Ign Vault - Darkfall Peek Of The Week #9

[Gowel]

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/455/455562p1.html

[AshTheUgly]

Very nice.

[Blade]

Hmmm, nice scenario! Like Ferox said in his thread of this sneakpeek, the mountain in the background looks great! If I remember right the devs said that mountains would be (or could be) huge in DF. It will be great, to start climbing a mountain, and keep on climbing till im on top and not just get stopped by an invisible barrier.... ;) B)

[MasterSeth]

::jumps up and down like a five year old:: is it ready to play yet? is it ready to play yet? is it ready to play yet :P ?

[Viranth]

The graphics reminds me a lot of Ghost Recon, and I loved Ghost Recon. Anyhoo, great stuff... now I just want to play the game :b

[Gowel]

Great stuff, just great. I love just the overall look of everything. Great job on the trees and rocks and things. Everything is placed in such a realistic way. And to think that all these world objects are going to have collision detection, woo! :)

My only negative feedback, and it's not even that bad, would be the lack of grass. I'd love to see more grass sticking up here and there, like we've seen in the other screenshots, but I realize that there are plenty of areas like this that may be incomplete and stuff like patches of grass can always be added later. So, it's really not something to worry much about.

I also can't stand to be teased! To mention a dungeon entrance, but not show us a screenshot of it, is painful. Maybe next week, or sometime soon, we'll be lucky enough to get a dungeon entrance shot and a couple interior dungeon shots as well.

[rekker]

we want more screenshots! we want screenshots of some people mining! or just a simple mage battle!
so like... someone casting lightning on somethin else! we want to see some effects!!!

or you could just release beta.... (>-.-)> ^___^

[Blade]

Lol! True Gowel, in the exitement of the Screens I forgot about the dungeon they mentioned! That really IS teasaing! Let us see the entrance!!!!
............please? :)

[Filip]

DO you guys really like the screenshots, that much???
I know gameplay is much more important, but really these graphics arent great, compared to almost any game in development.
they aren't bad, but they sure aren't that great to be this far in development.
i mean the houses just dont look real, they look, like a piece of colored rock in the shape of a house.
and the trees look like they're smashed in to the ground for half a meter, i mean aren't there supposed to be roots, wich can be seen???

No these graphics, aren't as good as you people say.
i dont say there bad, but i do say, they could need to be a lot better, maybe it's just the strange unnatural colors, that could be it, but i think they need to be improved quite a bit. IMHO ^_^

[malarkie]

for a town being on the border of ork lands it sure lack defenses, it doenst even have a wall...... =/

as for the town layout it reminded me of baishi in AC

[Dracul Fey]

Filip the graphics are perfect. You need to stop being so blind and realize that gameplay is what matters, not graphics. And I happen to love the graphics and the screenshots. I don't want some gay game like eq2 who's only strongpoint is graphics. In fact I think eq2 tried way too hard and its ugly. Plus I'd have to upgrade to play that (i would never play it).

anyways... gameplay > graphics

stop whining

[Viranth]

for a town being on the border of ork lands it sure lack defenses, it doenst even have a wall...... =/


Yet :b
Whoever gets the town will prolly be able to upgrade it and stuff like that for defensive purposes.

[Porthios]

Gameplay aside, the graphics look bland a featureless. They need to make their textures much more realistic, and their town needs to have more life to it. Also, the ground looks FAR too plane; it needs more shrubs.

The overall environment looks good. I like the mountain, and the viewing distance. The landscape just needs more life.

AO had much better scenery, yet is much much older. That is not acceptable in the competative market of today. Yes, I know I am being very critical, but AC nearly had a good of graphics as this does, and besides, critizism is what the devs need.

P.S. Is it just me, or does their sky look greenish blue? They definately need to brighten their sky up. Their colors are too dark and dull.

[Dracul Fey]

1) this is early early beta
2) in this type of game, you don't want graphics that bog down your system. With truly skillful combat and people engaged in pretty intense battles, the last thing you want is to get crappy fps.
3) gameplay > graphics, if the game is as fun as it should be, graphics DO NOT MATTER -> see classic UO

[zarbok]

to me the graphics are just fine. game play to me is so important then graphics. i find my self playing old consol games like super nintando just cause there games were based on game play and not graphics. All the new systems are focusing too much on graphics and not a lot on gameplay. I hope darkfall does not make the same mistake.

[Gowel]

malarkie, that's true, but what kind of defenses are you expecting? Players will be the ones to provide defense, which in turn, does wonders for the gameplay. Let me explain the layers of depth involved in this.

I love the setup here. Humans get just one stone quarry. This means that it's going to be very important to protect if they ever want to build any structures or cities. Placing this quarry near the border with another race, immediatly promotes race vs race conflict. Orks will be trying to take over the quarry, not only to use it themselves, but also just so that the humans can't use it. This promotes conflict between the Orks & Humans.

In addition, Humans, having only one quarry, will likely be seeking out other quarries in which to take control of, either to double their available resources, or in times when this Trinwood quarry is controlled by another race and they simply cannot regain control, they are going to need a second source of stone. This promotes conflict between the Humans & any other race that has a quarry near their borders or, it could promote alliances with other races and/or specific clans of other races, as some Dwarves & Mirdain(if they have any), may be willing to allow the Humans to use their quarry, or possibly sell/trade shipments of stone to them.

A third layer of depth to this, is that giving mining rights to the clan that controls the quarry, could and likely will, promotes internal conflict among the Human clans.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel this is a very interested way in which to promote warfare between clans and races, without having some unrealistic or unreasonable game mechanic, like DAOC's "keep" sieging system. It makes gameplay sense, it gives the gameworld an actual purpose, and it creates "hot spots" so that people that can't find a fight elsewhere, will have a few places where there's almost always going to be some sort of battle going on. Being a gamer, you really have to appreciate those sort of gameplay possibilities.



Filip, it's not so much how the graphics actually look, because obviously the game isn't going to look like EQ2 or a few other upcoming games. It's more of imagining ourselves playing Darkfall in this game world, in these settings, with a type of terrain that hasn't been utilized in other MMORPGs yet, with collision detection allowing us to duck behind trees and rocks or even using the grass as cover. I haven't seen a MMORPG yet that has hills/mountains of that size that can be completely walked over and across, without some invisible border blocking you. Imagine you're an ork scout, hanging out up in the mountain overlooking the Trinwood Village, waiting for the right time to signal your force of 100+ orks to come storming over the hill and take over the human stone quarry. Just one of many possibilities in a gameworld like this.

So, yes the graphics aren't top of the line and people here really haven't claimed that they were. I just think, as I said, people are getting more excited about the gameplay possiblities in a world like this.

[Malveille]

Man you almost convinced me to play an Ork, just to attack that town more easily!

[jittles]

Originally posted by MasterSeth@Oct 20 2003, 12:16 PM
::jumps up and down like a five year old:: is it ready to play yet? is it ready to play yet? is it ready to play yet :P ?
DITTO

[Arathalus]

Only one stone quarry for the humans.......thats gonna be fun aint it :)

Although if one strong human clan takes control of the quarry and doesnt feel like sharing it, im not sure who this will effect small human clans startign up. Somthing to think about.

Onto the graphics. If your lookign for a game which is spotless with totally awesom graphics which you can gaze at all day and go wow look at that mark on that piece of wood, how cool. Then play another game, id prefer the art dudes to be working on more dungeouns and more monster graphics.


And id also prefer to not have a stunningly poor fps when in combat.

At least we now know whos on the humans borders.....I wonder how the rest of the races are going be spread out.

The combat that this will cause is going be cool, i would fully expect orks to be constantly attacking trying to gain the quarry to destroy the humans supply of rocks, cause your not only attacking the clan that has it at the time your lessening the strength of the entire human race in one hit if they dont have another quarry to mine.

good stuff.

[Andonis]

It will surely increase PvP and set a battleground for future fights I like the idea, the developement of the game seems to be coming along realy nicely so far impressive but the IGN sneak peeks seem to get shorter every week...or two.

[Sheint]

Originally posted by Andonis@Oct 20 2003, 10:48 PM
...but the IGN sneak peeks seem to get shorter every week...or two.
Hoping this is a sign of the dev team putting thier time into the game, rather than publicity :)

[Mars]

These screen shots look much better than I had expected considering that they are just showing off the vegetation. Like most screen shots, I'm sure that it looks even better in the game.

Anyone who has played a first person shooter knows that your frames per second will make or break you. If you sacrifice performance for uncessary eye candy then you cripple the gameplay. You also lose out on a number of gamers that can't or don't want to upgrade to the latest hardware just to be able to play a single game.

Anyone who thought that DarkFall would be rendering photorealistic images and have action oriented, time critical combat is kidding themselves.

[Porthios]

Originally posted by Dracul Fey@Oct 20 2003, 12:44 PM
1) this is early early beta
2) in this type of game, you don't want graphics that bog down your system.  With truly skillful combat and people engaged in pretty intense battles, the last thing you want is to get crappy fps.
3) gameplay > graphics, if the game is as fun as it should be, graphics DO NOT MATTER -> see classic UO
I realize this, but from what I see, the graphics suck. I am not saying that I value graphics anywhere near gameplay, I am just saying that they suck. I personally have no idea how much graphics improve from beta until release, but from what I have heard, they don't improve that dramatically.

They need to make their scenery graphics comparable to at least that of AO's. Anything else is just plane cheap. Really now, AC 1 graphics will never even get close to bogging someone's system down, if they are, then they need to get a new comp anyway.

[Stereoviewer]

I'm happy to finally see some landscape, something I've been begging for a long time now. I'm pretty pleased with the trees and the mountains, but where is the vegetation? I suppose these screenshots are a bit underdeveloped, cause I've seen at least grass in other pics. But I'd like to see some mushrooms, flowers and other types of plants. Morrowind is one game where these kind of graphics really adds a lot to the atmospere to the game. The sky also look a bit booring in the new pics unfortunately. I agree gameplay is deffinitely more important than graphics, but what if I can have both? My hopes are still great for this game (even though there are no mushrooms... lol), and after all I'm quite glad to have seen the new screenshots.

Oh, and one more thing. For me online roleplaying is a great deal about immersion, and being able to flee the reality to a virtual reality. To reach there, it takes BOTH gameplay and graphics.

[Stereoviewer]

Originally posted by Mars@Oct 20 2003, 04:56 PM
These screen shots look much better than I had expected considering that they are just showing off the vegetation. Like most screen shots, I'm sure that it looks even better in the game.

Anyone who has played a first person shooter knows that your frames per second will make or break you. If you sacrifice performance for uncessary eye candy then you cripple the gameplay. You also lose out on a number of gamers that can't or don't want to upgrade to the latest hardware just to be able to play a single game.

Anyone who thought that DarkFall would be rendering photorealistic images and have action oriented, time critical combat is kidding themselves.
UT2003 has both great graphics and great gameplay, and it's the fastest game I've ever played. It will be over a year when DF gets out.

[Gowel]

UT2003 has both great graphics and great gameplay, and it's the fastest game I've ever played. It will be over a year when DF gets out.
You can't make a proper comparison of a small scale FPS game with a large scale MMORPG game. They are completely different.

[Airius Droc]

I love the graphics.

[Gaintlord]

I think the screen shots look good. Also for the people talking about eyecandy I bet this was taken on a GForce 256 video card. I bet if you use a top of the line card that It will be so much better.

As some also said I bet this place is going to be one very big battle ground from day one.

Only one stone quarry for the humans

I can see that eveil clans and good clans are going to be fighting over this place and I would not be surprise if enemy races get into the picture just to make sure the humans can't make stuff.

Resources are going to be a big part in this game. Its not going to be like SWG where you can mine almost anywhere for metals and stuff. Thiugh With a lack of stone quarry I wonder what the humans have that everyone has little of?

I hope its like this in all the kingdoms that each has little of this but some of that and a huge amount of this. This way to make houses and to make your cities you are going to have to either raid, trade or buy from other kingdoms to build what you want.

This to me sounds like a very good system!! :D

[Airrious]

I havent posted in awhile, but I'd like to say that the graphics look good, BUT something is missing. It looks like DAoC to me, the forest doesnt have enough trees to be a forest. There's no vegitation. It doesnt look alive.

We all know that its an early screen shot to show the village and landscape. Im not critizing, Im pointing out that a few things are still missing thats all. Gameplay is important but so is actually feeling immersed.

If I am walking through something that feels artifical, then I too feel artifical and loose out on an important aspect of playing MMORPG's which is immersion.

As for Frames per Second (FPS) comparision to a game like Unreal 2003 and a MMORPG, yes you can compare the two. Reason is FPS is based on graphics load time and internet connect. Heavy graphics, low internet connect and you reduce FPS. Its the same for a MMORPG. If Unreal 2003 is heavy in graphics and people dont have a FPS problem, then a 2nd generation MMORPG should not have a problem with FPS. Engines are created with FPS in mind and speed of reaction also in mind. Unreal 2003 was hella fast, which DF devs have stated DF wont be that fast, which also brings the FPS realisitcly into control.

Im no expert by any means and we all love the eye candy. Those screenshots are gorgeous, that I wont argue, but there is still something missing that makes it not FEEL real. As I said, I feel like Im looking at a graphically better version of DAoC which always felt artifical.

[Dozier]

looks good, but where's the grass? show some night shots

[Sachem]

Clearly everyone has different views. Just to quantify what i see, i've counted tree models in the four pics. I see at least 15 different tree models, including 10 connifers that i can distinguish. That's pretty good for a small patch of land, no more than 3 or so of the same tree in view in the forest scenes.

Are distant objects in the scenery going to be visible from this distance? / I'd like to see indications of the tree cover on the mountain slopes where distance cuts out detail. Just a dark green haze would do.

[sowiho]

Love the screens, specially like the branches.. they look really nice.. most agree on the roots and vegitation..

[Viranth]

For those of you worrying about no grass, Yiannis came in and explained things for us at the irc channel (irc.stratics.com / #darkfall. Or use the webchat).


<Yiannis|Dev> hi .. i just read the board.. seems like many people are concerned about grass and birds flying around..

<Yiannis|Dev> but of course there's going to be grass and you will be surprised when you see it


So don't worry about this...

[Calypso]

I just want to say thank you to the Devs for giving us screenshots of towns this time.

One thing worries me... the only stone quarry in all of Mercia?

Trinwood features the only stone quarry in the human lands, so I think it will be well visited.

Great since its close to Orcs it will either be the orcs or a large human guild monopolizing Mercias only access to stone, besides buying from elves/dwarves.

Stone is an important resource in Darkfall, as it is the main component in most player-made structures

So now that Trinwood is corrupted by MegaUberClan Corp smaller human clans will be forced to feed into a mega alliance for dibs on stone?

Must have more than one quarry per realm, with no competition (fight over it all you want, only 1 can own it at a time) prices will be unreal.

I guess I realy should read the thread before blindly posting my thoughts, I suppose it might be good to have only 1 quarry in Mercia to promote trade, but if you opened up 2 quarries and lowered the speed at which the resource can be harvested by half, it would still be much better. But I dont know how big the world realy is, maybe having to transport stone from one end of Mercia to the other wont be to much of a hassle. I dunno.

[Airius Droc]

Originally posted by Calypso@Oct 21 2003, 08:38 AM
Trinwood features the only stone quarry in the human lands, so I think it will be well visited.

Great since its close to Orcs it will either be the orcs or a large human guild monopolizing Mercias only access to stone, besides buying from elves/dwarves.

I'm thinking that the close location to the racial captial will mean that it stays under almost constant control of the NPC Human faction and or Good aligned players.

That would mean, at least in my mind, that the Good and Neutral players would always have a source of stone to take form so long as they're willing to pay the cost.

In other words, if you want to build a house close to the captial, you shouldn't have a problem unless you're evil or poor. ;)

Like some have stated, I also believe that there will be more stone quarries outside the Human lands. So conquest will be important if you wish to live anywhere outside of the racial captial's territory. Good design.

[Porthios]

Basically I am just saything they need 1.) More shrubs 2.) mushrooms 3.) rocks (large or small depending on environment)

This would make the game come alive with little to no cost to a sytsem.

[matkall]

For Gods sake Devs please dont focus on adding now "more shrubs", "mushrooms", "rocks", "grass" and other "second importance" stuff !
Game mechanics to make it playable as it can be sooner or later is the ultimate goal IMHO. Lets get "rocks" etc later on please ! :-)

[Filip]

uhm, well, i just want to say that I do think gameplay is more important, then graphics, as i said in my post (wont it be nice if someone reads what you say before starting, to say things you said yourself)

and i dont think EQ2 has bad graphics, maybe not good grapics for darkfall, but they sure as hell aren't good.(look how i say the graphics are good, but not the gameplay, i don't like it's gameplay)

and yes porthios and so are right, there's not much to see, it would be nice to see some more rock, and mushromms and stuff, and thick forests and such.

and like someone said, that the screns are taken on a old videocard, i have a request for the developers, could you plz let u see some pictures, taken on a good videocard. maybe almost the same, so people can compare?

and i still think the graphics aren't as great, as they could be, and I sure hoped they would look better, more trees sure will help.

[Filip]

uhm smal mistake made, in the previous post

maybe not good grapics for darkfall, but they sure as hell aren't good

must be sure as hell aren't BAD

thank you

[Drake_CrsytalTear]

Okay, screenshots are not all that bad. They're not all that *great* either but at least they look like something.

Like all of you people said graphics don't count, just gameplay and I'm really interested in this game. I'm not all clear on the systems etc. but I hope I'll find out more.

Oh, and I'm new. Heya =)

[Gowel]

I don't understand the whole "needs more rocks" thing. They do have rocks and you can see a few of them in these screenshots. But maybe this particular area of the game doesn't need more rocks. Some of you sound as though want them to spend time putting rocks in locations that they don't want rocks to be, just for the sake of taking screenshots. That's a bit silly and just time consuming for the devs. If you want to see rocks, ask them to show you a picture of an area that is rocky, not of a grass covered plateau.

And mushrooms... I just don't get the mushroom thing. I mean please explain the reasoning to me, because I've read nowhere in the lore that mushrooms are abundant on Agon. Or is realism the reason behind the mushrooms? Hrm, well, I guess it coudn't be realism either, because I've been hiking, camping, lived on the edge of a woods, been to many parks and natural wildlife reserves in the real world and never did I see alot of mushrooms, or say to myself anything like "damn this place sucks, it needs more mushrooms!". Seriously, what's up with the mushroom request?

As for grass and flora, most definetly they'll be adding this type of stuff in at some point in the future. Maybe a blanket of grass across the whole area, or just some patches here and there. What you're seeing in these shots is just the ground texture. I don't believe the intended for us to get the impression that this was a finished area. In fact, they've pretty much told us that everything we see is a work in progress.

Once they get a few NPCs in, some fauna & monsters and such, the game is going to look quite a bit different and it'll have more of a "lively" feel that everyone is pointing out the lack of. I really don't think just tossing in a few rocks and mushrooms is going to make any of you as happy as you think.

*shrug*

[Rupleas]

Speaking of trees....

http://www.idvinc.com/

B)

[Silent_Riot]

I only hope that i can run this on my new laptop=) i sold my desktop to afford it, so unfortunately all gaming is in this puppy.

[Bartacus]

I'm more then satisfied with the grapichs, but about the only stone quarry in human lands...
Does this mean the only possible place to dig stones? Or is it the only premade place wher you can dig stones?

If it's the only possible place I think it would be terrible. You can't control the city, because all human clans will be mad at you and I don't even talk about the Orkish...

If it's the only premade quarry I think it;s much more realistic

[Gowel]

Originally posted by Bartacus@Oct 22 2003, 11:11 AM
I'm more then satisfied with the grapichs, but about the only stone quarry in human lands...
Does this mean the only possible place to dig stones? Or is it the only premade place wher you can dig stones?

If it's the only possible place I think it would be terrible. You can't control the city, because all human clans will be mad at you and I don't even talk about the Orkish...

If it's the only premade quarry I think it;s much more realistic
Did you not read earlier post on page 2? It explains what I feel, was the reasoning behind the devs decision to do it that way, as well as all the ways that it benefits the gameplay. It's not a bad thing, it's actually one of the best ways they could have done it.

[Blade]

Originally posted by Gowel@Oct 21 2003, 05:07 PM
And mushrooms... I just don't get the mushroom thing. I mean please explain the reasoning to me, because I've read nowhere in the lore that mushrooms are abundant on Agon. Or is realism the reason behind the mushrooms? Hrm, well, I guess it coudn't be realism either, because I've been hiking, camping, lived on the edge of a woods, been to many parks and natural wildlife reserves in the real world and never did I see alot of mushrooms, or say to myself anything like "damn this place sucks, it needs more mushrooms!". Seriously, what's up with the mushroom request?
LOL!!! Gowel you are right on, i dont get the mushroom demand either, but you put it so darn funny im rolling literally on the floor laughing!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Ren]

"Trinwood is an important village since whoever controls it has access to the stone quarry in the area. Stone is an important resource in Darkfall, as it is the main component in most player-made structures."

Finally strategic resources! This is one of Shadowbane's current failings. I'm happy to see Darkfall addressing the issue right from the onset. Territtory control will have meaning. Warfare will have meaning.




"Trinwood features the only stone quarry in the human lands, so I think it will be well visited."

This will then foster trade with other stone-rich areas. I'm sure the dwarves will have plenty to spare. Let's hope the Humans have something else in abundance to offer. Excellent.

[Arolas]

Well, the topic is the screenshots, and you cannot determine gameplay from screenshots, so the main concern - in this topic - is the visuals. Personally, I think they look good, but nothing revolutionary. I expected better considered the incredible detail in the interior of the buildings. But, screenshots can never truly show the visuals of a game.

[Satan]

very nice indeed

I like how far you can actually see on those mountains in the back.

cant wait to take that town over

[Exit Wounds]

anyone have an idea what kind of system reqs are gonna be needed for SMOOTH gameplay ?

[Talstar]

Originally posted by Exit Wounds@Oct 22 2003, 10:15 PM
anyone have an idea what kind of system reqs are gonna be needed for SMOOTH gameplay ?
well after seeing those screen shots the reqs will prolly be 286 computer, 16 Mhz, 640k ram, 5 1/4 floppy disk drive, 20 MB hard disk space... lol j/k

Anyway just add a TON OF BLOOD to combat, and blood staying on the ground for at least 5 mins after combat, and you have the perfect game.

[Flaloch]

Speaking of trees....

http://www.idvinc.com/


whoa ..... now thats impressive.

[Whistler]

I said it in the other thread... I'll say it in this thread: The clouds/sky look pretty damn sweet. :P
As for the rest of the content, it looks fine. Though I agree with some of the other posters - There could be more of it.

[Bartacus]

QUOTE (Bartacus @ Oct 22 2003, 11:11 AM)
I'm more then satisfied with the grapichs, but about the only stone quarry in human lands...
Does this mean the only possible place to dig stones? Or is it the only premade place wher you can dig stones?

If it's the only possible place I think it would be terrible. You can't control the city, because all human clans will be mad at you and I don't even talk about the Orkish...

If it's the only premade quarry I think it;s much more realistic&nbsp;

Did you not read earlier post on page 2? It explains what I feel, was the reasoning behind the devs decision to do it that way, as well as all the ways that it benefits the gameplay. It's not a bad thing, it's actually one of the best ways they could have done it.


I did read your post, but in my oppinion 1 spot is not enough. You would gain to much diffrent positions. I think 3 or 4 are more realistic. But as I already said, that's my oppinion

[Skvate]

Is it just me, or is the ground a bit too green? Its not very much variation in how the ground looks...

Theres another game called "Wartime Command" (http://www.codemasters.co.uk/wartimecommand/uk/wartimecommand.php)(was called "Battlefield Command" and "WW2 RTS" before) that will be released spring 2004. It's not a MMORPG, but you can still compare the colours....check this (http://community.codemasters.com/forum/images/miker/elefant02.jpg) image for example. You can see the ground colours in Wartime Command is more varied...the way it should be. I don't know how you want this imaginary world of Darkfall to look, but I hope you will make better and more varied ground tile-sets.

[Filip]

yeah, the groun is to green, just like Skvate said, if they add more different collors it'll look better.

ps Gowel, did you ever went hicking or camping in belgium???
cus when it's Fall there are lots of mushrooms, in the forest, what am I saying, in belgium mushrooms even grow on your loan (sp? it's supposed to mean the bunch of grass in your garden :) ) :blink: