Darkfall

I saw the video. I watched it, it looked pretty nice. If nothing else, they've certainly got some good artists on their team.

What makes me curious is not what they showed, but what they didn't show. It's possible they just wanted to show off the landscapes. In that sense, they did a good job. But I'm going to have to agree with Ghost. Yes, it looks very nice for what it is, but what it is isn't much. I'm not trying to slander the game for all it's worth, I'm trying to be objective.

What we saw was terrain, buildings, a few moving terrain features, and a couple of animated models. There were shadows and some nice graphical effects to be sure, but what we saw was purely client side. What do I mean by this? I mean there is no indication that what we are seeing is connected to a server.

Now, before you all reach for your crossbows and try to impale me, please listen to what I'm saying. I am not slandering the developers, or the game, or questioning its integrity. I am stating only that which is clearly observable; That being, everything we saw here could have been done in a single player game engine, and that there is no real evidence to suggest otherwise. No AI, no combat, no signs of anything other than some (admittedly pretty) terrain and a couple of moving character models (although to be fair, there were signs that there was some collision detection going on between the character models and the ground below them.) This is not an opinion, it's merely an observation.

What I am curious about is why we were shown what we were.

There are a couple of reasons why this might be the case. On one hand, they might have been looking to show off their terrain and nothing else. The character models may have existed primarily to indicate that what we were seeing was in fact in a game engine and not pre-rendered. This is perfectly viable.

Alternatively, perhaps they chose to show off the terrain because it's the best looking thing they have at the moment. Game mechanics have a habit of looking extremely ugly until they're completely finished. Maybe they're still working on other gameplay elements, and they haven't fleshed out the animations yet. This is also reasonable.

It is also possible that they showed what they did because they don't have anything else to show. It's an ugly possibility, but it is a possibility, and we can't deny that simply because it's unappealing to us, no matter how much we might want to.

This video boasts the talent of the artists working on Darkfall. Nothing less, but nothing more.

Myself?

I've seen plenty of pretty pictures in my time. I'd honestly have rather seen some hacked-together gameplay footage, even if it wasn't the most pretty thing around.

Originally posted by Shousha

I saw the video. I watched it, it looked pretty nice. If nothing else, they've certainly got some good artists on their team.

What makes me curious is not what they showed, but what they didn't show. It's possible they just wanted to show off the landscapes. In that sense, they did a good job. But I'm going to have to agree with Ghost. Yes, it looks very nice for what it is, but what it is isn't much. I'm not trying to slander the game for all it's worth, I'm trying to be objective.

What we saw was terrain, buildings, a few moving terrain features, and a couple of animated models. There were shadows and some nice graphical effects to be sure, but what we saw was purely client side. What do I mean by this? I mean there is no indication that what we are seeing is connected to a server.

Now, before you all reach for your crossbows and try to impale me, please listen to what I'm saying. I am not slandering the developers, or the game, or questioning its integrity. I am stating only that which is clearly observable; That being, everything we saw here could have been done in a single player game engine, and that there is no real evidence to suggest otherwise. No AI, no combat, no signs of anything other than some (admittedly pretty) terrain and a couple of moving character models (although to be fair, there were signs that there was some collision detection going on between the character models and the ground below them.) This is not an opinion, it's merely an observation.

What I am curious about is why we were shown what we were.

There are a couple of reasons why this might be the case. On one hand, they might have been looking to show off their terrain and nothing else. The character models may have existed primarily to indicate that what we were seeing was in fact in a game engine and not pre-rendered. This is perfectly viable.

Alternatively, perhaps they chose to show off the terrain because it's the best looking thing they have at the moment. Game mechanics have a habit of looking extremely ugly until they're completely finished. Maybe they're still working on other gameplay elements, and they haven't fleshed out the animations yet. This is also reasonable.

It is also possible that they showed what they did because they don't have anything else to show. It's an ugly possibility, but it is a possibility, and we can't deny that simply because it's unappealing to us, no matter how much we might want to.

This video boasts the talent of the artists working on Darkfall. Nothing less, but nothing more.

Myself?

I've seen plenty of pretty pictures in my time. I'd honestly have rather seen some hacked-together gameplay footage, even if it wasn't the most pretty thing around.

Noone will bash you for this. Think everyone will have more eyecandy. We can hope that this was the first in a serie of upcoming vids.

Originally posted by gamerman98

 

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Originally posted by Aragon100

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Originally posted by Zorvan

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Originally posted by daarco

 

 

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Originally posted by bee52

 

Hmm well that's good news I guess. Imo they should go with someone else to publish/distribute/etc so they can concentrate on further development/patching and so forth.
Got a link to some proof of them securing a publisher? The Darkfall wikipedia entry should be updated!

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Here you go Bee.
http://darkfallinfo.com/index.php?page=Info&code=w9ff4htokm

it was one of the questions Tasos spoke about a few weeks ago.

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He asked for proof of Aventurine securing a publisher. There is no proof in that post. Only more talk.

Edit: And I'm sorry man, but I ain't buyin' the whole "we have publishers beating down our door, but we're turning them down" crap these guys are trying to pass off.

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Its the words from a very wise game developer though. I particallery like these sentences from Tasos which make me laugh so hard at the AoC developers. They spend zillions of dollars on a crappy game. Id rather make a good game FIRST, then sell it on its merits. And cutting out the middlehand seems only beneficial for a small company as Darkfall. Darkfall developers seems very mature and in touch with the real world, cant say that about the developers of the game Age of Conan where ongoing beta revealed a no finished game nerfed beyond recognision.
Community: why has Darkfall had such a hard time securing a solid publisher and with the impending release of both age of Conan and Warhammer online aren't you concerned that the game will be unable to maintain a self sustaining profitable player base considering that the other games have giant budgets and giant advertising campaigns.

 

Tasos Flambouras: In very simple terms, it's not so much as Darkfall having a hard time securing a publisher as it is that publishers have had a hard time securing Darkfall. I'll explain: We do have the capability to self-publish, so the competition to any publishing offer, aside from other offers, is our own plan for self-publication. In our self-publishing scheme we hire the same services that most publishers use so in effect "cutting out the middleman" is usually to our advantage, especially since as a newcomer in the gaming industry it's rare to get a fantastic deal. Furthermore, getting a publishing deal isn't crucial to us in regards to development, and we won't just jump at offers. We have the "luxury" to try to do what's best for the game in this context. That being said, we have been and still are in discussions with publishers who present a good and viable alternative to our self-publishing plan.

Giant budgets and giant advertising campaigns demand giant paydays. We definitely don't need to be a World of Warcraft killer to be successful, but the same may not be true about some of the other games in development. When faced with the question of budget allocation we decided that it's more important for us to first make as good a game as possible and then to market it on its merit. The opposite doesn't work in the long run, and quality would be compromised by taking some of the development resources and throwing them into marketing so we're betting everything on our strength. We couldn't compete with some of the large titles when it comes to marketing since it all comes down to dollars and cents, but we can still make one hell of a game.

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That still dont mean that what they say is legit, because in the gaming biz it comes down to talking, and doing. Yeah you guys can flame me all you want: "well we saw this and we read that na na!!!" That dont mean anything really. How long has this game been in development for? Has any public beta been released at all? And while we are on the topic of this game for everyone that "claims" to know much about the MMORPG development cycle, or gaming in general for that matter, any realist (which are the ppl that keep telling you "fans" that this game is bogus) can see that this game wont see the light of day on any retail shelf, or even as a downloadable on Fileplanet. And in the end when the dust has cleared and they disappear leaving you sitting at your computer wide eyed realizing you were a fan to one of the longest running scams since bad telemarketing, will you bash us realists then? The point is, if a simple gamer like myself can clearly see that it should not take ALL these years (i lost count after 3 whats the year count now?) to make a game with such basic graphics and gameplay mechanics. Anyway i said my peace for the last time...ill now sit on the sidelines with some popcorn and a big drink to watch all the fireworks happen when its time. P3ace all and have a great day.

Personally id rather wait for a good game then play the crap available as of now. This is also why so many is looking forward to Darkfall that is a way more complex game then the usual WoW-clones. AoC for example is only eye candy, nothing else.

Darkfall was totally rewamped late 2003, new graphic engine and so on. The game under development now is from mid 2003 so the development time for this spectacular game is arround 5 years of now. Not bad if you compare it with WoW:s 6 years. And remember Darkfall is a way more complexed game then WoW and AoC is.

But if you dont wanna play Darkfall, dont, noone is twisting your arms saying "play Darkfall or else" do they? And why keep following a game youre not interested in? Interesting.

I understand why people were excited for this game 5 years ago.  Truly I do as I was one of them.  As someone who played Shadowbane through the countless "crash to desktop" siege battles, I know the pull of this type of rule set in this type of genre.

That said, I just don't get this.......hopefullness.  This game is vaporware.  The fanbois out there....man if religion could bottle whatever you guys are drinking they would be in good shape. 

Oh wait, they already did.

And for the poster that just mentioned how much more "complex this game is than WoW", c'mon man.  Where do people come up with this crap?  You are trying to compare a game that will  never be released, that no one has actually played (other than a few lame/BS posts about my "trip to the studio"-nonsense), to the game that re-defined the genre?  That's just idiotic.

Originally posted by andmiller

I understand why people were excited for this game 5 years ago.  Truly I do as I was one of them.  As someone who played Shadowbane through the countless "crash to desktop" siege battles, I know the pull of this type of rule set in this type of genre.

 

That said, I just don't get this.......hopefullness.  This game is vaporware.  The fanbois out there....man if religion could bottle whatever you guys are drinking they would be in good shape. 

 

Oh wait, they already did.

 

And for the poster that just mentioned how much more "complex this game is than WoW", c'mon man.  Where do people come up with this crap?  You are trying to compare a game that will  never be released, that no one has actually played (other than a few lame/BS posts about my "trip to the studio"-nonsense), to the game that re-defined the genre?  That's just idiotic.

So you say noone has played it. Taso said people have. Asp played it (old beta build)
But you still call them liers this is why your argumeant doesnt make sense its very contradicting of you guys to call them liers after they do what you say they havent done.

This is why noone listens to you guys. Yes WoW is simple get over it.

Originally posted by andmiller

I understand why people were excited for this game 5 years ago.  Truly I do as I was one of them.  As someone who played Shadowbane through the countless "crash to desktop" siege battles, I know the pull of this type of rule set in this type of genre.

 

That said, I just don't get this.......hopefullness.  This game is vaporware.  The fanbois out there....man if religion could bottle whatever you guys are drinking they would be in good shape. 

 

Oh wait, they already did.

 

And for the poster that just mentioned how much more "complex this game is than WoW", c'mon man.  Where do people come up with this crap?  You are trying to compare a game that will  never be released, that no one has actually played (other than a few lame/BS posts about my "trip to the studio"-nonsense), to the game that re-defined the genre?  That's just idiotic.

Sure it's hard to compare a released game and a game not yet in beta. But it still has a futurelist that wipes out most competition. How the devs choose to manage these are still unknown.

But you are following WAR because your opinion is that it can be a great game. We choose to belive in this game for same reson.

I have a hard time trying to understand how some people lack the ability to not see MMOs as DF as innovative. And the point is not about DF will be released or not. Its much bigger then that. Whenever a new MMO is in development, i tend to read up on it. I remember when Vanguard was deep in development, and the feature list would bring nothing now to the market, same with AoC and WAR.

But some MMO, when you read up on them..sounds very interesting. Darkfall, Earthrise, Fallen Earth and W.E.L.L Online are a few. They stick out from all other. They show us there might be people willing to do something new and fun for us.

Thats what this is all about. Its alot bigger then just Darkfall. So if you think a lvl 34 Rouge is something amazing.......then Darkfall is nothing for you.