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Amazing player-animated and -rendered WoW avatar
Mother of sweet things! I saw this on Reddit's /r/wow community a few days ago and realized that I'm kind of a slacker when it comes to my own forum signatures (which is apparently the whole purpose of the project). Thovald, the player responsible for the video, wrote that he did it in 3D Studio Max and didn't actually change the female troll model itself. The big difference is an increased polygon count for the robes and (I would assume) the graphics of the fire spell being cast. It reminded me more than a bit of the perennial favorite Blind, and it's all the more amazing that Thovald is apparently self-taught. We know that Blizzard is working on an update for character models, but it's pretty cool to see what players can do with them in the meantime. They might be old, but as Thovald noted, they're still a surprisingly expressive bunch.
Guild Wars 2 dev blog talks achievements, Thief tweaks
It's been a trying year for impatient Guild Wars 2 fans, but 2011 is closing on something of a high note due to recent beta rumblings as well as an increase in the ArenaNet information trickle. The latest blurb is a year-end development update courtesy of Eric Flannum and Jon Peters, and Flannum kicks things off with a fairly detailed look at the game's achievement system. As it turns out, GW2's achievements come in three flavors, and they comprise long-term goals, dailies, and monthly tasks that "encourage a variety of play and reward you with gold and experience." Peters details recent changes to Thief class gameplay, and he pays particular attention to the steal and backstab abilities. He also spends a bit of time talking about improvements to combat timing and animations. "Making these improvements has been really interesting and fun because it has shown us how our game can feel appropriately action-oriented without taking away the familiarity of the MMO genre," Peters explains.
Flameseeker Chronicles: The news doors haven't shut... yet
More news! More updates! Be still my heart! No, seriously. It does my fangirl heart such good to see all of these cool updates and details about Guild Wars 2 over the past few weeks. Between the animation updates, the skill updates, and the earnings call, there's plenty to discuss. I was so excited to see the updated cutscenes, although I couldn't stop giggling at the male character shifting from foot to foot -- I kept waiting for him to ask the Priestess of Dwayna where the bathroom was. That's not a reflection on ArenaNet's design team so much as a testament to my years as the mother of a boy. It's all about the bathroom humor around here. The new skill acquisition system was great in my book, and the news from the earnings call... well, why don't you follow along after the cut and we'll delve into all of that more deeply.
BioWare devs talk SWTOR combat animations, answer PvP questions
Grab yourself a tall glass of blue milk, Star Wars fans, as BioWare has released a lengthy new edition of its Studio Insider feature to carry you through your Friday afternoon. The update features principal lead animator Mark How talking about -- wait for it -- animation! To be more precise, How tells us all about The Old Republic's combat animation, and he even tosses in an interesting video clip that features different stages in the development of a Jedi force leap and a Republic trooper full auto firing animation. How also gets into the challenges inherent in melding the lightsaber battles from the Star Wars films with the design limitations of an MMORPG. "Players do not enjoy having character control taken away from them because of an action or animation," How explains. "It was particularly challenging to develop animations that allowed for visually appealing combat while still allowing the players complete control over their characters." How successful were BioWare designers in this regard? That remains to be seen, but you can get a feel for their approach by reading How's blog. Finally, this week's Community Q&A feature continues the combat focus, and lead PvP designer Gabe Amatangelo has the answers to a few burning questions from the TOR faithful.
Droid Bionic gets a silent walkthrough (video)
Sure, there's no sword-wielding lady in a leather blouse, but this silent hands-on walkthrough will no doubt prove exciting in its own right for anyone who has been aching to get their hands on the forthcoming Droid Bionic. It's four minutes and change of scrolling through the Verizon phone's fancy animations, with a speed test thrown in for good measure. Overall, there's nothing too earthshaking, but it's one of the most in-depth walkthroughs we've seen of the anticipated and long-delayed device in its current form, adding to that start up video we spotted the other day -- and unlike those Verizon ads, it actually has a phone in it.
"Fast patch" 4.1.0a patch notes
Just when you think you're used to the way things are going, Blizzard releases something new. Today's notes aren't a list of hotfixes; they're a "fast patch." This means when you log into World of Warcraft, you're going to have a mini-patch to download -- and it also means that some major issues are being addressed, including one that's been bugging raiders and anyone trying to use AoE spells since 4.1: The targeting reticule for AoE spells and abilities like Magmaw's chains should no longer disappear when players cast spells. Animations while mounted should work normally again. Say hello to your ponies, they're now moving correctly! Character legs should move properly when the character is moving. See the rest of the notes for 4.1.0a after the break.
Darkfall dev diary talks new UI, quest content, and more
Aventurine's Tasos Flambouras returns with another activity report on the Darkfall Epic Blog, and the focus is fairly broad. He touches on the dynamic quests and lore-driven events we mentioned last week, as well as upcoming world optimizations that include aggressive wildlife based on location and time of day, new monster families and epic mob encounters, and improvements to both player character models and monster animations. Those of you who haven't been able to get past Darkfall's unique user interface will also have reason to give the game a second look in the near future, as Flambouras states that Aventurine has decided on a new GUI framework and tools. "These should yield a vastly improved user interface. The next phase for the GUI is the architecture and adapting the current GUI functionality to the new framework," he says. Other notable items include the mention of a completely new environmental sound system as well as an in-game political map which will feature clan associations, vendor and bank locations, and various other resources. Check out all the details on the official Darkfall blog.
An animated video diary from the team behind Super Hero Squad Online
Animation is responsible for a lot in an MMO. A lot of the visual personality of the game is conveyed through animations, both the mechanically important ones for special abilities and the ubiquitous flavor emotes such as dancing. So Super Hero Squad Online has both an advantage and disadvantage for the development team -- they're working with characters who have a lot of established personality, but that means there's even more emphasis on getting everything just right. A new video development diary from the team shows off the process of bringing a character to life in the game, with Wolverine getting the starring role. The video moves step-by-step from the initial modeling and texturing process through the skeleton modeling and manipulation, while also showing off several of the animations that Wolverine will (presumably) be sporting in the final game. There's a great deal of attention to detail and the fine points of what makes each character tick, so if you're looking forward to Super Hero Squad Online, click on past the break to see how the team is putting a lot of expression into little movements.
Fallen Earth's newest patch addresses animations
One of the fan criticisms often leveled at Icarus Studios' post-apocalyptic sci-fi MMO Fallen Earth is the quality of some of the title's combat animations. With the launch of the game's newest update, Icarus has begun to address these concerns by polishing the animations for both dual-wielding and melee combat reactions. The 1.6.2 patch, which hits the live server today, also brings particle and sound synchronization on melee combat as well as user interface tweaks and a small bug fix pertaining to the respec system. Finally, in case the wastelands weren't gritty enough already, the Fallen Earth team has re-enabled blood spatters and sounds for normal, glancing, and critical hits with regard to melee combat. Check out the press release and the full patch notes for all the details.
Final Fantasy XIV unveils the next part in the Making of Eorzea
Any veteran player of Final Fantasy XI will be quick to talk about the marvelously detailed and realistic monsters found across the game. It's been clear from the start that Final Fantasy XIV will continue in the tradition, and the most recent video documentary released by Square-Enix demonstrates that in loving detail. Examining the production of the game's monsters in depth, the video is embedded after the cut and is a visual treat for almost any fan of the series. As the video explains, the process of creating a monster for the game starts with the team essentially sculpting a virtual model at a polygon count far too high for use in the game. That model is used as the basis for the detailed and intricate final models, several of which are allowed to strut their stuff in the video. From the giant sea serpent seen in the benchmark to old standbys like the malboro, it's clear how much work has gone into making each part of Final Fantasy XIV's wildlife seamless and believable. Take a look past the break for the video, and if your interest is piqued, you might wish to try and get into the beta.
Breakfast Topic: My paladin turned out to be a ninja
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. Back around the time faction changes came out, my old guild decided en masse to change over to the Horde. I logged on one morning after a week's vacation, saw nobody in the guild, and when I popped into Vent, I found out where everyone had gone. I transferred over my main, we wrecked ToC and then later ICC and For the Horde, and all was good. A few weeks ago, I realized I was bored and wanted to transfer over my level 80 draenei pally for another alt to play and to farm frost badges with. My choices were obviously limited to blood elf. I didn't particularly like either character model or their animations, and after 15 minutes of staring at the character recustomization screen, I flipped a coin and it came down to blood elf female. I absolutely hated it at first. The animations were silly looking, and she ran funny. I was broke after that, so I decided to grin and bear it. A few days passed, and I tanked my way from one end of the dungeon finder to the other. It was in a heroic Drak'tharon Keep, after I had pulled the entirety of the room before Trollgore and was facing down 13 or 14 Scourge trying desperately to kill my overgeared self, that I watched my paladin dodge, parry and block at a rapid pace. She wasn't just mitigating damage; it honestly looked like she was dancing. I was reminded of gun-fu scenes like from The Matrix where characters duck, dodge and dash their way around dangers. My paladin was a ninja. From then on, I loved my blood elf female pally and all her silly animations (except for the casting ones ... still not too keen on them). What similar situations have you been in, when something you thought would be awful turned out to be absolutely amazing? Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for articles via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours!
Adobe Captivate joins Mac family
Along with the release of the CS5 suite, Adobe is delivering a new product to the Mac platform; Captivate 5 is shipping next month, both in a standalone version and as the anchor of the new eLearning Suite 2 bundle alongside Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop Extended, Soundbooth and Acrobat. Captivate lets educators, trainers and documentation experts create tutorials and simulations that can be deployed to websites or learning management (LMS) infrastructure. Captivate has had a long run as a Windows app, so the interface was completely refreshed for the Mac release. New features in v5 include full roundtrip support with other components of the suite, so you can edit sound clips in Soundbooth or animations in Flash and return to where you left off in the Captivate project. The new version also allows for better video synchronization within a project. The PowerPoint plugin piece of the eLearning suite (Adobe Presenter) remains Win-only. You can learn more about Captivate via Adobe's prerecorded and upcoming live webcasts about the eLearning suite (Adobe account required). New licenses for the suite start at US$1799, with upgrades starting at $599. Captivate alone sells for $799 and can be upgraded starting at $299; cross-grades from the PC version to the Mac version should be allowed. Preorders are active now, and the suite is expected to ship in mid-June. Thanks Rich! [h/t The Mac Observer]
Craft of Gods continues refining their craft
Beware the old gods, travelers. While the ground you trod upon currently may well seem solid, danger lurks at every turn, waiting to turn you into deity-kibble! But if you love all things fantasy -- and love the idea of supporting indie studios -- then the upcoming MMO being developed by Cyberdemons and released by Kalicanthus Entertainment, Craft of Gods, may be something you want to look into. Currently in an open beta phase, Craft of Gods is based on Slavic history. Yes, indeed -- this means gods with enormous elemental smitey-hammers -- and the humans who dare to cross their paths. In short, the perfect types of stories for heroic tales told by firelight. In terms of recent updates to the game, players will notice that the UI has been revamped to make it more user-friendly, and a bunch of close-combat animations have been added in since we last touched on the game's development. If you're curious, be sure to check out the shiny new screenshots below, or pop over to their site to sign up for the beta. But you'd better get a move on if you're after beta love -- the game is set to launch on May 27th, with those who pre-order landing a wild-looking mount, a flame cloak, and an epic weapon. %Gallery-89418%
New Issue 17 details for City of Heroes
If you play City of Heroes, you're looking forward to the upcoming Issue 17. We've heard some of what can be expected from the big pre-expansion drop, but much of it was cloaked in vague terms -- improvements that didn't have any hard data attached to them, like the promise of new missions and UI revisions. But the official site has put up a page on the coming features for the update, and it helps clarify some things we didn't know about, as well as offering some excellent news besides. And it promises the end of Positron's dreaded unending task force! (It'll still be there, but it will be split into two parts and improved all around.)
Fallen Earth's State of the Game: Upcoming additions and more
When it comes to transparency regarding patches, Fallen Earth might have just won that category in spades. The latest State of the Game article on their site is more than just an overview of the direction they want to take the game in, it's a patch by patch listing of the features that the development team will be bringing to the table. Patch 1.3 will be expanding the game with the introduction of Kaibab Forest and Deadfall Point, as players will run a brand new plotline to push back the radiation zone and find more secrets hidden in the wasteland. The new areas come with a brand new level added to the cap, so all of that experience gained from the new area won't go to waste.
First Impressions: Alganon
Today's First Impressions could use a little bit of external reading before you go too deeply into it. So I'm going to start by linking an article that's nearly seven years old but still excellent -- Fantasy Heartbreakers. Now that you've all clicked "Back" in some confusion or just avoided the link in the first place, some explanation. The article is the origin of a term that pen-and-paper RPG fans have come to use to describe a certain type of game referenced in the article. It's referring to the countless game companies who thought they could make a game that was better at being Dungeons and Dragons than, well, Dungeons and Dragons. Many of the games in question weren't bad games -- sometimes even good ones -- but they were built on the fundamental premise that they would be "like D&D but with X." Some of you probably see where this is going, or got it as soon as you saw the term. Because we're all very aware of how predominant World of Warcraft has become in the MMO marketplace, to the point where it's the essential standard that other MMOs are judged against. Alganon, then, could be seen as our genre's first fantasy heartbreaker. Because it's genuinely tough not to play the game and see that there's some really good stuff in here.
New Perky Pug animations
MMO Champion has dug up a few more animations for the already popular Perky Pug pet, which you will be able to obtain in patch 3.3 by running pickup groups with random players (the current guess on the pet is running with 100 random players, but of course we won't know for sure until it appears on the live realms). The first few animations in this video just look like the Pug has been tweaked a bit (looks to me like that weird leg thing got fixed), but the last animation is definitely new. MMOC suggests you might not want the pet any more after you see it doing this, but I guess Blizzard wanted to go for realism. Personally, I'm still going for it. Dogs are dogs, and I'm going to be running with the new LFG system (actually, according to the last patch notes, it's called the "Dungeon Finder system" now) anyway, so I might as well go all out and get a vanity pet and the "Patient" title along with all of the other good stuff you usually get from running a ton of heroics. Perky Pug, here I come! Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Lord of the Rings Online to make drastic combat changes with Siege of Mirkwood
It's very rare that you hear about a game changing how combat works at a fundamental level, but that's exactly what Turbine is doing in Siege of Mirkwood. We hope you guys weren't in love with weapon speeds and slow animations, because those are two of the things that are getting major overhauls.In the latest developer diary, it's been revealed that weapon speeds will now be standardized by weapon level and type, making sure that all one-hand maces of the same level swing at the same speed. This is key, as previously players were taking slower weapons to maximize their damage, even if it wasn't appropriate for their class. (Turbine was looking at you, mace wielding burglars.) Weapons have also gotten increased speed but lowered damage to compensate for their fast swing rate.
Why You Should Be Playing Aion: Chain combat
"Why you should be playing ..." is a freeform column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we're playing them, so you can know what to play. I didn't give Aion the world's most glowing set of remarks last time I visited it, so I thought I should at least stop by and spend some time on a part of the game that I do actually like -- chain attacks. Chain attacks do many things to help Aion's combat move smoothly and efficiently. They clean up the UI, they offer flexible choices, they keep the combat looking fluid, and they're a lot of fun to pull off.
Improving the character selection screen
I really like this post over at Mend Pet -- after five years in a game's life, no part of the WoW interface should be remiss from getting the occasional update, and they mention possibly the only part of the game (even the login screen's been updated quite a few times) that's been the same since day one, the character selection screen. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with it, as you can choose your character and get into the game. But everything can be better, no?
