Originally posted by simu-steph
As far as ergonomics go -- my office is usually quite dark, with natural lighting.  We purposefully turn off all the lights in the art section because the artists request it.

As an artist, I can explain why this is.

When doing sketches and the like on paper, we generally like more light. However, when using the computer, heavy lighting, especially overhead florescent lighting, causes terrible glare issues and causes a lot of eye fatigue and headaches. Low and indirect lighting is much better for long term work on computers. Even eye doctors have recimmended it to my fellow artists to help stop the headaches.

The reason for this is the nature of the environment. The screen generates color by producing light. The brighter the color, the more light needed. Since the light is already being sent directky to your eye, you don't need another direct light source. If you are reading a piece of paper or drawing on it, you need the reflection of light to see what's on the paper. The screen is already producing all the light you need for it, so now you just need a small indirect lamp to see the keyboard and anything else on your desk.

I hope this clears up this issue for you. As an electronic production consultant for over 15 years, I've had to explain this very situation over and over again, so I'm quite familiar with it. It seems to contadict what we've been told by our parents growing up, but computers, and more importantly the screens, work differently. Once that's acknowledged, it makes perfect sense.

As foe HJ, I've been following it's progress for some time. I loved the article and share the same frustration about the lack of additional info, but that's just because of I can't get enough. Once the game is out, I'll be a very happy camper.

In the MMO industry, for every good apple there are 10 rotten.  HJ and BioWare MMO's are mostly consisting of good apples!  That is incredible. 

To say I am hyped, that I am a fanboi or such comment would be underrated.  I am not blind, and I would fire at will at the first sign of betrayal from any devs.  But, they just seem to understand what they have to, and to work on strong basics.

I doubt I would be subscribing to two MMOs at once ever, but, I could afford to.  I definitely plan on trying HJ, even if they are definitely not on my top expectations, they are on the "to try list".  They have everything to keep me addicted to their game, only time will tell if they will.

Nice article and nice to see the guys at Simultronics getting the MMO part of this project back on line. It amuses me that posters such as Amathe seem to have such a negative approach and it is my hope that Simultronics will stick to their guns and develop as they see fit.

What is interesting is I believe that the concept of Beta will not be the norm as it will be mainly stress testing, I believe the content will be at a pretty polished level as well as the game mechanics. If they just get 70% of the complexity contained within there MUD offerings into the charachter dev code and the environment this game will be exceptional. A real challenge in a real 3D environment.

The sale of the Hero Engine to other Developers will almost certainly ensure that this game will go live due the MMO elements of this being developed no by multiple sources.

Can't wait...

Originally posted by jgankum

 

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Originally posted by Amathe
This is a nice feel good piece and certainly there is much to like about the concept of Heroes Journey . I find a lot of its concepts very innovative and refreshing.
But the questions the writer apparently didn't push with Simu, and merely alluded to in the last paragraph, is the growing belief that this game will never see the marketplace. Personally, I would have started there and satisfied myself this game actually has a future before getting into the details of one that probably does not.

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YOU, posting this over and over again, does not make it a "growing belief". It just makes you sound like a broken record and look dumber with the release of each new bit of information.

Jonny.

Well put I guess Amathe has to keep the boards rolling shame that he/she/it will be considered a laughing stock if he/she/it continues to add no apparent value to these orums...

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Originally posted by Amathe
But the questions the writer apparently didn't push with Simu, and merely alluded to in the last paragraph, is the growing belief that this game will never see the marketplace. Personally, I would have started there and satisfied myself this game actually has a future before getting into the details of one that probably does not.

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You and one other person thinking its vapourware - dont make a growing belief. Peddle your conspiracy theories somewhere else.

If you are so desperate to protect people from themselves - cant you join the CIA?

So they are slow to update their website - big deal. If this game comes out in 2008 or 2009 I will be happy and play it then. Until then - I dont loose sleep over it.

Warhammer is close to release so yes they are peddling the marketing.

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Originally posted by Amathe

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Originally posted by jgankum

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Originally posted by Amathe
This is a nice feel good piece and certainly there is much to like about the concept of Heroes Journey . I find a lot of its concepts very innovative and refreshing.
But the questions the writer apparently didn't push with Simu, and merely alluded to in the last paragraph, is the growing belief that this game will never see the marketplace. Personally, I would have started there and satisfied myself this game actually has a future before getting into the details of one that probably does not.

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YOU, posting this over and over again, does not make it a "growing belief". It just makes you sound like a broken record and look dumber with the release of each new bit of information.
Jonny.

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It's not just me. And don't confuse news with fluff. By contrast, and to illustrate my point, check out the Warhammer Online monthy newsletter if you want to see what information is, and how much information there is when a game is on track and being made. That's just one example. I'm not touting that particular title.
But seriously, why not ask some of these questions?
Are you still on track for a 2007 release as your website says?
When is the beta?
What is the target date for release?
How much of the game is complete?
How many classs are finished?
How many races are finished?
What parts of the world are finished?
And so on. I welcome being proven wrong! If this game is for real I will play it1 Show me something tangible. All we ever get are warm fuzzy what it's gonna be stuff, or things they did years ago. So there are lots of hairstyles? We knew that over a year ago. What has actually been done that is new in the last year?

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I think you might be confusing marketing with product development. Phosphoros got it right in his post. Their marketing stinks. As for the questions listed, they probably were asked. It just doesn't make for much of a story to write, "Were not ready to release that information", over and over.

Originally posted by jgankum

 

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Originally posted by Amathe
This is a nice feel good piece and certainly there is much to like about the concept of Heroes Journey . I find a lot of its concepts very innovative and refreshing.
But the questions the writer apparently didn't push with Simu, and merely alluded to in the last paragraph, is the growing belief that this game will never see the marketplace. Personally, I would have started there and satisfied myself this game actually has a future before getting into the details of one that probably does not.

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YOU, posting this over and over again, does not make it a "growing belief". It just makes you sound like a broken record and look dumber with the release of each new bit of information.

Jonny.

QFT.

Bzzt. Game never coming out. Prove me wrong.

Bzzt. Game never coming out. Prove me wrong.

Bzzt. Game never coming out. Prove me wrong.

Bzzt. Game never coming out. Prove me wrong.

Makes me want to oil him or get him a new battery or something.

Originally posted by gagaliya
WTF those guys are still using crt monitors for DEVELOPMENT?!    wow must be really strapped for cash....even the chinese gold farmers are all decked out with LCDs now 

CRT monitors are actually better for artists because they can be calibrated much easier. You have three guns to calibrate instead of a thousands of individual pixels. It's not that you can't calibrate an LCD, it's just more time consuming, takes more expensive equipment, and can go out of calibration much easier.

Originally posted by simu-steph

Originally posted by Kane
So the list has races has changed...again. We used to have 8 (2 subs of each of FOUR main races) then it was 6. Its still six, but it sounds like we can't have the race morphing that used to be in E3s ago. I liked the idea of a triple mixed breed. I hope they add something less human later cause I like to have more options than just the traditional D&D races.

The list of races hasn't changed since our last reassessment.  There was a minor error in the article.  It has been corrected (along with a couple others).  Qwi are still Ilvari-Burian hybrids. 

There will still be morphing.  The Ilvari-Burian-Human morph you saw at E3 and in some movies was just a proof of concept .  We are anticipating that each race will have three morph targets to shift between, and in the case of the Silvan (Ilvari-Human), Qwi (Burian-Ilvari), and Dranaar (Burian-Human), we are going to be morphing between their parent races to give that mixed look.

This is still somewhat in development, though.  We'll be playing with that feature in the engine sometime at the end of this month or start of the next.  I hope to get our new AV dude working on getting some movies of just this sort of thing up...sometime. 

Thanks to all of you with your kind words.  They are greatly appreciated here at the offices.  And man, I look half-asleep in that photo.  :P

As far as ergonomics go -- my office is usually quite dark, with natural lighting.  We purposefully turn off all the lights in the art section because the artists request it.  The chairs are raised and lowered as per the individual's preference.  Josh S. is a low-rider.  He's also an artist.  And as we all know, artists are nuts. 

Hey, I was so pleased, when I saw the article on Hero's Journey today. Things do seem to be moving!

The way Adele describes the character creation and the grafics in the game sounds fantastic. I am one of these "shallow" gamers, who really like their eye candy! 

I also like the way they don't seem to forget about solo-play.

And as a final observation, I also don't believe, that a company would invite a journalist into their office, just to pretend their developing a game...

Originally posted by _Shadowmage

 

 

Warhammer is close to release so yes they are peddling the marketing.

Oh my lord, Amathe. Please get a grip on yourself. You're making yourself and us sick with your constant complaining. You've made your point over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... ad nausiem.

Stop!

Simutronics has never given a firm date. They originally said 2005, then changed it to 2006, then changed it to 2007. Each time they explained that their date was only a guideline and that it would be released when it was ready. Blizzard did much of the same thing for World of Warcraft. This is also not out of character with Simutronics with their existing games, giving a very broad time for completion and sliding that date if the project wasn't ready.

I highly suggest you go 'play a game' Amathe and quit obsessing over Hero's Journey. I'm suprised you don't have an ulcer with that frustration you obviously show in your life over a game. You seriously need to kill some pixels.

Just my humble opinion.

Originally posted by calmyron

Oh my lord, Amathe. Please get a grip on yourself. You're making yourself and us sick with your constant complaining. You've made your point over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... ad nausiem.

Stop!

Simutronics has never given a firm date. They originally said 2005, then changed it to 2006, then changed it to 2007. Each time they explained that their date was only a guideline and that it would be released when it was ready. Blizzard did much of the same thing for World of Warcraft. This is also not out of character with Simutronics with their existing games, giving a very broad time for completion and sliding that date if the project wasn't ready.

I highly suggest you go 'play a game' Amathe and quit obsessing over Hero's Journey. I'm suprised you don't have an ulcer with that frustration you obviously show in your life over a game. You seriously need to kill some pixels.

Just my humble opinion.

I suggest you direct your comments to the game, or to my opinion about the game, rather than to me. You disagree with me? Fine. Say so, and say why. The personal attacks don't support your opinion and if you haven't noticed, don't deter me from commenting in the slightest.

But thanks for clarifying for those who do not know the years of release date pushbacks, and the fact that they currently have no date (other than a fictitious one)  and refuse to even select a target date. 

Originally posted by Amathe

Originally posted by calmyron

Oh my lord, Amathe. Please get a grip on yourself. You're making yourself and us sick with your constant complaining. You've made your point over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... ad nausiem.

Stop!

Simutronics has never given a firm date. They originally said 2005, then changed it to 2006, then changed it to 2007. Each time they explained that their date was only a guideline and that it would be released when it was ready. Blizzard did much of the same thing for World of Warcraft. This is also not out of character with Simutronics with their existing games, giving a very broad time for completion and sliding that date if the project wasn't ready.

I highly suggest you go 'play a game' Amathe and quit obsessing over Hero's Journey. I'm suprised you don't have an ulcer with that frustration you obviously show in your life over a game. You seriously need to kill some pixels.

Just my humble opinion.

I suggest you direct your comments to the game, or to my opinion about the game, rather than to me. You disagree with me? Fine. Say so, and say why. The personal attacks don't support your opinion and if you haven't noticed, don't deter me from commenting in the slightest.

But thanks for clarifying for those who do not know the years of release date pushbacks, and the fact that they currently have no date (other than a fictitious one)  and refuse to even select a target date. 

Originally posted by Amathe I suggest you direct your comments to the game, or to my opinion about the game, rather than to me. You disagree with me? Fine. Say so, and say why. The personal attacks don't support your opinion and if you haven't noticed, don't deter me from commenting in the slightest.

But thanks for clarifying for those who do not know the years of release date pushbacks, and the fact that they currently have no date (other than a fictitious one)  and refuse to even select a target date. 

Originally posted by calmyron

Simutronics has never given a firm date. They originally said 2005, then changed it to 2006, then changed it to 2007. Each time they explained that their date was only a guideline and that it would be released when it was ready. Blizzard did much of the same thing for World of Warcraft. This is also not out of character with Simutronics with their existing games, giving a very broad time for completion and sliding that date if the project wasn't ready.

Originally posted by Amathe

I suggest you direct your comments to the game, or to my opinion about the game, rather than to me. You disagree with me? Fine. Say so, and say why. The personal attacks don't support your opinion and if you haven't noticed, don't deter me from commenting in the slightest.

But thanks for clarifying for those who do not know the years of release date pushbacks, and the fact that they currently have no date (other than a fictitious one)  and refuse to even select a target date. 

Looks like a nice game.  I would so love a game where everyone did not look alike at the same level.  Unfortunately another rigid class system.  Wish some of these devs would break out of the EQ mold and go for a skill instead of class system.

I have been doing computer project management longer than any of you and the continued lack of any plan dates is discouraging.  The problem is usually lack of reasonable goals for the feature set.  That has killed more MMO's then you can shake a stick at.  Then again they may have actually found some patient people to fund it.  Having to release a game before it is ready can be a real disaster.  They are dealing with a very fickle marketplace.

At least they are letting journalists see what they have, not like that other famous vaporware "Darkfall".

If they release it, I will most definitely try it, but I will not get my hopes up. 

Just one suggestion for the devs, it is better to get something out with a feature set that works well than putting everything you promised into the build,  A limited feature set at release can actually be tested by QA, most games I see today make the QA job impossible.  Remember the KISS principle gets projects done once the major points have been identified and included, it is the fluff that is hard to identify and kills more projects than one can imagine.

Originally posted by Talin

Originally posted by Amathe

I suggest you direct your comments to the game, or to my opinion about the game, rather than to me. You disagree with me? Fine. Say so, and say why. The personal attacks don't support your opinion and if you haven't noticed, don't deter me from commenting in the slightest.

But thanks for clarifying for those who do not know the years of release date pushbacks, and the fact that they currently have no date (other than a fictitious one)  and refuse to even select a target date. 

 it is obvious you are using this news post to incense the HJ community of this website. Your questions and points are not without justification, and even if you did not initially offer too negative of a post, your responses have quickly escalated you to a "troll" status.

Let me explain myself better in terms of my intent. I have played a lot of video games. I don't make a habit of praising or being critical of 99% of them. For example, I beta tested Auto Assault and thought it was crap. Never posted anywhere about it. I beta tested Rose Online (why, I dunno) and thought it was crap. Never posted about it. I have played others I really liked, such as City of Heroes. Never posted about it.  I could list dozens of others, pro and con, about which I have said nothing, good or bad.

But there is one thing that raises my ire. It will cause me to post, early and often. That is when a game is held out as being something wonderful, and I bite and get interested in it, only to discover that material things being said about the game are not true.  When a company does that, I do speak out. I spoke about about Vanguard and was branded a troll. Now look at the mess that game is in. There are so many people trashing it that I can hardly get a word in edgewise. More than half of everyone who purchased it has quit. More than half the employees were fired. People have come around to where I was 9 months ago. I'm not a troll there anymore - I am the majority view.

So it will be here. Right now people are angered by my opinions because I am telling them something they do not want to believe, just as with Vanguard. It's cognative dissonance. But not one of those people can justify HJ pushing back year after year after year after year, with no new date in sight.

If Simu is going to give interviews to promote its game, it ought to be willing and want to share with its fans what reasonably can be expected in terms of the release of that game. This is not a Star Trek Online situation where the game is so nascent  they can't be expected to know.  This has been in production for so long its absurd now that they don't know. When they hide from that, it should tell you something.