May update - added Ganezzar, the ruins of Al-Akia, and Hangar
It took us almost 9 months of work to finish the third Chapter. Some of you have participated in the opt-in beta, so you know what to expect. For those who've been patiently waiting or just joining us, here is an overview:
the third city and two related locations
20 new quests, 10 side-quests and situations, over 30 new NPCs
new items (new uniques, artefact, new armor - lorica hamata, power armor with 4 different modes and 3 power levels)
tons of system changes and various improvements
helmet and shield crafting, various Crafting improvements
improved balance, more skill points
new achievements, updated journal pages
improved combat feedback: attack tooltips and combat panel.
optimization (the game should run much faster especially in the cities)
proper endings
Due to the system changes, we *strongly* suggest to start a new game. You should be able to use your existing saves but they won't have all the scripts and changes.
Overall, 19 locations out of 22 are now available. We estimate that we'll need 3 months to finish the remaining locations (since none of them is a city).
What's left are the temple you were sent to find and two locations leading to it (dead river and hellgate). We'll start on Dead River tomorrow and keep you posted.
Since the beta is over, we're switching to monthly updates - expect the next update in early June.
As always, thank you for your support and patience.
Ganezzar beta - week 10
Almost there.
1. CONTENT
Here is the list of all currently available content for the 3 'beta' locations:
Ganezzar’s Faction questlines (HD, HA, HC, MG, AG, TG, IG)
Maadoran is destroyed scenario
House Aurelian is destroyed scenario
Ganezzar’s side quests and situations
Plague (unlocks Dead River)
Elias (unlocks 2 questlines)
Trader’s blackmail
Power armor quest
Zealots when you enter the city
If Arena champion – the fort
Hector’s quests
Darganus' quests
Ganezzar’s NPCs to talk to:
Philosopher
Preacher
Cartographer (quest-related)
Nobleman
MG clerk
Guard at the stairs
Local guide
Zealot near the pillar of skulls
Refugee
Mercenary
Annalist
Feng
The Second Acolyte
Zealot in the tavern
Amulet trader
Al-Akia
The ritual (need Meru)
First of the Magi’s Log
Administrator’s Log
Qantari Sword
Aegis (artefact)
Hangar:
Ship: need the jellyfish artefact and either the mantra or high Lore to pilot
Gunner’s log
Captain’s log
Ghost Hand (artefact, in case you couldn't get one at the pass)
All this content is in. Today's updated added another arena (the fort, only if you're the champion of Maadoran's arena, otherwise keep walking), Hector and Darganus' quests, honorary mention of your pal Miltiades, the annalist, the Second Acolyte (if there is the First Acolyte, why not the second?), Claudia - a charming country girl with the heart of gold and her own portrait, your old pal Feng, extended conversation with Varro about his motives, and probably something else.
What's still missing?
The final Hector/Darganus' quests.
Tower infiltration to open the gates (siege only).
Journal (we're half done but didn't have a chance to finish it).
Achievements
We should be able to do everything but the achievements in a week. If there are no issues with the existing content, we'll end the beta and release this content to Early Access.
2. VISUAL AND MISC IMPROVEMENTS
We added the long awaited Legatus' tent, some siege elements, improved Meru's throne room, added new houses and interiors.
We also added new portraits, several new items and new icons for the existing unique items.
3. SYSTEM CHANGES
Armor can be damaged in combat and repaired. Damaged armor has lower Damage Resistance. Take it to your local blacksmith for repair or repair it yourself with the magic of Crafting!
Hardened and Hardened Edge techniques no longer increase damage or DR. Never liked it, didn't have anything to replace them with. Until now! Now they increase armor's hardness (defense against damage to DR not your health) and weapon's hardness (chance to damage armor's DR)
But what about my damage? Not to worry, my good man, buy yourself a sharpening stone and go nuts. Keep in mind, the stones come from a mine up north and are somewhat of a rarity, so use them wisely.
Now you can craft helmets and shields! Aint that something?
Now you get up to 4 techniques (that's like twice as many!)
Changes to armor stats and block (lower penalties, higher DR to compensate for damage and removed Hardened technique); the Imperial Armor will turn you into a juggernaut.
[IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/vdweller1/meru_zpso97e7mxg.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/vdweller1/balzaar_zps7x18b5nl.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/vdweller1/balzaar_2_zpswqe1bt62.png[/IMG]
Meru continues on his journey of self-discovery
[IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/vdweller1/hammer_zpsajiyfc51.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/vdweller1/armor_zpsolfyrey5.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/vdweller1/blue_zpsixuurjhi.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/vdweller1/spear_zps9kvaqoou.jpg[/IMG]
Hammer creatively called That Which Kills, Darius' armor, one-handed spear (as requested) called Vindicator.
Ganezzar beta - week 7
This week's changelog:
Added a House Daratan quest if Maadoran or House Aurelian is destroyed and if you rejected Lord Meru's offer.
Added a conversation with Meru at the ruins of Al-Akia (when you enter the complex)
Added 'plague' side quest
Added an opportunity to blackmail one of the traders
Added the first quest in a longer branching side quest chain and corresponding characters - find Elias in one of Lowtown's buidlings to get the ball rolling
You can continue to Ganezzar from Maadoran's catacombs
Fixed a coordinate bug in the outpost near Teron when climbing the fence
Reduced armor penalties for blockers (cut in half)
STR is now the governing stat of Block (once again and in light of recent changes)
CON provides a small defensive bonus; we're considering a larger bonus to reduce armor's penalties (which makes sense)
The next update will be released by the end of the month. It will include:
visual improvements and art assets
new side quests, probably 4-5, maybe more
new characters to talk to (working on an annalist who can tell about House Crassus' origins as we speak)
extended conversations with the faction leaders (personal stories and such)
hopefully new portraits - Hector needs one
possibly a couple of items requested by the community: a custom short spear and a sledgehammer
journal entries
As always, we thank you for your support and patience.
Ganezzar beta - week 6
This week's changelog:
Added 'House Aurelian is ruined' scenario
Added two NPCs in Ganezzar (a philosopher and a preacher in the Temple district)
Added option to break the siege with the ship and a proper chapter ending
Fixed issues in 'Maadoran is destroyed' scenario
Combat AI changes - the enemies will target unprotected heads
Block changes aimed to support lightly armored blockers (wip):
- Increased the base defense for block for each skill point from 10 to 15.
- Block is affected by armor defense penalty.
- Increased chance to fully block attacks.
- Decreased dodge mobility bonus per tile.
We're almost done with the faction questlines. One last quest and we can start working on the side quests, the visuals, and the journal.
So roughly, we'll add that faction quest and some side quests next week, the remaining side quests the week after, the journal and possibly achievements by the end of the month.
As always, we thank you for your support and patience.
Ganezzar beta - week 5
This week's changelog:
Added 'Maadoran is destroyed' scenario that comes with several Mind Shield checks
Added two NPCs in Ganezzar (a nobleman and a MG clerk), presenting a slightly different reaction to the religious fanaticism
Added filler NPCs in the upper districts
Improved Al-Akia exploration (text, visual improvements, the Qantari quarter, etc)
Improved the combat AI
We started working on the combat AI. Step 1 - more regular and power attacks (before the enemies switched to fast attacks too eagerly, so now they will hit less often as their THC will go down but it would hurt more). Step 2 - aimed attacks, already working on our end, will be added in the next update. Step 3 - special attacks and alchemy.
Also, we're working on an exciting (well, I'm excited!) armor change. If all goes well (i.e. we test it and it would actually work well and not just on paper), you would be able to damage enemy's armor DR and since we're all about equal opportunities, the enemies would be able to damage your armor.
Anyway, for next week we're planning to add an option to break the siege using the ship, so get your saves ready. You'll need the jellyfish artefact (it's a must) and either the mantra from Antidas' treasure room or high lore.
'til next week!
Ganezzar beta - week 4
This week's changelog:
Added House Crassus questline
Added the ruins of Al-Akia (first pass, will be developed further in the upcoming updates)
Added two NPCs in Ganezzar (a guard and a local guide)
Added descriptions in Lowtown
Added several new Dodge animations
Fixed Critical Strike's bleeding effect
Minor interface improvements (new talk icon, fade on dialogue start, AoO/IA tooltips on tiles, etc)
Some notes:
1) The issue causing NPC who should be gone or dead to return should be fixed or seems to be fixed. For now it's fixed in the beta only, so if you're playing the beta and run into this problem again, please post detailed reproduction steps.
2) The fight involving Faelan (where he takes over some enemies and turn them into allies) is too easy at the moment. The difficulty will go up once we improve the combat AI (the next task for our programmer).
Plans for next week:
"Maadoran is destroyed" / "House Aurelian is ruined" questlines
Al-Akia exploration improvements
Visual improvements
More NPCs and text descriptions
That would complete the faction questlines and allow us to focus on Ganezzar's side quests and visuals.
Ganezzar beta - week 2
This week's changelog:
Added House Daratan questline
Added two NPCs (one shows up only when the city is under siege)
Removed the 'horse travel', now you can exit the city via the gate and use the world map to travel.
Fixed the combat loop in AG7
Added gunner's log in the Hangar location
Fixed infinite XP loop when talking to Gaelius after Zamedi
You can now travel to Ganezzar after killing Gaelius in the AG questline
Added a combat panel showing your Attack and Defense stats (it's pretty cool even if I do say so myself)
Hovering your mouse over the enemy shows the THC breakdown
More tooltips and minor improvements (like color-coordinated textbox)
In the next week's episode Lord Meru will join the Dark Side. Stay tuned.
Ganezzar beta - week 1
As I mentioned in the previous announcement, we’re planning to update the Beta on a weekly basis until the third chapter is completed, then we’ll go back to monthly updates until the game is out. So, week 1...
Week 1
Added the Aurelian Praetor questline
Added the ‘Hangar’ (to unlock talk to the cartographer Domitius sent you to)
Added the power armor quest (at the moment the quest is available to all regardless of whether or not you got the quest in Maadoran)
Added a new NPC near the ‘pillar of skulls’
Added tooltips for the attacks
Added traits descriptions
Fixed various scripting issues and bugs (antidote should be working as advertised now)
Fixed journal crashes (hopefully for good, but if you do get one, let us know and describe the steps to reproduce)
Added filler NPCs to Lowtown in Ganezzar
Made visual improvements
What to expect next week:
Daratan Praetor questline
Possibly* Crassus Praetor questline (there is a lot of stuff there so we might push it to week 3)
new quests
new NPCs
Improved Ganezzar (art, filler NPCs, text descriptions)
Various design improvements and fixes
Power armor
It’s working but it’s still rough around the edges. There are 3 modes plus an optional 4th mode. Right click on the armor’s icon in the inventory to interact with it. Once it’s charged, you’ll be able to go through the different modes the same way you go through different attacks. There are no tooltips yet to explain what does what, but they are coming. Play with it (keep in mind it’s work in progress and the very first iteration of the armor), then post your thoughts and suggestions. As usual, we’ll go through them and improve the design with your help.
As always, thank you for your support.
Jan update - Ganezzar beta is out
The beta of the third ‘chapter’ is now available to anyone who has the game in their Steam library. To access the beta build, right click on the game in your Steam library, select Properties, click on Betas tab. If it’s set on “None - Opt out of all beta programs”, change it to Test – Private Testing Branch.
Enter the Access Code (‘blacksheepwall’), click on Check Code, and wait for Steam to download the files.
About this beta. It’s a 'work in progress' build with many rough edges. It's in the same state Teron and Maadoran were when we released them to the testers, so for us it's business as usual (except for releasing it to all Early Access’ patrons rather than to the closed beta testers). For people who just want to play the next chapter expecting a few odd bugs here and there, it might be not what they expected.
To remind you, we put the very first playable build on Dec 24. We spent the next 3 weeks improving it, testing, moving things around, tweaking, etc, so the chapter is in a much better shape, but at this stage it’s still about functionality rather than form.
It would take us at least 4-5 weeks to bring it to an ‘enjoyable’ level and another 2-3 weeks to get it to the same state as Teron and Maadoran.
What makes a game city a city? In AoD it’s:
Interconnected faction quests that are the foundation. They are the hardest, most time-consuming development aspect. Scripting them is a nightmare.
Side quests that aren’t connected to anything. They are isolated situations that fill the city with activities and random things to do. They are a pleasure to write and script and can be done in 2 weeks at most.
Static NPCs and visual touches that would make it
look* like a city
Things you can click on it and read descriptions or interact with.
So far we did a rough implementation of the faction quests, which means that the city is fairly empty and lifeless, which can be jarring. So if you want more, wait a few weeks.
Now that we did release something, we will update it on a weekly basis, improving the foundation, adding all the missing things, and making it an enjoyable and atmospheric location, so stay tuned.
The Russian version is now available!
Сегодня началось бета-тестирование официальной русской локализации The Age of Decadence. Если вы обладаете копией игры и желаете помочь команде переводчиков отлавливать ошибки, скачайте русификатор и ознакомьтесь с инструкцией от координатора перевода, которая представлена ниже.
«Приветствуем всех русскоговорящих игроков Age of Decadence! Наша команда представляет локализованную на русский язык версию этой замечательной игры. Она совместима с последней Steam-версией 0.8.8.0306 и оптимизирована для разрешений экрана 1366×768 и 1920×1080, хотя работает и на других. Перевод требует интенсивного бета-тестинга и с вашей помощью может быть улучшен».
Инструкция по установке:
Распакуйте архив в папку с английской Steam-версией игры с заменой всех файлов. По умолчанию это «С:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Age of Decadence\»
Найдите в директории «C:\Users\<Имя пользователя>\Documents\My Games\Age Of Decadence» файл «prefs.cs», откройте его при помощи любого текстового редактора. Отыщите следующую строчку:
$pref::ITS::Language = "english";
И замените значение "english" на "russian".
«Играйте и пишите ваши баг-репорты по переводу сюда или в специальной теме на официальном форуме. С уважением, члены проекта локализации игры Age of Decadence».
