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Mortal Online upgrades its graphics engine
If you log into Mortal Online today, you'll be treated to a vastly upgraded game. The team switched the game's visuals to an updated Unreal graphics engine, including new lighting, better grass, Oculus Rift support, and "countless gameplay improvements." "Myrland has been remade, from the ground up, in a new modern terrain system," Star Vault wrote in a newsletter. "This means not only does the terrain look much better and less jagged, but also performs loads better." Today's changes mean that players should start seeing faster updates in the future. The patch notes for V1.80.00.03 are up for your perusal. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
World of Tanks to become better-looking than ever before in 2014
World of Tanks is poised to get a major graphics upgrade this year, and the devs want to show you a preview of the changes. Hopefully you're cool with that. Wargaming promises that the look of the game will become clearer, more realistic, and more detailed when the changes go into place. The team is utilizing advanced texture mapping and new material models to provide a higher level of visual fidelity than previously present. One of the big improvements is a giant leap in the polygon count for each tank, going from 8K-18K per vehicle currently to 50K-100K in the future. For more on this beautification process, check out the video after the jump!
The Repopulation gets a graphical upgrade
The Repopulation is getting a graphics makeover according to the latest developer update. Above & Beyond Technologies has updated its website with a look at what happened during the month of November, and at the top of the list is a "major revamp to the character models" as well as new building and environment models. Other milestones include the implementation of the game's weather system (including rain, snow, dust storms, sand storms, and meteor showers) and various combat and crafting abilities. Work also continues on the game's "awakening" sequence and starter/tutorial areas, with the goal being a more polished newbie experience than that of your typical non-linear title. The Repopulation is a three-faction sci-fi sandbox with toggle-enabled action combat and a substantial crafting system. The game is scheduled to begin beta testing in 2012.
Perpetuum upgrading to shader 3.0
Avatar Creations has posted a new Perpetuum dev blog that heralds the coming of shader 3.0. This is either great news or irritating news depending on what kind of gaming rig you run, but either way, change is coming. The sci-fi sandbox game launched with model 2.0 shaders because Avatar wanted to make it as accessible as possible for as many people as possible, and because the team initially lacked DirectX experience. Now, though, Avatar has "reached the limits of shader model 2.0," and needs to upgrade the game in a visual sense without "going through significant hacks that reduce client performance and mess up the codebase." Shader 3.0 is the answer, and the dev blog serves as a warning that the game's minimum hardware requirements will be changing. "As the vast majority of you have hardware that supports SM3, the change will only affect a handful of players," Avatar states.
Aion patch 2.5 goes live, free trial program introduced
It's time to spread your wings and take to the skies once again as Aion's patch 2.5 (which we were fortunate enough to personally explore not long ago) goes live today. The new update from NCsoft introduces two new areas of content: the new Esoterrace instance and the Empyrean Crucible. Players will be conquering both of these new areas in style with the addition of stunning graphical updates and new character customization options. New skills and PvP gear will help players to triumph over their enemies with finesse, while the new mentor system allows low-level players to get a helping hand from their elders. If you're not a current Aion player but you're still dying to take these new features for a spin, then you're in luck -- NCsoft is celebrating the new update by introducing a free trial program. Players in the program will be able to jump into the world of Atreia for 10 days and experience 20 levels' worth of content, all for free. You can choose your side and join the battle at the Aion official site.
Asheron's Call teases May event
While Asheron's Call players have a while yet to wait to get their hands on new playable races, Turbine has a bright shiny ray of good news to share: The May event is tentatively set to hit the servers on May 17th. According to the site, this event includes a new hunting area, a pair of additional dungeons, more quests, and "a couple of surprises." The Asheron's Call team boldly states that this will be "one of the most exciting updates" that players will see this year. The May event announcement ends with a sneak preview of sorts: two pictures showing off new sand textures surrounding a desert town. We've known for a while now that Turbine's been working on updating the game's graphics, so this is a welcome sight indeed. You can read the full article over at Asheron's Call.
Aion reveals a new trailer for Empyrean Calling
Aion fans, mark your calendar for May 25th. The long-awaited update, Aion 2.5: Empyrean Calling, soars to your computer in less than three weeks. NCsoft proclaims it is breathing new life into Atreia. Those who have seen the the new features, including visual updates, a mentor system, and the multi-staged instance crucible, agree that these are much needed improvements to the angelic MMO. To help celebrate and prepare you for the launch of the new Aion, NCsoft will host several major events prior to and after the launch of the patch. Today, the company officially launches a new trailer for the patch showing off the new features; from May 11th through June 10th, Aion will grant players increased XP; from May 18th to the 25th, drop rates will increase; May 18th through June 1st will host the PvP AP event; 2.5 goes live on the 25th; and finally, May 25th to June 10th will see a reduction in instance cooldowns. Catch all the latest information from Aion's official website and glimpse at what is in store for you in 2.5 in the trailer after the break. Pay close attention -- there is a tease of 3.0 at the end!
Wings Over Atreia: Anticipaaaaaaaaaaaation
You know the feeling -- you learn about some upcoming goodness and you want it. Or do you crave it? You can fall anywhere along the spectrum of anticipation, provoked by things you just look forward to all the way to things that make you squeal in schoolgirl giddiness at the mere thought! It's a game in and of itself. Such is the way of Aion updates, which tantalize and tease players for quite some time before going live (and even longer if you can translate the original Korean patch notes yourself!). Not yet having a release date for updates is not dampening the anticipation of many Daevas but rather is fueling it instead. So what brought about my musings on this topic? I squealed! More specifically, an announcement this week that put me right into the giddy mode: Winter is coming! George R.R. Martin's fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series will release in July. Now, while my fangirliness in its supreme is reserved for this outstanding literature, I also have things that I am looking forward to in game. However, there are those who have a virtual heart attack when new goodies for Aion are announced; I have one legionmate who will only re-sub when update 2.5 rolls around and brings with it all the little bells and whistles he is pining for. It is quite interesting to listen as he randomly pops into Ventrilo to trumpet the greatness of this upcoming gaming salvation, then disappears again into the night. So what about 2.5 has my legionmate so excitable... and excited? Skip-to-my-lou past the cut to take a look at some of the upcoming features.
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.
