The Age of Decadence Interview

There’s an interview with an unnamed Iron Tower Studio developer (likely Vince D. Weller) on The Age of Decadence over at ePressDesk. People who are familiar with the project will likely also be familiar with most of the info, but otherwise it’s a good read:

EPressDesk: Most games today cater to gamer’s needs to do well in a game will little effort. When you start up the demo version of the game the player is warned that Age of Decadence could be considered (Difficult). Would you say that this is a defining aspect of the game and? What made you want to go in this direction?

Iron Tower: I wouldn’t call it a defining aspect, but yes, the game is difficult and might even be impossible for some people who are used to more (modern) games that are aimed to ensure that you win no matter what you do, even if you just stare at the screen while eating a burger.

I’ve always enjoyed a different kind of games. I feel that challenging combat is a very important feature and that there are few things (in gaming) that are more satisfying than beating a hard encounter after being killed repeatedly. A well-crafted combat encounter is a puzzle with multiple solutions. Simply clicking on your enemies should get you killed. You need to figure out how you can even the odds and turn a seemingly guaranteed defeat into a victory and until you learn the system you need to do it through trial-and-error. Needless to say, some people don’t have the patience for it, so the game definitely isn’t for everyone.

The main reason for the difficulty though is the world itself. If you paint the world as harsh and unforgiving, the game has to be hard, dying should be easy, and you should have reasons to pick your fights.

So, if you’re facing 4-5 enemies you should be aware that the odds of you dying are fairly high and if you aren’t a great warrior, which would merely give a *chance* against them, you should seek an alternative solution or try to avoid being in this situation to begin with.

…

EPressDesk: Is there an expected release date for Age of Decadence?

Iron Tower: We’re aiming at October, but the exact date would depend on how well the beta test goes. All systems (character, combat, inventory, crafting/alchemy, journal, etc) were tested when we released the demo, but it might take a while for the testers to check all the quests and options.

EPressDesk: Is there any DLC or expansions planned for after Age of Decadence launches?

Iron Tower: It will depend on how well the game is received. We’re thinking of doing a party-based dungeon crawler set in the AoD world, since many people like the combat system and want to play a combat-focused game, but it’s too early to say.

Thanks, RPGWatch.