Sword Coast Legends To Introduce RAGE OF DEMONS and Tile Based Editor

Dan Tudge of n-Space, makers of Sword Coast Legends, has just posted a major "State of the Game" announcement which recognizes that opinion on the game has been polarizing and that it does not meet the expectations of many, and how the company plans to address those issues. To that end, there's a whole bunch of upcoming update packs, which include more areas, control enhancements, a "cleared" outdoor area ready for placeables, new races, and the two seemingly biggest enhancements: a tile-based editor and the Rage of Demons storyline.

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As Dan Tudge says, the game has had its fair share of complaints (it's currently trending at only 20.5% here at EN World). The biggest complaints about SCL - at least as far as I can make out - have been the lack of free DM area creation, and the way the game does not really use D&D 5E rules. The latter issue isn't addressed, but the December update includes:

• Official introduction of mod support, including
• Tile based level editor
• Branching dialog editor
• Adjustable game systems, ex: round timer, loot tables, etc.
• Community facing development of these features to begin immediately
• Option to disable monster level scaling in DM campaigns

I don't know if this will mean Neverwinter Nights levels of customization, but it certainly seems to be a major step forward.

The Rage of Demons storyline was expected, and includes tile sets, objects, a tiefling race, creatures, etc., as well as an adventure.

The full list of five major update packs can be found here.

 

[smiteworks]

Except their combat is gang up and whack-a-mole instead of tactical/strategic.

I disagree. It's not as tactical as it would be with a turn-based approach (my preference), but you still have similar tactics that you have in Baldur's Gate and other RTwP style games. Summoning a pet monster and buffing them and others before entering an area, dropping sleep over grouped enemies or choosing which area you want to focus the build for your character are all still in the game. Furthermore, using the correct attack against a specific enemy becomes important, such as when you attack an ooze. I found myself sending in a stealthed or invisible rogue in to start the combat off with a backstab on the enemy spellcaster and then followed it up with mob control spells first while the fighters focused on one enemy at a time that made their saving throw.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

My early interest waned as the creation tools looked less interesting over time. This is a great step in the right direction.

As for it "not being 5e", I don't find that to be a compelling complaint. I'd much rather see vibrant gameplay adapted to the medium than a rigid shoehorning of 5e into a video game. A rigid approach is what I'd want from a virtual tabletop, which is not what SCL is trying to be.

I would be fine with that as well, actually. Unfortunately what SCL accomplishes is a very generic and uninteresting action RPG format of gameplay. I would like to see the story, but the game's mechanically less interesting than all of its competition, and this is problematic. If they had either made the system less like D&D but more robust and involved (even tactical) it would be great. Maybe it gets better later on, but the first few hours of play grew really uninteresting, bad enough that despite wanting to see the tale unfold I just couldn't bring myself to want to play through the simplified action rpg play.

EDIT: as for 5E gameplay in a PC game, I can't really polarize the idea as rigid hoehorning vs. spiritual design because Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 exist as well as Baldur's Gate and all the other Obsidian titles. Those games did a fantastic job of modeling the rules systems while cleverly tweaking actually gameplay to work with the language as presented. I could design characters in all of those games that we could then convert to tabletop characters with a bare minimum of effort. The same is not true of SCL, and I think they missed the ball here. With so many other successful turn-based tactical CRPGs on the market it was clearly a design decision to make SCL more action RPG friendly, and had nothing to do with the flexibility of 5E in a CRPG environment.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

I disagree. It's not as tactical as it would be with a turn-based approach (my preference), but you still have similar tactics that you have in Baldur's Gate and other RTwP style games. Summoning a pet monster and buffing them and others before entering an area, dropping sleep over grouped enemies or choosing which area you want to focus the build for your character are all still in the game. Furthermore, using the correct attack against a specific enemy becomes important, such as when you attack an ooze. I found myself sending in a stealthed or invisible rogue in to start the combat off with a backstab on the enemy spellcaster and then followed it up with mob control spells first while the fighters focused on one enemy at a time that made their saving throw.

Your description gives me hope...maybe I'll reload and try it a bit more.

 

[mykesfree]

I have played the game for 10 plus hours and I feel the main story line is very much in line with D&D 5E and the concept of the 3 pillars. So far the story is great and it tugs on all on the right RPG itches that I have. I did not expect the game to have the 5E rule set verbatim, but the game is very much 5E in feel and style.

 

[Fabio Andrea Rossi]

For instance, the Temple of Elemental game is one of my favorite engines of all times, but it was scrapped and never built upon. It's good to see n-Space taking the feedback and working with that.

And I thought I was alone there...TOEE is really the best and truest incarnation of the (back then) D&D rules that has ever been done, it's really a pity the story was so...not compelling. Even worse that it was not used for any other game (kudos to the Circle of Eight for all their good work on that game).

But...with all those kickstarted nostalgia resurrections out there one can always hope.

As per SCL, not a bad game but I think that many D&D gamers really want a "true" D&D, turn based game, not mobile free-to-play or more action oriented games.

I also think that if one company one day find the right formula and a good engine base it could open the door to many "modules" being done, sold and played, but that's just my humble opinion.

 

[Zaukrie]

Not being D&D does not make it a bad game. But if you don't follow the rules any more than any other video game, it isn't D&D. I did not say that made it bad.

 

[Reinhart]

I'm not paying full price for unfinished software, but the chances that I buy Sword Coast Legends in 2016 when it goes on sale just increased significantly.

 

[epithet]

...
As per SCL, not a bad game but I think that many D&D gamers really want a "true" D&D, turn based game, not mobile free-to-play or more action oriented games.
...

Well, that's what Fantasy Grounds is for. To me, a "true" D&D game includes human interaction, and while you can play SCL that way, it doesn't really deliver the group D&D experience on a computer like a virtual tabletop does. I'm enjoying the single player game quite a bit, though.

 

[Dire Bare]

Good luck to then. But it isn't D&D.

Wrong. Or, at least, I disagree.

As others have stated, this is an adaptation of the 5E ruleset, not a direct port. There has never, in the history of D&D computer games, been a direct port of a D&D ruleset. Of course, you may not care for how N-Space adapted the 5E rules, but that does not mean that the game is *not* D&D. To me, this is the same crap language edition warriors throw around about whatever version of D&D is not to their liking, as in "4E is a great game, but it's not D&D." BS to that kind of talk.

 

[Dire Bare]

Isn't this the same guy who said a day before release that it already had these features?

Nope.

Well, it's the same guy, Dan Tudge, who has been the "face" of N-Space and Sword Coast Legendes. But Tudge has never been dishonest or unclear (to my knowledge) about what the game would entail at launch, or in any other way.

There is definitely folks misinterpreting what Tudge has said, but that's par for the course with the fan community.