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Newest Darkfall dev blog shows off Unholy Wars' streamlined UI
In any game, a clunky, unintuitive UI can hamper players' ability to enjoy a game. But in a game like Darkfall where mere moments can be the difference between life and death, a bad interface can be a deal-breaker. In the latest dev blog, Coordinating Designer Tork Shaw explained some of the changes coming to Unholy Wars to give the game a fast-paced UI that won't impede combat. The video portion of the blog demonstrated some of the new features, including the new radial menu, which Shaw called "a whole new way to interact with the game." He said, "It allows for much more action-based combat, so players who are familiar with FPS games or action-combat games will be much more at home playing Darkfall." The new UI will allow also players to switch between the different roles, such as from warrior to caster, at will. The dev blog also offers more details on the feat system (which rewards players for acts of bravery, skill, exploration, or development) as well as the new personal and clan currencies. You can read more on these changes in the dev blog and preview the new UI in the video after the break. [Thanks to Bartillo for the tip!]
Darkfall posts a new preview of the Battle-Brand role
You should know your role in Darkfall Unholy Wars. After all, your role determines a lot of what you're capable of doing at any given time, so it's pretty important. The newest development blog on the game gives a preview of one of the updated re-release's new roles for the Warrior, the defensive school known as the Battle-Brand. This is not a role for going out and making people miserable; this is a role for ruining the days of those trying to make you miserable. The Battle-Brand's abilities include two self-buffs to reduce magical damage taken and reflect a portion of damage taken back to the source. It also features Foebringer, an AoE pull for all nearby enemies, and Bandage, a self-healing spell to keep the Warrior up longer. Last but not least is the ultimate ability, Stoic Defense, which makes the Warrior entirely immune to damage for a short time while consuming mana and stamina. Take a look at the role's abilities in action in a preview video just past the cut. [Thanks to bartillo for the tip!]
New Darkfall dev diary vid talks art direction, Unholy Wars changes
So Darkfall 1.0 has come and gone, as Aventurine has officially closed the servers in preparation for the Unholy Wars reboot. The firm has also released a five-minute dev diary video featuring creative lead Adam Oikonomopoulos, who talks at length about the game's art direction updates and AV's expanded creative vision. The video boasts a bunch of fly-through shots that show off Agon's new textures, higher polygon counts, and improved shaders, many of which are a marked improvement over the originals (that date back to the game's genesis in 2002 in some cases). Oikonomopoulos also mentions that Unholy Wars and the original Darkfall are set "several hundred years apart," which accounts for some of the changes in both the landscape and the game's architecture.
Darkfall Unholy Wars launch pushed back to December 12
Fans who were counting down the days until Darkfall's rebirth as Unholy Wars will have to wait longer than expected. Instead of launching November 20th as planned, the reboot will debut on December 12th. Aventurine producer Tasos Flambouras posted the announcement this morning, citing a combination of external factors, last minute issues, and final testing feedback for the decision. Although the launch date is delayed, the development schedule is not; players will lose access to Darkfall on November 15th when the game goes offline as originally planned. Apologizing to fans for the inconvenience of the postponement, Flambouras committed to using the extra three weeks to improve the release version.%Gallery-139865%
New Darkfall Unholy Wars video demonstrates gameplay in HD
With the launch of Darkfall's brand-spanking-new incarnation Unholy Wars right around the corner, Aventurine has released a short HD gameplay video to show off what players can expect in-game come November 20th. Starting with serene music and players slipping quietly through the water, the video breaks into a burst of battle scenes from various vantage points. Besides showing off a few melee, ranged, and magic combat arts, viewers are also treated to some beautiful environmental graphics. Take a look at it after the break.
Aventurine clarifies concerns about safe areas in Darkfall
If there's one thing that carries across every game in every genre, it's that players excel at abusing systems. With that knowledge in mind, it's only reasonable to expect that certain fans of Darkfall expressed concerns when they were told about the no-PvP "safe zones" that will be part of the game's large-scale revamp to Darkfall Unholy Wars. Aventurine has taken the time to address some of those concerns. It "will not be possible" for people to exploit the border of no-PvP zones by switching in and out of safety as they please, because of the timer that kicks in upon entering and exiting the PvP zone. That timer controls whether or not a player is protected: Players will remain unprotected for a short while upon entering no-PvP zones and will stay protected for a short while upon exiting them. This protection prevents damage both to and from other players. Players will not be able to stay in protected areas to farm materials and skip the excitement of looking over their shoulders for a foe every time they pause to harvest a resource node. Safe zones will have relatively common resource and "next to no rare resources." The rarity and value of resources will go up depending on how dangerous the locale is, so players will have plenty of incentive to move away from safe zones. Get the full word on safe zones and how they're totally not going to be even a bit exploitable at all on the official forums.
Darkfall: Unholy Wars turns its sight to the Deadeye
Still having a hard time trying to decide what you're going to roll when Darkfall: Unholy Wars releases next month? Well, here's another candidate for your approval: the Deadeye. The Deadeye is a sub-class in the Skirmisher role that focuses on ranged damage. A trusty bow is all the Deadeye needs to bring the pain to single and multiple targets. Some of the class' skills include an unstoppable arrow, a ranged debuff, a salvage of arrows, an exploding arrow, and a dead-on Trueshot attack. Check out the Deadeye in action after the break!
New video shows off the role system of Darkfall Unholy Wars
The large-scale revamp to Darkfall is on the horizon, but players looking forward to Darkfall Unholy Wars have gotten information in drips and drabs regarding how the game will play after the revamp. Luckily for those players, an official development blog has recently been posted detailing the new version's system of roles while showing off a bit of the gameplay in a new video. Every player will choose a role, and will then choose two schools from within that role: one as a primary and one as a secondary. Both schools have four abilities and an Ultimate ability, but the Ultimate is only available from the primary school. The secondary school abilities will also be a bit more restricted in their use. Want to see some of this in action? Then check out the video just past the cut, showing off some of the abilities of the Baresark school from the Warrior role. If you like hitting things with a large weapon, it's your sort of school. [Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]
The Daily Grind: Does your MMO need a reboot?
MMO reboots, revamps, and pseudo-sequels seem all the rage these days, from Global Agenda 2 to Darkfall: Unholy Wars to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Sometimes it makes sense to start over and take developed assets and lessons forward to a much improved version. Once in a while, the first launch of an MMO is so disastrous that only by hitting the reset button does the game have a chance for the future. But what about your favorite MMO? Is it in sore need for a massive overhaul or a big reboot? Did it fail to gain a significant audience the first time around? Does it need the push of additional development and media coverage to succeed in its second chance? If so, let us know what you'd recommend developers do if they rebooted your game. How could they feasibly make it much better and perhaps take a slightly different course than what exists today? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Aventurine on Darkfall's new UI, possible payment models, and more
So Darkfall: Unholy Wars is a few weeks away, and we've managed to corral Aventurine for a quick interview on the state of Agon. The development firm has been pretty tight-lipped about its fantasy sandbox reboot in recent months, but as the November 20th launch date draws nearer we're starting to see some new info. Join us after the cut as AV General Manager Tasos Flambouras talks about an updated GUI, possible microtransactions, and more.%Gallery-139865%
Aventurine confirms character wipes for Darkfall reboot
Aventurine has finally answered a couple of long-standing questions regarding its Darkfall: Unholy Wars reboot. First off, yes there will be a character wipe and no, you won't be seeing your original Darkfall avatars in the new game. "These are different games and the DFUW character system is incompatible with the old characters. These are two completely different worlds, there is a different skill acquisition system, different skills, different stats, all the way down to the story-line; everything makes them incompatible," explains producer Tasos Flambouras. Interestingly, he mentions that the old characters will be preserved in some fashion, possibly for "Darkfall-related side-projects we are considering." Finally, the Unholy Wars client will be free of charge to everyone who has ever purchased the original game. Read more at the official Darkfall blog.
New Darkfall Unholy Wars screenshots released
With the new incarnation of Darkfall -- dubbed Darkfall Unholy Wars -- launching November 20th, fans have been interested in seeing what changes the game has undergone. Unfortunately, as of yet no real in-game footage has been released. However, to give players a visual taste in stills, Aventurine has released five landscape screenshots of the world of Agon. Check out the new images in the gallery below. Players interested in returning to the game or checking it out for the first time can do so at a discounted sub fee during Darkfall's Ultimate Promotion. The promotion, which also includes increased drop rates and skill gains, ends when Unholy Wars launches.%Gallery-139865% [Aventurine press release]
Darkfall Unholy Wars 'in the final stretch for launch' [Updated]
OK, Darkfall fans. Aventurine has made it officially official. Darkfall 2.0, formerly known as Darkfall 2010, is now known as Darkfall Unholy Wars. It's basically a brand-new game born of the dev team's frustrations with trying to update the original title and realize the full scope of their vision for a PvP-centric fantasy MMO. "We're in the final stretch for launch right now," says AV's Tasos Flambouras. "We're testing the game internally and it's in a very playable state." AV has released a new video interview detailing the new title. The clip runs for approximately six minutes and shows off behind-the-scenes footage as well as a few talking head interview snippets. There's also a glimpse of the new game's GUI, the original version of which was a long-standing thorn in the side of Darkfall fans since the first game's 2009 release. See for yourself after the cut. [Update]: A new AV blog post confirms the Unholy Wars launch date as November 20th.
