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Darkfall News - Interview with Tasos Flambouras
Posted by Dana Massey on Nov 30, 2006 | 56 comments in our forums
Associate Producer Tasos Flambouras answers our questions in this new Q&A about his hardcore PvP MMORPG.
;) MMORPG.com: Give us a look at the tactics players can use in PvP or in PvE. It is said that the game is more influenced by the player behind the keyboard than the character you have. Is this true?
Tasos Flambouras: Darkfall combat is through aimed attacks. The players control their character's movement like they do in most FPS games. So in Darkfall you have the type of control you have in a shooter, but you also have character skills, spells, a backpack full of equipment, mounts, ships, siege weapons and all these come into play when the character is in combat. It's not easy to say that player skill is more important than character development. The player behind the keyboard certainly is very important; a lot more than in other MMOs, but what's more important is a good balance between good character development, knowledge of the game and your character, equipment, teamwork, and individual skill. One of Darkfall's more impressive gameplay features allows players to use group tactics because of collision detection allowing formations, friendly fire making them necessary, and area of effect spells which truly affect the area and not just some characters within it. Force concentration makes good teamwork important. Most real-world medieval combat tactics could probably be adapted for use within Darkfall and we expect to see unique group tactics emerge. |
The full interview is here.
only thing that was good: you can change beard, hairstile, piercings during gameplay-good its about time to put that in a game!
I mean come on, they have been Preparing for beta since 02.
Theres a bunch of RABID fans who would have liked to see you try and nail them down, including myself!
Other then that, good interview.
"We'd like the players to know that most of the skills are currently in the game and working. What's left is balancing based on testing."
Yeah, they just need another 4 years to finish lol
edit -- Actually, while the questions were somewhat generic, the answers were good. Some new info here.
next time ask them if this game is going to be ready before "holodeck" like technology will be developed.
or ask them since they can't seem to get a game going in nearly 6 years ... can they sell this game (since i love the concept of it) to a company with a better track record.
Vaporfall
For all the people who don't like the interview, you assume too much.
Maybe they submitted a whole slew of questions and these are the questions they chose to ask. Maybe before the interview they asked to steer around certain questions.
If they don't want to answer a question they aren't going to answer it. In which case, what are the interviewers of this site going to do? Post a lackluster answer? Post a "no comment".
This is not to say that you "might" be right and that the interviewer didn't hit them with any hard hitting questions.
However, recently in Lineage 2, the playerbase got TWO chances to ask questions of the developers. You know what?
All the answers were a bit on the generic side.
If they don't want to give the info up they won't.
good interview for newbs like myself that had no idea what darkfall. Looks really good. I do wish someone would try to veer away from medieval setting cause there's gonna be a ton of medieval stuff coming out. still, looks very good will look into this title.
I wish something next gen would release tho
^ that's incorrect
there are alot of older screenshots with the UI on
the beta well-were hanging on that one
So yeah, as far as the canned interview goes...fans don't care about what the game has to offer for amazing features anymore. If they cared about their fans, perhaps at year 5 it was time to start being honest. This is smelling more and more lik DnL every day. "We have a huge world..." (too bad it is boring and doesn't work!)
I could have so much more hype about this game if, after 6 years, they were looking like they are close to release. Saying: "all the skills are in game" but not even being ready for closed beta is pretty shady. "Our game is complete but we are testing it to do 'balancing' to it...yes, that's it...balancing!"
Darkfall has two major things to overcome: 1) It's vapor status. 2) The amazing feat of making their combat system work. I think Epic Games could pull it off, I think Blizzard could pull it off...can a rinky-dink company that is 6 years into development pull off the polish that would be needed to make this beast not clunky? Unlikely.
but really, this game has everything that I hated about other mmo's. They just need to get to some more beta testing in. Also, they said they had everything that was said in the interview in the game, and that they only need more textures and balancing. Hopefully that's right and they can release next year.
df ftw.
All I see is bitching and moaning over a game because the fans aren't getting what they want when they want. It's like listening to a bunch of children and it gets annoying. They haven't sold us anything, so we aren't customers yet. We do not have any right or any leg to stand on to demand information from them. It sounds very bratty to hear people act like they do.
I am well aware of how long DF has been in development and everything else that is surrounding it. Regardless of how long it is taking them to finish the game, it is "their" game and they are the only ones offering a game that is different than the rest. Lets try not to shit on the devs for holding back information that we are not entitled to yet.
Also keep in mind that these people are really smart to be able to do something like this, so don't insult their intelligence by carrying a tone in your posts that suggest that you've given up on them and won't play their game because they won't tell you when the release date it yet. Because we all know that when DF hits the shelves that all of us that were once interested in this game will be there at release to start the game. Developers know this and aren't going to be bothered into sharing info that they don't want to share, just because you are getting ancy and might not play it or might spread rumors that it is vaporware.
So everybody take a chill pill, log back on your existing game, or find something else constructive to do with your time. Or you can just waste your breath, make an ass of yourself, and develop a reputation on this site for being a whiner.
No, its not about being ancy. The game has been in supposive development for close to 6 years, when its been in devlopment this long and we're unsure of what stage there even actually in, it just proves to show the dedication they have for the game. Even if the game was released I would be worried on how long it would take them to patch and update. Sure they might be a smaller company but if there really thinking about making it in this industry and finishing the game they might want to rethink what there actually trying to accomplish and at least become more involved.
Ive been waiting for Darkfall for 5 years. Its been "soon" that long, 5 years... How long have you waited for Darkfall? Its not really a problem in my opinion. Its a problem if you make it your problem. I dont have a problem with waiting. I am playing other games until I get into beta. Woopie-doo. I suggest you impatient people chill the hell out.
Spore.
Darkfall.
Fable II.
Eve-Online to actually do something with avatars, preferably on planets (at which point I will begin to play that game).
Patience is something I'm going to have to get used to I guess.
Either way, doesn't cost anything to wait and see.
I'm looking forward to seeing this game deliver.
as far as release goes... Who cares as long as it's good, aren't you guys tired as hell by now of playing half finished games... the state at which they release these mmo's these days is fraudulant. Take a look at that steaming pile of shit archlord.. the effing ARCHLORD system isn't even in place yet and the korean version has been out a year... they blantantly lie on the boxes these days and get away with this crap... let em take thier time if it means the game will actually have the content it's supposed to in it.
Im very plaesed they dont rush they crafted this game very carefully this will be a JEWEL among all mmo,s when released, they realy knowing what there doing:)
Darkfall will be mmo all true pvp players wanne play:)
looking at the screens tho you can already tell it's dated, I'm downlaoding a vid now but I can just tell by the way some of the characters stand it's going to have some bad animation. Which is one big flaw for taking so long in development.
However hopefully the rest of the content is actually implemented and will make up for it's rather dated engine. Gameplay always wins over flash. Animation however is pretty key in my book for how I ike combat, I don't care if the textures are so so or the models a little clunky but if my guy swings his sword like someone who's never held a weapon before I won't be happy.
DF isnt about graphics...its about gameplay. Look their target audience. Its UO/Shadowbane/AC vets. These peeps are going to care less about all the graphics and animations if the game is stable, somewhat bug free and offers 1/2 of what they are promising.
I have been waiting for 4 years for this game. And i dont want them to rush it to beta. That is what the big boys do. They rush out half finished products to placate the masses of fools with no patience.
Take your time devs, the players will be here if you deliver even a fraction of what is promised...provided full loot, full pvp is in.
I've followed Darkfall on and off for years now, and every time they make an announcement with some itty-bitty tidbit of 'new' information I always seem to think, "Shadowbane did that already." or "Sounds like SB with a decent graphics engine."
Any bets on if DF will actually have in-game footage before the guys at Stray Bullet finish Shadowbane II?
Problem is the initial release of Shadowbane was so poorly done that, sure, they 'did it already', but the implimentation sucked.
If/When Shadowbane II comes around, they had better have the flaws out of it before release because people are most likely to be a lot more critical of them and the next game. Major issues that occured at the release of the first Shadowbane I believe are mostly gone, but those weren't the things that kept me from playing. Level based systems don't work well for PvP in my opinion. It only creates the huge gap of power difference that more powerful people exploit over and over again. And while that can be fun, it does get old after a while. It will be interesting to see what is different in SB2 for certain tho.
I also agree with Heptah's comment on stability. The game has to be stable for me to play it, otherwise pvp becomes very very very screwed up. Leveling becomes a real chore, etc.
Fact is, I will not play a game unless I hear a majority of the players/critics find it to be stable. I'm not talking the half-day maintenance companies seem to need these days to ensure everything works ok. I can live with that. I'm talking the nightmare that Shadowbane was, that AC2 was years after release (tho it was relatively stable for a while there were weeks in a row where it wasn't and the devs didn't know what they needed to do to fix it).
Here's hoping that Darkfall reaches that point of improbability of being stable, relatively complete, and everything that I expect it to be BEFORE release. Heh. Fat chance *cries*.
But oh well. Patience.
Balancing is essential, not just some word the devs threw out there to keep the fans happy. Think about how awful the balancing was in WoW when it came out...you think blizzard could pull this off? They don't have the balls to pull it off. It takes a new company to do something like this. I have been plahing MMOs a long time. I remember when Mythic was a small company, I remember when Funcom was a small company. I remember when Verant was a small company. Blizzard never attempted to make an MMO as a small company. They took the innovations of small companies, recycled them, added some fluff, and made millions of dollars. Microsoft does the same thing all the time, that is business. I'm not complaining.
However, to do something like this...new, innovative, different...it takes a small company with new ideas. Yeah they have been in development a long time. But first consider the size of the endeavor. Would you want this small dev team to push their game out the door like DnL or Roma Victor? No thanks...take your time, get it right, release the game of my dreams.
Also consider what they have done in that 6 years. First they made a game, not sure if you saw their original screenshots but it looked like EQ. The difference between what they got now and what they had then is comparable to the difference between EQ and EQII...not saying their gfx will be as good as EQII, but it is like they started working on the sequel before the original was done cuz they weren't happy with it. Good decision I think, if they released a crap game to begin with, no one would play the sequel. They also moved to a new country, reformed into Aventurine, and brought on some new devs...a move and a restructure like that I would imagine takes a lot of time and resources and is almost like starting over.
Look, we all know DF isn't vaporware and will be released. They have invested too much to not put out anything. Whether it will be any good or not is yet to be seen. I think 2007 is the year they must release something without having to go back the drawing board again when the next-gen game raise the bar even higher.
This is doomed amateur rubbish. The red flags have long waved for this one just like many others. Sorry
Here we are some 7 odd years later when this game was first conceived and all they have to show for it are some screenshots , alpha videos and not much else. And judging by those screenshots and videos it appears they are about 10% done with the project. I won't even get into the circa 2000 graphics.
The game may have succeeded if it was launched in 2003 but it isn;t going to happen for this anymore. Not in this upcoming 2007 market with games like Warhammer and AoC.
Why did you leave your lovechild Thrones of Chaos out of that "2007 games"? Oh I know, because no one would take you seriously if you mention that waste of 0's and 1's
I cannot say that ive been following this game nearly as long as some of you but i can say this, i have alot of experience with product managment and deadlines and its not somthing that a "great game" would fall into. Deadlines and half hearted jobs are for the big corperations who want your money and nothing more.
I think the devs of this project know what there about from the sounds of it, they wont give you a date because if they do and they cant live up to it, the fans will go up in flames. If i was creating a world trying to go to a side of MMO's that has either a) never been done, or b) failed misserably and ruined the name of pvp, i think i would want my product 100% not 90%. See noone has invested anything more then interest in this game and the devs know it, you can get ancy, mad, flame at them, and whatever else throw a temper tantrum but guess what they know what will happen upon release.
They release a great game, but there fan fare is mad at them..............yet every person who ever had an interest finds themselves at the store buying this game because we are gamers and we "have to know". If they produce what there promising it wont matter how mad you are now because every single one of us will be praising them when that time comes.
Balancing is essential, not just some word the devs threw out there to keep the fans happy. Think about how awful the balancing was in WoW when it came out...you think blizzard could pull this off? They don't have the balls to pull it off. It takes a new company to do something like this. I have been plahing MMOs a long time. I remember when Mythic was a small company, I remember when Funcom was a small company. I remember when Verant was a small company. Blizzard never attempted to make an MMO as a small company. They took the innovations of small companies, recycled them, added some fluff, and made millions of dollars. Microsoft does the same thing all the time, that is business. I'm not complaining.
However, to do something like this...new, innovative, different...it takes a small company with new ideas. Yeah they have been in development a long time. But first consider the size of the endeavor. Would you want this small dev team to push their game out the door like DnL or Roma Victor? No thanks...take your time, get it right, release the game of my dreams.
Also consider what they have done in that 6 years. First they made a game, not sure if you saw their original screenshots but it looked like EQ. The difference between what they got now and what they had then is comparable to the difference between EQ and EQII...not saying their gfx will be as good as EQII, but it is like they started working on the sequel before the original was done cuz they weren't happy with it. Good decision I think, if they released a crap game to begin with, no one would play the sequel. They also moved to a new country, reformed into Aventurine, and brought on some new devs...a move and a restructure like that I would imagine takes a lot of time and resources and is almost like starting over.
Look, we all know DF isn't vaporware and will be released. They have invested too much to not put out anything. Whether it will be any good or not is yet to be seen. I think 2007 is the year they must release something without having to go back the drawing board again when the next-gen game raise the bar even higher.
I respect that they are trying to balance the game and I expect it will be really hard to do. I know they are developing DF, so I guess the vaporware label doesn't work...but many companies run out of money short of the goal. I'm a developer, I don't develop games...so I can only imagine the pain. But I always want to wait longer to release and and some point you just have to do it.
I also have trouble with companies who say they are porting to a new engine and expect it to be finished in Feb. but then aren't heard from for 9 months. If things go worse, tell your potential customers so you don't lose them.
At this point I really think that balancing as developers is of limited value. People will learn how to exploit strengths and create imbalance. That's a big part of what a beta should be for. Will it be harder to balance than WoW? I expect it would be 10X harder, so I would expect a beta to be quiet long.
WoW is a silly shallow game, but the PvP was the most balanced of any MMORPG I've ever played. People with yell at me for saying it, but I stand by that statement. The worst I remember is Lineage 2 where buffed archers run around 2 shotting everything. In WoW I can play any class and have a fighting chance vs. any other class. The biggest Rock vs. Scissors I can think of is Warrior vs. Rogue. Did I avoid warriors on my rogue? You bet! lol But I still killed many via stunlocking and playing my class to the fullest. On my warrior, in general, I shread rogues...but the odd one still gets me.
I still have high hopes for DF because good ideas do that to me. I'm not really waiting for DF though, other companies who are able to follow development cycles (due to more money or whatever) will have games out for me to play in the New Year. Will they be as good as DF could be? Probably not, but it's something new(ish).
I was perma-red on a white server, and I'm still looking forward to Darkfall more than any other MMO on the horizon. It's not just DTers, but anyone who enjoyed -red- PKing in AC. (not the PKL garbage)
But if you ask me if i am sure that it will be released i must answer i don't.
Maybe it's time to release some piece of it for testing like they promise with the clan beta.
If it ever gets released and conforms to thier vision then it will be a good game regardless of how out of date the graphics are.
That said it just feels to be taking to long. I felt this same way about D&L and look what a farce that turnd out to be
time to chime in on this title again...
Always an interview, always the same question, always the same answers. Do us a favor devs of this game, don't say or do anything till you have something to release. Your doing yourselves more harm then good at this point. To many titles out there with actual information and monthly release of information to take any word you spill out of your mouths. Save you time, rename this game under a new name and release it fresh when you are 5 months from going live. At this point , I don't know a clan (encluding my large one) that did sign up for your beta a year ago that has any faith in this title. Warhammer is the future of rvr and we see montly information from that game.
This title is dead.
Warhammer Online, for 6.
Eve Online for almost 10.
Blizzard, Mythic, CCP. It is obvious that the smallest companies take the longest time to develop a game, but it is the small companies make the most original and interesting games. Corporations have to answer to the board, individuals need to answer to the heart of the gaming community. Darkfall may not be perfect, it may be buggy, and it may not have the best graphics, but I'll bet it will be the funnest game I have played in decades.
It'll be ready when it's ready. You will buy it. Everyone will be happy.
The last two delays have been frustrating but I see they added 2 major features during these times. Manual blocking and racial mounts. Most other games offer that kind of thing with expansions or huge patches that cause all kinds of bugs with a game after gold and never ending rebalancing issues. Instead Aventurine chose to take it on the chin and do these things before publicly testing the game so they will be in and complete for the gold. That is a BIG deal that people are not giving them credit for
Voyage Century will begin its Alpha Testing on Dec.8th. I have some testing account.If you want to enjoy the game with me, please send E-Mail to me to ask for accounts.
E-mail:zhaojian4375@sina.com
RYAN~
And How long has Warhammer been in Development?
Darkfall is a wait and see. They may or may not pull it off. But I am not going to bash people for giving it a try.
It seems tons of people want their games and want them now. I have seen too many games launched long before they were ready, it is actually kinda refreshing to see devs taking their time to try to do it right.
And like I said earlier...the PvP guilds will be there if it doesnt suck and is stable.
I truly hope that Warhammer isnt that end all be all for PvP in MMORPG for the future because it isnt anything new or even the best of the old.
How about asking if they are aware of abuse that comes with full PVP systems and how they plan on handling it?
How about asking if they are aware of other games being hyped while developed, promising a lot and failing to deliver like the last few games to be released and how they can assure players that will not happen with their game?
How would they handle griefing (you know people camping outside of cities no matter what is negatively done to their characters) or if they will allow it and turn a blind eye to it?
How about asking what the system specs for the game will be like with actual targeting being apart of their real time combat? How this real time, twitch based combat, actually work and provide fair combat between players?
Things that actually deal with the game in relation to what real players will experience when looking to try it to determine if it's for them or not. I suggest these questions cause a LOT of people aren't against PvP but want accountability and for it to have purpose. They say it will but not how in terms of everyday play is what I'm seeing. There are TONS of problems with full open pvp and full looting. One only needs to look at past pvp games to just get a glimpse at what they are and how those problems can be expanded. How they plan to address these things is key I think for this game to live. If not then it will end up like Shadowbane where a large part I believe for the reason why that game failed was the community itself and those tha abused the open pvp aspect as it drove people that were honestly interesed in the game and it's pvp away.
First nobody force you to follow this game so beat it:P
Secondly becouse of your reply like all those dumb negative morons like yourself you only come here becouse your prolly some fanboi of other game and try discourage peeps to believe this game will be released and gonne play it .
This game has no competion at all its a CLASS of its own all hardcore pvp WILL PLAY THIS GAME.
So you sir are some dumb carebear who just trolling this topic and make ass of yourself silly kid:P
DARKFALL FOREVER!
it isnt that the inverview was bad, its just that the fact is... we cant know if this game is a stinker until someone gets in beta and then illegally leaks whether its a good one or not. LOL.
I mean, we all know that the PR guy isn't going to do anything other than hype his product.
I admit though, their vision for a game; skill based not level, crafted items not looted, penalties for bad actions not just dissallowing all things... these are back to the core of what made origional UO so good.
But, as we all gamers know, theres a million things that they dont tell us about a game, and its impossible to know whether you are dealing with a worthy experience, until someone gets in.
Don't get to hyped...
I've been hyped about this game on & off for about 4? years or so. I still remember the first screenshots. But, after all these years, the game starts to look indeed more like vaporware. And trust me, it pains my heart. I've been looking for a replacement for 'old school' UO a long time.
What bothers me the most is the fact that so little REAL information is out. Don't bother going to the forum's because its the typical overhyping going on there, and before you know it, you will think that most of that stuff is ingame, when in reality, its stuff made up by the people there.
The real information about the game is scares. So is any information about how the game really plays. I still remember a movie clip from DF from a while ago ( 6 months or so? ), and the game looked a early stage development.
And to be honest, its starting to piss me off. Every few months or so, i run into DF again, while checking up for any new MMORPG's that are 'old school' UO. And the tidbits of information that get released are ... painful. I'm always left with the though: "ffs, is this still not in beta testing". To me, it looks more like Duke Nukem Forever then anything else :( At times i wonder, if this ever gets released, if i'm ready to retire by that age ...
I for one, don't like this. Every few months they are hyping the game again with a few obscure interviews, maybe some new screenshots with over Bloom. But when you look at the few movies available, it looks like a 2000 game. Where is the polycount? Look at the guns of the coastal defense. It looks like a 8 sided piece. The buildings ... the same. And then the game still gets no beta stage. I don't know. I can't help shake the feeling, that its going to turn out into another flop. I really hope it will not, but after 4 years, that feeling just keeps growing more & more.
Do you? Try checking your own posting and grammar before trying to make fun out of others' so you don't make yourself look like an idiot, that's what the edit button is for.
I have to agree we do need more information on dates and development, I can understand all the hush hush since this is clearly a game that is on a massive scale and has had a lot of time taken on but even games like this have to keep reporting in to websites so that people know the game still actually exists and not just vaporware as so many people here seem to be claiming even though they don't really bring up any proof to back it up.