Damn that looks good. Models look the same but textures, water, shadows and that sky! AO has always had the best sky of any game for it's genre. But damn, that just surpasses the already great sky lol. I cant WAIT to see the redone character models and particle fx :)

all i can say is, cerebrix is pleased.

I never understood why FC didnt make AO2

It would surely be much more succesful (and easier to make) than Conan

Woohoo - very nice. Great article - thanks MMORPG.com. AO being free to play -- uhm.. this is nice!

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Originally posted by Lobotomist
I never understood why FC didnt make AO2
It would surely be much more succesful (and easier to make) than Conan

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Hey great now everyone can do the same instanced generic missions and grind their way up to 220 with new graphics.

No player involvement in storyline no updated mission system but new graphics?

Go back and do some research on the early days of AO and you may find they had intended to have a "prison system" and player made missions and quests.

And here I thought they were only moving it to use DX9/hardware for performance reasons. I did *not* expect that.

Can't wait to see what the characters look/animate like in the new engine. Hopefully they get some kind of upgrade, too.

In any case... wow.. Looking very good.

wow, hopefully they can pull it of as I very well may go back to it if they do.

I for one loved AO. Right now I am in Tabula Rasa, and love it also. If they upgrade AO, I will be torn between the two. There is a lot of content in AO and a very good game. Glad it’s getting a face lift. I will take a look at it in the near future.

Look's amazing! thou I fear It may affect my gameplay now due to the fact I don't have the best computer.  Hopefully It wont affect me much, thou im sure the system requirement's will go up.

When ready and released, I for one will re-subscribe with a paid account.

Have always had a fondness for AO, but the software graphics engine just did not cut it for me.  To much lag.  I hate Stop 'n Go movement.

Looking forward to it.  Probably won't be my main MMORPG, but will be one I play a couple times a week.

Awesome! Glad to see AO getting a face lift. I always liked the game, but it's graphic were pretty ugly. Now if only we could convince the folks over at Turbine to give the same face lift to AC.

I played AO for 2 weeks during summer 2006, whilst on annual leave. That brief period was the most addictive MMORPG experience - up to and including EQ from April 2001 until I /quit in September 2002.

I stopped playing AO for a variety of reasons - mostly because I felt unsure for how much longer the product would be supported, I instinctively hated SL [Shadowlands], and some of the subsequent expansions didn't really pique my interest.

So why am I planning to return? I knew the history of AO - perhaps the worst launch in MMORPG history - as I remember EQ players leaving in droves to play AO, then scurrying back with horror stories about the state of the game, but I never actually played AO. Despite being a 1st generation MMORPG in terms of game engine, some of the game mechanics - character customization, class / skill hybrid system, OE [over-equipping], dynamic mission system - were 2nd generation, if not 3rd generation, given the lack of genuine innovation in (alleged) 2nd generation MMORPGs.

AO has a style all of its own and a strong sense of place, from the character models, items that one could equip that actually displayed on the character model, the vast variety of weapons, armour, modules, to the hauntingly beautiful music, and wonderful touches of humour and originality such as the cute lil' leets who insulted you, the dancing Atrox in a discoteque / club, and the astounding array of emotes - my favourite being the /dance emote when in one of the many clubs, with pulsating rhythmic music, and laser flashes and strobes.

So, why am I returning (and staying) once the graphics update goes live? Aside from the fact that no new releases on the horizon pique my interest (with the exception of 'Fallen Earth' - but whether the product is released in a playable state - all features implemented and working - and lives up to its billing is another matter ..), this quote from the AO New Engine Q&A is why I now have zero interest in the whole EQ 'Classic Server' (non-existent) debate:

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MMORPG.com:

With Age of Conan on the horizon and Secret World coming up behind it, is there a fear that AO will take a back seat at Funcom?

Craig Morrison:

Not at all, we have managed the teams separately for some time now so they don’t impact on each other in that way. Last year we moved AO to an entirely new server farm with modern servers and infrastructure that should allow us to continue development for years to come. We are firmly committed to continuing to support AO as long as the players are there and enjoying life on Rubi-Ka!

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Regards,
Riotgirl

Anarchy online is one of the greatest MMO's.
THis is I call good news.

Not really interested by AOC, but can't wait for AO "relooked"

This is great news indeed. I will definitely be checking out the new game engine.

Now if only Sony would do something similar with the original EverQuest.

Originally posted by starless Now if only Sony would do something similar with the original EverQuest.
How long ago did you check graphics in EQ?

Originally posted by mindw0rk

Originally posted by starless Now if only Sony would do something similar with the original EverQuest.
How long ago did you check graphics in EQ?

I'm sitting in the game about to raid right now actually.

Anarchy Online is a very addictive game if this graphic update utilizes my HD3870 (Will be in crossfire shortly) to its full potential I may be drawn back to the game.

Good old level 200+

I tried AO though the free trial.  It was a bit over my head at the time (I was also drunk, which probably didn't help matters), but I've been waiting for a time to jump back in.  Once this new engine goes through, I'll try it again.

MMO Devs: limited free accounts on your games is a GREAT way to bring up populations.

It's proof that sequels don't count in the MMO space. Well, at least not yet. :)

-- Brede

I would expect the new engine would affect all the spells casted ...weapon effects...etc etc...could be spectacular.

and yes....clothing needs to take advantage of the new capabilitys too

The content is there for this game.  This engine upgrade is brilliant.  This will make this game 5 game.  First Eve online and now AO.  Its the smart way to go with games and other older games should follow suit.

They're starting to make a great come back from the disasters they had for a long while.

They still need to bring the old storyline back and let players have an impact on the game world once more. There was nothing like the early days of AO when you could make a name for yourself and groups of players could feel like they were impacting the game.

Players do have some impact on the game still, mainly those in the roleplay community.  Examples would be the remake of Old Athens and re-arming of city guards with Alien weapons( both pushed for years by the roleplay Council of Truth).  Obviously, players cannot change the longer story arcs the Dev's have in place (If some NPC/legacy leader needs to be assassinated, it will happen because the Events staff decides to do it, not because some group of players decided that would be a good course of action).

One can expect the clothing and weapons' meshes and textures to be better looking under the new graphics engine, and the models to probably have better flesh tones, but their emotes and animations will undoubtedly be just as they are now - modifying that would be an even bigger chore than creating the new rendering engine.

all I can say is WoW.

Originally posted by xaldraxius

Awesome! Glad to see AO getting a face lift. I always liked the game, but it's graphic were pretty ugly. Now if only we could convince the folks over at Turbine to give the same face lift to AC.

But i'm with you, it would be nice if they could just redesign AC1 from the ground up.

Originally posted by Shoal

When ready and released, I for one will re-subscribe with a paid account.

Have always had a fondness for AO, but the software graphics engine just did not cut it for me.  To much lag.  I hate Stop 'n Go movement.

Looking forward to it.  Probably won't be my main MMORPG, but will be one I play a couple times a week.

same here. i will most likely resub myself if this turns out well.

The old engine had (and still has ) some strong points.  Good example is the Sky and weather system:

http://www.mmorpg.com/photo/a3908e9e-1afb-416f-9a05-6965056633ef

Not so much fancy rendering but good artwork

Originally posted by burmese

Players do have some impact on the game still, mainly those in the roleplay community.  Examples would be the remake of Old Athens and re-arming of city guards with Alien weapons( both pushed for years by the roleplay Council of Truth).  Obviously, players cannot change the longer story arcs the Dev's have in place (If some NPC/legacy leader needs to be assassinated, it will happen because the Events staff decides to do it, not because some group of players decided that would be a good course of action).

One can expect the clothing and weapons' meshes and textures to be better looking under the new graphics engine, and the models to probably have better flesh tones, but their emotes and animations will undoubtedly be just as they are now - modifying that would be an even bigger chore than creating the new rendering engine.

That is hardly impressive considering players were pushing for those things about 4 years ago when I left the game. 

In the beginning of AO every patch and sometimes inbetween patches players impacted the game all the time before Shadowlands. Assassinating the Clan leader, racing for the Tir moat, changing Omni politics. The game has shifted from a dynamic and player centered storyline to a static storyline where the players have no impact.

If AO wanted to bring me back they could change that because not enough other MMOs do it that way and it was part of the early success of the game when everything else was falling apart.

Maybe I'll try AO once this update is online :)

In the 3 and half years I have been playing AO,all I have seen happen is when a new patch comes out,within a few days,or sometimes even hours,another patch is brought out to fix the faults/problems/stuff-ups that the last patch put in to the game;unfortunately however,these probs have just been escalating and have caused the game to go on a constant downhill slide.SDure,you brought out Lost Eden,to which I subscribed to and have been led to believe that the funds generated from LE were put straight in to the development of Age of Conan,which I think SUX.The so-called new server did absolutely nothing to relieve the many faults that have been escalating over the years,so I am hoping,not holding my breath though,that the new???? engine will actually do something to improve the game quality,AND  while I am on this bitch session,your departments such as support,tech support   etc,NEVER respond to any emails that I send to request help or find out about something that has happened while I have been on-game;so why do you even have these places cause they are not worth a pinch of s--t in my opinion anyway.HOPEFULLY we can look forward to something rewarding when the new engine comes on board.

As some of the old links to the videos of the new AO graphics engine are no longer active, I've hunted down one that should be around for a while, and which also includes some static screen shots and alternate links to the videos:

http://www.athenpaladins.org/aonewengine/index.html

I was in AO around christmass after 1 year(?maybe?) and I was
woooot ..really nice and sharp textures..
They was (are) really cool, they must upgrade it..BUT

Why 90% ppl dont want get back or try the game (newcomers)? Because models. Yes Models are really bad.
Your character is your avatar. For most people its the most important thing in game. How he looks, How he walks..etc. And models of PC characters + models of guns are still old crap.

I Like they dont make just new engine (that will add some FPS because CPU<>GPU and some little shiny gfx, better shadows..etc) but they make new models. Remodeling at least some basic old most used armors + characters (especially Atrox) will be really cool.

AO is best by content, but graphic sux. I hope they will choose way like Eve Online choose.

btw link to videos - 2 qualities 20/40mb
ftp://ftp.funcom.com/media/ao/newEngine2008

I hate to say that but "the day the earth stood still" will be the very same day AO recieves the enchanced graphical engine.

R.I.P. ol'pal :(

I gave 3 and half years of my life to that game, so I'm very happy to se that its alive. I hope it will stay that way for many years to come.

If you never tried it, go right ahead. There's no experience like seeing an Atrox in underwear :)

Cheers,

V

Holy thread necro Batman!

Way to necro a 2 year old thread, lol.

That being said, it sad that this was two years ago and nothing more has come of it.

I like AO and if this were to ever happen I would probably go back.