fend off enemies.
His facial details, such as the burn over across his face, and subtly glowing eyes. How he interacts with his own abilities in game, being able to alight his giant sword, create large impactful bursts of flame to decimate the Nightmares, and empower the other soldiers around him.
Thatâs it for todayâs behind the scenes look. We hope you enjoyed getting some more insight behind the art for our first hero. Tell us if you would like to see more of these in the comments below!
As always, if you come across any bugs or crashes, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the âbug-reportingâ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ weâve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasnât been answered there, weâll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
