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Here's a question...
theratmonkey
Member Posts: 684
Why hasn't most other MMo's taken advantage of seamless loading, such what has seen in wow?
I'm not making fun of other games, it's just a good question. This is a great way to craft a world that's pretty playable without the hassle of instancing every zone.
So, what's the deal? Does Blizzard have rights to this that allows them to hold it? I wasn't sure this would be the same with game mechanics, seeing as Blizzard uses many others freely.
And whatever happened to zoning as a part of instancing? (Such as in EQ and AO.) These games have pretty damn big worlds with this kind of method, but most of the newer MMOs are instanced to hell and back, and with a lot of them, you can only access other zones by certain parts on the map. (One example is Warhammer.)
It might just be me, but instancing every zone kind of takes away from the game, and it makes the world feel small.
This is just my opinion, of course. If any other MMO can add seamless loading into the game, it would be great.
Groovy.
Comments
I think that seamless loading works best on games that hasn't got so much pretty graphics to load.
This is why it works so well in WoW but say AoC wouldn't work very well with it.
When the game gets heavy on the graphics you must have instancing or the lag would simply be terrible.
EQ1 works well with zoning because the graphics are pretty primitive by todays standards.
Well, they really don't have to make MMOs super pretty, graphically.
It needs to be well designed and everything, but you don't need it to live up to the console games out there in order for people to take interest in it.
You just need it to look good.
Groovy.
I also don't think zoning would be too bad for todays games. seems fairly similar to instancing, but makes the world feel more...open.
But I have no idea how these games are made.
Groovy.
Can you give me a screenshot of a game that looks good but isn't super pretty and that could work with seamless loading as a Massive Online Game?
Seamless zone is really more of a design choice of game making and not really fall under practicality.
It use to be because zones made more sense are were easier to manage and also the technology was not quite up to par back then. These days the technology can create seamless world without as much issue, but it is strictly a designer's choice based on many different factors.
Different games also have different type of problems with seamless design. Some games can get away with making seamless maps because the game is designed to be able to use it without causing stability problem. Others are better of sticking with what works the best for the game's design and engine.
Seamless or not really does not even enter my opinion of whether a game is good or not. It can be a plus, but on my list that is way way way at the bottom. Gameplay, content, graphic design, stability, graphic quality, and sound are the top 5 in order of most important to the least. Seamless map probably is somewhere around the bottom if not dead last.
Can you give me a screenshot of a game that looks good but isn't super pretty and that could work with seamless loading as a Massive Online Game?
I have a feeling that if I say wow, I will just get negative comments.
My point is, these developers can make a game that looks impressive without having to keep the graphics up to date.
If they work around this, they can make a game that does look good, and has a full world to explore.
Groovy.
Seamless loading is a bit too specific to be too important. A well designed world is very important, though. I think Seamless loading improves upon that, if done right.
Groovy.
Can you give me a screenshot of a game that looks good but isn't super pretty and that could work with seamless loading as a Massive Online Game?
I have a feeling that if I say wow, I will just get negative comments.
My point is, these developers can make a game that looks impressive without having to keep the graphics up to date.
If they work around this, they can make a game that does look good, and has a full world to explore.
So you want a new MMO that looks like WoW, is that it?
I think that WoW have started to look below par, imo.
My impression (as someone who's worked on a singleplayer RPG) is it's not done because it's a crapton of data to stream. While the player is still playing you have to purge all the zone A data while you load all the zone B data.
Know how your computer doesn't do anything during a typical load time? Well that's what happens if the game doesn't have a tricky way to stream-load the next zone while you're playing. When it's done poorly you hit the zone line and everything basically freezes while all that data is loaded.
In short it just seems like very few programmers know the tricks Blizzard used to make it work that way.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Can you give me a screenshot of a game that looks good but isn't super pretty and that could work with seamless loading as a Massive Online Game?
I have a feeling that if I say wow, I will just get negative comments.
My point is, these developers can make a game that looks impressive without having to keep the graphics up to date.
If they work around this, they can make a game that does look good, and has a full world to explore.
So you want a new MMO that looks like WoW, is that it?
I think that WoW have started to look below par, imo.
And I figured this would come. >.<
No, I don't want MMo's to look exactly like wow. Or even resemble wow. I appreciate developers who can develop their own style and look for a game.
But really, wow is a good example. It's not great graphically, but its done in a way to where there is enough eye candy to be drawn in.
Groovy.
Thank you!
This makes sense.
Groovy.
Good to have, just not essential.