Friday with(out) Means - Aug. 14th, 2009: Now with 60% more content!

[drakonman]

You're wrong. The OGRE engine (which is the one they'd been working over a year on) was cancelled around May 2009, read here, and AO now is being prepared for the new version of the Dreamworld engine (the one Age of Conan uses, too).

read the sarcasm part...i know they switched to dreamworld, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been in development for about 2 years now.

Also, the "new" heads they have posted earlier - Opi, Nano, and Atrox - were rendered in the OLD engine and not in the NEW engine:



So, maybe, just maybe, you need to do some research before you go emo over something that isn't even final yet (or in development all that long).

Ok i admit i didn't know the render was on the old engine...i wouldn't have thought devs would post screens regarding the new engine on the old engine...

PS: i'm allowed to go emo coz i am emo :P

[Regidoc]

I've a question: on average, how long does it take for a game developer to make a game? Just a single player FPS. From my understanding, the average FPS takes about 2 years to be developed. That includes the coding and the graphics. In some cases, they design an engine just for that game. But, with an FPS, you're not allowed completely free roam, just what they dictate on where you can go.

Now, take a MMORPG. The worlds are huge, you have a lot of different textures to look into (from something as basic as rocks to trees to water to character models) and some of the content changes all the time. I'm not a coder, graphic artist or even a good community speaker but with all that to think about, I can understand why it can take a while for something to be updated.

There's also concern that everyone can use it (why they're gathering the computer information). Sure some people use their PC for only games and they have a cutting edge machine with 4GB+ of ram, a quad core with a Sli ready card but not everyone does and they would need to make the engine backwards compatible. Else people do not have "super spiiffy" PCs wouldn't be able to use it. I'll have no problem using it, but that doesn't mean that joe down the street with a 4-5 year old computer can.

[Phuriae]

here's some reasons why the existing poll options suck:
Elevate - a VERB, not a NOUN. (Verb = action word, Noun = Person, PLACE or Thing)
Equinox - a time of year when both day and night are about equal in duration
The Grind - we get enough of this on planet, why go here and remind us of this?
Aurora - a natural phenomena that occurs with refracted solar radiation
Solaris - the Operating System? expect a lawsuit with this one.
Nexus - Former GSP DJ? Why is the club named after him? he didn't picket for it.
Gravity - I can't dispute this one, since orbit = falling around an object due to gravity and centrifugal force, would make sense.
Daybreak - you're gonna name a Nightclub "Daybreak" ? /facepalm
Photon - light partical. see "Daybreak"
Pulse - haha. good one. the club would be popular for a while then dry out like "Will to fight" I suppose the name is fitting.

You win. Thanks for pointing out exactly why most of the names suck. Especially 'The Grind'.

QQ

You shut that mouth Tom.

[Kintaii]

As for remaking the entire game....dunno are you an FC designer/programmer? i'm thinking no...nor do many of the people i've seen posting on the subject. No one can know what it involves. And i mean no one except FC.

I'm a designer, and yeah - We'd pretty much have to remake the entire game. As it is, we're doing what we can to enhance the appearance of the game while we're working on integrating the new engine. Previously we had very few plans on altering pre-existing graphical content, but since then we've decided to try and do some extra special touches to make stuff a little shinier.

Things like enhanced character models and heads take a lot of time, mostly because of the *other* things in game that are influenced by said models (such as armour pieces, or helmets). It's a long, hard, tricky process, but we're doing what we can. =)

[Lektronik]

Epic Fail on so many levels, I lost count.

Aimed Shot and Sneak Attack in PvP should work with PvM mechanics.
Eg, must be performed whilist sneaking and the target must not be aware of your presence; (perception check)

there's your "nerf" that works.


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A totally different topic below:
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plus I don't see "Club Mitkr" in the votes (RkTim's club he so blantantly picketed for)

here's some reasons why the existing poll options suck:
Elevate - a VERB, not a NOUN. (Verb = action word, Noun = Person, PLACE or Thing)
Equinox - a time of year when both day and night are about equal in duration
The Grind - we get enough of this on planet, why go here and remind us of this?
Aurora - a natural phenomena that occurs with refracted solar radiation
Solaris - the Operating System? expect a lawsuit with this one.
Nexus - Former GSP DJ? Why is the club named after him? he didn't picket for it.
Gravity - I can't dispute this one, since orbit = falling around an object due to gravity and centrifugal force, would make sense.
Daybreak - you're gonna name a Nightclub "Daybreak" ? /facepalm
Photon - light partical. see "Daybreak"
Pulse - haha. good one. the club would be popular for a while then dry out like "Will to fight" I suppose the name is fitting.

Lay off the weed when you post man. That whole post is nothing but /fail.

[Regidoc]

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A totally different topic below:
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plus I don't see "Club Mitkr" in the votes (RkTim's club he so blantantly picketed for)

here's some reasons why the existing poll options suck:
Elevate - a VERB, not a NOUN. (Verb = action word, Noun = Person, PLACE or Thing)
Equinox - a time of year when both day and night are about equal in duration
The Grind - we get enough of this on planet, why go here and remind us of this?
Aurora - a natural phenomena that occurs with refracted solar radiation
Solaris - the Operating System? expect a lawsuit with this one.
Nexus - Former GSP DJ? Why is the club named after him? he didn't picket for it.
Gravity - I can't dispute this one, since orbit = falling around an object due to gravity and centrifugal force, would make sense.
Daybreak - you're gonna name a Nightclub "Daybreak" ? /facepalm
Photon - light partical. see "Daybreak"
Pulse - haha. good one. the club would be popular for a while then dry out like "Will to fight" I suppose the name is fitting.

This is what you get when someone over thinks the meaning of a club name besides it sounding fun/cool

On a whim, I decided to look up "Night club names" in google to see what I would find. It's amusing that the first link has a some of the same suggestions that were given here Some of which were *gasp* verbs that were being used as nouns!

[Grim-One]

http://img190.imageshack.us/i/aion0037z.jpg/
http://img9.imageshack.us/i/aion0240.jpg/
http://img338.imageshack.us/i/aion0256.jpg/
http://img249.imageshack.us/i/aion0252.jpg/

Wasn't is said somewhere that the devs were toying with the idea of making bracers and belts visible? While I don't believe it will be anything like the armor in the pictures, It might help the characters on AO not to look so plain from shoulders down.

[Wrangeline]

As for remaking the entire game....dunno are you an FC designer/programmer? i'm thinking no...nor do many of the people i've seen posting on the subject. No one can know what it involves. And i mean no one except FC.

Hehe, you kinda make it sound like graphics is dark magic that only wizards know

All it takes is logic and a basic understanding of what graphics is made up of.

[Mistiz]

@ bockrocker

In all technicality the sun has little to do with making shadow. Darkness is the absence of light thus if there was no sun there would be more shadow then if there was a sun.

Not true. Deep space is a vacuum - there are no photons. Shadows on planet earth are not areas of 100% absence of light, but rather those with less light than the surroundings. If you can imagine, the area behind a tree isn't going to be completely emtpy of light as an area of space without a star would be; nearby surfaces will of course reflect a minor portion of light onto it.

Thus you need light to make shadows.

[Solstiare]

#1: "The Grind" = Lawsuit from MTV/Viacom.

#2: Drakonman, just stop. You are only showing your ignorance.

#3: Mistiz, take notes in highschool physics next time. If there are no photons in space then the sun's light would not reach the earth, and you would eventualy starve. So, fixed -> "Deep space is a vacuum - there are no SOUND."

[Technogen]

#1: "The Grind" = Lawsuit from MTV/Viacom.

Was a TV show not a Nightclub, a quick search on Google for "The Grind Nightclub" will bring up no results for a club.

From wiki "The Grind was a Dance music show broadcast on the cable television station MTV between 1992 and 1997."

So, unless FC starts doing a TV show from the dance floor called "The Grind" they are clear from any lawsuits from MTV/Viacom.

[Technogen]

I've a question: on average, how long does it take for a game developer to make a game? Just a single player FPS. From my understanding, the average FPS takes about 2 years to be developed. That includes the coding and the graphics. In some cases, they design an engine just for that game. But, with an FPS, you're not allowed completely free roam, just what they dictate on where you can go.

AION, the one linked in his "what a game should look like" has been in dev since 2006, and they did not use their own engine. "The game uses a heavily modified version of the CryEngine (originally developed by Crytek, now owned by Ubisoft)."

Funcom's last game that used the dreamworld engine took approximately 4 years to develop.

It's not exactly easy work and the patch that we get for the engine upgrade is most likely going to be a large one, LE launch large. The benefits the team has now is they know where to plug everything in over the last 2 years of dev.

[Regidoc]

AION, the one linked in his "what a game should look like" has been in dev since 2006, and they did not use their own engine. "The game uses a heavily modified version of the CryEngine (originally developed by Crytek, now owned by Ubisoft)."

Funcom's last game that used the dreamworld engine took approximately 4 years to develop.

It's not exactly easy work and the patch that we get for the engine upgrade is most likely going to be a large one, LE launch large. The benefits the team has now is they know where to plug everything in over the last 2 years of dev.

Wasn't the CryEngine also used in Far Cry as well?

Btw, that's also why I said the rest of what I said in my post. I already understood why it was taking so long for them to effectively re-write the game. Just giving an example of what other game developers have to deal with as well.

[Brampfine]

what a stupid name "The Grind"
when i Google for The Grind i found first a WOW video and second a low budget US crime film from 2009 with noname starring.
wikipedia: Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or non-entertaining gameplay in order to gain access to other features within the game.[1][2] The most common usage is in the context of MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft<-WOW...bla bla bla

Nexus.....to much Star Trek but "The Nexus" is a dungeon in WOW...

i never visit in reallife a nightclub with the name The Grind.

[Grayfox211]

AS nerf not a huge problem for all other profs? lol just goes to show u that agents arent even thought of when decisions are considered. "oh ya, forgot, AS is the only thing agents use....hmmmm, well guess ur screwed. oh well"

not a big suprise that i dont even play my agent anymore.

[Klod8999]

"The Plug" was much better.

[Suggester]

what a stupid name "The Grind"
when i Google for The Grind i found first a WOW video and second a low budget US crime film from 2009 with noname starring.
wikipedia: Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or non-entertaining gameplay in order to gain access to other features within the game.[1][2] The most common usage is in the context of MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft<-WOW...bla bla bla

Nexus.....to much Star Trek but "The Nexus" is a dungeon in WOW...

i never visit in reallife a nightclub with the name The Grind.

That was that what i was thinking about when i read this silly name would be a mass of shame for every AO player a Club must be consider something to the Game and i never thought of a Grind when i saw the beautiful system of AO
C'mon guys you cant be serious about this name oO
This is a futuristic game Pulse with a pulsing light or Photon sounds O.K. considered to AO but the Grind .....

[Xyphos]

This is what you get when someone over thinks the meaning of a club name besides it sounding fun/cool

Perhaps I am over-analytical.
I blame it on me being a programmer.

[Wrangeline]

"The Grind" might be an ok name for a sleazy bar in the dark corner of Omni Ent or something like that but a futuristic, stylish, high quality nightclub orbiting in space? I think not >.<

I suspect people vote on it because it makes them semi-giggle or whatever, as if that was worth basing their votes on rather than a minute measure of serious thought

Having that said, "grind" is a MMO concept that we as players don't enjoy. In fact we refer to it when discussing boring and badly designed content. The other meaning of grind, that is used in strip clubs, don't fit with this state of the art high quality nightclub.

It just doesn't fit >.<

[Ebondevil]

My Vote is for 'The Evening Star'

It complements the Morningstar station well, it sounds pretty damn cool, it pays homage to a useful item in game, and it sounds a lot classier than the other options.

I can't vote for it though so I /Fail.

My other vote would be for 'Lucifers' a bit darker perhaps, but it also complements the Morningstar station, it also kind of hints of the Lightbringers fall, as darkness descends, so rises the atmosphere in the Nightclub.

Still, can't vote for that either so I /Fail again.