Implementing the new siege system has been a very difficult task, but from the feedback we’re getting, it was well worth the effort. Player feedback has been very useful as far as us issuing quick fixes. Today’s patch hopefully addressed any remaining issues with the new siege system as well as some of Darkfall’s outstanding issues from a list the community compiled for us last week. Our feedback on the siege experience is very good, players seem to be having a lot of fun, and we’re committed to monitoring performance and your feedback to make all necessary adjustments to the system.

Today we’ll give you a report on team activity as well as on recently completed tasks.

Darkfall programmers have been working hard on the many tasks to be completed and there’s a lot of activity between coders and testers as features are tested, tweaked and added to the game. It’s not all about implementation; we’re also testing a lot of potential features like for example an improved third person camera added to the game. We are examining if players could benefit from a properly implemented tight third person camera which allows a better overview of their surroundings as well as watching their character in action. An improved camera coupled with other effects such as crosshair wobble could make combat much more immersive and fun. Momentum mechanics have also been reworked as you may have seen in the Bone scale armor video, a first implementation of the new mechanics. The current implementation looks much better and impacts gameplay in a more meaningful way. We’ll do a media peek on this feature after testing is concluded on this feature. More aesthetics programming tasks include ragdoll physics which will be added to animations. The initial implementation is complete and they are now in the tweaking phase.

We’re making changes in starting areas to protect new players during their first steps in the game. More and more powerful guard towers have been added. This will create a safer place for new players since the towers will react to any PvP even if it’s between players of enemy clans.  As usual, red players won’t be welcome in starting areas. We’re not looking to create safe zones but we think that a tiny fraction of the game should have safer zones than what we offer now, and that new players should be able to enjoy some protection against disruptive behaviors while they learn the game basics. In contrast, the vast majority of Agon, outside starting areas, is now lawless.

Clan city and hamlet tower and bank options can be adjusted on a per holding basis and you don’t need to apply universal rules. This gives clans with multiple holdings greater freedom and more options. We are also upgrading the defensive options for player holdings. Player-controlled cannon towers are more powerful and also fully customizable, meaning that clan members can choose what type of cannon they want on each one of them. We’re also experimenting with guard towers of increased effectiveness with the limitation that this occurs only when and for as long as they’re being “fueled”. The idea is to provide more options to the defending clan, therefore promoting the use of siege machinery (e.g. war-hulks and cannons) by the attacking clan(s). To this end, the construction cost of siege machinery is reduced while the defensive structures (e.g. guard towers and cannon towers) are more fragile.  Additionally, we are working on options which allow all clan members to operate a city gate, without compromising the city’s security, without the need of a higher ranking officer being present.

Obviously the new armor specialization system is one of the major focus areas in our activities. Every armor in the game has to be checked, rebalanced and tested in order to achieve balance between play-styles. The core work has been completed and the system is ready for testing. The same team working on the new armor system is also working on the new spell system that goes along with it in determining each character’s strengths, weaknesses, so ultimately their play style. In this process, spells have been removed; others will be available only to certain monsters, and opposing magic schools will be reintroduced to the game. With the large number of spells in the game, there’s a lot of balancing to be done in this area as well.

On the new map/journal/clan tool, we have reported all that we can in previous blog articles. The only thing to say here is that this new tool is now waiting for the new GUI to be implemented so it’s development can be concluded. Which brings us to the new user interface: This is the centerpiece of the relaunch version in terms of impact, as well as development time, connection to other features, and complexity. Our two lead programmers are focused on this task and as development progresses, more people from the team are getting involved so that we can complete implementation in a timely fashion. The GUI is the pivot for the relaunch, as nearly every other feature and system will be using it.

Time to move on to the Art team that also has its hands quite full. The main tasks that our artists are keeping themselves busy with are modeling new and existing monsters, animating new ones and working on customization options for the player characters. Currently the new Infernal and Celestial monsters are being animated, finishing touches are being applied to the new Khamset monster family models and new haircuts are being worked on for all races. The haircuts for Humans, Alfar, Mirdain and Orks are done and the artists are now working on Dwarves and Mahirims. Also, new props are being created for a new Red Pharaoh themed dungeon that is in the works. There is also concept art that has been created for various aspects of art, monsters, weapons for the new crafting system, dungeons, props and new coat of arms images for all the NPC factions of Agon.

World builders are working on re-designing  the Orc NPC cities, as they recently completed work on the Human cities. All clan holdings have now been re-designed and await testing. Dungeon remakes and additions are underway and the all new Red Pharaoh themed dungeon, located in Rubaiyat, is currently being worked on. This is a completely new dungeon and, while the big guy himself will not make an appearance yet, it will be inhabited by the Red Pharaoh’s most powerful servants. One thing to note here is that up to now dungeons where created by stitching various props like corridors, floor pieces, walls and the like together. The new system we’re using now allows for dungeons to be created from a seamless mesh much like terrain is created for the rest of the world. This allows our world builders to create much more intricate and appealing dungeons while keeping polygon counts to a manageable number.

Lore and quest wise, the team is working hard on re-writing all of the text and descriptions for old as well as new quests, dungeons and areas. The central task here is working the re-launch into Darkfall’s existing lore and providing a role playing aspect to all of the changes that are coming. Some specific player actions are also being integrated in to the lore of Darkfall 2.0. This team is also working on re-naming some monster families as well as items, equipment and NPC factions to provide a smoother overall consistency.

We hope that this gives you an idea on all that we’re working on at the moment. There’s also more that we’ll speak about in next activity reports. As always your feedback on what we say here is very welcome and it is sorted and presented in our development meetings.

Thank you for reading.