General Discussion

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.

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Originally posted by dippitydodah

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.

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then darkfall is not for you

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Originally posted by dippitydodah

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.

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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?

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Originally posted by Rihahn

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?

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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. 

The Glorious Future of Online Gaming... I CANT WAIT =)

Absolutely agree with Heptah. 'cept it's AC - Darktide vets heh. But anyways.

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.

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Originally posted by KillerJimmy

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.

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Would you rather them not balance skills?  I don't really get what your saying.  What the dev is saying just about all the skills are in the game.  I am pretty sure that is the first time that has been said.  Before it was some or most or quite a few. 

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.