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The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online turns 12
Most MMOs rolling into their 12th year (what few of them there are) live pretty quiet lives. Sure, there's the odd EverQuest expansion here and there, but for the most part the development has simmered down, the team trimmed to a handful of folks, and the best hope for the future is maintaining the status quo. Anarchy Online, however, is not angling to molder in some nursing home. As the 2001 sci-fi MMO turns 12 this month, it's looking back at a year full of exciting developments, scary moments, and hopeful visions. It might be the smallest arrow in Funcom's quiver right now, but I see it as a scrappy underdog that isn't willing to lie down and be ignored. So what happened this past year and what do Anarchy Online players have to look forward to? Glad you asked!
Anarchy Online moves forward with graphics overhaul and server migration
Executive Producer David Williams is completely pumped about the new graphics engine coming to to Anarchy Online, and in his most recent developer update, he gushes about it while explaining why it's not quite ready for prime time. There are a set of new pictures to help with the wait, however. One of the more interesting features of the new game engine is that it gives the developers the ability to both import old art assets and create brand-new ones for the game. "Since AO is huge, for most assets we don't have time to remake them," Williams explains. "The new player experience, for example, has all new assets. Most things won't." He also mentions that the team is finalizing some issues regarding the upcoming server merge and that this winter's holiday content will go live in the game next week. [Thanks to David for the tip!]
Anarchy Online's future is so bright, it's gotta wear shades
Game Director Fia "Lindelu" Tjernberg is absolutely pumped about Anarchy Online's future, and she's not shy about promoting it. In a massive March development update post, Tjernberg discusses many projects the team has in the works for the loyal citizens of Rubi-Ka. Probably the biggest change on the immediate horizon is a brand-new global market interface that will allow players to buy and sell goods to each other. The market will be accessed at special terminals in the main cities as well as portable terminals, and can trade across all dimensions. Free players can browse the market, but only subscribers can buy or sell in it. Work-in-progress screenshots of the market were also posted to the main site. She reports that while the team was happy to show off the upgraded graphics engine this past week, there's still a ways to go before it hits live. Other projects that occupy the devs' time are improving the new player experience, balancing professions, and a streamlined game launcher with a graphical character selection screen. [Thanks to David for the tip!]
Anarchy Online's Fia Tjernberg talks graphics engine update and the future of the game
Anarchy Online players have been anxiously awaiting the game's upcoming graphics engine upgrade for some time now, and new details are slowly but surely beginning to drip down the pipeline. The latest of these new bits of information is an interview with Game Director Fia Tjernberg that also includes a new preview video showing off "dynamic grass, shadow, water, and god-rays" in the new engine. The interview itself only touches very briefly on the subject of the new engine itself, however, and in fact focuses more on the history of Anarchy Online as well as the direction that the team plans to take the game in the future. Tjernberg reveals that the team is "working towards a massive overhaul of [the game's] systems mechanics and content interaction," as well as "releasing a new starting area – nay strike that – a completely new starting experience," which should give new players and veterans alike plenty to look forward to in the future. To check out the new graphics engine preview video, just skip on past the cut, then click over to MMORPG.com for the full interview.
