Release 5 Impressions & Release 6 Revised

And encounters on the overland map. We be seein' 'bout that. (Why hello there, familiar old topic!)

 

I would like to express my own preference for an overland map that resembles the very early technology demos (a zoomed-out, dual-scale view of the world, complete with shielded cities and dragons flying overhead). The current cloth map approach isn't really grabbing me. This is probably a result of my old-school roots (Ultimas I-V), but I really was/am hoping for something a little less... abstract.

Money talks, and I've already dug down deep to support this game, but I'll throw this idea out and see if it sticks: what about a map "pledge drive"? The map can't be as high a priority as core functionality and rendering, so I'm guessing development cycles are being redirected from there to other parts of the game. What if there were a reasonably-priced, in-game item to help fund the original dual-scale approach? How much would it cost? How many people would need to buy it? I don't know, but I'm curious to find out the answer.

As for the nature of the reward, perhaps it could be a home decoration, like a mounted sextant or a ship's compass? Or perhaps it could be a collection of maps, framed and suitable for hanging? There's also the possibility of something cosmetic/utilitarian as a reward. As an example, what about a "Sojourner's Lantern," with the item itself being a unique, off-hand light source with a cool, Old World feel to it?

I'm just spitballing on assumptions here, but the basic takeaway is: I would prefer a dual-scale map system to the cloth map.

 

Looking forward to Release 6. I enjoyed what i had in release 5, but with no animations on alot of the spells and somewhat broken combat, it was hard to "test" right. I was just happy to get to look through the skills etc, and i'm happy with what ive seen so far as someone that wants to play a mage. And having such a simple thing as a proper light spell (Omg ive missed utility\fluff spells) makes me really happy. Also SPEARS! OMFG!! SPEARS! havent seen real spears (that isn't part of polearms and uses a regular axe animation) in a game for along tiiiiime. This game just shapes up to be my dream game with every update. Keep up the good work guys! and see ya in release 6!

 

If your dream game is defined by pokey spears, I'd venture to say your standards aren't in line with most of ours.

I kid, I kid. There really is loads of room for improvement here, though. You can literally see the slightly-slower-than-expected pace of development happening with each release. Lots of people are pushing hard for a delayed release because we don't feel that the game can possibly be ready by the current goal. That's not a bad thing, but for many of us, it really is too early to say whether this is likely to be a great game or not.

 

Actually, for me, it IS the art style of the map at issue here. I REALLY don't like popup book art. I would find anything preferable. Whether the original 3D map promised in the KS, or some skinnable early Ultima style map, or an excel spreadsheet.
The rest of the art in the game is fantastic. The current overland map is not.

The only nice thing I can say about the cloth map is that it is better than the paper map.

I realize that it isn't a priority for development, and the devs are going to keep it no matter what we say. So we can only offer suggestions on making it as bearable as possible. As Mishri said earlier in this thread, If they could reduce the amount of time we spend in the map that we don't like, that would be acceptable. Make travel instant. Just click where we want to go, and boom, we're there. Watching a flag slide across a map is as interesting as watching paint dry.

 

I am personally not bound and basically did not expect a release of October. I prefer shipping of the product when the product has finally a high standard. Everyone in future would remember the quality of the game, not the just in time delivery.

 

This is a really smart direction to take with R6 and overall delivery, as I said before, take your time (within reason, hopefully no more than 9-12 months late) and release a high quality polished product and we will support you.

 

This is a huge relief that they are not going to push the game to launch in October if it isn't ready. I also think that spending time improving graphics etc will be a massive win.....although old farts like me are not too bothered about graphics.......graphics is all new age players seem to talk about and if this game is to last and maintain a good player base, it must appeal to that audience as well.

 

Now there is a thought....

Dearest Devs: Would it be possible have a 'pick your map day', where you put the 6 month demo style map up on the server for us to play around in for one solid day? (Pretty please?)

This would give people the chance to see what style they like the most, and then afterwards have a poll and vote on which one they like. Ultimately, it'll still be the devs decision which one they roll with, but at least they'll have a real estimate of what people like.

I'd totally re-install the client if I had to for this, or even install a second copy of the client, that's not a problem. And, I'm guessing that other people who would like a stab at the old 3D map style wouldn't have a problem with this either.

And as someone mentioned, now that the game is being pushed back 'lack of time' to get the 3D map right, is no longer a valid excuse for pushing the paper one.

 

Amen, brother.

 

This. In spades. Please make this happen.

 

Outstanding idea! +1 for this

 

Just guessing but I don't think they'd do something like this until they had a chance to present their alternative otherwise they're comparing this old map to a new one that has not been built yet and is likely missing a lot of functionality. We would need to compare apples to apples and right now it's just apples to apple seeds.

Still, when they do get to a specific point then I agree.

 

The original map was missing functionality as well, was it not? It was just a demo. They'd talked about adding all kinds of cool things to it. What we'd be judging is mostly styles and what people felt was the most immerse or fun. There could be a list with 'planned functionality' of each respective map drawn up to have a bulletpoint list for us to look at so we could get a feel for the 'vision' they have (or had) for each map as well.

To be perfectly frank, the first time I exited Owl's Head and moved a flag around on the cloth map, instead of a 3D environ, my heart sank to my toes. I was totally unprepared for that kind of surprise change, especially after RG said in that video that it was the final form of the overland map.

 

1) I'd like to congratulate PAPER MAP on becoming a more contentious, thread-consuming issue than PVP, if only temporarily. GOLD STAR!

2) +1 for targetable emotes. SotA is already lightyears ahead of most games with its emotes - I've been taken aback multiple times by the expressiveness of the characters in some of the animations. All of these things help me to further identify with my character. Thanks for that! Adding the ability to set one's own idle animation with emotes similar to nervous, or just smiling etc, would really add another layer of depth. Teachable emotes is just a wicked cool idea, and I hope to see a long list of character animations as the game progresses.

2B) A custom "secret handshake" emote would be an excellent prize for some sort of guild contest once the game is live.

3) I've seen many small businesses fail to refine their business as they grow - they simply add more an more 'features' and never take a chance to go back and streamline or improve their existing model and methods. It is reassuring to hear you talk about revisiting established aspects of the game.

!!) Most importantly: DarkStarr, thank YOU and your entire team for an excellent release and the continued enjoyment that is this project!

 

Thumbs up on release date rethinking. Go when game ready. Not when EA says it schedule date at Christmas time.
fedwook

 

I'm aalllll about not getting hung up on a release date, really I am. But on balance, lets keep in mind infinity isn't an option either. I think we need to periodically remind ourselves that we backers represent only a fraction of what the eventual paying customer base needs to be. Delay for polish and fine tune is virtuous....if Portalarium has the money to do so. At some point though they are going to have to say "good enough" and start selling.

From the little snippets they give us it sounds like they have a good grasp on reality in this respect and probably know exactly how much delay they can afford. I'm just saying that we as a community need to be careful we don't fall into a perpetual "delay it until my favorite feature is just the way I want it" mentality.

 

We need to differentiate between basics and implemented features and features which was planned for later episodes.
The game is ready for shipping when the basics and the implemented features are bugfree
but the game is not finished until episode 5 with all later planned features.
And even than, after episode 5, there will be further development with new features.

 

Excellent news Sir. Excellent. Two things, please:

1) Click Click Click, that's the sound when I click on things in my UI
2) if ( !monster.alive ) { player.intXP++; }

Best wishes with the next R.

 

I see no purpose in adding progression (exp gains) at this stage of development.

I certainly don't want to have to level up in every release.

once we get to beta or a point where there will be few player wipes, sure.