Well, to be fair, it really isn't a "gameplay" video so much as it is a video captured by someone using a free roaming camera while other people actually played the game.  There were a few very brief shots of some UI, but for the most part that wasn't a feature we saw much of at all.

What I did see highlighted in the video were some of the more challenging features they were touting for this projcet.

Mounted combat seemed to be at least working, though there's little indication of how well a mount handles either in or out of combat.

Naval combat also seems to be functional both from a ship to ship and a ship to shore perspective.  It seems that boarding parties will play at least some role in combat, though the video didn't make it clear if a boarding party could steal a ship, alter its course, or use its guns.  It also seems evident that larger ships will require one heck of a player crew to be effective.

We also saw some city building in the video, and actually the city they built looks pretty good.  The video doesn't specify how much freedom players have in the placement of structures, though, nor the extent to which these structures will allow players to control resources.

The crafting and trade system was touched on for a short second, but not in enough detail to indicate anything more than the existance of some sort of crafting and trade system.  I'm not too concerned about this personally, though, as the devs have said they really aren't trying to re-invent the crafting wheel.  I wasn't really expecting anything revolutionary on this front.

There were a few brief moments of PvE combat, and it seems like you can kill things...  It would have been nice to see some more of the AI they've got developed, as it was a bit hard to judge its quality based on the short battles shown.

I would have liked to see some player looting and some resource gathering.  I'd also like to have seen some more examples of player collision detection.  All of those features are very important to clan vs. clan RTS elements of the game and I would have liked to have seen a nod to them at least.  (I suppose I did see a couple players fishing off the edge of a raft...  I suppose that's resourse gathering)

Most of what I saw, I must say I liked.  The battles looked engaging and they certainly highlighted the use of terrain and positioning for strategic advantage (Hiding the orcish cavelry behind the hill, covering the keep gate with ship cannons, blasting melee fighters off of cliffs, and using archers from hidden positions for example)

I wasn't too fond of the armor I saw...  Not due to bad graphics, but rather due to what I consider poor design...  I'd like to point out I didn't feel this way about all the armor, just a few of the more outlandish sets.

Actually, the graphics overall were quite good, assuming they had the texture resolution set to a low to moderate setting.  There were some nice effects with shadows, reflection, and lighting, and the environments were very well crafted from what I saw.  The particle effects could certainly stand a bit of work, but it's possible that these, too, were set to a more framerate friendly level.

One visual area I think that needs a great deal of work is animation.  The character movement wasn't all that bad, but it felt to me like the timing was off and needed to be adjusted.  The animations for the giant cat mount were clunky at best and certainly didn't make the animal appear graceful in any way.  The ship sinking animations and the building construction/destruction animations were either really poor or non-existant.  If the devs are looking for an area to polish before release, I'd say it's these things.

Overall, I'm pleased with the video.  It highlighted some of the more complex features that the company was perposing and gave me a sense that the less complicated featues were most likely in place.  If they can keep character control smooth and if they can keep the game stable and lag free, then I think we're looking at a cult legend here.

Originally posted by denshing

Originally posted by Blazer6992

  I just watched a video on it, I saw better graphics on my Atari 2600.

 

 

And what exactly did you do to your atari?

No kidding!  I'll be the first to admit that I don't particularly care for the art direction and that I think the game needs some serious finishing touches, but if the last trailer was really captured on medium settings, then it's at least in the same ballpark of most of the other MMOs on the market right now.
 

Originally posted by Blazer6992

   I just watched a trailer for it. I got better graphics on my Atari 2600.

 

You must have had an amazing Atari 2600.  I'm not saying the graphics are "blow me away" brilliant...  The animations need a LOT of work and the spell/cannonball ligting needs some serious work... and I'm not personally pleased with the art direction they've chosen...  but the environments look comprable to the MMO's I've played lately, and the overall reflection, lighting and shadow effects seem to be well done.

It needs some serious visual polish, I'll give you that, but if it supports the feature list and it plays well on a stable server, then I'll consider it a step up from everything else I've played, graphic flaws and all.

I haven't seen any backpeddling on any features on the official dev. journals or Q&A's.  The only thing I've seen them go back on is the Prestiege Classes, which they have moved to post launch.

At last report, they've claimed that every advertised feature is currently in the game and that all features are doing well in their internal beta.  I suspect that the game will at least deliver what they claim it will...  the question is will it live up to what some have imagined for so long.

I expect something akin to UO with better graphics and a stronger focus on guild vs guild pvp.  In fact, I'd be more than happy with that.  UO is one of my all time favorite games and one of the few MMOs that I find myself constantly going back to.

I was in the beta for that, but when they went live I got out...  I might have to try it again if it's free.  It wasn't all that bad in beta.

I know early on in the game's development that player houses didn't need to be placed by a guild and that they could be placed almost anywhere.  I read a post here that suggested that this was still the case, but most of the official stuff I've read lately seems to indicate that building and placing structures is strictly a guild thing. 

Could somebody link me to a recent article or official anouncement that indicates if I need to be in a guild or on a guild city site to place a small house?

Originally posted by Zekiah

Originally posted by arctarus

Originally posted by Zekiah

Originally posted by arctarus

How about mount? Can you get a mount from the word go? Is there different speeds depending which mount you use? Do they also have different abilities, like a horse can carry your load? Or even mount that can swim?

Thx

Here's a great read on mounts.

 

Good info, thank you. Hope they will add rare mount in future, or even flying mounts

Just a personal view. I do hope they add a pve server. Im 1 of those carebears that you guys call. Would like to explore the world in peace and do my own crafting in finding rare mods etc...

 

 

 

I'm not sure their engine is set up for flying mounts but possibly hovering.

I read that they have no plans on creating separate servers with different rule sets so don't get your hopes up too much. But you can always get into a good guild (possibly a crafting guild) for protection. Plus, if you get a reputation as a fair and honest crafter, people will take care of you.

I do understand though, UO was a rough place, I got dropped a few times myself hehe.

I read in one of the Q&A's that there will be flying mobs and that they will swoop and manuver as a flying creature should.  If this is the case, then flying mounts could at least be supported.  I've seen no evidence that they will be in the game though.
 

You know, I love the game's concept, but I do see a lot of people excited about how they're going to destroy all the people who've upset them.

Personally I think that's a little sad, not because I'm a carebear, but rather because I think it's a ominus omen of what may come on opening day.

I'm all for the constant threat of violence, don't get me wrong, but I feel the price of failure and the risk of the unknown will keep many of these hardcore PKrs from trying to slaughter everything in sight.

I think many of the so called "hardcore" players will be in for a rude awakening on opening day, not because the game is bad, but rather because it's actually very good.  The unstopable uber character of past MMO's won't exist here, and I doubt many griefers will stick around to play because they'll end up being the ones getting looted just as frequently as they're the ones doing the looting.

Perhaps I'm wrong.  I suppose maybe one day we'll see.

Originally posted by tsitluc

Originally posted by ZalKin

But i just don't see anything i like about Darkfall! I'm don't like the graphics, i don't like the animations, i don't like the sound and the gameplay just doesn't seem fun for me. There is nothing i like about this game. And there seems to be so many people defending it (mostly in a hostile way).

The game is going to fail miserably. I would literally bet everything I own on that.  It's so obvious that it's almost laughable people still follow it after the god aweful video they released.

It's nothing more than a crappy looking combat system with outdated graphics.

It's overhyped junk plain and simple. No other way to put it. Just like Dark and Light -- eventually people will finally see what the game is and IS NOT.  And it's the IS NOT part that will make it fail.

It will launch "probably" and due to the hype maybe even get a decent amount of subscribers for the first month or two than it will slowly dwindle as people get bored with the outdated graphics , lack of content beyond a combat system (iam sure) , and just run off to play games like War and Lich King and who knows what else...

They could not even get a real video game publisher to take this on. They had to settle for a completely inexperienced DVD distributor who was looking to try and halt their losses from software piracy by expanding into online video games. Darkfall is nothing more than a "test the waters" for them.

You would think that if this game really was able to live up to its hype that real game publishers would of snapped it up instantly.

This is Darkfalls fate.. unfortunately.. It missed the boat by about 4 years.

Of course the fanboys won't ever accept this as a possible outcome because they're all still playing the "amazing" game in their heads like they've been doing for the past 7 years.

Reality will soon deliver the proverbial slap in the face and show it for what it truly is though.

Nothing ever plays like it sounds on paper. EVER.

 

I felt the need to respond to this because I think that perhaps the poster doesn't realize what it is that many people like about this game.  Our interest has nothing to do with the graphics (which, aside from some sloppy animations, aren't all that bad really).  Our interest has little to do with the combat system (though I imagine there are some FPS fans that are excited by the idea).  Our interest isn't necessairly based on the UO style skill advancement system (though I will say that UO is the only MMO I've ever come back to again and again, dated graphics and all).

The element that excites us the most about this game is the concept of player controlled content.  The idea that players will control the direction of the great empires of the world, build the great cities of the realm, and produce the great artifacts of legend known throughout the land, is a notion that excites many of us more than WoW's brilliant but linear story or AoC's beautiful graphics.

Give me a world where the evil emperor is actually a player and where his evil empire can actually be overthrown.  Give me a game that lets me band together with others to advance a story that isn't reset for the players that follow, but rather is added to by subsequent heroes and villans.

I've played the great names in MMOs; practically all of them actually...  Very few have captured my attention for long because in so many my actions are fruitless.  Here, at last, is a game in which my actions and decisions may alter the course of the world long after I've logged off.

Originally posted by cukimunga

Originally posted by imbant

Originally posted by cukimunga

 

But why play a game where you don't get gear thats not  cool or is rare?  Isn't that what MMORPG's are about, adventuring and getting cool loot? 

 

Oh

My

God

 

Please please please tell me this was sarcastic.  I have a feeling it wasnt and I now understand why some of these forum conversations are so tough to get decent discussion on.

 

No I wasn't sarcastic, what are MMORPG's about to you? My point of view is coming from a DnD player.  I like going out and finding rare items and getting the best gear I can get.  I like PvP as well but I don't like having the chance of losing stuff I worked hard to get.   Yes full loot is more realistic but you know this is a game and games are supposed to be fun and that dosen't sound like to much fun to me.  But if it sounds fun to you more power to ya.

I've played D&D for many, many years, and in that time I've not once played it for the loot or the levels.  In fact some of my favorite sessions cost my character every piece of gear he had and didn't earn me a single experience point.  For me the game has always been about the story, the characters, the exploration and discovery, and the chance to out-think my opponents.

I'll admit that Blizzard did a great job providing a world to explore and discover, and they had an interesting story, but eventually I saw it all and did it all.  All my questing changed nothing.  The lands I explored at level one hadn't changed at all in the months and months it took me to reach level 60. 

There was nothing new anywhere because nothing ever really progressed...  it just reset for the next hero, who then got to play through my story...  not that my story was anything more than a re-telling of the story of all who went before me.

Here now we see the brilliance of the Sandbox PvP game.  The players control the cities, they control the mines and the forges, they control the shops, they control the guards and the farmers, and they control the armies that wage war across the land.  The world is always in flux.  The city you visited a month ago isn't the same when you visit it tomorrow.  It may have grown, or it may have fallen.  It may be under siege or it may be amassing an army the likes of which the world has never seen.  Perhaps its leadership has changed, perhaps its laws...  Whatever the case, it, like everything else in the world, is different and ready to be explored again.

This is the beauty of DF's promise.  An ever changing world with an ever evolving story.  A world built, destroyed, and then rebuilt by those who play in it.

I think the feature that draws me to this game the most is that, from what I've read, the gameplay is focused less on level or equipment grinding and more on controling resources and territory.  This means that unlike in most previous MMO's, there's a chance that my actions could influence the story of the game for years to come.  I could, in theory, help to build a guild, a city, or an empire that other players will have to consider when making decisions about what they want to do.

I like the idea of having to consider what consequences my actions might have.  Will my skirmish set off a war between two powerful nations?  If I raise a powerful enough army, will it cause two warring nations to call a cease fire and ally together to defeat me?  If my bandit troop can disrupt the mining opperations of a powerful guild enough, will they loose a war that they might otherwise have won?  Can I convince a number of island city-states to join together into a lasting union?

In games like WoW, these types of things are faked in quests that everyone participates in.  The end result of the quest, regardless of success, is always that nothing in the game world really changes.  In an open PvP sandbox where resources can be taken and must be protected, there's no need to fake these sorts of stories.  They're a direct result of the PvP competition and thus the game world is constantly changing.

As to the question of what role items will play in the game, I can only assume that they will give players an edge in combat...  Of course there's going to be high level gear, but I imagine that even the dagger or sword you start the game with will do at least a point of damage per hit to your enemy even if he's wearing enchanted armor, and no matter how powerful your opponent's spells or weapons are, it should be possible for a first level character to jump back and dodge them, at least in theory.  There's no artificial mechanic that forces one player to win based on the amount of time spent grinding, but it always helps to do a bit more damage and take a few more hits.

Imagine the old saying "don't bring a knife to a gun fight".  Of course the person with the knife is at a huge disadvantage, but the knife can still kill, so the poor knife wielding noob still has a chance.

Who knows, maybe the guy with all the fancy gear got lucky and found the ultimate dead body, and he really can't hit a dodging character for crap...  For that fact, maybe the guy in noob gear just lost to a horde of dragons and is actually skilled enough to cut you apart even with the noob knife he's currently carrying.

As for how much it will "hurt" to loose your gear, I suppose that depends on what you're carrying.  If you're decked out with a bunch of enchanted gear made from mithril and dragon's blood, then I imagine it'll hurt a lot.  You'll have lost a lot of your edge in combat and you'll need to spend some serious coin or time to get that edge back.  Re-supplying with cheap, mundane gear, however, will still allow you to participate meaningfully in combat if you play carefully, skillfully, and smart.