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Hail all! I know many of you aren't in game yet, and haven't seen the game at all. Also, I know many of you have heard the rumors of poor graphics (or seen some of the old builds for yourself). I'm hoping this can be some reassurance, as well as a fun little slice of something new for those of you not in game yet. If you appear to enjoy this, I will continue to do more of the same. So, without further ado:
Anyways, I started in Mercia (human lands). I'd killed my fair share of goblins and completed the newb quests (which are VERY well done--as they show you many of the different abilities and skills available during the game). But I was curious--what did Agon's mysteries store? So, I, clad in my newb armor and weaponry, set out for the middle of the map, to see what was out there. I wish I would have taken pictures as I began my journey, but, unfortunately, that was not the case. I didn't even think about doing it until I reached my destination. So, sorry, I set off, and was having a good time checking out the landscape (which is pretty incredible). Wind makes the grass, reeds and trees blow realistically, and the shadows are truly incredible (more on this later). As I was running peacefully, I suddenly saw (and heard) an explosion of flames as they surrounded me. I nearly jumped out of my chair. "what the fuck was that?!?" I frantically looked around me, but didn't see any mobs at all. No people. Just silence. Eerily silent. But I could make out a distinct flapping sound. "Hmmm..." I looked down at my status bar, which tells you when you hit someone (or when they hit you) and for how much damage, and noticed the words: "Fire Dragon hits you for 12 points (or something)" "Hell yes!" But I couldn't find him. Looked all around. Whatever. I shrugged my shoulders, thought it may be a glitch and kept running, 10 seconds later, BOOM, hits me again. "Alright, what the hell!" I scanned the area again, didn't find anything. And then thought to look up. "Holy shit!" A red dragon was easilly soaring through the sky, flapping its wings and lighting up the ground with bursts like a flamethrower. I figured I was dead. But I ran for it anyways (I'd been running for like an hour, and didn't want to lose my progress. P.s. the world IS huge! Maybe not the 8 hours across the map as promised, but definitely in the 2/3 range while just running). So I'm dodging back and forth, but get hit like 5 times or so. Health is getting low. I'm running away, and I thought I was safe. But no, not in Darkfall. Motherfucker chased me for a good 10 minutes, lighting up the ground. Only when I found some good cover under trees (while continuing to run) could I get away from that thing. Oh, and somehow during this I managed to fire off a mana missle (well 6 or so, but one hit), and it didn't do ANY noticeable damage. So these are going to be tough to take down, especially if they don't land. Would love to see one of those fall like a brick out of the sky after getting shot down though. Anyways, I found a chaos stone, and managed to bind to it. Good stuff. Headed back out, figured I was about halfway to my goal. Then, boom, I'm in a black knight camp. Was low on health already, but wanted to investigate. When I got even remotely close, those guys must have smelled me or something, because two of them started chasing my ass. I pulled out the bow, shot 'em a couple times (while backpedaling of course), but didn't seem to make a dent in their armor (they wear heavy plate). Same with the mana missle--nothing. So, as I usually do in this game, I turned tail and ran. Got away again (actually pretty easy to run away in this game. Even if you DO have 8 arrows sticking out of you afterwards). But, yada yada, I get close to the middle of the map, and my mini map gets really interesting looking. Looks like the middle of the map is a cavernous, unfriendly black wasteland. And that's pretty much what it is--scorched earth with massive stones of all shapes and sizes--which have a peciluar mist/gas substance surrounding them. They also seemed unmineable. These might be colored ore--just not accessible yet? I don't really know. Also, the vegitation was crazy. Vibrant purple and lush. Here's a screen of that: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...oninmiddle.jpg Oh, one thing you need to know about these screenshots. The game looks AMAZING, and the printscreen+put into paint way of sharing just does not remotely do justice to how good the game actually looks. Justkeep that in mind. Alright, so anyways, I keep exploring, navigating canyons and mini-mountains, and I finally reach a very interesting and unique-looking castle of sorts. And it's dead in the center of the map. Of course I had to investigate! Here's the castle from a distance: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...MiddleBase.jpg Note the sunset taking place in the distance, and how it affects the picture. That's my guy in third-person mode, obviously, and the physics system on the characters is so good that my guys hair will actually go down as I jump, and as I'm coming down, will go up (did that make sense). Crazy that they took the time to ensure that momentum effects hair. Anyways, I'm inside the castle at this point, fully expecting some kind of crazy battle or NPC camps. Nope. Nothing. Empty. Not a soul. Who the hell lit all those torches in there? No players either. This is one of the biggest gripes in the game for most players--the world does feel pretty empty at this point. But, it's certainly not game-breaking, and is something they can continue to improve on. Anyways, this is where it gets really interesting. After navigating this HUGE fort, I find, in the distance, a FLOATING ISLAND. I know right? "What the hell!" But it's not as dumb as it sounds--check it out: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...dlehighway.jpg Notice the glossy look of the gate and buildings on the island? Supposed to look like that, it's not bad quality or a glitch or anything. Adds a lot of mystery to up there, and I'm sure we'll see a primary point in the lore regarding this area as the game progresses. So there was no bridge. No way to get up? Not going to stop me. Notice the big chain? (I'm sure many of you already know where there is going). Yes, VERY carefully, I navigated step by step, jump by jump, up the chain. The ground below was, hmm, about a 40-story fall I'd say. So I was WAY up there. Here's me at the top: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...aledchain1.jpg You can kind of get a perspective of just how high up I was. Very cool. So, I get up to the top, turn around, and this is what I see: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...opofchain1.jpg You can reallllllly note the glossy affect of the castle now. Very interesting Inside: The place was huggggge, but again, empty. Nothing there. I saw another chain though! Got to the top of that chain, my back was to a wall (no secret room ), and this is what I see: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...ghestpoint.jpg Pretty high up. So, from there, there was nowhere to go but down. On the descent: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...dowonchain.jpg Notice it's nightime now and check out the shadows. Can you spot my shadow on the far bank (the moon behind me illumninated it)?. As I made my way down the chain, that shadow obviously moved with me. VERY cool. Anways, that's pretty much the journey. Just wanted to share a couple more things I saw on my way up into Dwarven lands. http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...avatowater.jpg This one is hard to make out, but check out the minimap (top right corner). What's happening here is a stream of lava protruding from a mountain is flowing into a river (of water). What's happening is the lava is instantly cooled, and forms into a hard rock (similar to how some volcanic islands are formed in real life). Very cool to see, and the area underwater next to that is truly a magical site. Pretty great implementation there. Here's another interesting screen I found: http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/t...burnedtown.jpg It's a burned/burning city apparently, and my mini map says it's "Fire Hall". I decided to check it out inside, but basically just got played by two "Undead Dwarves". I ran again. Long story short, I ventured to the first player town I saw, made some friends, and joined the guild The Homeless. We are currently building up our underground city. That's it guys. Hope I got some of you excited about this game again. Remember, eventually we'll be seeing more servers and more people let it. Let me know if you guys like these kind of things, and, if so, I'll continue to make them. Figured everyone could use some fresh good news. And for the record, I'm not a fanboy, nor a troll, I simply recognize the good and bad things of this software, and understand that it is a good game. If you have any questions, hit me up. -Bloodcraft |
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3/01/09 8:52:54 PM#2
Read your story on Forumfall. Good job! |
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3/01/09 8:58:36 PM#3
Thanks for taking the time to post this =) ~~ Darkfall Recap of everything that has happened the last 3 months: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/213296 "The monsters are tough. I was looking for a challenge, but these things are just too damn smart." -DF Beta Tester "If people were dismissing it, then they wouldn't be talking about it. The well-meaning gamers root for efforts that try to raise the bar. So who's left? It's so easy being a skeptic." -Tasos |
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3/01/09 9:06:42 PM#4
Originally posted by Cbloodcraft Interesting read, but I couldn't help but notice that you joined MMORPG.COM today and this is your first post. Hmm. Also, your description of the goblin camps is quite at odds with the other reviews I've read. I'm glad you mentioned a negative, but it's spun with the "just wait for the magical patch" argument.
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Originally posted by Mokwee
i joined here just moments ago because a forumfaller read this same thread there and suggested I post it. I put this here for you guys. If you think it's fake, suit yourself. |
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Originally posted by Kien Interesting read, but I couldn't help but notice that you joined MMORPG.COM today and this is your first post. Hmm. Also, your description of the goblin camps is quite at odds with the other reviews I've read. I'm glad you mentioned a negative, but it's spun with the "just wait for the magical patch" argument.
golbin camps? I didn't mention any goblin camps. |
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