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View Full Version : Analyzing the ADW Convention Video


nathanpinard
01-06-2009, 11:36 AM
Like my last post, i wanted to do the same with the ADW Video. I've seen a lot of comments on various forums that are just blown out of proportion.

I think these people are just getting tunnel vision while watching these videos. Focusing on what sucks to them, and not looking at anything else that is remotely positive to the video. And I'm not even talking about trolls, I'm talking about people that have followed the game.

The following index games are based on the 30min ADW video. You must have the full video to get these right, not the 4 part Youtube video.

You can download the full video here: http://www.shimmergloom.org/index.php?topic=490.0

Some of you may or may not find this post useful, but I'd thought I give it a shot anyway.

----

0:03 - You don't really see this in much MMO's except maybe for AOC and a few others. There a bit of barrels and cargo containers. Doesn't seem that special but adds to the detail. Also some nice textures on the wagon there.

0:10 - There is some significant reflection on the floor from the sun. Some people would find this annoying and overpowering, but I don't.

0:21 - Nice expansive, and big looking city shot here.

0:37 - Pause at this index. Now, look at the wood post on the left. Has texture, as well as shadowing on the underside, and it's just one big post. It even has a normal map effect to it. I like this kind of detail.

0:41 - Water looks clear, and you can somewhat see through it. On top of that it still has a type of layer on the top that gives it the impression it's moving.

0:50 - Another example of the post at a different angle.

0:59 - Will admit a slight drawback on the fire animations. They are really short, and are sync'd with every other torch in this shot. Doesn't really bug me THAT much though.

2:42 - More shots of how expansive things look, even though we haven't seen much of the city of course.

3:12 - It's very hard to see, but there is an insect buzzing around in front of the player.

3:27 - With these settings DFO appears to have that view distance that's Morrowind like, but with a more gradual fade. Looks more realistic in that case. Oh yeah, and the trees, although leafless in this area, look great.

5:12 - Hard to see, but the grass fades in as the player moves, much like any other MMO. Seem to be done a bit better in this case.

5:43 - Wind is light, but the grass is swaying in the breeze here. Here's hoping the distance and speed changes as the wind increases.

7:06 - View distance definitely seems to change based on weather I guess. You can see Flaming Skull quite a ways from this point.

7:15 - The big beaming clanstone beam in the back reminds me of Planetside.

7:23 - It's quite hard to see, but the sun is occluded by the clouds. The clouds look to be in front of the sun, and also have several layers (like real clouds) Aventurine has had experience in weather sims, so this could be a nice touch. Looks pretty damned good to me! The clouds themselves move as well.

8:15 - Flags are flapping in the wind. What remains to be seen is if they change direction based on wind direction.

8:21 - Hell of a shot. Sky moving, flags whipping with shadows, nice statue in the center. Shadows cast from every spike coming out of the columns as well.

8:42 - PAUSE. Pretty far view distance here.

9:13 - Another awesome shot of an expansive city. Does actually remind me of some of the AOC ruins.

10:37 - Quite a bit of detail when he turns, but you have to pause it to see.

11:20 - This is the kicker for me right here. The trees move in the wind, and cast shadows. On top of that, the shadows are cast on everything. Sounds simple, but so many MMO's and even single player games skip this. No doubt, they will require a nice comp to show correctly.

14:10 - I want a wallpaper of this. Flag moving, smoke billowing, you also see embers in the air.

14:25 - I'm impressed with the lava actually. It has embers coming out of it, and it moves as well. You can even see heat waves (you have to look hard though) The rocks also glow as well in a simple way.

17:35 - This is where I'm even more impressed with the stuff they are doing with the environment in this game. It's hard to see, but they are allowing a very far view distance, while at the same time showing the distant animations as well. There's a big glowing mounting in the back, as well as a lava waterfall. Stuff like this even trumps Oblivion. (within reason)

21:17 -The moon isn't sped up here, it's that fast. Probably because they want people to see it. And well, it's their own world. The other moon however, does not move as fast. The blue moon is just awesome.

26:47 - Hard to see, but the mountain range is expansive in this game. Bigger than most games I've seen period. Nice waterfall there too.

War Veteran
01-06-2009, 11:37 AM
I wish I had this much time...

nathanpinard
01-06-2009, 11:39 AM
I wish I had this much time...

I usually do not, but this is one of those sleepless nights.

War Veteran
01-06-2009, 11:45 AM
Nah, just messing with you.

I couldn't sleep either.

Good stuff up there, I would of never noticed it.

Requiamer
01-06-2009, 11:46 AM
I wish I had this much time...

you mean to read the post or to analyze the video?

Yin
01-06-2009, 11:47 AM
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/moltencore/

"has sound"

Badem
01-06-2009, 11:47 AM
Always good to see a post extolling postive aspects from the videos

I think people have got too used to 'realistic' graphics from single player games an demand these for MMO not understanding the pure computing power that would be needed to do it :)

As long as the GFX are not Hello Kitty style I am happy :) gameplay makes the game not pretty GFX (though they help)

Ladrann
01-06-2009, 11:48 AM
Good post, I will watch the video once more and keep an eye out for the details you mentioned.

Good analyzing, I like it.

Vesavius
01-06-2009, 12:03 PM
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/moltencore/

"has sound"

I hadnt seen this before, s'funny :)

Jagged
01-06-2009, 12:05 PM
as i said on mmoprg:

nice read. Thx!

Actualy if people dont join the game for animations or other non gameplay topics i will be ok, Better for me because the world would be less populated of casual gamers.

Si'aan
01-06-2009, 12:22 PM
omg, how can I be at the bottom of the page and NOONE has summarised what he was saying... Did everyone else actually read the whole OP's post?

nathanpinard
01-06-2009, 12:28 PM
omg, how can I be at the bottom of the page and NOONE has summarised what he was saying... Did everyone else actually read the whole OP's post?

I basically showed points in the video that I thought were worth looking at. They are meant to watch with the video.

Ashfield212
01-06-2009, 12:31 PM
After reading the analysis and running through the video again, it's actually quite surprising what I've missed in the past, i must of been constantly fixed on the character model.

Nicework!

Terminus
01-06-2009, 02:42 PM
Thanks for the video. Too bad the voice over is such bad quality that I can barely make out what they're saying. That guy sounds like he has someone's cock in his mouth the entire time.

fenrif
01-06-2009, 03:16 PM
Pretty much all your comments are about the graphics. Not knocking you at all, but is there nothing in the video aside from the graphics that got you excited?

I've not watched it fully myself yet, but personally graphics aren't anywhere as important to me as graphics.

nathanpinard
01-06-2009, 03:23 PM
Pretty much all your comments are about the graphics. Not knocking you at all, but is there nothing in the video aside from the graphics that got you excited?

I've not watched it fully myself yet, but personally graphics aren't anywhere as important to me as graphics.

The premise of the whole game gets me excited. But the purpose of the post was to point out stuff that people overlooked.

Hell..the list goes on. I'm already a part of SA ready for the fight. I played Eve for a long time, and I miss that community alliance feeling.

The only thing as this point that will ruin it for me is if there's little to no PvE. I like BOTH PvP and PvE. I think cutting one of them, or half assing it is a bad idea.

Thanks for the video. Too bad the voice over is such bad quality that I can barely make out what they're saying. That guy sounds like he has someone's cock in his mouth the entire time.

This was a joke...right?

If not, he was speaking Greek.

Terminus
01-06-2009, 03:25 PM
Well, people have been bitching a lot about how combat is slow-paced and WOWish, and the graphics blow chunks.

From this video, I can see that the combat is plenty fast and allows for sufficient tactical maneuvering, and the graphics are more than adequate.

dabbi12
01-06-2009, 03:40 PM
Like my last post, i wanted to do the same with the ADW Video. I've seen a lot of comments on various forums that are just blown out of proportion.

I think these people are just getting tunnel vision while watching these videos. Focusing on what sucks to them, and not looking at anything else that is remotely positive to the video. And I'm not even talking about trolls, I'm talking about people that have followed the game.

The following index games are based on the 30min ADW video. You must have the full video to get these right, not the 4 part Youtube video.

You can download the full video here: http://www.shimmergloom.org/index.php?topic=490.0

Some of you may or may not find this post useful, but I'd thought I give it a shot anyway.

----

0:03 - You don't really see this in much MMO's except maybe for AOC and a few others. There a bit of barrels and cargo containers. Doesn't seem that special but adds to the detail. Also some nice textures on the wagon there.

0:10 - There is some significant reflection on the floor from the sun. Some people would find this annoying and overpowering, but I don't.

0:21 - Nice expansive, and big looking city shot here.

0:37 - Pause at this index. Now, look at the wood post on the left. Has texture, as well as shadowing on the underside, and it's just one big post. It even has a normal map effect to it. I like this kind of detail.

0:41 - Water looks clear, and you can somewhat see through it. On top of that it still has a type of layer on the top that gives it the impression it's moving.

0:50 - Another example of the post at a different angle.

0:59 - Will admit a slight drawback on the fire animations. They are really short, and are sync'd with every other torch in this shot. Doesn't really bug me THAT much though.

2:42 - More shots of how expansive things look, even though we haven't seen much of the city of course.

3:12 - It's very hard to see, but there is an insect buzzing around in front of the player.

3:27 - With these settings DFO appears to have that view distance that's Morrowind like, but with a more gradual fade. Looks more realistic in that case. Oh yeah, and the trees, although leafless in this area, look great.

5:12 - Hard to see, but the grass fades in as the player moves, much like any other MMO. Seem to be done a bit better in this case.

5:43 - Wind is light, but the grass is swaying in the breeze here. Here's hoping the distance and speed changes as the wind increases.

7:06 - View distance definitely seems to change based on weather I guess. You can see Flaming Skull quite a ways from this point.

7:15 - The big beaming clanstone beam in the back reminds me of Planetside.

7:23 - It's quite hard to see, but the sun is occluded by the clouds. The clouds look to be in front of the sun, and also have several layers (like real clouds) Aventurine has had experience in weather sims, so this could be a nice touch. Looks pretty damned good to me! The clouds themselves move as well.

8:15 - Flags are flapping in the wind. What remains to be seen is if they change direction based on wind direction.

8:21 - Hell of a shot. Sky moving, flags whipping with shadows, nice statue in the center. Shadows cast from every spike coming out of the columns as well.

8:42 - PAUSE. Pretty far view distance here.

9:13 - Another awesome shot of an expansive city. Does actually remind me of some of the AOC ruins.

10:37 - Quite a bit of detail when he turns, but you have to pause it to see.

11:20 - This is the kicker for me right here. The trees move in the wind, and cast shadows. On top of that, the shadows are cast on everything. Sounds simple, but so many MMO's and even single player games skip this. No doubt, they will require a nice comp to show correctly.

14:10 - I want a wallpaper of this. Flag moving, smoke billowing, you also see embers in the air.

14:25 - I'm impressed with the lava actually. It has embers coming out of it, and it moves as well. You can even see heat waves (you have to look hard though) The rocks also glow as well in a simple way.

17:35 - This is where I'm even more impressed with the stuff they are doing with the environment in this game. It's hard to see, but they are allowing a very far view distance, while at the same time showing the distant animations as well. There's a big glowing mounting in the back, as well as a lava waterfall. Stuff like this even trumps Oblivion. (within reason)

21:17 -The moon isn't sped up here, it's that fast. Probably because they want people to see it. And well, it's their own world. The other moon however, does not move as fast. The blue moon is just awesome.

26:47 - Hard to see, but the mountain range is expansive in this game. Bigger than most games I've seen period. Nice waterfall there too.

Thanks for giving me phun thyme :p

cwalk
01-06-2009, 03:50 PM
Thanks for analysis! I really don't see how people are bitching about the graphics, I think they look great, very detailed. Of course the animations could use a little work, did you notice around 24:10 how his mount instantly switches from "swim mode" to "land mode". I am not complaining, just pointing out some other things I noticed. Of course this isn't the "finished product", so who knows what they have been up to.

Terminus
01-06-2009, 03:55 PM
Still, I wish Tasos (I believe he was the speaker) could have taken that guy's cock out of his mouth for 30 minutes so I could understand more of what the hell he was saying. Though I did like the part where he said, "In Darkfall, there is no problem you can't solve through violence."

nathanpinard
01-06-2009, 04:14 PM
Still, I wish Tasos (I believe he was the speaker) could have taken that guy's cock out of his mouth for 30 minutes so I could understand more of what the hell he was saying. Though I did like the part where he said, "In Darkfall, there is no problem you can't solve through violence."

Unless you know Greek, then no, you wouldn't understand anything he said.

Terminus
01-06-2009, 04:43 PM
Unless you know Greek, then no, you wouldn't understand anything he said.

I know Greek.