Kingsvein (and other RadCodex games)

[Acrux]

The newest game from the developer of Alvora Tactics, Voidspire Tactics, and Horizon's Gate is coming out in a couple of weeks.

[WhiteShark]

Nice, I can't wait to buy it with my Steam bucks acquired by selling TF2 items and then let it sit for months or years while he updates it to perfection before playing it. RadCodex is STILL updating Horizon's Gate so it languishes in my library awaiting the promised hour. I may be somewhat obsessive.

Anyway, really looking forward to it. IIRC it's supposed to be closer to Voidspire this time, which is practically my definition of a good game. @RadCodex doesn't bring up anything so I guess he hasn't made an account here. I should go PM him on the other place.

[Tweed]

Rad Codex games give me a large PP. Guy is gud at picking his music too from all the freebies out there.

[Rand]

How is it I've never heard of Horizon's Gate until just now, a day after the Steam Sale...

[WhiteShark]

How is it I've never heard of Horizon's Gate until just now, a day after the Steam Sale...

Play Voidspire Tactics if you haven't already. It's great.

[Torus]

How is it I've never heard of Horizon's Gate until just now, a day after the Steam Sale...

Maybe it's fate that let you give even more well deserved money to Rad codex.

[Acrux]

This is available now.

[Goth-Girl-Supremacy]

Bog standard, low effort pixel art ****.

[1998]

Really tried to get into Horizons Gate, but really its just one giant blob of brown. Couldn't even reliable make out my own chars.

[Hauberk]

I doubt it's a low effort game, @GGS, but you're right about bog standard. Upon seeing the "pixel art" I miss the awesome art of 90s games. The graphical artists were for real back then. None of this amateur stuff.

[Goth-Girl-Supremacy]

I doubt it's a low effort game, @GGS, but you're right about bog standard. Upon seeing the "pixel art" I miss the awesome art of 90s games. The graphical artists were for real back then. None of this amateur stuff.

Nothing turns me off a game harder than one that does the quirky pixelart garbage that has been plaguing indie games for over a decade. Hundreds of aesthetic/visual examples over decades to take after and these devs settle on making an SNES game depicting unicorn vomit.

If I have the desire for a Tactics game it's better to just replay Tactics Ogre or choose one of the many that came out from the mid-90s to mid-00s. At least those games I either know are good to begin with or there's some hidden gem out there that I yet to play.

[Mortmal]

I doubt it's a low effort game, @GGS, but you're right about bog standard. Upon seeing the "pixel art" I miss the awesome art of 90s games. The graphical artists were for real back then. None of this amateur stuff.

The games never looked like this on CRT monitors. Back then, games looked better, and they were innovative, pushing the very limited hardware of that time to its maximum potential. The pixel art approach in games today, mimicking ancient gameplay, is absolutely not in line with the spirit of those old games. It's just lazy and uninspired.

[Acrux]

This guy makes some of the best tactical rpgs that have ever been made and you're complaining about the graphics. Top notch takes.

[rusty_shackleford]

Genuinely have no idea what's going on in those screenshots.


The art looks like a complete mess.

[1998]

Yap that's why I gave up on HG after a few hours. Way too exhausting trying to make sense of any of it.

[Goth-Girl-Supremacy]

This guy makes some of the best tactical rpgs that have ever been made and you're complaining about the graphics. Top notch takes.

Being one of the few blessed to be able to decipher **** does not cease it from being ****, my son.

[Shillitron]

Bog standard, low effort pixel art ****.

Pixel actually can look good but in this case I agree.

Whenever I see tiny 6 by 6 pixel characters that just jiggle a little on the screen I picture some neckbeard mouth breather in a Fedora creating this "artistic" dribble.
The "Graphics Don't Matter" autismo crowd is legitimately ruining gaming. Stop financially rewarding this ****.

[Mortmal]

This guy makes some of the best tactical rpgs that have ever been made and you're complaining about the graphics. Top notch takes.

Ah, once again and for the thousandth time, on Codex and now on RPGHQ—a long-lasting tradition to reiterate. It's not about the graphics; it's about art style and presentation. Here, everything is cluttered and uniform, washed out—probably to emulate grimdark, like the dude with the fedora who created this thinks his true form is a dark angel of despair. I could play strategy games like Dominions 6, and there, everything is clear, sharp, and easy to understand. It's not even faux retro, as it's the same game improving since the Atari Falcon version.
Now, I won't comment on the gameplay, but I got bored quickly with the previous games. To each their own, I guess.

[rusty_shackleford]

re: graphics
The problem with this game is that it has very, very poor readability, not the graphical fidelity. There are plenty of zero-budget RPGs that have high readability.

I've never once seen anyone complain about KotC1's graphics. I personally rather like the way KotC1 looks.

[Shillitron]

What's wrong with good graphics?

Why don't we expect this from devs anymore?

If your indie trash pixel game is getting mogged by Ultima 7 / SNES ERA / Lands of Lore / ect.. then you don't deserve to release it.

Use AI or hire an artist lazy *******.


> " Red Dot that jiggles left and right is the main character of a 70 hour RPG"
> Guys the gameplay is good.. preorder

[Lich]

Low-detail graphics are fine, if they're easily discernible, and not distracting.

[Shillitron]

> Latest video cards able to power AI, as strong as entire cloud data centers from 10 years ago
> Everyone playing Minecraft and "Indie-Pixel-**** 3: Soy Bean Journey"

[Lich]

Most artists and game developers have **** tastes. Increasing graphical fidelty gives people more opportunities to make things ugly.

[Goth-Girl-Supremacy]

Can't wait until indie trash adopts Tiger Electronic handheld graphics.

With raytracing.

[Shillitron]

Most artists and game developers have **** tastes. Increasing graphical fidelty gives people more opportunities to make things ugly.

Good then let them fail in the market.

This argument is ********. "Oh indie's have no taste so no graphics is better than some graphics"

The correct answer is "Create good graphics - then I buy your game"

This is such a cuckshed position to defend.

[Lich]

Most artists and game developers have **** tastes. Increasing graphical fidelty gives people more opportunities to make things ugly.

Good then let them fail in the market.

This argument is ********. "Oh indie's have no taste so no graphics is better than some graphics"

The correct answer is "Create good graphics - then I buy your game"

This is such a cuckshed position to defend.

I don't care about graphics as long as they're not distracting. They only matter as far as they reflect the game's mechanics clearly, without distractions.

[Acrux]

This guy makes some of the best tactical rpgs that have ever been made and you're complaining about the graphics. Top notch takes.

Ah, once again and for the thousandth time, on Codex and now on RPGHQ—a long-lasting tradition to reiterate. It's not about the graphics; it's about art style and presentation. Here, everything is cluttered and uniform, washed out—probably to emulate grimdark, like the dude with the fedora who created this thinks his true form is a dark angel of despair. I could play strategy games like Dominions 6, and there, everything is clear, sharp, and easy to understand. It's not even faux retro, as it's the same game improving since the Atari Falcon version.
Now, I won't comment on the gameplay, but I got bored quickly with the previous games. To each their own, I guess.

I agree that it's about the art direction. These games just feel like a weird example to me to call out, because I think the RadCodex games artstyle fit the gameplay and world style pretty well. I've never heard the dev say that he's going for a "retro" look, and that's not the feeling I've ever had from any of his games. I look at rusty's screenshot above and have no difficulty understanding what's going on - and it conveys a lot more information than what's seen in the KOTC1 screens.

The dev has specifically said that the colors and aesthetics in this game are purposefully chosen to make the world look "weird, dark, and different". It doesn't look washed out to me, but it does look a strange subterranean world.

[Goth-Girl-Supremacy]

He wanted it to be weird, dark and different and yet because he went with pixelart graphics it ended up looking much of the same.

A tragedy.

[Mortmal]

KOTC 1 did it right; sad it all went wrong in KOTC 2. Well, presentation is not even the worst problem with these kinds of games. The story is unappealing, written by a 10-year-old DM. If you go indie, you could take some liberties and create something a bit more original, some adult setting like Fallout,darksun, something completely new inspired by the best books, something non-corporate. This one could be sold on the Nintendo store without any trouble.

[Rand]

If I have the desire for a Tactics game it's better to just replay Tactics Ogre or choose one of the many that came out from the mid-90s to mid-00s. At least those games I either know are good to begin with

I played Tactics Ogre.
As much as I could stand, anyway.
What is it that makes you say it's good?
Because I didn't see anything particularly good about it.
I found it dull and kinda imbalanced.