18.8.0 Update Notes

[Emma]

So ... we can patch tomorrow without uploading the new engine stuff?

If we don't upload the new engine stuff tomorrow, can we do it later, "on our own time", i.e. not during a patch?
Will all our preferences carry over if we install the new engine stuff?

Which grid entrance moved?

Emma

[McKnuckleSamwich]

oh god. if preferences are reset, I'm never DLing the new engine.

I spent enough time setting up prefs since the merge to level 2 220's. I'm not doing that again.

[nanoforcer]

Adjusted AI Bot drops on ground and ship.

Please Michi tell us what the droprate got adjusted to, i belive it was around 7% last time any1 touched it, what is it now?

[Vinkera]

oh god. if preferences are reset, I'm never DLing the new engine.

I spent enough time setting up prefs since the merge to level 2 220's. I'm not doing that again.

I was just able to duplicate my "live" settings to the test release, so I don't see it being impossible.

At most, there may be copy / pasta involved.

[Psithief]

Which grid entrance moved?

I'm hoping this means "moving forward when you enter the grid won't dump you into omni territory".

[DigitalBath]

oh god. if preferences are reset, I'm never DLing the new engine.

I spent enough time setting up prefs since the merge to level 2 220's. I'm not doing that again.

Character prefs are ~100% compatible. Just copy the relevant folder(s) for your account(s)/character(s) to the right place. I did it on Testlive and on Beta for my "pseudo-clones" from Live and it worked fine.

I'm guessing you know how to do this fairly well due to the whole multibox thing. If you or anyone else doesn't and would like to keep their UI / Bags intact in the new engine.. give me a poke here or in-game.

[Teeko]

Yeah thats how I interpreted it. You should be able to copy your prefs over from your old installation.

[Misat0]

If there even is a new installation. As I read it you might just be able to put this over your current live install. But we'll see if any further instructions are posted with the link.

In any case just make a backup of your prefs and maybe even your current live game as a safety measure.

[DigitalBath]

If there even is a new installation. As I read it you might just be able to put this over your current live install. But we'll see if any further instructions are posted with the link.

In any case just make a backup of your prefs and maybe even your current live game as a safety measure.

This may cause issues. At least on Testlive people were being recommended to do a fresh install to avoid patching and/or instacrashing issues.
Given there are two clients being maintained for the time being it's likely better to keep them separate (or just keep one of them if drive space is an issue)

[Caloss2]

I'm getting the word out 8)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf6mIRbYbCQ

[Bendaar]

This ninja drop of the new engine is a "eff this, it's not going to be better than this" move ?

[Mastablasta]

This ninja drop of the new engine is a "eff this, it's not going to be better than this" move ?

Seems like it. I guess it'll never see the improvements that were worked on earlier and now they're just going to squander the PR on "AO gets new engine to coincide with 14th birthday".

[hokutonoken]

i hope someone just post a "clear & leet friendly" step to copying preferences over.

[Ophiuchus]

Do a fresh install, copy pasta your prefs in. It worked on Beta and that needed fiddly charid matching which shouldn't be required in this case.

[DigitalBath]

i hope someone just post a "clear & leet friendly" step to copying preferences over.

This is the simplest I can make it...

BEFORE RUNNING THE NEW ENGINE (that you put in a brand new fresh folder to avoid any issues):

- Windows Key+R
- Type %localappdata%/Funcom and press enter
- Go into the Anarchy Online folder
- Go into the weirdly named folder, something like d953185a. If there's more than one then you're going to have to figure out which one it is.. it's usually the one with the latest date modified!
- Inside this, you'll have a folder with the same name as the folder that has your Anarchy Online installation. Usually.. it's Anarchy Online.. but just like before.. latest date modified is a good way to get the right one.
- Copy the Prefs folder from there to a safe place. COPY, do not MOVE it!

After that's done with..

- Run the NEW ENGINE once and log into any character. Log off with the usual 30s timer without alt-f4'ing twice or anything "quick" involved. Exit AO afterwards.
- Windows Key+R
- Type %localappdata%/Funcom and press enter
- Go into the Anarchy Online folder
- If there's a new weirdly named folder, go in there. If not, go into the previous weirdly named folder
- You will now have a new folder with the same name as the New Engine's installation folder, get in there
- Copy or Move the Prefs folder you've previously saved over the one in there.

You now have your old engine Preferences on the New Engine.

IF you have a custom UI set up you can apply it to the New Engine as well by copying over the Gui folder too. This may not always be the best idea given the Options panel changed and you'd probably have to delete the customized one to access the New Engine's video settings..

Custom Maps (AoRK/AoSL/etc) are not copied in this process.. to do that you have to install them the same way you did before but on the New Engine folder.. or copy the ones you have in <your old AO Install folder here>/cd_image/textures/PlanetMap to <your New Engine Install folder here>/cd_image/textures/PlanetMap



If someone could simplify this without shoehorning in videos or scripts/apps to do it it would be great.. I can't do it myself.

[Pomidor]

beep: still crashes on TestLive when zoning

I hope they will upgrade NE with new assets, and moving it into Live is a good move now, bust there are tiny things to repair which can boost looks of NE a ton (like I said: trees, some textures).

[Mastablasta]

Don't use new engine unless you're in a situation where the laptop you're trying to run AO on isn't able to do so. It'll require 25gb install space to do so and performance will be degraded in the loading department.

[DigitalBath]

Don't use new engine unless you're in a situation where the laptop you're trying to run AO on isn't able to do so. It'll require 25gb install space to do so and performance will be degraded in the loading department.

To be fair, the Testlive version ran mostly great here on an SSD both on the loading and on the general performance side of things. ICC HQ takes a while (2-3 full seconds) loading buildings/textures/etc but most other zones load nearly instantly. There were a few models with issues, namely dragons (like Tarasque or Tuq'usk) and Mantis Queen that weren't being displayed properly but I hope that's fixed for the Live version.

Relevant Specs with 100 fps pretty much everywhere and 50-70 on ICC HQ at 1920x1080:
AMD 8350 @ 4.5GHz
16GB RAM
GTX 780

EDIT: I do agree the requirements hike is pretty steep, especially for those dual logging.. and the benefit will mostly be improved aliasing and lighting.. it's not amazingly better due to the lack of new 3d models for characters/mobs/etc, just overall nicer to look at. If you can't spare the space/don't get good FPS.. keep the old client around.

[Pomidor]

Guess I need to buy SSD now, because ICC is loading for me around 60-70 seconds total, and other zones around 5-20 seconds :/ (yes, I have 8 years old HDD )

[DigitalBath]

Guess I need to buy SSD now, because ICC is loading for me around 60-70 seconds total, and other zones around 5-20 seconds :/ (yes, I have 8 years old HDD )

Both AO and your Operating System (pleease install it in there!) in general will run pretty insanely faster.
I find it hard to explain, really.

Best "time saver" I personally witnessed was my girlfriend's laptop running The Sims 3 with ~20-25GB of custom content. Before the SSD it took her about 1h15 loading the game (no, i'm not kidding). After the SSD it took her around 4min30s.

Still pretty steep and I think she's insane for putting up with it but the point stand. SSD's can bring dramatic changes to loading times