Graphics, graphics, graphics. Discussions about AO here always end up in the same place. If you're a graphics whore you will never be satisfied with a MMORPG for long so would be better off sticking to single player games. A new MMORPG may interest you for a while but not for long as due to the very nature of MMORPGs they can't compete graphics wise with single player games. Also most of the graphic whores also seem to be the type complaining about not enough solo content in a MMORPG. If you play a MMORPG like a single player game and want the graphics of single player games why on earth are you playing MMORPGs?
Generally speaking in regards to graphics most MMORPGs fall in one of two different groups. In group one the graphic details are very high and take advantage of many of the options systems at the time of its development offer. On the down side they tend to have rather limited variation of how things look. Characters can particularly be limited as putting on different armour or what not can result in little to no difference in your appearance. Most of the MMORPGs coming out of Korea seem to be like this. In group two we have plenty of variation in how things look, the downside is that they lack the detail of the MMORPGs in group one. Games like AO and I think WoW are in this group with an extreme example being Second Life.
So pick one, detailed graphics or the ability to not look like everyone else. You can't have both as a lot of variation is hard for your system to manage. Second Life models and object can offer a good bit of detail but with so many textures and objects moving around at once high traffic and active areas can be rather laggy. With a largely social "game" like Second Life lag is really just an annoyance but with those involving combat lag can kill.
AO came along before all the powerful graphics cards we have now so the graphics engine AO uses makes little use of today's high power graphics cards and is based almost completely on the power of your CPU. Funcom would need to add a new engine before they could do anything about the graphics and that would be a lot of work. It's something they've said they'd like to do but nothing beyond that as far as I know.
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As for updates it seems they've decided to go for more frequent small updates than less frequent large ones. The stuff we have been getting for the past while were all meant to be found in the LE expansion. So now the expansion is being thinned down some but we're getting more new things to play with more often.
I played AO quite a bit in the past and believe upgrading the graphics will go a long way to revitalizing the game. I see 2 ways to accomplish this.
1. They can take the route EVE is doing and rewrithing the entire game for future technology. CCP is now developing their game to work with Windows Vista and DX10. When these new software applications are ready for the market, EVE, a game that will be about 4 years old, will go back as a state-of-the-art MMOG again. I see no reason Funcom can't do the same thing with AO and have state-of-the-art graphics again.
2. Keep the AO type of world and gameplay except move it to another location where there are new quests and adventures to keep the playing community happy. Don't do what Turbine did with AC and AC2 did and not make it a totally different game. Of course make it with state-of-the-art graphics that can be adjusted to older pc's.
Oh sure a new engine would help and they could do as Dark Age of Camelot did a ways back when they upgraded the engine in one of their patches. Although part of the problem seems to be that after WoW a lot of people that had no interest in MMORPGs before are now wandering about looking for MMORPGs and have the whole single player game mentality going. AO is in the second group which opted for lots of variation over detailed graphics so while a new engine could perk things up it will not then gain highly detailed graphics, they could just look nicer.
A new engine for AO would be a lot of work though. With a new engine they would likely add some more detail to the frames avatars and mobs have their textures layered over. This then would likely require them to go over every related texture as now they would map out somewhat differently so the old ones wouldn't work anymore. For a game that tries to offer a lot of variation in appearance that would be a lot of textures to rework.
With EVE they have to deal with less than most MMORPGs as it is space based. There's no trees, ground, buildings, water, rain and so on, just some space stations asteroids and distant planets, stars and so forth for the most part. This makes things easier plus I think EVE is more in the first group which opted more for high detailed graphics than variation as I don't think you can do too much about the appearance of your ship. Your portrait you can tinker with a lot but I think the appearance of your ship isn't too alterable.
i have often asked this question myself, i would love them to bring out a sequel to anarchy online, i think it is a great game but it is undoubtably getting dated if they could update the engine and keep the main theme that run's through anarchy they would be on to a winner, although everyone knows more often than not what sequels represent in comparison to the originals.
Stop mentioning RF. Yes it's sci-fi, but it's a horribly shallow game.
Personaly I'm waiting for Age of Conan --as someone said here I believe the game will be AO in spirit. I feel dearly for the games Funcom make, and I hope I'll feel the same with Conan as I did with AO back in 2001.
Originally posted by niksa FunCom is currently making Age of Conan, which will no doubt attract many of the hardcore AO fans, since they have long since attained top levels in their chosen characters and continue to play the game out of habit rather than goal. Besides, Age of Conan looks like it will be one of the most innovative games coming out this year (in my opinion, of course.) Also, FC is making an expansion for Anarchy Online called Lost Eden. I don't know much about it yet, but I suspect they will make more graphics updates to the game in the similar way that DaoC made the Catacombs graphics updates in the expansion. I haven't heard when Lost Eden will be out, but all I've seen so far is concept art, so that indicates to me that it won't be out until early 07. Just my guess. I doubt they would have the energy/money/resources to work on Age of Conan, an AO expansion AND AO2. So if anything, they may do a sequel or complete remake of the game after Age of Conan and Lost Eden are out.
Lost Eden is a pvp expansion, from what i hear, tower battles are gonna be turned upside down in a whole new way, you can instal SAM sites, use Mechs....and some other stuff, plus new perks im assuming, and weapons, most likely armor
I have to agree that AO2 would be a pretty lame decision on Funcom's part. Sequels never go right, and the stigma behind AO really isnt that big. Yeah, launch sucked but AO at its core was good enough to hold a playerbase and rebuild itself. Take a look at other MMO launches that went badly. Horizons and Shadowbane come to mind - both games never really picked up the pace after their failures, whereas AO actually managed to go -way- uphill.
I just want a new engine. Hell, I dont even mind if the graphics dont see -that- much of an improvement. I could deal with the current graphics, I'd like to see them write an updated version of their current engine so that they can just import their textures/models/etc., but without the archaic coding and with DX10 (hell, even 8 or 9) support. From there you have a game that looks and plays no different, they have the ability to fix alot of the old graphical bugs as well as take time to improve things (I'd like to see RK revamped with more graphical flair like the Shadowlands, without sacrificing the cyberpunk feel), and the server wouldnt lag whenever you stick 50 people in a zone.
Other than that, the game is still on the top of my list and I'll never understand why FC used the money from AO to make games of completely differing genres >.>
I really wanted AO to work out in terms of getting new graphics updates and a larger player base. It seems to me they should use the same graphics engines that Auto Assault and RF online use. I was presently surprised by the quality of Auto Assault, it's been a lot of fun and reminded me a lot of my days in AO, but better in a lot of ways.
AO is an original and I compare most games I play to the fun I had in AO. Auto Assault and Eve Online are the only two games that have reminded me of AO and the unique feel it brought to the MMORPG genre.
And bigger hints still. On his blog, Ragnar Tornquist said he had a team working on a new game not Dreamfall related. Since this is after his predicted 4 year life cycle for AO I'll start hoping it's a new mmo.
I've went everywhere for information on this, and everything is sketchy at this point but I hope we get some info soon. So far it's been rumored to be more of a prequel to AO, which imo will work out much better than a sequel to those hardcore fans. I'm just ready to jump into the ao/tlj universe with better shineys.. er graphics.
The game runs really bad even on high end systems, Everything would have to be redone from scratch to make a new graphics engine fit in with it. I cant imageine them doing it. I can live with the graphics but the AO engine is really badly coded and needs a lot of attention.
I think at some point it's just easier to start something new than to improve and rework and refine for ages. I don't think that a 2nd part has to flop necessarily. An expansion or overhaul just doesn't compare to all the hype and attention of a new release. I've been pretty long in AO but i would start anew for AO2 without hesitation
The one thing I believe that could help AO is to find a way to tranfer information to better servers. This could reduce lag for smoother game play and help the new expansion Lost Eden, when it arrives. Most likely this will never happen, but I still enjoy play.
Funcom Announced in AO foruns some time ago that they was going to buy new servers to Atlantean and Rimor, probably they have them now, i think they only waiting for the release of new patch. Lets see if te server perfomance increases with this changes.
On topic, i dont see the need to make AO2, if they upgrade some stuff in AO, such as Graphics, some old bugs, and some mechanics, new quests, fix some pvp issues. With that the game will be attractive to new people a lot more then its today.
with a graphics revamp and fixing the horidly whack exp from monsters they could help the game live on. Me and my wife quit becuase 95% of all the people only wanted heckler teams. I'm sorry but 170 lvls of killing the same monsters is just horridly crappy. If they would boost RK exp in comparison to SL exp, or trim down SL exp, then the game might be a bit better.
My god has horns.... nah, I don't think he is real either.
Originally posted by xephonics with a graphics revamp and fixing the horidly whack exp from monsters they could help the game live on. Me and my wife quit becuase 95% of all the people only wanted heckler teams. I'm sorry but 170 lvls of killing the same monsters is just horridly crappy. If they would boost RK exp in comparison to SL exp, or trim down SL exp, then the game might be a bit better.
Hate to break it to you.....that'll never happen. My annoying the Dev's on the test server till they raise RK XP has always came back with a 'No, we're never going to raise RK XP or otherwise no one would go to SL'.....which I respond 'Um....isn't that what ShadowKnowledge is for'. So far no rebuffs from them when they hear that
Seriously, what FC really needs to do is once AoC is finished and online(Yes we all know that MMO's are never really finished) is try to create a brand new version of AO's game and graphic engines....I mean there is nothing wrong with the way AO is currently, just outdated graphically and pretty small compared to the rest of the online games. When I look at AO, most of the code probably can be transplanted into a new engine and most items use the same 'circle'(meaning several items/weapons and one texture) of textures
I'd much rather have them continue to support AO and expand upon it as they have, while also making new stuff like AoC. I think AO and AoC would be preferrable to an AO sequel. It's the kind of idea that sounds good for a moment, but never would work out.
Still, going on 7 years of play, the game could use some graphical updates. Maybe an optional visual enhancement that would update the graphics for people who don't like the dated look? Wishful thinking I'm sure. But it would be interesting.
Either way, still a great game that I'm not done playing yet.
Like others have been saying, they are working on other mmo game and soon AO get a new expansion.
Funcom have made a Patch before to make it look better. That "hotfix" changed a lot. I dunno, maybe they can do one more. ^^
People say WoW look good, but hey all that game have is "flashing lights"... cartoon looking world is not that nice. AO have much better looking world and characters.
One more boost and AO will look even better. I Hope more people come back.
Comments
They will hopefully release Lost Eden expansion in my lifetime.
^^
Graphics, graphics, graphics. Discussions about AO here always end up in the same place. If you're a graphics whore you will never be satisfied with a MMORPG for long so would be better off sticking to single player games. A new MMORPG may interest you for a while but not for long as due to the very nature of MMORPGs they can't compete graphics wise with single player games. Also most of the graphic whores also seem to be the type complaining about not enough solo content in a MMORPG. If you play a MMORPG like a single player game and want the graphics of single player games why on earth are you playing MMORPGs?
Generally speaking in regards to graphics most MMORPGs fall in one of two different groups. In group one the graphic details are very high and take advantage of many of the options systems at the time of its development offer. On the down side they tend to have rather limited variation of how things look. Characters can particularly be limited as putting on different armour or what not can result in little to no difference in your appearance. Most of the MMORPGs coming out of Korea seem to be like this. In group two we have plenty of variation in how things look, the downside is that they lack the detail of the MMORPGs in group one. Games like AO and I think WoW are in this group with an extreme example being Second Life.
So pick one, detailed graphics or the ability to not look like everyone else. You can't have both as a lot of variation is hard for your system to manage. Second Life models and object can offer a good bit of detail but with so many textures and objects moving around at once high traffic and active areas can be rather laggy. With a largely social "game" like Second Life lag is really just an annoyance but with those involving combat lag can kill.
AO came along before all the powerful graphics cards we have now so the graphics engine AO uses makes little use of today's high power graphics cards and is based almost completely on the power of your CPU. Funcom would need to add a new engine before they could do anything about the graphics and that would be a lot of work. It's something they've said they'd like to do but nothing beyond that as far as I know.
.
As for updates it seems they've decided to go for more frequent small updates than less frequent large ones. The stuff we have been getting for the past while were all meant to be found in the LE expansion. So now the expansion is being thinned down some but we're getting more new things to play with more often.
I played AO quite a bit in the past and believe upgrading the graphics will go a long way to revitalizing the game. I see 2 ways to accomplish this.
1. They can take the route EVE is doing and rewrithing the entire game for future technology. CCP is now developing their game to work with Windows Vista and DX10. When these new software applications are ready for the market, EVE, a game that will be about 4 years old, will go back as a state-of-the-art MMOG again. I see no reason Funcom can't do the same thing with AO and have state-of-the-art graphics again.
2. Keep the AO type of world and gameplay except move it to another location where there are new quests and adventures to keep the playing community happy. Don't do what Turbine did with AC and AC2 did and not make it a totally different game. Of course make it with state-of-the-art graphics that can be adjusted to older pc's.
Oh sure a new engine would help and they could do as Dark Age of Camelot did a ways back when they upgraded the engine in one of their patches. Although part of the problem seems to be that after WoW a lot of people that had no interest in MMORPGs before are now wandering about looking for MMORPGs and have the whole single player game mentality going. AO is in the second group which opted for lots of variation over detailed graphics so while a new engine could perk things up it will not then gain highly detailed graphics, they could just look nicer.
A new engine for AO would be a lot of work though. With a new engine they would likely add some more detail to the frames avatars and mobs have their textures layered over. This then would likely require them to go over every related texture as now they would map out somewhat differently so the old ones wouldn't work anymore. For a game that tries to offer a lot of variation in appearance that would be a lot of textures to rework.
With EVE they have to deal with less than most MMORPGs as it is space based. There's no trees, ground, buildings, water, rain and so on, just some space stations asteroids and distant planets, stars and so forth for the most part. This makes things easier plus I think EVE is more in the first group which opted more for high detailed graphics than variation as I don't think you can do too much about the appearance of your ship. Your portrait you can tinker with a lot but I think the appearance of your ship isn't too alterable.
Personaly I'm waiting for Age of Conan --as someone said here I believe the game will be AO in spirit. I feel dearly for the games Funcom make, and I hope I'll feel the same with Conan as I did with AO back in 2001.
A fresh AO2 would most likelly be watered down for the masses
This "The World" thing excites me.
-Niksa
Looking for a real game.
I have to agree that AO2 would be a pretty lame decision on Funcom's part. Sequels never go right, and the stigma behind AO really isnt that big. Yeah, launch sucked but AO at its core was good enough to hold a playerbase and rebuild itself. Take a look at other MMO launches that went badly. Horizons and Shadowbane come to mind - both games never really picked up the pace after their failures, whereas AO actually managed to go -way- uphill.
I just want a new engine. Hell, I dont even mind if the graphics dont see -that- much of an improvement. I could deal with the current graphics, I'd like to see them write an updated version of their current engine so that they can just import their textures/models/etc., but without the archaic coding and with DX10 (hell, even 8 or 9) support. From there you have a game that looks and plays no different, they have the ability to fix alot of the old graphical bugs as well as take time to improve things (I'd like to see RK revamped with more graphical flair like the Shadowlands, without sacrificing the cyberpunk feel), and the server wouldnt lag whenever you stick 50 people in a zone.
Other than that, the game is still on the top of my list and I'll never understand why FC used the money from AO to make games of completely differing genres >.>
I really wanted AO to work out in terms of getting new
graphics updates and a larger player base. It seems to me they should use the
same graphics engines that Auto Assault and RF online use. I was presently surprised
by the quality of Auto Assault, it's been a lot of fun and reminded me a lot of
my days in AO, but better in a lot of ways.
AO is an original and I compare most games I play to the fun I had in AO. Auto
Assault and Eve Online are the only two games that have reminded me of AO and
the unique feel it brought to the MMORPG genre.
nah,not yet.FC havn't offically announced it yet.Only a few hint's
guess they wan't AoC released safe first
I've went everywhere for information on this, and everything is sketchy at this point but I hope we get some info soon. So far it's been rumored to be more of a prequel to AO, which imo will work out much better than a sequel to those hardcore fans. I'm just ready to jump into the ao/tlj universe with better shineys..
Oh RagnarTornquist.com btw
~dai
The game runs really bad even on high end systems, Everything would have to be redone from scratch to make a new graphics engine fit in with it. I cant imageine them doing it. I can live with the graphics but the AO engine is really badly coded and needs a lot of attention.
Still, long live AO!
I think at some point it's just easier to start something new
than to improve and rework and refine for ages.
I don't think that a 2nd part has to flop necessarily.
An expansion or overhaul just doesn't compare to all the hype
and attention of a new release.
I've been pretty long in AO but i would start anew for AO2 without
hesitation
The one thing I believe that could help AO is to find a way to tranfer information to better servers. This could reduce lag for smoother game play and help the new expansion Lost Eden, when it arrives. Most likely this will never happen, but I still enjoy play.
215 adv Rimor (server)
176 ma; 163 fixer; 123 crat
On topic, i dont see the need to make AO2, if they upgrade some stuff in AO, such as Graphics, some old bugs, and some mechanics, new quests, fix some pvp issues. With that the game will be attractive to new people a lot more then its today.
Just my 2 cents
My god has horns.... nah, I don't think he is real either.
Seriously, what FC really needs to do is once AoC is finished and online(Yes we all know that MMO's are never really finished) is try to create a brand new version of AO's game and graphic engines....I mean there is nothing wrong with the way AO is currently, just outdated graphically and pretty small compared to the rest of the online games. When I look at AO, most of the code probably can be transplanted into a new engine and most items use the same 'circle'(meaning several items/weapons and one texture) of textures
I'd much rather have them continue to support AO and expand upon it as they have, while also making new stuff like AoC. I think AO and AoC would be preferrable to an AO sequel. It's the kind of idea that sounds good for a moment, but never would work out.
Still, going on 7 years of play, the game could use some graphical updates. Maybe an optional visual enhancement that would update the graphics for people who don't like the dated look? Wishful thinking I'm sure. But it would be interesting.
Either way, still a great game that I'm not done playing yet.
_____
We can take these deadites... with science.
Like others have been saying, they are working on other mmo game and soon AO get a new expansion.
Funcom have made a Patch before to make it look better. That "hotfix" changed a lot. I dunno, maybe they can do one more. ^^
People say WoW look good, but hey all that game have is "flashing lights"... cartoon looking world is not that nice. AO have much better looking world and characters.
One more boost and AO will look even better. I Hope more people come back.