Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Character Model Lighting and Zoom
Andi
Member, Alpha Two
I was wondering for a while what it was that makes AoC character models look... off. AoC itself looks pretty awesome, and the models aren't even that terrible (but surely not finished yet, either).
Is it the animations? The combat looks fine... but yes, idle animations and all movement needs work, but that's not it.
The zoom? Yes, you can zoom out pretty far, and I'm sure that has something to do with it, but it's not all there is to it, and the model scale (in relation to landmarks and buildings) seems fine.
Then it hit me: The game has no character lighting. I double-checked, and sure enough, AoC chars look like shadows zooming around. Let me show you what I mean with character lighting.
Maybe consider implementing a "torch" function like this that lights up nothing but the character itself, and rethink the distance you can zoom out -- currently, you can turn your char into an ant and see half the zone at max zoom-out.
Is it the animations? The combat looks fine... but yes, idle animations and all movement needs work, but that's not it.
The zoom? Yes, you can zoom out pretty far, and I'm sure that has something to do with it, but it's not all there is to it, and the model scale (in relation to landmarks and buildings) seems fine.
Then it hit me: The game has no character lighting. I double-checked, and sure enough, AoC chars look like shadows zooming around. Let me show you what I mean with character lighting.
Maybe consider implementing a "torch" function like this that lights up nothing but the character itself, and rethink the distance you can zoom out -- currently, you can turn your char into an ant and see half the zone at max zoom-out.
1
Comments
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
The screenshots are from DAoC, btw, to illustrate what I mean.
I think you might be right though. Not that I mind very much, I know graphics and polishing is now what the current testing is about. I am sure the characters will look as mesmerizing as the rest of the world as we near launch.
The screenshots were from DAoC
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
I wonder if they used the same engine, because from my memory bank (which is not trust worthy btw xd) that looks near identical to GW1!
DAOC=Dark age of Camelot.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.