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AO Q&A about the new engine ..Q1 2011 ...
spirus7
Member UncommonPosts: 142
Question from raw_fox:
What are the next steps of the engine development?
Ill take this as my chance to talk a bit about the engine. During the past year we have been working on integrating the same engine used by Age Of Conan
almost. The engine we have been working with is the development version of the engine. During the last year the render team has been tearing the engine apart and rebuilding it better, stronger, faster and more optimized. The problem has been that while this process has been very effective in making it possible for lower end hardware to run the engine effectively it has had the effect of us having to integrate many areas more than once as the engine has changed. Hitting a moving target is rather difficult when you are customizing the AO code and the engine to fit with an already existing game. The new version of the engine is in the process of being stabilized for use in Age Of Conan so this should make our progress much faster in the coming months. Using a shared engine for all Funcom products provides an obvious advantage and we are getting close. We are very excited about it. Another important aspect of the development that needs to be mentioned is that both new AND old versions of the client will be supported
meaning that ideally nobody will be shut-out the day we launch the new engine due to not having a strong enough machine. Making the new client support two sets of data has definitely accounted for some of the extra time that has been spent developing this change.
This week work is focusing on getting the sky, clouds and all those twinkly stars working. The atmospherics in AO are daunting but it needs to be there for the game to retain its unique feel. When that is done work will begin on handling the multiple ocean volumes that exist in many places
for a desert planet Rubi-Ka sure has a LOT of water.
With the increased scope of supporting both clients a Christmas launch is becoming less and less likely
but a Q1 2011 launch seems relatively certain.
Comments
Nice to see it's getting closer. I'll be resubbing to check it out. Hopefully it draws a decent population boost, I miss AO's golden days.
Playing - EVE, Wurm
Retired - Final Fantasy XI, Anarchy Online, Mabinogi
Waiting - ArcheAge, Salem
I`m gonna be there to try the game out again, and I hope alot of other people will do the very same. This way the game might get a little ressurection power...
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
If this is true... wow, this is going to be huge. AO is a hell of a well crafted world.
"I'm not cheap I'm incredibly subconsciously financially optimized"
"The worst part of censorship is ------------------"
I was there when AO was released. I have been playing it alot less than the game actually deserves. I have become a GFX 'whore', but I say I miss the days I had in AO. Right now I am considering a comeback, especially since a friend of mine offered me his city. Everything is settled.
Atm I am playing WoW, and it is too shallow. Anarchy Online at least has politics, PvP with meaning, and true twinks. MMm... AO with Age of Conan gfx would be a beast!
Make us care MORE about our faction & world pvp!
I've been playing my Froob account now and then, most recently during the Halloween stuff... I actually have been tempted to resub on my main account recently. There's just so much going on it's hard to find the time to play all the MMOGs that I enjoy, and not only that but feel justified in actually paying monthly for them. I wonder if the new engine will be available to Froobs since they plan to support both?
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"Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places..." ~ H.P.Lovecraft, "From Beyond"
Member Since March 2004
If they get around to actually getting the engine out, and a healthy population shows up again I'd subscribe in a heartbeat.