The Iron Oath - Interview

The Turn Based Lovers interviewed Curious Panda Games about their game The Iron Oath:

10 TURN INTERVIEW WITH THE IRON OATH DEVELOPERS

THE IRON OATH IS A TURN-BASED TACTICAL RPG WHERE THE FATE OF YOUR MERCENARY COMPANY RESTS ON YOUR DECISIONS. CUSTOMIZE YOUR ROSTER, BUILD YOUR RENOWN, AND DISCOVER THE SECRETS THAT AWAIT IN THE MEDIEVAL FANTASY REALM OF CAELUM.

In the ever-evolving landscape of indie gaming, few titles have sparked as much intrigue and admiration as The Iron Oath, a turn-based tactical RPG that immerses players in the rich, medieval fantasy realm of Caelum. Today, we’re thrilled to sit down again with Curious Panda Games, the masterminds behind this dark fantasy world, where the fate of a mercenary company lies in the balance of player decisions. From the sprawling time scales to the intricate character backstories, The Iron Oath offers a unique blend of strategy, storytelling, and survival in a world teeming with danger and opportunity.

As we celebrate the game’s much-anticipated 1.0 launch, we delve into the creative process, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped The Iron Oath into one of 2023’s standout tactical RPGs. Join us as we explore the journey of its creation, the nuances of its gameplay, and the vision that drives its creators.

Howdy! I just want to say thanks for doing the interview and congrats on the big 1.0 launch!

Thank you! It’s been pretty hectic since our launch, but we’re happy to take some time to answer a few questions!

First Turn
In most RPG’s, the time scales work in the span of days to traverse their worlds, but your game can take months to complete quests and dungeons, as well as the campaign can last hundreds of years. What drove you to work with such a large scale of time, and what difficulties did you run into?

We were initially inspired by the time scale of games like Crusader Kings, and we liked the idea of playing with multiple generations of characters and seeing the world evolve over time through wars and successions. In practice, this was very hard to pull off, and finding a balance where time moved fast enough but players still got to spend enough time with their characters before they retired proved too difficult to achieve.

In the end, we ended up scaling back on the time progression by quite a bit. When we launched into Early Access, we also realized that a lot of players were resistant to the idea of their characters aging and retiring, so it’s something that we’ve put less emphasis on and chose to focus our efforts elsewhere. They still age and retire eventually, but there’s enough of a buffer there where the main storyline can be completed before that happens. We think it was the right choice, as the initial time scale was also problematic from a storytelling point of view.

Second Turn
How do you balance when you find one class is overpowered? Is it a matter of debuffing them, buffing other classes, or altering the world in a way to make the class more viable?

A little of everything. There have been a few abilities that have needed to be buffed, nerfed, or reworked, but in general the classes each have their use and we feel they are quite balanced. Most enemy types have damage resistances and vulnerabilities, which allows each class a chance to shine depending on what you’re up against. So even if one class is perceived as slightly weaker than the rest, they will still be useful in dealing with certain enemies and situations. Overall, we’re not too concerned with achieving a perfect balance since it’s a single-player game (especially if it’s a nerf to something that many players are enjoying), but we’re always listening to feedback and will step in when tweaks are needed.

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Thanks Couchpotato!