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Firefall video blog says farewell to levels, hello to skill
The team at Red 5 Studios has been working hard on making Firefall the best game it can be, and as it turns out, that happens to be a game without traditional levels. A new video blog featuring lead designer Scott Youngblood and development VP James Macauley drops the news that the level system is being discarded and replaced with a much more organic system for player growth. Under the new system, players still earn EXP. That EXP will be spent on specific upgrades at a player's discretion rather than marking off specific levels, allowing you to unlock the upgrades that feel relevant in the order you want them. It also places less emphasis on levels in head-to-head matchups, something Macauley stresses is important to the team. There's more than just the removal of levels at work, however; the development team is also overhauling crafting to be more complex and rewarding as well as developing a new system of equipment tiers to keep players advancing. The full diary just past the break only gives brief glimpses of several new systems, but Firefall fans should be quite happy with what's over the horizon.
Darkfall teases character model upgrades and more
The devs at Aventurine apparently never sleep, as releasing a major expansion and graphics revamp was the tip of the iceberg as far as what's happening on Darkfall's horizon. The team has generated three separate news items in the last week, all of them pointing towards exciting things in store for the world of Agon. First up is a design blog posted on the official website. In it, community manager Laenih gives us an inside look at the process of converting a quick design sketch into a finished in-game model. Due to the small size of Aventurine's development team, this process often means that quest designers take up paper and pencil (or the digital equivalent) in order to present modelers with a clear idea of their vision. Next up are some screenshots previewing Darkfall's new character models. While the world of Agon is often praised for its size, detail, and beauty, the game's character models have thus far lagged a bit behind the current MMORPG visual standard. Not to worry though, as an upgrade is in the works, and you can view photos of some of the new models on Darkfall's Facebook page. Last but not least are the patch notes from this past week, which address a few niggling issues related to the Hellfreeze expansion. Read all about it on the official boards.
