Which DLCs started to include user made adventures?

[LaughingHero]

Hi! I actually got this game back in 2011/12, so I still have patch 112911 (DLC 14+Patch 68) and I was wondering with which DLC did user made adventures start being included with? I'd like to try an "authentic" version of the game without any user made DLCs and later on try on with the latest one - should I wait for DLC 17 or go with DLC 16 when I've finished the former run?

 

By the way, how much stuff would you say the later DLCs and patches added? Is the game twice as big as it was before or maybe 1.5x? I know people are keeping track of quests and such, so someone might have the answer.

 

Also did the new content make the game easier or harder in the sense of mechanics (ie. failing/succeeding at a task)? More skills can make it harder if you go too much jack-of-all-skills route or you focus on the wrong skills, but at the same time new skills can make some quests that were hard before easier, right? I remember reading one of the early reviews that said sometimes it was hard to succeed at tasks due to micromanaging, if I hate micromanaging (or at least the one in Japanese micromanagements sim), is it better to go with less or more DLCs? Personally I love lots of quests and content though, so I'd like to finish as many quests as I can, so the one (ie. a vanilla or game with less DLCs or a game with all DLCs) where you can do that more easily is probably more up to my liking.

 

Thank you!

 

[Schwarzbart]

I think it was already with the first or second DLC when user content was added. But because all user content was edited by Black Chicken Studios it is all "authentic"

[Metis]

The earliest DLC that included an adventure is actually the first one. User-made adventures specifically, though? 8 or 9? Not sure. As for 16 now against waiting for 17, well, no one knows for sure when DLC 17 will finally be released, that depends on how quickly the Steam version will be ready, so...your call.

 

Comparing the 1.0.0 amo and DLC 15 it's...I'd say roughly a 60-70% increase in the amount of adventure stages. Not sure on actual adventures, but one kinda follows the other (and one should consider the difference in content between A Meeting In a Tavern and The Edge of Nowhere anyway). Add DLC 16 on top of that and I think you can safely look at an 80+% increase in content, adventure-wise. DLC 16 was...a very thick DLC, to say the least.

 

DLC is easier than no DLC, no question. It might add to the micromanagement in that there's more stuff to go/sort through, but DLC adventures generally don't require you to roll 15+ on parent skill rolls (or worse...) come the end, which is usually why you'd do serious micromanagement in the first place.

[LaughingHero]

Thank you!

In that case I'd probably try installing two versions, one to see how the vanilla game looked like and one with DLC 16 to compare.

 

DLC 17 supposedly will have some UI changes too, right? Or something like that.

[Metis]

You don't have to install two versions. Mechanically the DLC is a mod that you can turn on or leave off when you start a new game. Of course once a game starts you can't change mods, so you will need two characters to experience both sides (or the same character in two separate dimensions, however your personal head canon works).

 

Eh, yes. Technically it'll be part of a patch released alongside DLC 17, not part of the DLC itself, but for a casual player it's a moot distinction. Those in the know know the difference, though.

[Legate of Mineta]

LaughingHero;

 

That's correct- the patch released with DLC17 will include several UI changes.

[LaughingHero]

You don't have to install two versions. Mechanically the DLC is a mod that you can turn on or leave off when you start a new game. Of course once a game starts you can't change mods, so you will need two characters to experience both sides (or the same character in two separate dimensions, however your personal head canon works).

Brilliant, thank you! I'd need two characters anyway to do it either way.

 

EDIT: To both Legate and Metis - I'm actually curious in seeing the changes, and since it'll be minimally a month till the new DLC (I remember waiting for DLC 15 to start a new game which came half or a year later, and by that time I was busy with other things, haha!), I'll just go for 16.

[Schwarzbart]

I thought player written events was actual very early that they got added because there where some already writen 2010!

[Metis]

*Shrugs* There's definitely topics in the Writer's Corner that go back that far, but I have no idea with what DLC those adventures/events were added. I only know what the wiki tells me.

[Legate of Mineta]

It must have been 2010, because we incorporated them in the DLC as closely to when they were written as might be.

[Jazerus]

You will not finish everything even after playing several characters even with just the base game. The DLC content tends to be better designed than the original adventures, too - they take up less calendar time unless you're failing a lot because one part of those adventures usually leads to another seamlessly unless there's an actual written break in the action, while there are many forced pauses in some of the original adventures. (P.S. Legate, any chance that could be looked at at some point? There are a fair number of adventures where the stage breaks don't make much sense paired with the text.) I would just play with the DLC on - I've probably played at least one character in each DLC and each just makes the game better, particularly because the newer events and adventures tend to let you make use of some of the skills which were rarely useful in the base game.

 

If you really want to know, though, DLC 2 was the first one with user-generated content, at least based on the oldest roundup topic by Legate in Writer's Corner, though the deadline on getting stuff into DLC 2 was tight so even some of the very early stuff like my library event and the Muffin Man were part of DLC 3 instead.

[Metis]

Wasn't the original plan to release a DLC every month until, about a year later, Y2 was released? If so those would have been tight deadlines.

[Legate of Mineta]

Metis;

 

Yep, there was a monthly DLC for the first set. Those were really tight.

[freespace2dotcom]

Yes, that was back when The idea was to do a DLC every month until Y2 came out. Then the idea of Soon^TM pooped on the party.

 

http://www.gamezebo.com/2010/09/14/making-mages-interview-developers-academagia/

What are your long term plans for releasing downloadable content for Academagia vs. coming out with a full-fledged sequel?

 

They are complementary. The DLC will cater to our community, providing new options for the players, exploring shadowy corners of the University, and shedding some light on the larger world around the Academagia. That release schedule will continue right up untilthe month before Year2 launches, so that our player’s characters can always have new experiences. The sequel will be released in about 1-2 years, and you will be able to bring any character you have saved directly into it. I’d better save this topic for the next question, however.

 

[Metis]

I find it somewhat hilarious that the last two DLCs took longer to release than Y2 was originally planned to take.

[freespace2dotcom]

I find it somewhat hilarious that Y2 was likely slated to come out before all the other projects that BCS has undertaken were even considered.

[Legate of Mineta]

Such are the perils of indie development, alas.

[freespace2dotcom]

Well, I am secretly hoping that the development of the game engine from Y2 to Y3 will require much less of an overhaul.. as Y2 did from Y1. Given that Academagia was the first project it can't be helped, but I guess it's not such a secret anymore.