Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Worried on linearness of areas
Draogan122
Member Posts: 61
I've seen the various screen shots and flyby videos of areas in AoC, and most of them looked somewhat linear. Has anyone else noticed this? I don't think this would be totally game breaking, but it would kind of damper the immersion in my opinion.
PS. Don't think linearness is a word, oh well.
Comments
if you mean u cant walk over most ground area, Then yeah i agree with you, it would suck. There is no reason to make a big lush world if you cant explore all of it. I dont think this will be the xase in AOC though.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
It has been stated that the game has zones ala EQ2, since the gameplay isn't Point'n'Click there is no pathing, so I assume you will have enough free roaming within the zone.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
It will be zoned like AO.
From the looks of the area videos, the regions look fairly linear. They don't look as linear as Guild Wars, but neither do they look as expansive as LoTRO.
For quest grinding I prefer linear levels, but for PvP it's necessary to have large expansive land.
But yes, it would be nice to have more information on general zone layout.
I found a thread that's helpful explaining zones a few weeks ago, listed below
Note: Posted this thread on the official forums for concrete answers on this.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=57289&highlight=linear
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
every game has its faults this is probably AoC's biggest.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
yes
still very linear
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
The word you want is:
linearity
I like to explore and I agree--it's a big deal. From what I"ve read, it's pretty open. But like many things in games these days--fully open worlds a la the original swg worlds are gone and not likely to return anytime soon.
Apply lemon juice and candle flame here to reveal secret message.
you must be reading about a different game because from what i've seen and read, it will be linier, pathed, and each zone will be tiny.
Read this: http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=2286&table=CONTENT
This is your starting island, its contained as its an island, you can travel to other islands in the area. Its meant to get you into the game in a pathed out way. After Tortage you head to the mainland, zones are bigger generally speaking overall. There are zones of different sizes from a few square miles in size to double that. When I did the santumn of the burning souls instanced zone, it took like over 90 mins to cross and that wasn't even exploring every 'nook and crannie' this was said to be a medium sized zone. For me if you have played Guild Wars - just like the 'underworld area' takes a while to clear and explore. They hope to have a few dozen of these mainland zones in the game for launch, excluding raid dungeons.
Alot of leaked info was based on people assumption the whole game is like Tortage 'starting' island as this is where they spent all their time.
Whilst at Funcom offices the world builders were extending the beach of Tortage and generally all around Tortage Island because of feedback from testers was that it was to direct in leading you to the main city in a pathing kind of way. The island was designed like this on purpose.
Tortage city lets you climb many building / ladders and roofs, we can see this from screen shots released. It also has high and low ground and lets you have the ability to switch from Day to Night time play. (Open world to Single player type of play) This is to tell your own unique personal story and put the RPG back into the genre.
You can go climb mountains, you can swim around, but you will be bound to that area meaning you have to exit the area in another way, via loading screen, because Tortage is a Zone. Much like the mainland area's but generally smaller as the Island is designed for level 1-20 play.
The crafting zones (TradeSkill) area's are massive from what I saw.
How can a 30 second fly-by justify a zone area? They are designed as glimpses, they aren't showing you the entire content, they don't show you all the area's where you can walk/run/ride or hide..
Yes there are loading screens. We are talking very detailed, very lush environments - zones are needed.
you must be reading about a different game because from what i've seen and read, it will be linier, pathed, and each zone will be tiny.
No you must be reading about a different game because I dont see any of those massive areas being inear at all. Do some research.
I hope you can walk whereever and whenever you want
I developed game claustrophobia whilst playing LOTRO, the overall game map was large-ish but I got frustrated by the box-like world.
My mmo days began playing Asheron's Call which is set on a large Island, with other smaller islands around it, here you could explore - in fact there are 3rd party PlugIns for the game to aid in navigation,
Sadly developers have moved away from this kind of open design because of the restrictions to textures and server management etc, although the end results offer improved graphics and a smoother gaming experience, which should translate to a better game..
For me it will be the psychology of the design that keeps me playing. Do I feel like I am in a series of rectangular mountainous boxes? Will it flow and have interesting twists and turns? What will the fast travel system be like?
If its done well I don't mind loading screens and conveniently placed barriers.
I developed game claustrophobia whilst playing
LOTRO, the overall game map was large-ish but I got frustrated by the
box-like world
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
LotRO Might felt like that in beta 1 but i will have to say LotRO is the very open, it is probably the biggest polished/working opened world mmo on the shelf that has been release in the last 3 years, which keeps getting bigger and bigger.
As far as AoC , everything leads me to beleive, because of the xbox 360 , it will play like GW. Also with the design of AoC it will be impossible to have free content land updates, everythign will have to be a paid expansion.
The subject is about AoC not what you thought of a competitors game(which you have no real conception of because you never made out of the newbland)
No it felt like a box like world when I stopped playing in September 2007 ie Shire - Bree - Lone-lands - Trollshaws - Rivendell = one large rectangular box , the other areas are rectangular boxes going upwards of this box ie Erid Luin Northdowns Misty Mountains. Thats how it felt to me anyway,
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
This is all how I would imagine the game, open to a certain extenet but HIGHLY detailed.
-Jive