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Vanguard producer discusses the state of the game
In an interview with Allakhazam, Vanguard producer Thom Terrazas talked about how his game is going right now, how it is currently being improved, and improvements that can be expected for the future. Allakhazam wasn't afraid to ask the tough questions, bringing up the game's less-than-stellar launch, and asking Terrazas to pinpoint the areas that have held back Vanguard until now.Terrazas admits that the performance and system requirements of the game during the launch period lost them a lot of players, but promises that these issues are well behind them now, with a lot of optimization to the client. His advice is to get in the game and join a guild, and promises that his team listen do the community and make updates accordingly. But with the next generation of MMOs already upon us, is it too late for Vanguard to recover?
Anti-Aliased: How to pick the MMO for you
Let's be honest for a moment - there are a ton of MMOs out there. We have everything from fantasy, to dystopian future, to fantasy, to horror, to fantasy, to pirates, to fantasy, to sci-fi, and even all the way down to fantasy. While this is great for people who love choice, this is a complete nightmare (or should I say Bloodymare, ha ha, gaming puns) for anyone who's new to the genre or wants to start off with a fresh game that's different from what they're playing.How do you separate the good from the bad? How do you know if you'll stick to a game? You don't want to gamble with an expensive game only to find out that you totally hate it and wish it would burn in the deepest depths of hell. (I'm looking at you, Risk Your Life.) So, do you rely on what your friends tell you or what reviewers tell you?In my opinion, no one knows you except you. So when you sit down and want to pick the right game the first time, here's a few pointers and suggestions to get you started.
Player vs. Everything: Choking on graphics
I managed to get my hands on an Age of Conan beta key this morning, so off I went to excitedly download the client. I'm a big fan of Robert E. Howard's original pulps, and I've been looking forward to the grim and gritty world of Hyboria for a while now. Most of what I've read about it so far has been very positive (with a few notable exceptions due to some of the design choices). Our own write-up of the overall beta experience from Michael Zenke was very encouraging with regard to the combat, gameplay, and feel of the world. Overall, it seems like there's a lot to be excited about. There's just one glaring issue that everyone seems to be having: the graphics are choking their machines. This isn't a new phenomenon. It seems like every new game on the market in the last few years wants to beat our poor, 1-3 year old computers into lifeless heaps of rubbish with their outlandish and ridiculous system requirements. Even World of Warcraft, a game celebrated for its accessibility and ability to be run on older machines, wasn't that way at launch (though it was substantially better than its major competitors at the time, EverQuest 2 and City of Heroes). However, this strategy of supercharged visuals has made things hard for a number of games. Vanguard in particular suffered a lot of criticism for having ridiculous system requirements when it launched, and that's just one example. Given that people would like to actually be able to play these games, why on earth do game designers insist on shoving next-gen graphics down our throats when the vast majority of us have last-gen machines (or worse)?
Age of Conan gets new ground
We're sure that when you think of Age of Conan, you think about ground texture optimization. If that's not the first thing that pops into your head, it should be. All right, so maybe it shouldn't be, but it's still rather important -- we promise. If you don't believe us, just go check out the new AoC developer blog at 1up.com for proof. We have to admit to being skeptical ourselves until we saw the before and after screenshots. Not only does the ground art look much better, it also takes up less system resources -- which is always a huge plus. We wonder if this kind of dedication goes into the other visual aspects of Age of Conan.Would we rather see talk about some other topics? Sure, but it's always nice to see some examples of how Age of Conan has been optimized to run smoother. With the release date only a couple months away, the stream of information continues to grow -- with an exception for the occasional trickle now and then.[via RPGDot]
Patch 2.4 will bring performance updates
If you've been waiting for yet another performance upgrade, you might not have to wait too much longer -- the kind folks on the test realm forums have confirmed that patch 2.4 will bring both audio and video performance upgrades with it. As we've said before, Blizzard is usually pretty kind to system requirements, but players are reporting that graphic and audio glitches are fixed when you load up the PTR for 2.4, and CMs say that those changes will move to the live realms as well.Unfortunately, there's no more details than that on what got fixed, but it's good news, we're sure, for anyone dealing with technical problems. If our readers are right, you've only got a few more days to wait -- patch 2.4 ahoy!
The obvious report: Wrath will not require Vista
Just in case you were wondering (or if your friend used the mediocre Shadowrun FPS as proof that all games from now on will require Vista), no, we're almost sure that there's no way Wrath of the Lich King will require Windows Vista to run. In fact, even though Neth is only kind of certain in the thread, we'll make it 100%: you won't need Vista to run the next expansion.Not only is Vista not exactly setting even high-end gamers' hearts afire, but Blizzard is traditionally about as lenient as it gets on system requirements. They did up the ante a little bit when Burning Crusade was released, and we do know that Wrath will require a little more of your computer with those shiny ice shaders (not too much more -- they may ask for more RAM or a faster than the current 800mhz processor). But as much as Microsoft would love what may again be the best selling expansion in the world to require Vista, it's just not going to happen -- Blizzard has too many subscribers here to lock a good number of them with an operating system that's not going over so well.So ignore what your smirking friend tells you -- if you can run Burning Crusade, you'll be able to run Wrath on the same box.
Age of Conan FAQ reveals system requirements
If you've been waiting with bated breath (much like us) for Funcom to finally release the recommended and required system specs for Age of Conan, then you'll be pleased to hear that the wait is finally over. It's about time too, we were starting to look into the cost of flying to Norway and raiding their offices Barbarian-style. Then when we thought about it, the cost of double-sided great axes and authentic moleskin trousers was just too much when combined with the plane ticket.It all works out in the end, since you can find the much-awaited required specs after the break.
The Daily Grind: To upgrade or not
Anyone who has spent any time around Massively is most likely aware of the One Shots column we run daily that showcases many different user-submitted screenshots like the one above. One of the things that strikes me in running it from day to day is how completely different games look from one person's screenshots to the next person's. Obviously, this comes down to things like hardware, whether or not they're running DX10, and the like. For today we'd like to ask you this -- would you, or have you ever upgraded your entire machine just to play one game? Perhaps you just turn your graphics down to the lowest setting and get by? Alternately, do you not mind if you're required to turn everything down, or do you feel like you're not able to enjoy the game as much? With WoW being so system-resource friendly, is it wise to try to push into games that have much higher system requirements -- or do developers risk cutting themselves off from part of the new-MMO player market?
Jumpgate Evolution site launches
Netdevil has launched the website for Jumpgate Evolution, their new space combat MMO expected out in 2008. The site features some new info about the game, new screenshots, a little bit of flash video, and forums for the community.I'm not quite sure how much of this is new to hardcore JE followers, but I do note that the forums feature spaces for the "Octavian," "Quantar," and "Solrain" nations, so it looks like those will be the three nationalities available at game launch. Unfortunately, the game info page is pretty vague, but it does have System Requirements on there, and they are forgiving to say the least-- you won't need a top-of-the-line rig to fly this galaxy.If you're hungry for more Jumpgate info, make sure to give our interview with the producer a read as well. The game is currently taking signups for a beta, and it's due out in the second half of next year.[Via VW]
Jumpgate Evolution producer sets vision for accessibility
Accessibility is a big buzz word in the MMO industry right now. After some hardcore titles failed to gain traction, a lot of people are thinking that spending millions of extra dollars to make cutting edge games that only 5% of gamers can or will pay doesn't make a lot of sense.Among those people is NetDevil's Hermann Peterscheck, Producer of Jumpgate Evolution. He recently wrote up a dev journal post at MMORPG about accessibility. First he talks about making games that are, to quote Einstein, "as simple as possible, but not any simpler." Then he talks about hardware requirements as a barrier to entry.Looks like NetDevil plans to be conservative on both counts so as to reach a broad market. But that doesn't necessarily mean Jumpgate Evolution will be shallow. Peterscheck uses Chess as an example of a game that takes 20 minutes to learn but potentially a lifetime to master.
Leopard to exclude 800MHz systems
Apple will cull their hardware line a bit further with the release of Leopard in October. According to AppleInsider, the latest developer build describes the system requirements as "...an Intel processor or a PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster) or G5 processor." My own 1.25GHz iMac barely makes the cut, which means it will run Leopard slowly, even packed with RAM. Other machines, like the 800MHz PowerBook G4, Quicksilver PowerMac, iMac and iBook, aren't so lucky.And with that, many of us suddenly have "vintage" machines. I remember finally replacing my 333MHz iBook when it refused an install of iMovie, due to screen resolution requirements. Perhaps this experience will finally get the old iMac off my desk.[Via Twitter]
Quake 4 requirements revealed
At last, Aspyr has finally released the system requirements for the upcoming Quake 4. So, without further ado, you'll need: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later a PowerPC G4, G5, or Intel-based chipset a 1.67GHz or faster CPU 512MB or higher of memory 64MB or more of video memory (VRAM) Quake 4 is built on the Doom 3 engine, and the game's storyline is set just months after the events of Quake II. Aspyr is currently taking preorders for $50.00US.[Via MacNN]
