Heralds of the Third Apocalypse - combat-focused Lovecraftian bronze age tactical RPG from Iron Tower Studio

[Lhynn]

This is probably a lot closer to what ITS can do well. I remember having a tremendously good time with Dungeon rats.

 

[jaekl]

don't make it woke please

 

[AdolfSatan]

AoD was a cool name for a game.
Dungeon Rats a bit less so.
Colony Ship was lame as hell.
This one’s both long and forgettable. VD, it’s time to rescind your game naming position to another team member, your skills have grown stale.

Looking forward to whatever you do anyway, the premise’s nice and I’ve liked all of ITS games so far.

 

[blessed king of longing]

You're missing out.

re: battle brothers i watched a friend play it. i can see the appeal in some of the elements but it just looked like shit gameplay wise, moving chess pieces around, literally - this isn't the 90s anymore and we don't have those tech constraints, not my thing at all.
maybe they had some system that made procgen quests somehow suck less ass (i'm ignorant of how it works in that game), but unless it builds towards something that matters in the long run, how is it more than just a time wasting side quest of little to no consequence? if it just gives you Totally Important Points you can get otherwise, it seems like a redundant feature that should be awarded through more meaningful gameplay (ie, missions with actual story or w/e). i'm talking about lasting reactivity, as in more than an attaboy text line that amounts to basically nothing. are you planning to use some AI feature to come up with more inventive quests or is it just "this settlement needs rescuing 2.0"? once you spot the pattern the fun ends.

also why are you guys allergic to crowd funding? if there really is a market for niche rpg's, why would this not be reflected in a funding project? there are websites that allow you to collect whatever you got, even if you don't meet the goal. seems like free money to build your game

 

[mediocrepoet]

don't make it woke please

Make it woke with a twist. e.g. set in post apocalyptic Alabama, you bang your brother instead of your sister.

 

[Zanzoken]

re: battle brothers i watched a friend play it. i can see the appeal in some of the elements but it just looked like shit gameplay wise, moving chess pieces around, literally - this isn't the 90s anymore and we don't have those tech constraints, not my thing at all.
maybe they had some system that made procgen quests somehow suck less ass (i'm ignorant of how it works in that game), but unless it builds towards something that matters in the long run, how is it more than just a time wasting side quest of little to no consequence? if it just gives you Totally Important Points you can get otherwise, it seems like a redundant feature that should be awarded through more meaningful gameplay (ie, missions with actual story or w/e). i'm talking about lasting reactivity, as in more than an attaboy text line that amounts to basically nothing. are you planning to use some AI feature to come up with more inventive quests or is it just "this settlement needs rescuing 2.0"? once you spot the pattern the fun ends.

also why are you guys allergic to crowd funding? if there really is a market for niche rpg's, why would this not be reflected in a funding project? there are websites that allow you to collect whatever you got, even if you don't meet the goal. seems like free money to build your game

You probably should actually play the game before trying to offer a detailed critique of it.

Also... see that number next to the lower "Very Positive"?

That means Battle Brothers has sold somewhere around 1M copies. If VD and co can get even half that, they'll have enough cash to buy all the hookers and nose candy a fella could ask for. Or go back to making Fallout-style cRPGs.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Vault Dweller Is the game actually intended to be called Heralds of the Third Apocalypse?

Yes.

Shamelessly pandering to fans of Grimoire.

 

[StaticSpine]

I never played Battle Brothers because I'm too dumb for it to be enjoyable but Iron Tower sure knows how to make an engaging tactical game.



Vault Dweller will there be any ranged combat?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Battle Brothers is our inspiration. I think that's the game I enjoyed the most in the last 10 years (and clocked the most hours). Loved those 30+ orc fights.

The idea of a "Lovecraftian Bronze Age" Battle Brothers makes me think of Urtuk: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1181830/Urtuk_The_Desolation/ (not exactly Lovecraftian, but similarly grotesque tone)

Path of Achra is another one which aesthetics could be described as such.

I always liked combat in Iron Tower Studios games, will follow with interest.

 

[Fedora Master]

You're missing out.

re: battle brothers i watched a friend play it. i can see the appeal in some of the elements but it just looked like shit gameplay wise, moving chess pieces around, literally - this isn't the 90s anymore and we don't have those tech constraints, not my thing at all.
maybe they had some system that made procgen quests somehow suck less ass (i'm ignorant of how it works in that game), but unless it builds towards something that matters in the long run, how is it more than just a time wasting side quest of little to no consequence? if it just gives you Totally Important Points you can get otherwise, it seems like a redundant feature that should be awarded through more meaningful gameplay (ie, missions with actual story or w/e). i'm talking about lasting reactivity, as in more than an attaboy text line that amounts to basically nothing. are you planning to use some AI feature to come up with more inventive quests or is it just "this settlement needs rescuing 2.0"? once you spot the pattern the fun ends.

also why are you guys allergic to crowd funding? if there really is a market for niche rpg's, why would this not be reflected in a funding project? there are websites that allow you to collect whatever you got, even if you don't meet the goal. seems like free money to build your game

Lmao this guy got filtered by BB and yet has the gall to tell other people about games

 

[Brancaleone]

Battle Brothers with legs tentacles?

 

[mediocrepoet]

Fwiw the elevator pitch of Bronze Age Cthulhu Tactics smells a lot like

 

[Zariusz]

Hmm you know technically you could call AoD lovecraftian...
Are we actually getting stealth AoD prequel?

 

[Brancaleone]

Battle Brothers is our inspiration. I think that's the game I enjoyed the most in the last 10 years (and clocked the most hours). Loved those 30+ orc fights.

Same here. My biggest gripes with BB are the rudimentary AI, which in turn impacts many other elements (for example, I'm pretty sure they cut interior fights because they couldn't make enemies not get stuck in chokepoints all the time, after all BB AI cannot even reliably retreat in a straight line), and the fact that they steered away from their initial 'living world' model, which among many other things means that we have a game about mercenary companies where other mercenary companies are an afterthought.

Judging from your previous games the AI should be fine, so I would be interested whether you mean to get closer to the living world thing or to the 'random quest table' that is most of BB.

 

[Zariusz]

Also if its a semi sandbox with map roaming, are we getting location maps or its only battle maps like in Battle Brothers? Or maybe text adventure style locations like Vagrus?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Battle maps only.

 

[The Wall]

Battle maps only.

What are inspirations for other "non-men factions"? I suppose they are not Lovecraftian, Lovecraft Horros are their own faction. Stargate, Conan The Barbarian, Real Life Bronze Era History or San Francisco Gay Parade, which one(s)?

 

[dutchwench]

This is absolutely wonderful news. Wasn't sure we were ever going to get a new game.
On that note, Colony Ship is like 40% off right now...

 

[Zariusz]

Can you show us some concept arts? Is artstyle going to be simillar to AoD and CS portrait art or its going to be something new?

 

[Haba]

Battle Brothers was good because it was 2D and didn't waste time with animations and other bullshit (the 30+ orc battles were bullshit enough by themselves).

And the over-world map was a giant part of why it worked.

Not super enthused.

 

[Zariusz]

Few things could match having your best uber trained bro standing on a highground, surrounded by hordes of Orcs and riposting every motherfucker to the point that Orcs start breaking and running away. And that of course ended in an instant decapitation.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Nice. So when you will make the font in Colony Ship scalable?

 

[Darth Canoli]

Vault Dweller Is the game actually intended to be called Heralds of the Third Apocalypse?

Yes.

One question then, is Cleveland Mark Blakemore going to arm wrestle you for the use of Heralds in your title?

And a second one, i'm not sure i've got the concept right
- it's going to be like battle brothers combat wise but in 3D - More like Wartales then?
- Is it going to have an over-world map with meaningful exploration (Fallout did it right, BB was ok)
- cities/hubs screens?
- Quests? With a AoD design or more like Dungeon Rats?

I also question your naming skills even if it's better than Dungeon Rats and Colony Ship, a great name sells, a bad one doesn't.

Just remove third and it's already better

Heralds of the Apocalypse

 

[Serus]

Wartales but with actual challenge? Battle Brothers with legs?

With legs? Noooooo...

 

[Infinitron]

Vault Dweller Is the game actually intended to be called Heralds of the Third Apocalypse?

Yes.

One question then, is Cleveland Mark Blakemore going to arm wrestle you for the use of Heralds in your title?

The real title free-for-all would have been to try to call it Cyclopean.