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Age of Wonders: Planetfall - Dev Diary #66: Grail Configurations and the Apostates

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Ridixo said:
“Quantum-powered molecular machines are not magic, they're science. But the Uncertainty Principle dictates that if I explain to you exactly how it works, it will stop working that way. So just trust me, it's not magic, it's just probabilistic, quantum state-driven, sub-atomic machines.”
—Stanley Strangelove, Publicist, Smolltech Enterprises

Magic is just the name we give to the technology we don't understand
-ELOP Scientist

Technology is just the name you give to the magic you do understand
-Merlin before vanishing after wrecking some Apostates with magic :p
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Well played, sir, with an ingame quote even!
Would be hilarious if you turn out to be right and Merlin does show up, trolling Apostates in the campaign.
 
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DragonZee said:
I'm only wondering about the Life Grail. +100% Food can be useful, but is it actually so in mid to late game, becasue that is the earliest when you will acquire the grail? I don't know about multiplayer, but in single Food is usually the least useful resource in later stages of the game. At least teh regen seems like a strong buff...
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More interesting idea - we have Grail with life regeneration - does it stuck with life regeneration talents/mods/other?
 
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Not to mention we'll get residential sectors, which means you can build 2 additional special sectors at 20 and 24. Previously once you hit 4 sectors (16 pops) it wasn't worth it going further cause pops barely did much, better to share it to get the other sectors up, but this could actually push you to get there and more sectors benefit from it.

It remains to be seen when grails may usually become available and how fast you may reach these new sectors, as well as how much they benefit you and having more settlements with them, but it's the one I can think of that could make this grail better than it would be as the game is now.
 
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Apostate Golden Landmark - Dark Tower
When enough Apostates gather on a system, they build grand temples to the Chaos. These are known as the Dark Towers.

Really? Does this happen in RMG games? Does that mean the wildlife just got a whole alot more dangerous and is now considered a legitimate threat? But aren't marauders very easy to destroy?
 
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Ridixo said:
They having a talent that allows them to pilot tier 4 things would be very fitting of the faction. I think it would be odd the Oathbound commander going on foot. But it would be unjust with the other factions. Not all the factions got a tier 4 vehicle. The Dvar got the Earth Crusher, the Shakarn got the Sonokarn and the Syndicathe got the Zenith, all of them could make for tier 4 vehicles. Having a universal skill to ride tier 4 vehicles could be a better thing :)
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Strictly speaking, you could probably justify any of them. Drone Carriers can likely be piloted. Assembly could transplant a head into a Reaver. Arborean Queens are big enough and have enough technology installed into them that they could hypothetically have a driver. And in the case of Kir'ko, taking a tier 3 'vehicle' already essentially turns the hero into a Ravenous or whatever it happens to be, so having the same with a Harbinger wouldn't be so far beyond the pale.
Ridixo said:
“Quantum-powered molecular machines are not magic, they're science. But the Uncertainty Principle dictates that if I explain to you exactly how it works, it will stop working that way. So just trust me, it's not magic, it's just probabilistic, quantum state-driven, sub-atomic machines.”
—Stanley Strangelove, Publicist, Smolltech Enterprises

Magic is just the name we give to the technology we don't understand
-ELOP Scientist

Technology is just the name you give to the magic you do understand
-Merlin before vanishing after wrecking some Apostates with magic :p
Click to expand...
Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from SCIENCE!!!

-Agatha Heterodyne (in the Cinderella alternate universe bonus story)
 
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RMan89 said:
Love the Grail part, especially the fact that it looks a bit like a treasure hunt. This reminds me a bit of the Grail hunt from HoMM, where you search for obelisks with the fragment of a map which leads to the Grail. Regarding the Dark Tower, why do I have the feeling that it would allow to construct 1 or a few of the Apostate units?
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We already knew from stream - there will be relic, which allow us to bring with us all (?) 3 Apostate units and buy em with renown.
 
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the blackguard and witch look really great. looking forward to unlocking them in the new procedural campaign empire play mode thingy :)

i like the general ideas behind the grails as a sort of midgame questline that spawns a gold landmark and unlocks a unique doctrine.
 
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I just had a nice thought... GE will let me actually build an evil empire! I will create Psynumbra or Heritor commanders, go for Psynumbra s-tech and sprinkle it with Xenoplague here and there (maybe I'll even add a Dvar evil alchemist like figure), buy Apostates and Eaters of the Dead with renown and cover the galaxy in shadows. Muahaha!
 
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DragonZee said:
I just had a nice thought... GE will let me actually build an evil empire! I will create Psynumbra or Heritor commanders, go for Psynumbra s-tech and sprinkle it with Xenoplague here and there (maybe I'll even add a Dvar evil alchemist like figure), buy Apostates and Eaters of the Dead with renown and cover the galaxy in shadows. Muahaha!
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I see that the worlds you take will be marked for exterminatus. Nice worlds and fleets you had there. Not anymore. They're all fire and ashes now.
 
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One very interesting question - will we have opportunity to transfer our items/mods on heroes (between missions) like in story-company? Because after stream, well - they hire another GE commander (if not mistaken) and she was 3 lvl, but without additional items. Maybe they just didn't equip her at previous missions or another possibility: you can't transfer anything other than level - if so, it will be pretty lame.
 
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Loules said:
One very interesting question - will we have opportunity to transfer our items/mods on heroes (between missions) like in story-company? Because after stream, well - they hire another GE commander (if not mistaken) and she was 3 lvl, but without additional items. Maybe they just didn't equip her at previous missions or another possibility: you can't transfer anything other than level - if so, it will be pretty lame.
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I expect they decided it would be pretty broken if heroes could start a new world with high-end mods, weapons, and/or vehicles that they brought from another.
 
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Draxynnic said:
I expect they decided it would be pretty broken if heroes could start a new world with high-end mods, weapons, and/or vehicles that they brought from another.
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In this case, it makes the entire system somewhat useless. We will be able to save heroes and continue playing with them, but there is not the slightest motivation to develop them or improve our relations with different NPC factions in order to get various mods and combine them on the heroes.
If instead of implementing a cool system from the campaign, we will be waiting for a modified window of a regular game - it will be a waste of a good idea.
Given that we are given the opportunity to almost unlimited combination of races/special technologies on the troops and factions, the possibility of full development of the hero (and transfer it between planets) here is the smallest problem for the balance, which is only possible. Many players, however, are very much looking forward to this feature, perhaps more than anything else in this new mode.
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Updated:

Since we are given complete freedom and the developers say that this mode is so unbalanced that it can not be done in multiplayer, it will be very strange if the only chip that caused rejection from the development team will be one of the coolest gameplay chips in the entire game - the progress transfer system (levels, items) just like in the campaign. Then you will get a Galactic Empire, where there will be no development of this very Empire - the ability to take new units with you is, of course, cool, but this is not a system of progress. In an extreme case it is possible to make a separate setting for menu settings/difficulty.

I hope that I am wrong about this and we will still see a complete transfer of the system from the campaign, otherwise my hype about the new mode will subside greatly. In theory, without a possible transfer of progress, I don't even really see the incentive and sense to play this mode compared to regular games.
 
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The apostates sound pretty powerful with their entropy attacks and resistance-ignoring "spells". Cool designs too!
The Grail doctrine is nice, but I dunno, it seems a bit too easy to find. And if the other players will know of it, it will be like the unification beacon of AoW3 where you can expect your allies to suddenly attack you once you get it, meaning it mostly ends the game too?
 
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Loules said:
In this case, it makes the entire system somewhat useless. We will be able to save heroes and continue playing with them, but there is not the slightest motivation to develop them or improve our relations with different NPC factions in order to get various mods and combine them on the heroes.
If instead of implementing a cool system from the campaign, we will be waiting for a modified window of a regular game - it will be a waste of a good idea.
Given that we are given the opportunity to almost unlimited combination of races/special technologies on the troops and factions, the possibility of full development of the hero (and transfer it between planets) here is the smallest problem for the balance, which is only possible. Many players, however, are very much looking forward to this feature, perhaps more than anything else in this new mode.
______________________________________________________________
Updated:

Since we are given complete freedom and the developers say that this mode is so unbalanced that it can not be done in multiplayer, it will be very strange if the only chip that caused rejection from the development team will be one of the coolest gameplay chips in the entire game - the progress transfer system (levels, items) just like in the campaign. Then you will get a Galactic Empire, where there will be no development of this very Empire - the ability to take new units with you is, of course, cool, but this is not a system of progress. In an extreme case it is possible to make a separate setting for menu settings/difficulty.

I hope that I am wrong about this and we will still see a complete transfer of the system from the campaign, otherwise my hype about the new mode will subside greatly. In theory, without a possible transfer of progress, I don't even really see the incentive and sense to play this mode compared to regular games.
Click to expand...
Seriously, I've played enough campaigns where well-equipped, high-level heroes from the first scenario in the campaign pretty much trivialised the opening stages of the next scenario, which often ends up trivialising the entire scenario because a strong lead in the early game can often translate into an overwhelming lead in the midgame (especially if you use that lead to blitz one of your opponents and take their stuff). I don't think it's realistic to expect Triumph to balance the game for people who spend the first planet making sure all their heroes are fully tricked out, without making it overly punishing for players who don't do that.

The idea appears to be to link scenarios together in a sandbox campaign-like environment, with a limited ability to carry over benefits from one scenario into later scenarios. Controlling how much carryover there is, however, means that a balance can be achieved where you don't feel like you have to spend excess time tricking out your heroes to have fun. Sure, they're not trying to balance it to a level that would be suitable for competitive multiplayer, but they're still trying to make something that can present a fun challenge.
 
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