Dark Days Are Coming - New Funcom Project

[Draegan]

Are you bragging?   

[Rasix]

 

Yes, the tech is pretty much there. We have done similar between all of our games. As this is not our first ever launch.

Nice softball, who wants to hit it?   

[Cadaverine]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-the-secret/63666 for the new fancy in-game trailer.

I dunno.  Gameplay looks kinda meh, but it's hard to say with no UI to provide context as to what's going on.  Looks pretty enough, and it's not elves and dwarves, so there's that I suppose.

[Soln]

they do single RPG's very well.  And this feels very much like a solo puzzly/Cthulu/Xfiles/Shadowrun-with-no-Elves RPG with online chat and multiplayer.  I am fine with that.  I really would like a puzzle-skill-based-MMOy game.  If they tack on multiplayer persistence and chat and LFG, that's fine.  Just needs a core game with lore and puzzles that doesn't suck.

[Furiously]

That combat looked....bad.

[Ghambit]

That was probably the worst trailer out of the bunch.  The hype-train be runnin strong with this one.

[Ard]

I'm actually getting strong Anarchy Online vibes from that video, and if really is just an updated version of that game in a modern horror skin, I'm down.

[tmp]

Gameplay looks kinda meh, but it's hard to say with no UI to provide context as to what's going on.

Not to mention there wasn't really any gameplay sequence shown that'd last more than 2-4 seconds... pretty hard to feature anything but a single attack animation or two in that time, or get a sense how it actually plays.

[Nightblade]

From the tiny clips they (reluctantly?) showed, I looked a lot like Age of Conan's disjointed combat.

[Ollie]

Call me a big boob, but I'm looking forward to this. Not that I actually expect Funcom to produce anything polished right out of the gate, mind you.
 
The video on the other hand seemed to be embroiled in a bit of an existential crisis. It conveyed all the enthusiasm of a chronically depressed vole. I guess it's up to the rabid faithful to fan the flames and flog themselves to a frenzy on imagination alone.

[Hawkbit]

Cthulhu skin on Age of Conan. 

[Signe]

It looks alright.  I think I might prefer the combat in first person and on a console, though. 

[UnSub]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-the-secret/63666 for the new fancy in-game trailer.

It gave me a - god help us - ChampO vibe.

Which is fine, because I'm okay with ChampO, broken as I am.

[Draegan]

It was a shitty trailer from a trailer point of view.  It kept flashing in and out and you couldn't get a sense of the game.  Maybe because the characters looked wooden and terrible they kept the sequences short.  The game looks old and shiny.

[Ollie]

Funny you should mention the shininess. For a split second there, I had flashbacks of EQ2 and early LotRO beta, when the light of Eärendil really shone on Middle-earth and made all the surfaces fabulous. You know, before someone pointed out to Turbine that brown and nondescript is the heteronormative way.

[K9]

Any game which lets me run around in a three piece suit with an AK-47 seems like it's onto a good idea 

[Bzalthek]

Any game which lets me run around in a pinstripe suit with an tommygun seems like it's onto a good idea 

Fixed!  Prohibition Online!  LF mule for moonshine run!

[Draegan]

Funny you should mention the shininess. For a split second there, I had flashbacks of EQ2

That's what I was aiming for.

[Mrbloodworth]

Oh, good, just what we need, more of the same combat systems...........

Come on Funcom.

[Stabs]

Regarding combat I actually rather like AOC's system.

They have been quite clever in making two distinct systems that demand different talents.

First is a tab target hotkey driven system for the casters. This is nothing new which is actually a good thing because this game has to sell to people who don't want to have to re-learn how to drive.

Second is a complex melee system that rewards players who master it.

At first you have to look at your keyboard a lot while needing to remain in base to base contact with an opponent. For example I have my directional keys on 1,2,3 and my combo starters on 4,5,6,7,8,9 and my movement keys on WASD. (This is default). I did try to remap to something where key binds were physically nearer but my brain exploded at the challenge of relearning after years of WASD.

So to play the character as a noob I move to my target, possibly starting a combo as I move in, glance at my combo to see what arrow is needed, glance at my keyboard to see where my 1 key is, press 1 and hope that my opponent hasn't moved. It's fine in pve but frustrating in pvp.

What good players do is use the WASD to move and mouse to face, firing off combos and directional keys because they can remember the buttons relative to where their left hand rests on the WASD (or better yet ESDF) keys. So they are always looking where the opponent is and adjusting facing and movement to maintain position.

On top of that people use programmable keyboards or mice to press 5 buttons at once and fire off a slew of very short duration damage boosters just before hitting their combo finisher.

It is not a terrible system. Those who can rock their little socks and those who can't play casters.

It probably seems terrible in retrospect because many other things in AoC in 2008 were terrible and because people had not completely mastered it but were trying to persevere with melee characters anyway.

I think it's quite clever because by switching character class you have the option: play like WoW or play not really like WoW.


Regarding housing the player cities in AoC are looking really nice. They inspire a lot of cooperation to build, provide interesting utility and encourage guilds to bloat on people rather than be elitist because of the renown system.

AoC is after a horrible launch a very good game now and provides a good framework to build TSW on. I would even go so far as to predict a non-terrible launch (ie STO bad rather than Funcom bad).

[Mrbloodworth]

If you have guns, and you are asking me to tab target something.... How do I put this. "WTF are you thinking?"

[Draegan]

I thought they were doing a Global Agenda kinda gameplay.

[Mrbloodworth]

I thought they were doing a Global Agenda kinda gameplay.

I did not get that from the video.

[Shatter]

First thing Im gonna do when i play is shoot the fuck out of their security cameras!! haha that'll teach em!

[HaemishM]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-the-secret/63666 for the new fancy in-game trailer.

That was... disappointing.

[Draegan]

I thought they were doing a Global Agenda kinda gameplay.

I did not get that from the video.

Not from the video but from the interviews.

Ah here is what I remember from Massively.

We got to see actual combat footage, and let us tell you it looked unabashedly intense. Everything we saw dealt in third-person shooting combat, but swords and sorcery definitely play a role in the game. Now, when we say third-person shooter we mean reticle and all. We can't say without a doubt that the game is entirely twitch-based, but it is an MMO without any levels so anything is possible at this point.

[Ghambit]

I thought they were doing a Global Agenda kinda gameplay.

I did not get that from the video.

Not from the video but from the interviews.

Ah here is what I remember from Massively.

We got to see actual combat footage, and let us tell you it looked unabashedly intense. Everything we saw dealt in third-person shooting combat, but swords and sorcery definitely play a role in the game. Now, when we say third-person shooter we mean reticle and all. We can't say without a doubt that the game is entirely twitch-based, but it is an MMO without any levels so anything is possible at this point.

How is an "MMO without levels" a metaphor for "anything is possible?"

[Draegan]

He's just implying that it's not fitting the standard DIKU footprint so "anything is possible" as far as differing gameplay.  The context of that article, from a year ago, is that there is almost zero known about this game and here are a few tidbits.  So he's not speculating anything but is saying "anything is possible".

[angry.bob]

Eh. I like Funcom and really do want the game to be good, but I have a strong feeling that the faction cinematic trailers are going to be the best thing about the game. And you have to admit they're great trailers. Hmmmm. Maybe funcom should just make cinematic trailers instead of games.

[Famine]

If you have guns, and you are asking me to tab target something.... How do I put this. "WTF are you thinking?"

 

Many examples to be made here. :D

[Morfiend]

Hey Famine, think you could make sure that in TSW you are able to actually bind mouse keys? I fucking hate in AoC how I have to bind "hot bar 1" to 6, then I have to bind 6 to my mouse thumb button. It drives me insane.

[Ghambit]

Speaking of insanity, will there be any in this game?  Would be a nice touch.

[schild]

Stop asking questions he's not allowed to answer. You'll find out everything soon enough.

[Mrbloodworth]

If you have guns, and you are asking me to tab target something.... How do I put this. "WTF are you thinking?"

 

Many examples to be made here. :D

Not hate'n, and just say'n. I look forward to being wrong,but the video did not give me the impression.

[bhodi]

Thumbs down on the trailer due to the disjointed combat and lousy combat animations. You really need to spruce those things up. Thumbs up for the below:

Stealing this from the SA thread:

Summary of revelations in March so far (from the official forums)

World environment
Persistent world, there will be huge contiguous open-world zones.
All three factions progress through the same areas in the same order (IGN)
Each location has its own "monster ecology" based on the mythology and lore of the area (Kotaku) and its own layered, unique story to tell (mmorpg.com)


Gameplay
Instances will have a more scripted experience.
There are no classes, no levels. Characters are built upon two facets, collection of powers and gear (Voodoo)
Your powers grow more powerful with your gear (IGN)
There will be 2 item sets for each character – one paper doll for functionality such as weapons, the other for character appearances (TenTonHammer)
Next to combat, your character will spend time investigating and solving puzzles. Some areas will be more action focused (Kingsmouth), others will have more focus on puzzle solving (Egypt).
Players will be able to create and decorate their own headquarters and rank their cabals against those of others (mmorpg.com)
Powers can be unlocked by trading points you earn from experience. Some powers are tied to certain equipment, others have prerequisites (eurogamer)
The game is item-heavy, there'll be millions of items, and you can craft, augment and level up your weapons (eurogamer)


Combat
You only have 7 active powers and 7 passive powers that'll be active. At certain spots outside of combat you can swap those to activate other powers that you have collected.
Team skill combos are possible via the State system, active powers put enemies or allies into a "state", passive powers interact with that state and make use of that. Example: one player sets a group of zombies on fire, while another has a damage over time power running that kills enemies on fire, causing the group to explode.
Combat movement will include dodging and strafing (Massively)


Quests / storytelling
Most of the regular storyline missions will be solo-able, and taking place in the open-world zones.
Scripted, repeatable dungeons will be there for party play; shorter instances or "mini-dungeons" will be part of mission sequences and used as a storytelling device.
There's one linear story to follow through the game, perpetuated with cliffhangers and mysterious elements popping up. Not all of the global story is needed or will be uncovered by progressing through the game. To find out more, one need to "dig deeper" (Voodoo)
Storylines, lore and cutscenes can be skipped by those who want to jump into the fights rightaway (TenTonHammer)
Your quests will not only make you travel over the world, but also through time (Massively)
Every mission starts with its own cinematic cutscene incl voice acting. It's possible to replay a mission with a harder Challenge Mode (vgchartz).
Parties seem to be limited to max size 4 (not 100% certain, but all articles and videos showed 4-man parties, no more, as if that was fullsize)
Kingsmouth combat seems to take place in the evening/night cycle? (as latest trailer seem to suggest)


Miscellaneous
Your UI will be sort of an augmented reality like Heavy Rain and iPhone have. The only permant visible UI things on screen will be your chat window and your 7 active powers (eurogamer)
ARGs will also continue after launch, according to Tornquist.