Ign - Peek Of The Week #15

[Gowel]

Looks like I made it back from vacation just in time.

Lead Designer Claus Grovdal tells us about the design of the interface we'll be using to explore Razorwax' world.


EDIT: The actual article link is now up --> http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/442/442426p1.html



http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/d...kfall120101.jpg (http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/darkfall120101.jpg)

http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/d...kfall120102.jpg (http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/darkfall120102.jpg)

http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/d...kfall120103.jpg (http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/darkfall120103.jpg)

http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/d...kfall120104.jpg (http://vaultmedia.ign.com/rpgvault/image/darkfall120104.jpg)

[Andonis]

Great screenies here depicting the interface and some game features such as the ingame web browser which is a very neat idea :)
Only thing which raises concerns with me is how the paperdoll is layed out, personally I was hoping for something wiht a 3d image of your character to see how he/she looks but then again the game is still young and has plenty of time to improve on minor things such as this :)
great work RW keep it up. :ph34r:

[the regulator]

Great pics, the lack of a slot-based backpack could make for a mess, other than that it looks great, the paperdoll is great IMO.

[Andonis]

The backback storage system we see in the screens is similar to UO's from what I can tell and I like it 100% it is totaly customisable and dosnt limit storage like some other slot based storage games out there, I hope it stays like this :)

[Surly]

Hehe, finally some useful screenshots. I like what I see... the more UO stuff the better.

[Ferox]

What have we learned?!


well first of all the best and most important.



1. BACKPACKS IS LIKE UO! WOOT . and not only does weight matter but apparently space does, so you cannot carry furniture in your backpack(me likes)


btw i LOVE the interface and menu screens .



2. There is a paper doll! perfect for those TPV people who use the excuse they cannot see themselves.

3. that map is dangerous.. it shows no radarish stuff though.. i hope its just a terrain map

4. armor will come in pairs... no wearing one arm red and one arm purple

5. There is a seperate robe AND cloak slot! woowho , just like old UO as well got to love it. Gonna be able to wear a robe over your armor and a cloak Uo style.

anyone else notice more?

[bigbud120]

I'll rest easier now that I've seen there is actually a game and not just a game world. :)

[Ferox]

i dunno, would of been kind of cool to be like fable and have no interface screens... :P

[the regulator]

Originally posted by Andonis@Nov 30 2003, 11:35 PM
The backback storage system we see in the screens is similar to UO's from what I can tell and I like it 100% it is totaly customisable and dosnt limit storage like some other slot based storage games out there, I hope it stays like this :)
As Ferox mentioned, if you look at the bottom of the backpack, there are two bars, one for weight, other for space, so I doubt you can horde an unlimited amount of items :P
I do like how it is similar to UO's backpack system, but when it comes to sorting out various magic weapons and what not, I'd rather not have items overlapping eachother ;)

[Mordeph]

OMG SOO BEAUTIFULL!!!!

I must say i love the backpack not being slot based, that was the best part about UO. DAMN I WANT TO PLAY!!

Interface looks great guys, cant wait to see more!

[Whistler]

Originally posted by the regulator@Nov 30 2003, 11:29 PM
Great pics, the lack of a slot-based backpack could make for a mess, other than that it looks great, the paperdoll is great IMO.
Are you serious? Do you know how much easier it is to organize a free-space backpack (for lack of a better term)?
IHMO, that's one of the best features of Darkfall right there, no other MMORPG has done that except UO. Great pics.

[Whistler]

Originally posted by Ferox@Nov 30 2003, 11:42 PM
2. There is a paper doll! perfect for those TPV people who use the excuse they cannot see themselves.
Actually, I think the argument was they wanted to be able to see their character in-action, not just a 2D paperdoll. :rolleyes:

[the regulator]

I just always found it to be a pain sorting through weapons or whatever else loot you would get when I used to play UO, especially when you had to click each item to get its description. I doubt it would be a problem in this game though, assuming it has a roll-over description for each item.
I also noticed a belt(?) on the left side of the paperdoll. Does this server as an additional pouch to carry potions or w/e?

[Agrovale]

Originally posted by the regulator@Dec 1 2003, 12:13 AM
I just always found it to be a pain sorting through weapons or whatever else loot you would get when I used to play UO, especially when you had to click each item to get its description. I doubt it would be a problem in this game though, assuming it has a roll-over description for each item.
I also noticed a belt(?) on the left side of the paperdoll. Does this server as an additional pouch to carry potions or w/e?
Actually its easier in UO.

[Lancaster]

Nicely done. I just think they can make a better design.

[Vulpes]

Looks nice, I guess top row of boxes is a quickbelt and the left side row is for attacks or moves of sort a'la DAOC. But where is the slain Kobold? :)

[Dark_MadMax]

Nuce to see GUI - while its obviosuly unifinished it looks pretty neat. And in game browser is impressive -always wanted this feature.

[AkielVonStrife]

Fantastic. The backpacks (especially the wt./sp. part) make me feel good. Hopefully, no one will be carrying extra suits of platemail armor in their backpacks. ;)

The interface looks nice too. I'm not sure about the chat window yet. Hopefully /commands are OUT. GUI all the way. Oh yeah, and no /tell, no /kingdom, please.

:)

[AkielVonStrife]

Oh yeah...

The "map" is it an item? Or is it just the GUI (non-immerssion) map that will likely have radar on it. (ugh)

Note: If the ESC button brings up that menu, can you make it so it never works during combat (or give us a toggle box to check so that it doesn't)? I've been killed 100 times in PS because I'm trying to hit F1 and I hit ESC instead. ;)

[Myrd[SUN]]

Good stuff.
The first tought i had was that it is that it's like Daoc's interface but clearly there are alot of differences.

I like it that everything is mini/maximisable though and i hope we can set it to our own size also by dragging the window larger or shorter but i really like it when you can place all windows where you want on the screen.

I also think you could import your own skin (dunno if that's still in). Which would let everybody who doesn't likes the default skin import their own.

Gamebanshee #1
Q: How customizable will the UI be?

A: Very. We have plans to support player-made UI skins, so you can redesign the interface as you please, and have your friends download it and use it

[Veilroth]

Very nice... liked the Cloak AND robe slots and being able to wear 6 rings.... :rolleyes:

[Decius]

Nice to see that they are ready to start showing us more of what they're working on! Nice :)

Hopefully they'll get combat effects ironed out so we can see melee shots not just kobold kabobs but this was a very nice update!

PS- Ork named Twinkster? That sounds like a tempting target hehehe

[Viranth]

Great stuff, love the ingame browser.
About the interface, I never really played UO - cause I hated it. But I'll give the backpack-freeslot thingie a shot, I don't mind playing with that kind of system, cause slotinventory seems to "tetris" for a mmorpg imo.

Another thing I love is the map, this is our "radar" I guess, and it'll make you have to "learn" how to use the map, since it seems rather complex.
Good how you can prolly move the interface around and customize it to whatever you want it to be, and maybe change the transparancy?
Anyhoo, great stuff as always =)

[Viranth]

Just saw your locked topic about killing immersion Ferox. Anyways, I don't think it's killing immersion, I think it's trying to give players the choice to use their software, instead of having to multitasking and using 3rd party software.
I think it's pretty good they have everything like that ingame, it'll be easier to manage a community (clan) instead of having to log off, then go on irc and chat. You can just sit in your castle chatting and planning stuff, while counting money and other treasures from the raids earlier.

And of course, if you think that's killing immersion you can always shut it off, log off and do whatever you want that's not killing immersion. But I think what they have here is dynamite =)

[someguy]

Arg, damned screenshots. The more I see, the more I want to play.

*To self*: Shut up... if the game is rushed, it will suck at launch.

*Back to self*: I hate you.

[PenDragon]

Definatly loving the interface :) everything from in-game web browswer to backpack in UO stylah! Keep up the good work guys :D

[KazTheUnknown]

just curious as to if u can drag out the healths of others and move them around freely?

[rekker]

very impressive. i LOVe the interface!!! great text size as well, looks like a class A game from those screenshots.

[Malveille]

Lookin' good.

Hoping the map doesn't have radar, just like most people.

I'm also hoping you can set hotkeys to switch your weapons (Ie from xbow to sword, etc.), because there isnt' a secondary weapon slot :-/

In game browser is a nice addition actually, so you can check your guilds web-based forums and the in game boards both from in game. If anything, thats more immersion, because you don't need to alt-tab out ;) Its like a magic link within the world :-P

[Yggdrasil]

i like it, it looks just like i wanted.

Love the idea that they sticked to the UO backpack. Hope its possible to
put smaler bags/pouches inside the backpack.

;)

[Filip]

hey, that's right, there is only one weapon slot :blink: wasn't there some skill that would allow you to use two weapons??? i don't hope that it always have to be the same weapon, like with the glauves,..

an other thing is, look there is a slot to put your arrows, maybe this is normal in most games, but the games i played you just pulled arrows out of nowhere. hmmm this brings up another question, not sure if it is said, but will you actually need to wear a backpack, to have one, what i mean is, for example in morrowind, you didn't had a backpack, but you could still carry a lot of items with you. well if you need to have one maybe you can even switch backpacks, so to a larger one to have more space etc. but the larger you go, you maybe lose a point to mobility, or to sneaking (duh ;) ).

well all what rests me to say is, these interface screens look REAL good.

[Filip]

oooh one more thing, will you be able to make the background of the interface screens , more transparent, cus else if you're look at your items, and changing equipment, you won't be able to see an enemy rushing at you, and so you give him a nice chance to wipe your @$$

[Myrd[SUN]]

Ricki told us in IRC this morning that:

Alpha transperancy (sp) is adjustable per window.
Windows are dragable.
Windows are minimisable/maximisable
Windows aren't resizable yet....which i find lacking atm.

But the most important thing i see on those screens is a working combat system (in the left chatscreen)!!!

[qePs]

Great GUI! It's similar to Dark age of camelots GUI which is very good because that one is the best GUI in the mmorpgs I have played. An example of a very bad GUI is Star wars galaxies :].

Goodie goodies!

[razta]

nice nice. but. isent that thing ont he ground behind the paperdoll the dead kobold?

[golem]

this backpack is pretty basic. Reminds me of a cross between Dark ag of camelot and Diablo.

Other upcomin games allow you to layer up to 10 layers of armor and clothing on top of each other ot create all kinds of different looks, can we do it here? It doesnt appear so by the paper doll window in the middle.

[Gaintlord]

That these are some damn good screen shots.

I like the ingame browers alot!! Hehe we can chat in game and out of game now or surf the web while we play :)

6 rings!! Never played a game where you could have 6 rings. guess we are going to be some ring wearing people in this game.

The mini-map look good. It looks like it more a land map of the world then showing where creatures or players are. It did not even show the player in the mini-map.

I never played UO but it sounds like every one just loves the UO backpack style storage. It its a little wierd and does look like it could be a pain in the butt if you are trying to look for only one thing. Lets see how this goes in beta before I say I like or dislike the idea. Though as some people said before it looks like you can store more stuff then a slot storage.

I love the screen shots and they do look good. Some people think the gui looks a lot like DAOC. I think so also but also very different to have its own feel (different feel from the other games)

Keep up the good work dev's!!!!!! B)

[Gowel]

After having some time to actually have a good look at the screenshots, there were alot of things I've noticed that some have already mentioned, both good and bad. I realize that this is a beta, I realize that the game isn't done, I realize that changes may be made, but I think with something like an interface, it's good to get constructive feedback, opinions, ideas and suggestions.

My first suggestion would be, make the whole thing skinnable and very mod-friendly. I know they've mentioned in the past that it'll be "customizable" but that doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be skinnable. It could just mean that they'll allow us to move the boxes around and set the transparencies and such, which is nice, but completely skinnable would be ideal.

About the hotkey bar: I really liked how SWG allows the hotkey bar to be dragged out so that it displays 2 pages at a time and hope that Darkfall's interface would allow something similar. It would basically look the same as what they have here on the left side, but you could drag it to create 2 parallel rows which is a very nice feature for players that like to run in very high resolutions and have plenty of room for something that takes up more space. Though, the downside could be that having only one page at a time, may be crucial to game balance, but I hope not.

Some comments on the map: I'm not sure if this is the radar or not, and regardless, we aren't sure how the mapping system itself works, so I can only really speak about what I see. So, I'd like to know if the map rotates as the player turns, or if the land is always displayed in a fixed position. If it's always in the same position, does "up" always point North? Will there be some sort of coordinance system? Does it zoom in and out and is the map window sizeable? I realize the other windows are transparent, but can I make the map itself somewhat transparent and tuck it away down in the corner of my screen? I'd also like to know if they plan to add a fog or shroud to unexplored areas.

The backpacks and containers: Well, with these, I'm wondering how there is an open wooden container, but I don't see one inside of the backpack. I'm guessing it's either being opened while it's on the ground or it's just something they wanted to display so that we could see what other containers look like. Anyway, as others have said, it's nice to know that they've stuck with the non-slotted container system that we saw back in pre-alpha. I loved the UO system and anything similar is just great.

I do have two visual concerns with the containers though. The first being that both of them have the same "inside" texture, but it could be a placeholder texture of course. Also, I've never seen a backpack that square before. I suppose it could be that they wanted to make all containers square like "windows" so that they could more easily dock/attach to each other or something to that effect, but I think it would be neat to see opened containers have a shape more similar to what a person would expect that type of container to look like. The visual issues are not a big deal at all though and I'm just kind of raising my personal preferences.

The status area: I'm not sure exactly what this part of the interface is, but it's displays the character's health, mana & stamina as well as a 4th bar, which others are guessing shows an enemies health, though, personally I'm thinking that 4th bar isn't the enemies health, but rather a casting timer for your character's own spells and/or attacks delays.

And what can I say about the web browser, very nice addition. I think it'll be very helpful for clans to use as an organizational tool, which is what they seemed to have had in mind when implimenting it. Also, since I haven't seen anyone else mention it in this thread, Ricki had said in IRC that the in-game web browser can only view links which are approved by the developers and are Darkfall related. That's not verbatim, so hopefuly it's not misleading or confusing in any way.

Lastly, the paper doll. I was hoping for a fully 3D paper doll system, but it's possible that they could or already have, added or have something like that planned. With 3D system, I'm not suggesting that it replace this one, but they could do it in addition to what they already have here, much like the way that Dungeon Siege did it. In DS you can view your "equip" screen, which is what I'd consider to be what we see in these shots, but on that equip screen there's also a "View" button that switches to a rotatable 3D graphic of your character so that you can view all of the items you're currently wearing, but not interact with them or drag & drop them around. It's strictly for looking at your character from all angles, nothing more. I think it's a neat way to have both features available to players without compromising much. Of course, not knowing how 3rd person view will work may make a differences as we may not even need a 3D paper doll. *shrug*

Some more observations about the equip screen. I wonder why they made the chestplate and greaves areas so large. Maybe the size of the area is to sort of display that those two items are very large, very heavy and/or very important and it scales down from there with the smaller icons having less mass? Or maybe they're larger because they cover up and protect more of your character than the other pieces. There must be dozens of possibilities for the icon sizes they've chosen, I'll save my other guesses.

I also noticed the same thing that Filip mentioned, about there only being 1 weapon slot. I'm a big fan of dual weilding and it's usually the type of melee character I create, so the lack of a secondary weapon slot caught my eye immediatly. I'm hoping that these icons are just temporary or misleading and that alot of them could double for other items, such as the shield slot doubling as a second weapon slot so that we can duel weild and the "arrow" slot actually being more than just for arrows, maybe doubling as a thrown weapons slot.

Some other slot observations; the necklace icon seems to indicate that jewelry would be worn there. I was hoping to be able to wear some gorgets again in a MMORPG, but it could just be the icon that throws me off and maybe gorgets can be worn in the "neck" slot anyway.

The layering system is also laid out very direct, but some in IRC didn't seem to undersand it. I'm not sure if I understand it perfectly either, but it just seems obvious in my view. To me, it breaks down like this, and please keep in mind this is just an example of my own personal guess and I really don't know if the layers are numbered like this. Layer 1, likely being a "light armor or clothing" layer is everything on the right side. This includes the "shirt" icon, the "pants" icon and the vambraces icon.

The items in the middle would be the Layer 2 items consisting of the helmet, necklace, chestplate, greaves and the boots, with all of those items fitting over top of the Layer 1 items, except maybe the vambraces(which may depend on the type of chestplate you're wearing? *shrug*).

Then you have everything on the left side; earring, cape, robe, belt and gloves as Layer 3, and of course each of those items would all fit over-top of both layers 2 and 1.

I'd also wager that with the 3rd layer, the pieces at the top of the chart would take visual priority over the lower items. What I mean is, a cape would fit over the robe and the robe would fit over the belt. I may be completely wrong on how it all works, but it seems very obvious after glancing at the equip screen.

Additionally, I didn't notice the backpack as having an equipped slot, so it could be like UO and everyone just inherently has a backpack that cannot ever be stolen or dropped and that if they wish for more space, they would then just purchase additional containers to place within their main backpack.

The 6 rings are also a very nice touch. I've always been a big supporter of having more than 1 ring for each hand. 6 is a good number and it opens up alot of possibilities. Do any of you remember in Diablo, how you could acquire "sets" of items and as each piece of the set was collected, each item individually became more powerful? It'd be neat to see something similar to that be done with the rings in the game. Here's a more detailed example... Maybe having just 1 Gargantua Ring of Power would give you +1 strength and having a second one also would give you +1 strength, but when worn together on the same hand, you'd actually gain +3 strength and then adding the 3rd and final ring that you're allowed to wear, onto the same hand, you'd gain a total of +5 to strength, even though each of the 3 rings seperately, only gave +1 strength. It's a nice little system that can seemingly be controlled fairly well on the developers end, for balancing, as not every item would be set up to give "set" bonuses, but specific ones could.

Almost forgot to mention the little icons for items. Those look very nice. I'm not sure if it'll be possible, but they seem to fit in perfectly with the world. The few seen here, look very... rustic and real. It looks as though I could just pull one out of my backpack and set it on a table and it would fit right in. Good job to whoever modelled those.

Overall, I have alot of questions but I'm very pleased with these shots and I can't wait to see some more cool stuff.

[Atreid_PCJEUX]

Wow, i gotta say i'm pretty impressed with the Paperdoll ... it kicks ass. Same impression for the Web browser feature and...and the Backpack !!! I'll second what Ferox said ...UO backpack!! I thought we would never see that again. I'm very glad !

The rest is EQish but nothing wrong there, if EQ was a bad game in the end, it's still the best interface (now).

[Ren]

Slot-less backpack- neat! Its an unexpected taste of UO nostalgia.

[Gowel]

Edited my original post with the link to the article, which is now up. Great stuff. Alot of concerns of my own and others were covered in the article.

Paperdoll
The Darkfall paperdoll is pretty straightforward. Drag and drop items you want to equip from your backpack onto it. What the screenshots don't show is a 3D moving representation of your character behind the equipment icons. This will function as a mirror of your character, so you can admire how it looks and moves in newly crafted mithril dwarven platemail and matching helmet. This feature will be implemented soon.
Nice! That's exactly what I was trying to explain in my post. You read my mind... or did I read yours? :o


Current Effects
The small icons on top of the screen are just placeholders for now, but this is where we will list the current spell or skill effects on your character.
If this is for spell effects that are currently on your character, like poison, blind, various buffs, etc. I'm wondering why it's slot based. EQ had a problem back when it first came out, where you could only have so many "effects" negative or positive, at a time. So, players used to organize their buffs in such a way that it would greatly minimize the amount of negative effects they could gain. Even without knowing how DF plays, 8 "effects" just seems like a very restrictive amount, though I'm sure it can be fleshed out during playtesting.

[AshTheUgly]

Is that an earing slot I see?

[Viranth]

Long and good post Gowel, anyways what you said about the map gave me an idea.

What if you could place comments on the map, like you mark a small area and put a flag there (only visible for you). So you could add comments about the terrain, maybe where you found something or whatever does it for you.
Now the cool think would be if the leaders of clans and such could give their commentmap to their fellow clansment. It would be an awesome thing for new people, where the veterans give them a map with a few comments on where they shouldn't go, or where they can find good hunting or something else that's worth putting in the map.

I for one hate coordinates, it always take me too much time to figure out where it is (unless it's chessboard style coordinates).

About the hotbar, I totally agree. I hate when you have to scroll the hotbar, or just have a few things there because you can only see one page at the time. Having to figure out which one is more important isn't that good, since you'll prolly run into some situation where you'll need something on another page. And considering combat will be fast paced, messing around with keys isn't what I want (ctrl-1, "damnit", shift-2, "arrgh", shift-1. "There...")

As far as 3d-ragdoll, I don't really care. It's cool to see what your character looks like form all sides, but it's not really an issue for me, the front is usually enough.

The weaponslots also got me thinking, only one weapon and a shield? Or maybe this is specific for what skills you have? Maybe getting some two-hand weapon skill opens up stuff? Or it changes once you put a weapon there?
My guess is that they just show you the basic setup...

Anyhoo, looks interesting. I must say I don't like the fonts, they take up too much space in the button... Just something simple would do it IMO, not and backlight on the fonts or anything, just plain and simple text =)

[Darkmatter]

I am impressed by this update, it's a dangerous thing to try pleasing everyone - but i have to say you are definatly on the right track. I really like the ability to set menus and things up as I see works best for me. Good work devs!

I'm also wondering, like some others, about the ability for archers to have a bow, an arrowcase on the back, and to have a shortsword. Will the paperdolls change depending on what kind of armor you are wearing? With a heavier suit, you lose some equipmentslots? And with a lighter version, you get some extra once?

If i'm going to play an Elf, i would like to have a bow equipped. If someone charges me I most likely don't have the time to open up my backpack, drop my bow in it, take out the sword , and fight. And I'm also curious about the fact when players are not fighting ; Can we have our weapons "holstered"? Can we have our bows hanging on our backs? In most games avatars are standing with their weapons in battleready positions when they are chatting with eachother in a town, If not players have hidden them in their backpacks. It would be a nice feature to be able to secure the weapons without having to unequipping them.

I hope someone can answer my questions, other than that I really like the update. And my faith in Darkfall is growing stronger than ever.

[mudge80]

I cant wait to try this for myself! Though I may lose things in my backpack cause Im a slob! Web browser, Six rings!

I cant say any more Im so anxious to play this game!

[Dozier]

nice shots devs, i'd like to see what those armor icons look like in a backpack, and i love the map(as long as its not a radar) it looks like someone actually set there with some sort of painting stuff and drew it, it looks like this gui can be setup to take up very little space when fighting so thats always a plus, if the devs do some sort of weapon switching system besides making the player manually move stuff from their backpack to the paperdoll then it should take about the same some time for the character to switch weapons so we cant have people ranging someone close to them then instantly being ready for a melee battle, the webbrowser is a really awesome idea, it'll be even better if you can goto other sites besides the darkfall site, anyways, good job devs, cant wait to see some shots of mobs ingame

[Satan]

Boss fired me.
Got a flat tire on the way home.
Walked through the rain.
Noticed dog died.
Someone broke into my house.
Girlfriend broke up with me on the answering machine.
Checked out the new Darkfall screenshots.
Soiled pants.

All in all it is a good day.


Everything is looking pretty good and im so glad we got some interface screenshots. Im in a hurry but I noticed the little spellbar thing from DAOC in the corner. I _hate_ that little bar. I liked how in UO you could drag the spell icons around but in Darkfall with about 250 spells at release thatll be alot of spells to fit in the little bar and i dont wanna scroll through it all day looking for heal. then again maybe thats not what thats for but if it is i would suggest making it sizable long ways to so you could store more spells on 1 page.


sorry for the rambling

[AkielVonStrife]

Just wanted to through another vote in for "off hand weapons." I'm a big fan of two weapon fighting - especially if it takes MORE player skill than using a single weapon.

[Isha]

The interface look amazing, I really like the 3d paperdoll, and the 6 rings,
and the web browser what a great idea.

Viranth, what a good idea the one with comments on maps, would be really
nice for newbies to buy a map with comments on, so they don`t wander
off into the dragons lair the first day they are playing.

[Falstaff]

Very nice, they say its all rough still but I thought all the gui's looked good except for the paperdoll, and they already stated that they have a 3d interface worked up for it so Im completely happy. :D

[soy]

omg, an interface! :o

[Mieszko]

SWEET

[Porthios]

I love it! I love it! I love it!

God damn, I love the style that they went with. The interface really compliments the feel of the game. The paper doll is great, and the web browsing feature kicks ass!

I am very very satisfied with these screenies.

Oh, and the terrain map is great too, now lets just hope it doesn't get more in depth than terrain.

[Dorundain]

I'm curious about the web-browser and in-game books.

I'm a bit of an in-game book fanatic. I thought they were one of UO's best touches.

So, will an in-game book be a website? That would work for me. I'd prefer a super-slick, in-game mechanism for laying out and publishing a page, binding, etc., but at least with a website, you have a modicum of artistic freedom.

Obviously books aren't going to be a top priority, but I'll be very interested to see how the developers handle them when their time comes.

The interface thus far looks terrific. I like the idea of separating system messages from chat messages. I LOVE the slotless backpack (finally!!). I'm glad to hear that windows will be re-sizable, minimizable, alpha channel-able, movable, and generally customizable. Skins would be killer, but the level of customization available already would be enough for me.

Love the paper doll.

I share the afore-mentioned reservations about the slot-based effect icons at the top. The article said they were only placeholders - but I'm not sure whether that means that it's slot-based or not. The shortcut bar works for me. I usually memorize all my shortcuts, so having to page through doesn't matter to me. If I had a 45" monitor, though, I might feel differently. :)

[Enemy]

Originally posted by Myrd[SUN]@Dec 1 2003, 05:27 AM
But the most important thing i see on those screens is a working combat system (in the left chatscreen)!!!
ehhh, all that reminds me of is daoc/eq :wacko:

I am happy there's a backpack system, that's awesome. And the paperdoll looks great and will look better with the 3d rotating model.

I am not happy there's chat windows, that takes a lot away from the game. But since there ARE chat windows, I'm praying you cant message anyone anywhere.

[Dominus]

Wow, first game I've ever seen where you can surf the net and play at the same time, without alt tabing. Hope there are a lot of hotkeys to pull up certain windows (like in SB), so i dont have to have that huge menu up all the time (or ever if possible).

[justdan]

very nice picts and it's cool that u can acces the website on the game. it also looks like its ready for some testing cause i wanna test. i know its kinda bad now but i'm bored i've gotten bored of all the mmoprgs i've played so far and this looks very intresting. it should have pre-alpha tetsting :D

[chunkybits]

Robes over armor, i love it!!! :D
6 rings, love it!! iv always wonderd why other games only let you use one or two rings, we have 10 fingers!! :lol:

[Dissident]

Hawt.

It would be nice if the map could get blurry or faded in areas where you can't see, to represent peripheral vision or memory. I also like how it doesn't show your position or heading.

The free-placement backpack is a beautiful piece of game design, as is the web browser.

All in all, I love it.

[rekker]

i'd imagine with using top settings and everything with that HUD (or whatever its called), there'll be quite a lot of mouse lag....

[The_Voices_Said_So]

Looks great! The lack of radar is promising :)

[Domak]

Originally posted by Andonis@Nov 30 2003, 11:01 PM
Great screenies here depicting the interface and some game features such as the ingame web browser which is a very neat idea :)
Only thing which raises concerns with me is how the paperdoll is layed out, personally I was hoping for something wiht a 3d image of your character to see how he/she looks but then again the game is still young and has plenty of time to improve on minor things such as this :)
great work RW keep it up. :ph34r:
"What the screenshots don't show is a 3D moving representation of your character behind the equipment icons. This will function as a mirror of your character, so you can admire how it looks and moves in newly crafted mithril dwarven platemail and matching helmet. This feature will be implemented soon."

People dont seem to read the writing above the screenshots.

[Gowel]

People dont seem to read the writing above the screenshots.

The screenshot links were up the night before the article was even posted. All of page 1 and most of page 2 on this thread were comments made based strictly on the screenshots themselves. Mostly just speculation, which is fine, no harm done. :)

[Exmortis]

These screenshots look great. I am never disappointed by you, Razorwax. Your dedication to a PvP rich environment, with a somewhat UO-centric design philosophy (the OLD UO, not the current one) is awesome.

Could we keep the hitpoints of the player characters somewhat low? It makes it much simpler to understand just what kind of damage you are doing, across the board, when everyone has an upper limit for their hitpoints. Like perhaps the really hearty races, such as the orks, could have 130hps max, while the Alfar could have say 90 at the upper limit. That said, I'm actually looking for a close similarity between the races insofar as abilities are concerned. It's nice to have some unique qualities that separate a Mahirim from a Human, say, like faster running or the like. But I don't want to see some uber quality emerge, like the race that is focused on strength being exploited to be a melee race. I absolutely hate how Dark Age of Camelot has handled racial characteristics. I would rather see broad similarities across the races, with individual perks in the form of special abilities.

This is important to me because it underscores the fundamental need for everyone to have access to the same resources to do battle with each other. At that point, it comes down to playstyles and player skill that determine the battle, instead of someone saying, "Oh yeah, well my race's lightning bolt is nerfed. If I had Mirdain Fiery Bolt then I would have owned you." It's much better to let everyone go at it with the same basic equipment, skills, and spells and let a mix of their skill choices, templates, and player skill decide the battle.

Lastly please downplay the importance of armor and magical weapons and items. Those things should make a good warrior great, but should never boost a character a huge amount. When you rely upon your gear, the PvP becomes more of what you're wearing and swinging than what you are doing and know on the battlefield. UO used to have a great PvP system. Now, it's dead, because it's item-based PvP. Whoever has the best gear wins, and that sucks.

[Gowel]

Exmortis, you'll be happy to know that they are shooting for the 300-ish range for hitpoints.

[Iceman]

I saw 2 bags is that the total amount of bags/chest/boxes a character can carry?


Thanks in Advance?

[Jax]

Originally posted by Iceman@Dec 2 2003, 10:28 PM
I saw 2 bags is that the total amount of bags/chest/boxes a character can carry?


Thanks in Advance?
i doubt it.

[Yuengling.OoB]

Hrm, no one mentioned that in the first screenshot the damage is being displayed numerical. :angry:

I hope thats only for testing.


edit: its pictured in them all.


y

[Darkmatter]

Hrm, no one mentioned that in the first screenshot the damage is being displayed numerical.

Why shouldn't damage be displayed that way?

If its not going to be implemented a good damage system to show actual damage on your avatar, those numbers are at least - if nothing else - showing you that you're doing "something" right/wrong during the fight, hehe.

[Asan Drakus]

I hate to clown on someones hardwork.. But I assume the developers want honest opinions.

I think the interface looks kind of generic ALA SB.


BUT: The non-slot based backpack rocks ALA UO :> And give me 3 cheers for some sort of radar!

[Evil Death]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet B)

[Gohan]

Really nice work. :D

[Satan]

Claus gave us some interesting information on the update. Paper dolls will show our character in action, how sweet! :D

[Alistair]

Looks great, the devs seem to understand that we want to see as little of the interface as possible, hehe. The browser utility will be interesting...

--Alistair

[Epsilon]

Very cool HUD, nice job, but i still need to see some sort of meele action just to be sure about this purchase i would like you to be able to move and dodge enemy attacks instead of a "Miss" text every once in a while, and a more "Active" fighting for those non-mages, maybe even damage difference per hit location...

[Domak]

Originally posted by Gowel@Dec 2 2003, 05:04 PM
People dont seem to read the writing above the screenshots.

The screenshot links were up the night before the article was even posted. All of page 1 and most of page 2 on this thread were comments made based strictly on the screenshots themselves. Mostly just speculation, which is fine, no harm done. :)
Ah, I'm sorry, now i feel stupid.

[Jangang]

Nice!

[Froam]

Wow.. absolutely fabulous! :)

Doesn't get much better than that.

[Jape]

Couple minor UI suggestions/comments:

1. Allow players to size the quickbar.
a )Allow us to stretch it vertically to display more than 10 slots. First 10 slots would be accessible through keyboard and rest with mouse. This would allow us to place less used skills/spells/whatever in there also without shuffling through multiple quickbars. Users screen resolution would define how many slots per qbar you could ultimately have.
b )Allow us to size it horizontally to display multiple columns at once.

2. Dump multiple chat windows and go for tabbed chat box.
If your chat system always create new window on screen when you get at /tell from someone, UI wastes way too much space. Why not create tab in main chat window instead.
Also you could allow us to create tabs and define what chat channels are displayed in these. it would be easy to create guild chats and chat groups that way.

3. Dunno if i like current inventory implementation. I would prefer text only list what stuff im carrying around. Lot easier to use than look some silly icon (that is usually under 38567 other icons).

4. I know it was not supposed to look pretty, but paper doll seems to waste way too much space on screen.

5. Map looks good. (no enemies/etc displayed)

6. Web browser in game UI. Whee, now we can view spoiler site in our main game UI :P

[Afgar]

3. Dunno if i like current inventory implementation. I would prefer text only list what stuff im carrying around. Lot easier to use than look some silly icon (that is usually under 38567 other icons).


Watch out, the UO fanbois will eat you alive.


Although I agree =D

[Jape]

>Watch out, the UO fanbois will eat you alive.

I dont basically care what fanbois decide to do to me :)

But inventory management is not listed as 'fun' in my book.

[Alistair]

I like to look in my pack and see all the cool shizzle I have collected during my latest adventures ;p

--Alistair

[Veilroth]

Like in the Norwegian fairytales? "Askeladden" picking up every got damn thing he finds... heheee... :D

Edit: Misspells

[justdan]

ooo ahhhh pretty B

[Jape]

Couple more minor details about the UI:

-add option to turn off window borders.
-add option to lock UI components
-> meaning clicking the window with your mouse would not affect the locked UI component but object behind the window instead. And that you could not size/move that window.

Doesnt sound too revolutionary, but its pretty usable actually. (for example: take system message window, turn border off, hit 100% transparency and turn on 'locked', after that you see all the important text, but window does not eat space on your screen, and you could use objects behind the window (monsters for example).)

[Spartan]

Originally posted by Jape@Dec 6 2003, 11:02 PM
3. Dunno if i like current inventory implementation. I would prefer text only list what stuff im carrying around. Lot easier to use than look some silly icon (that is usually under 38567 other icons).




i understand what your saying but this is non consentual pvp :)....how much stuff are u planning on carrying knowing this ;)

[Mango]

and btw it

[Demilich]

Actually it is consentual pvp, if you play the game you are consenting!

[Demonfang]

I'm liking the free-style feel of the backpacks. It just seems to me that it gives more freedom than having a grid system.

[Lancaster]

I like the free-style as well... ala UO.

[Salacious]

Games looking good I can hardly wait

[Stage01]

The interface needs to be as easy to use as possible. I cannot tell you how many games turned me off within the first few minutes because of horrible control/menu/interface.

[Czeris]

I really like the way the interface is going. As they stated, it's presented to show functionality, not prettiness. I am sure it will look a lot more polished in the future.

What I am very impressed with is what seems to be the continued emphasis on depth in every aspect of the game. I love the backpack, and I especially love the weight and space aspects of it. I love the fact that the in-game browser is for in-game things only, and that there will be things like in-game books.

It has always seemed so absurd that every previous mmorpg hasn't gotten that things like this are easy to implement and add a ton to the game.

[PurpleHaze]

Czeris basically said all i was gona say... Great Job on the interface dudes, i actually thought it looks alright as it was even though i guess a bit of prettying up wouldn't hurt either... I'm so glad you've gone with the UO style Backpack, Now my backpack won't be full because i have eight different types of feather! :D

[Gremlin]

Really glad to see the UO backpacks, as are most other people it appears. I didn't start playing UO till after EQ, AC, and all that other tripe came out and I had tried them first, and was blown away at how a game created so much earlier was so much more fun to play. Obviously UO has its problems, but it was, and still is, fun. This game is looking easily as good, and I really hope it lives up to the hype.

[Jaggid]

I hate to sound negitive, but that is the same information we got not to long ago. :(

The interface is exactly what I like by the way, I think it is very functional...kind like another I really like. :D

[Lastrights]

I like what I see so far. Especially in game browser. It is safe to assume that the offhand weapon would be the shield hand. Don't need another slot saying offhand weapon or anything I mean you sacrifice the use of a shield for more offensive power. Maybe they could just leave the graphic out of the weapon and shield and just put the words right and left hand but I am ok with the sword and shield image. Other then that, looking good.

Yeah and another thing. Wouldn't worry about how pretty it looks because over time you will forget about the looks anyway. Its that way in Dark Ages, noticed it when my GF said "hey the water has cool reflections" and I said "yeah, Don't really pay much attention to it". I am sure I noticed it when they first put reflective water in but over time the novelty wears off and you play the game for the game not the graphics. IE AC

[Mordeath[One]]

I like the interface too and the UO backpack" is great. It was always a great idea.

Im sure the end product will look a bit more refined but im happy with the path they chose again.

Mordeath
.One.

[Humongous]

I'm pretty sure this is not new information. Please correct me if i'm wrong

[Orogrim]

Awesome designs! I can`t wait until the game is out in our local stores!
However, some of the stories connected with races and lore is of less quality, and too much used in the fantasy genre. :rolleyes:

[Gowel]

I hate to sound negitive, but that is the same information we got not to long ago.
This is from November 30th 2003. Someone most likely new to the community, bumped the thread to make a comment about the article, which is perfectly fine. But yes it's old information.

[Xel]

nice..

I love the backpack idea

[Saiith]

Cool interface, thanks for the preview

[ClownPuncher]

the inventory is great, I remember in UO the best way to protect yourself from thieves was to stack like 10 robes on top of your valuables so they couldn't see them, will be able to do that in DF also it seems, woohoo. :D

[Saiith]

Yeah ClownPuncher I'm pretty excited about that too.

[Curifin Dazar]

Lubbers, its easier to loot you if ye be dead.. then robes don't matter..

[BakTraq]

Looks to me like they've almost identically recreated the Lineage 2 interface (a good thing). The armor layout, the chat box, the toolbar for spells/skills, the in-game connection to the boards, all in Lineage 2 as well. (So coming from L2 I will find it quite comfortable)

Slight differences include the backpack-Never had that type of BP myself but it seems to be pretty well accepted by you UO fellas..plus we can wear 3 rings now! (Finally! All other games imply we only have 2 fingers)

And some other things unrelated to thread:
Character Custo should include scars/tatoos/face paint..And there'd better be taverns (a must!) and I hope there is also a music skill (for a fiddle et cetera) so you can compose your own in-game tunes (to play in the taverns while people put 2gold in your cup :cool: )

[madhatterten]

Sweeet shots of interface. I prefer slot based item storage, im really hopein it changes. But hey i can live with mess just like my room=P

[madhatterten]

Ok ok , i changed myu mind, after reading all your posts maybe free space is better, but IM LOVEING the interface, yeah buddy.