Thanks for the kind words @Chris_Gwinn, I’m glad it helped!
100% agreed!
There is so much stuff in this game. I keep finding things where I have no idea what’s going on. My humans sailed off into the inner sea for the first time, and it’s just full of terrifying things. I somehow managed to defeat a Lord of the Deep and his retinue in some sort of creepy underwater temple thing and found amazing armor and a Summon Phoenix spell.
Summon Phoenix!?!? This is apparently some secret spell that you can’t research that summons some sort of immortal tier IV unit. I’ve managed to evolve one cavalry unit to a knight, which means I have one tier 3 unit. I haven’t seen a tier IV other than the Lord of the Deep. So I’m pouring all of my mana into summoning this Phoenix thing to hang around with my Sorcerer.
You can get one of the secret spells for defeating elementals at a seal as well. Keep exploring. :)
@Mark_L just made a thread asking what the guys behind FTL are up to (which is a great question I also would like to know the answer to) but it got me thinking about Trumph Studios.
I haven’t done much in the way of following them since they announced they were working on a new project and that AoW3 development (sans a patch or two) was ceasing. But I did remember around December they indicated work was progressing and then remembered… that was December 2015.
http://aow.triumph.net/merry-xmas/
As for our new project, the team has been making some great progress. There’s a huge engine rewrite preparing us for the future, the gameplay test beds and the first new content is looking wonderful. We’ll have to wait to show development updates until the game is more complete, but we can say it will be something that will very much appeal to the typical AoW player.
Obviously, this is damned exciting - but what is going on now? Since then the news page on their website is very sparse (though it looks like last year they filled a C++ and Concept Artist position) but as far as I know they still remain quiet on what they are working on, years later. Have we heard anything and I just missed it from not going to the forums much lately?
Could this image be a clue as to the setting?
I think that’s one of these from AoW3:
That is indeed a Juggernaut. I am waiting for someone to mod them in as an actual “mount.” Failing that I might do so myself, so you can powerplay rolling over the forests and squashing Elves muahahahaha.
As for the game in development, noone outside the studio knows what it is. I joklingly said they should make a stripper tycoon game and that snowballed into a long running joke that some people actually believed was happening. It didn’t help that we brainstormed all sorts of crazy sh*t, like Succubi getting you (the manager) a tonne of cash but having the risk of breaking free and running through the neighbourhood etc.
It evolved into a quasi mafia like stripper based game where the player had little direct input, think Majesty with strippers etc. Someone should make that game, but that isn’t what Triumph is doing.
There was a rumour that it was a science-fantasy game, so like a steampunk thingy?
I took a long break, then played a bit for the purposes of getting ideas for a mod I’m working on.
Then realised I was cancelling a date in favour of the game (to be fair the girl involved wasn’t all that exciting lol) and I played for 3 hrs straight then went to bed thinking about how I was going to win.
There are some annoyances in the game, which can really pull you out of the immersion, and the design limitations show up on larger maps (6 unit stacks etc are perfect for medium maps but there should have been optional unit scaling via research, e.g. research logistics and get a larger party) upto 12 unit stacks, to save a multitude of clicks towards the end game.
The item management interface needs working on too. However, still my favourite game ever, with 1750 hours clocked, and likely 2000 before the end of March.
Nope they’re being tight-lipped. I DM’d them on Twitter several months ago about what they’re working on and all I could get back was “Something awesome! :)”.
I hope so! No news in years is kind of worrying. I know based on that message in the end of 2015 they were working on a new in-house engine though, so I imagine that is where most of the time has gone.
I would be happy with a new engine. Most people here probably don’t play it that way, but AOW3 in MP was pretty painful in Simultaneous mode, even with just one other player.
I don’t think larger stacks would solve anything (18-unit battles are already terribly tedious after a few), though I agree that large map logistics are quite annoying. The whole game is just paced better on medium. You can rush for a t2 push, or boom up to t3/t4, and have a good time doing either.
Just having rally points for cities would solve I think 80% of the issue, though. And a “move all my dudes that already have orders and haven’t seen new enemies” button. Those two things would fix so very much.
Agreed, though, one of the absolute best games ever. Probably top-3 for me.
@KevinC - Yeah, a new engine that is hopefully 64-bit. In fact, I’m almost sure that was the entire point of the engine, given the limitations that halted AoW3 development.
@inactive_user - Agreed. Everything I want in a 4X game is here, and then some, with tons of customization options and not game playing out the same way, and a serviceable campaign to boot. Impressive stuff, which is why I am so desperate to find out what they are up to next!
I think they said it was going to be 64-bit. 32-bit just doesn’t hack it for strat games anymore.
AOW3+ 64-bit to make it run better+ stronger AI would be near-perfect.
I’m just getting back into the game, is this the human campaign or some scenario? On that topic, can anyone recommend custom scenarios? I had a lot of fun back in the day with AoW:SM custom maps, like Marlene’s Laughter or Tales of Matunmura.
You can set rally points. In the city production, look for the red flag. Click that then right click destination.
To move all your guys, just click end turn. Anything with a move order will automatically move, and if it can’t you’ll get a message.
What I was talking about was having scaleable battles that can involve more units specifically so you can build up to one or 2 very large battles to effectively decide the war, and maintain the tension you have at the start of the game (where you’re maxing your ability use etc) instead of having 10+ battles involving 3+ of your stacks as it is currently.
“I would be happy with a new engine. Most people here probably don’t play it that way, but AOW3 in MP was pretty painful in Simultaneous mode, even with just one other player.”
I thought was was down to it being designed as having a sequence of actions that required solving in sequence, one of those actions being combat.
Endless Legend solved this problem (with it’s terrible combat lol) so I don’t think it’s a 32/64 bit thing perse.
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR
This has been inconsistent for me, or at least my perception of it has been.
Yeah, 32 or 64 bit won’t make a difference. A better networking layer in the engine will, though! :)
All my games for AOW3 have been MP. I don’t really any real issues with it but then again for a mostly good experience in MP I can overlook some things.