The game we have been waiting for a long long time.
Approximately 2 years overdue so far.
I won't go into all the reasons why I think it will rock, but here is a HOC IRC thingy from the other week where Claus (Remember him from UO ?) was answering some questions.
It's rather long, but there are some interesting new bits of information in there that isn't readuly available from the official website www.darkfallonline.com
Anyway, if the dvelopers uphold their promises, this game will be a cross between ShadowBane, UO and WoW.
Quests and graphics and faction stuff from WoW. City and territory control/conquest from ShadowBane, PK/PvP and Skill system from UO.
Most importantly - NO FUCKING LEVELLING, and you can PK people (With some consequences).
Damn this game better come out soon, and it had better be all that we've been led to believe over the past couple of years.
<facerip> hey guys
<facerip> beta soon
<facerip>))
<Claus> as soon as we can
<Claus> we are not holding back just to torment you guys
<Claus>
<[TBC]Soul> Hey Claus.. will DF have true jump?
<Claus|Dev> whats true jump?
<[TBC]Soul> I hit Spacebar.. I Jump..
<Claus|Dev> yes soul
<facerip> do you guys have published engine specs
<Claus|Dev> its an inhouse engine
<Alexandra|afk> can i be a pirate in darkfall
<Claus|Dev> arrr! sure
<facerip> claus how fun is it to log in
<facerip> and play?
<Claus|Dev> heh, well I am kinda biased
<facerip> biased or not
<Claus|Dev> I think its the best MMOG evar
<@Teth> So Mr. Claus, how goes the quest compilation
<Claus|Dev> pretty good, we are putting in a lot of quests
<Claus|Dev> I am not a huge fan of quests, but some of the other designers are doing a great job
<@Phineus> So claus, why no flying mounts? that announcement made me cry ='(
<Claus|Dev> flying had to go for several reasons
<Claus|Dev> we always had game balance concerns about it, but technological issues kinda sealed the deal
<facerip> flying mounts like, pre-set destination travel or player controled?
<Claus|Dev> we planned player controlled ones, but had to axe it
<Claus|Dev> unfortunately
<Alexandra|afk> will there be cannons on ships?
<Alexandra|afk> or will i have to grappel a ship and melee it out
<Claus|Dev> catapults and ballistaes
<Alexandra|afk> so i can run alongside the ss facerip and blast him to hell?
<Claus|Dev> yea
<Claus|Dev> you can fire at land targets too
<Claus|Dev> the ultimate grifer
<@Phineus> will fire effect the dammage done to ships? say i use flame arrows to set the "SS-Facerip" on fire
<Claus|Dev> arrows wont do much damage to ships, on fire or not
<@Teth> Ah, but they will do _some_?
<Claus|Dev> yea
<@Phineus> hmmm can i aim my cannons for the mast of a ship thus crippling it?
<Claus|Dev> its one targeting box
<facerip> what kind of computer specs are working well right now
<Claus|Dev> our target system is gf4
<@Teth> So pretty midrange for a gamer, then
<Claus|Dev> yea
<Claus|Dev> all our models are really optimized
<Claus|Dev> we are going for as high fps as possible
<facerip> the most recent ss's look really good i think
<facerip> minus the bloom
<Claus|Dev> I think they are pretty good for the poly counts yea
<Claus|Dev> other games can have shiny, we want fast and smooth
<@Teth> Prz give your worldbuilders & world texture designers my undying platonic love
<@Teth> They've done a glorious job as far as the screenies show
<Claus|Dev> took us 18 months to worldbuild
<Claus|Dev> its so large its almost stupid
<Claus|Dev> and we still have areas we want to go back to and improve
<@Phineus> sounds fun, I'm sick of the small worlds they have these days i want the land to be so large i get lost!
<@Teth> Yeh, how's that overhaul of all the racial capitals going
<Claus|Dev> we have redone all but two capitals
<Claus|Dev> still some work left on alfar and elves
<@Teth> What, exactly, controls the switch from FPV to TPV? Is it drawing a melee weapon, engaging in melee combat, or what?
<Claus|Dev> its drawing a melee weap
<Claus|Dev> put it away, and back to 1st
<@Teth> hrm, anything preventing people from running around with a drawn melee weapon all the time?
<Claus|Dev> teth: you can run around with a drawn melee weapon
<Claus|Dev> I thought a lot about that, and decided to just keep it like that
<@Teth> So basically it'll sorta be a loophole version of TPV, then
<Claus|Dev> yes
<Claus|Dev> but you have to see it.. it works pretty well
<@Teth> I will take your word on it, seeing as I really enjoyed Mount & Blade melee in TPV
<Claus|Dev> yea teth, M&B works very well
<Claus|Dev> we are very close to that
<@Phineus> How are the npc town guards working out? I've always wondered just how effective they're going to be.
<Claus|Dev> well, thats one of the areas we still have some work left
<Claus|Dev> AI
<TBC-Captain> I think the big question in that regards we have, is will it be Completely Horrible to be ARAC?
<Claus|Dev> ARAC guilds
<Claus|Dev> they are doable, but its a bit tricky
<@Phineus> Oh! on the topic of jump, will mounts also be able to jump similar to the mounts in M&B?
<Claus|Dev> we dont have mounts in fully yet
<Claus|Dev> but thats the plan
<@Teth> Jumping is tied to stamina or something to prevent eternal bunnyhopping of doom, yes?
<Claus|Dev> stamina and jump is a go
<TBC-Captain> so Claus...we have to ask...on a scale from 1 - 10, how close is DF combat to Mount and Blade...and frankly...are there mounts like in M&B?
<+Claus|Dev> m&b similarity is.. 7?
<+Claus|Dev> how do I answer that?
<+Claus|Dev> 7.23
<@Teth> hrm, Claus, what's been your favourite part of developing Darkfall so far?
<+Claus|Dev> so far... getting closer to finishing
<+Claus|Dev> hehe
<TBC-Captain> Beta of Course
<TBC-Captain> when is it?
<+Claus|Dev> beta is as soon as we are ready for it
<+Claus|Dev> we are working as fast as we can, trust me
<Ciliano> so is ship/naval combat looking to be as common, involved and complex as 1v1 or melee combat?
<Ciliano> or is it just gonna be shoot shoot shoot
<+Claus|Dev> we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to naval battles
<+Claus|Dev> things can change, so I dont wanna talk about it in detail
<+Preston> So Claus, you've been working on quests lately, are there still plans to relate some quests to unlocking or finding skills?
<+Claus|Dev> absolutely preston
<+Claus|Dev> since we have no xp, quests will give rewards
<+Claus|Dev> like items, skills, skillpoints, presige classes etc
<+Claus|Dev> we dont wanna force people into doing quests though, so its a fine balance
<Ciliano> there wont be any stupid punishments for pvp like in Lineage II or pvp channeled into only certain areas like GW or WoW right?
<Ciliano> I get the feeling you are pro-pvp
<+Claus|Dev> i r pk
<+Claus|Dev> yea its a pvp game
<Osirix> As you were a uo player I assume claus.. will there be strict rules on macros and stuff like that.. you know so we can train with other players?
<+Claus|Dev> no ideas about rules on macroing, not really my table
<+Claus|Dev> I suppose its bad for network usage
<TBC-Captain> if we are talking about macro'ing, 3rd party gui's come up..I remember the old pictures where the gui was Wonderfully simple...is this one so customizable there will be no need for 3rd party progs?
<+Claus|Dev> I think our gui is pretty neat
<+Claus|Dev> I designed it, so it pwns
<Ciliano> are you encouraging ui customization?
<+Claus|Dev> we have no tools for it, but I guess it can be done
<+Claus|Dev> no plans for it tho
<+Claus|Dev> so much other stuff to fix
<@Teth> Hrm, are spells in Darkfall going to have words of power?
<+Claus|Dev> no we dont have words of power
<+Claus|Dev> we have cool death messages though
<+Claus|Dev> hehe
<Osirix> Are you going to have councelors?
<+Claus|Dev> I would think so, not my table
<@Teth> ooh, do we have eminently satisfying death cries?
<@Teth> That had to be one of my favourite parts of UO
<+Claus|Dev> absolutely
<Osirix> ahhh I got a great question, is there reputation like uo?
<Osirix> that was a great system
<+Claus|Dev> yes we have alignment
<+Claus|Dev> we have tried to encourage pvp, but curb griefing
<+Claus|Dev> to some extent
<TBC-Captain> anything similiar to "going red" in UO?
<+Claus|Dev> no nothing like that
<+Claus|Dev> guards will kill you tho
<+Claus|Dev> but we have a couple of anarchist npc cities
<+Claus|Dev> players can make whateverthey want (note: this is in regards to player cities)
<+Claus|Dev> a player town can have no guards
<Osirix> will it be like player towns in uo?
<Ciliano> or SB?!?!?
<+Claus|Dev> more like sb
<Osirix> Actually i beleive there isnt much risk in losing towns in darkfall cil
<Ciliano> yeah sb had problems with over risk
<+Claus|Dev> its something inbetwen daoc and sb.. you risk more than daoc, but no GAME OVER HAHAHAA! like in sb
<+Claus|Dev> ok an example
<+Claus|Dev> say you have a town with 10 buildings
<+Claus|Dev> guild x takes it from you
<+Claus|Dev> they can burn down 1 building every xx hours
<+Claus|Dev> so you have time to take it back
<@Teth> Alfar-related question, because House Shivering is 100% pro-Melek: does sunlight still omgwtfpwn alfar?
<+Claus|Dev> teth: no
<Ciliano> Im interested in these alfar craftable weapons
<Ciliano> am I right to recall
<Ciliano> that some have a kind of proc like lightning craftable into them
<@Teth> sithras 4tw!
<+Claus|Dev> what about alfar weapons?
<Ciliano> that are based on alfar's naturally higher attributes?
<Ciliano> this is true right?
<Ciliano> they have proc like weapons?
<Ciliano> and is it exclusive to them
<Ciliano> or do all have procs available?
<+Claus|Dev> they pretty much have the same stuff as the other races
<+Claus|Dev> otherwise its a balancing nightmare
<+Preston> Are there any plans for a sailing skill Claus? If so, would it affect speed or anything like that?
<+Claus|Dev> sailing skills, absolutely
<@Teth> Ah, is that why all the stuff in the older lore regarding racially unique weapons & armour dissapeared with the newer webpage?
<+Claus|Dev> all races have their own armor, weapons, houses etc
<+Claus|Dev> but the stats are about the same
<+Claus|Dev> to cut down on headaches
<ChewY> you guys ever implament my run speed bar idea
<ChewY> i remember someone said they liked it
<+Claus|Dev> running is just a skill now
<+Claus|Dev> and press button x for sprint
<+Claus|Dev> which is also a skill
<+Claus|Dev> running drains stamina tho
<+Claus|Dev> so use it wisely
<@Teth> Sounds like those two are gonna end up being mandatory char skills
<+Claus|Dev> yea everyone starts out with them
<ChewY> so is darkfall openGL or DirectX for the 3d api
<+Claus|Dev> dx
<Osirix> one thing to clear up.. will it be mandatory for everyone to carry around melee weapons so they can see in 3rd person to make sure people dont sneak up?
<+Claus|Dev> you wont really see a whole lot extra from 3rd person.. I cant really explain it, but it works very well
<+Claus|Dev> its pretty close up to your char
<Osirix> so it basically just shows your charcter
<Osirix> and not your surroundings?
<+Claus|Dev> yea and a little to the sides
<+Claus|Dev> but not a lot
<Osirix> sounds good
<+Claus|Dev> just makes combat more fun
<+Claus|Dev> 1st person melee turned out to be less than great
<ChewY> what i didnt like about savage was that people could run backwards as fast as you could run forwards
<+Claus|Dev> ok you cant do thatr
<+Claus|Dev> strafing and backwards is slower than forward
<ChewY> thats another thing i wanted to know about, how is combat... Quake or Counterstrike
<+Claus|Dev> more cs than quake for sure
<ChewY> o, and if i see a dragon... should i run like a book or charge like in lamerquest
<@Claus|Dev> a dragon will destroy you
<@Claus|Dev> our dragons are rare and tough
<TBC-Captain> how about polymorph??? will be ALOT easier to gather an alfar ear necklace if they are turned into bunnies first
<@Claus|Dev> hehe thats a creative question
<@Claus|Dev> trying to find a creative answer
<@Claus|Dev> ok that was my answer
<Osirix> how many servers do you plan on having? would it be like anarchy online since it is so large with many zones?
<@Claus|Dev> we plan on having as few servers as possible, thats all I know
<ChewY> they are shooting for 10k people per server last i heard
<@Claus|Dev> thats what we hope for
<@Teth> No artifically locking people into regional servers like World of Warcraft, right?
<@Claus|Dev> no thats super stupid
<stratos> Claus|Dev: what year in development is DF in now?
<@Claus|Dev> god dont ask
<@Claus|Dev> it has taken way too long, thats for sure. But the good news is the game will rock
<Deirbhathdellte> You're playing poker while were pulling our hair out for an update ? .. shame on you
<@Claus|Dev> hey, updates isnt my table.. my concience is clean
<@Claus|Dev> about the info, or lack of it
<@Claus|Dev> its not because we enjoy tormenting you guys
<@Claus|Dev> we already have a lot of info out there
<@Claus|Dev> and we kinda wanna keep the hype down and all
<@Claus|Dev> but what do I know, I am not even involved in the PR side
<stratos> keep it down to where people think its vaporware?
<@Claus|Dev> well, its sad if people think its vaporware, but what can you do
<@Claus|Dev> all we can do is finish the game
<[TSP]Spawl> some people wont believe it is true until they play it. No pleasing them.
<@Claus|Dev> like I have said before, as long as we are working on the game, everything is fine
<@Claus|Dev> if we move back to norway, something is up
<@Teth> Do you guys even bother reading the various pro-permadeath/harsher gameplay threads that crop up on the forums anymore?
<@Claus|Dev> I have a filter in my brain for permadeath
<@Claus|Dev> I dont even see the word
<@Claus|Dev> but who knows
<@Claus|Dev> maybe we make a permadeath server
<@Claus|Dev> it doesnt fit in with the df gameplay at all though
<Tempname> it doesnt make sense with open pcp
<@Claus|Dev> right
<@Teth> Yeah, I imagine the amount of tweaking that you guys would have to do to the game mechanics to make permadeath would be obscene
<@Claus|Dev> youre gonna die a lot in df
<@Teth> erm, to make permadeath viable
<@Claus|Dev> people who talk about permadeath for df doesnt realise what the game plays like
<@Claus|Dev> it will often be fast and furious
<facerip> have you personally tried out the theiving system?
<@Claus|Dev> face: 99% of the skills/spells in the game now are combat
<@Claus|Dev> we are adding daily tho
<facerip> so you still have to work on stealing etc?
<@Claus|Dev> yes
<@Claus|Dev> there is a lot of skills missing
<@Claus|Dev> but they are being added fast
<ChewY[semihere]> Claus what language are you guys using for development
<ChewY[semihere]> i assume some form of C
<@Claus|Dev> english
<@Claus|Dev>
<@Claus|Dev> c++ and java though
<stratos> Claus|Dev: are you doing dev on linux or windows machines?
<@Claus|Dev> server is lunix, rest is windows
<stratos> will you guys every fully explain your server technology, and method of creating the world from a hardware standpoint?
<@Claus|Dev> no idea stratos, guess thats a business decission
<ChewY[semihere]> Claus just 1 thing, will we have gameplay videos soon?
<@Claus|Dev> maybe
<@Claus|Dev>
<@Claus|Dev> I honestly dont know