Age of Decadence - The Fanatic and His RPG @ Gamasutra

[HiddenX]

Mark Yohalem tells the story of Age of Decadence and its creator:

The Fanatic and His RPG

“There is no great genius without some touch of madness.”
- Seneca the Younger​

In early 2004, a middle-aged man with the Fallout-derived moniker “Vault Dweller” wrote a brief forum post that began, “Long story short, I’ve decided to make a game...” By late 2015, he had posted some 30,000 more messages, taken on a new alias (“Vincent D. Weller”), given perhaps the most caustic interview in the history of gaming journalism, and quit his job as a marketing executive. He had also, at long last, finished The Age of Decadence, a masterpiece of outsider art and a game as iconoclastic and challenging as the man who created it. In an era where RPGs overwhelmingly are either neo-classic throwbacks that ape the beloved forms of old or modern blockbusters that emphasize streamlined accessibility and cinematic flourishes, Decadence is something else entirely: a freak that evolved from the old forms but along new lines. It is a game that compels the attention of anyone interested in RPGs, multi-path design, reactive story-telling, or the madness of the lone creator.

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More information.

 

[HiddenX]

Thanks Eye! You found this older interview, too:

INTERVIEW: VINCE D. WELLER OF AGE OF DECADENCE & IRON TOWER STUDIO

Vince D. Weller remembers a better time. A time when CRPGs were turn-based, full of meaningful choices that lead to real consequences, and hard as fucking nails. It’s no surprise then that he (alongside his team at Iron Tower Studio) made Age of Decadence, a multi-layered masterpiece that refuses, as the RPG Codex says, to “scale to your level”. When I was reading his answers, I couldn’t help but imagine him as Walter White, gruffly answering poor dumb Jessie about the chemical intricacies of cooking meth.

TEG: You are ten years older than when development began on Age of Decadence. How old were you when it began, and if you could pass your decade-younger self one message, what would it be?

VDW: 11 years, actually. I was at the tender age of 34 and had all the time in the world. Message? “You’re never gonna believe it, but in the future people *will* read Playboy for the articles!”

TEG: Vince D. Weller is not your real name. Am I right to assume the D. Weller is a reference to the Fallout protagonist (simply known as “Vault Dweller”), and what role does the relative anonymity of using a pseudonym serve?

VDW: When we first presented the game to public, I was gainfully employed as Vice-President of Sales & Marketing in an advertising company. My employment contract prohibited me from being involved with another company in any capacity. While I’m pretty sure that working on a role-playing game after work isn’t what my employer was concerned about, I didn’t want to create unnecessary complications and took a pseudonym. Now I’m used to it.

TEG: A sense of irreversibility is palpable throughout Age of Decadence: your choices have consequences, and there is often no going back. This goes against the millennial paradigm of “endless choice and freedom”—a sentiment I find to be increasingly present in today’s games. Can you pinpoint the pivotal moment when you learned this lesson in your life? Why was it so important for you to make its presence felt in the game?

VDW: It’s not about my life experience; it’s about my design preferences. I dislike linear RPGs where all events are set in stone and you’re just moving from point A to point B to point C, triggering occasional cutscenes. A non-linear RPG requires choices. Meaningful choices require consequences, otherwise your choices don’t really matter. Simple as that. […]

 

[Morbus]

That interview is so sweet

Prelude to Darkness is a great RPG, but when I played it it was buggy as crap. I never finished it, but it was obviously a nice one.

 

[luj1]

When i first heard about it, I loved the Roman post-apoc setting, and the traditional isometric execution. I also loved a game that wasnt focused on just fighting. When you combine all that its really something unique.

 

[hiciacit]

Ha! He also mentions 'The inheritance of Rome'. Now that is an amazing read! Vince has good taste.

 

[Pladio]

Nice reads

 

[screeg]

Holy shit, this guy is a real writer!
…

The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Ahhh, that explains it!

 

[wiretripped]

That Gamasutra article is a great read.

In short, the game is “raw” and flawed, but those imperfections do not destroy or outweigh its unique and overwhelming merits.

Hear hear.

 

[teije]

Great read on Gamasutra. Really captures what felt so different about playing the game, and why I played it several times.