More Catacombs info

[Garok]

Cut and pasted from DAoC Catacombs (the Web site)


We managed to score an interveiw. Its awesome and stuff, read on:

Question 1: I noticed that you mention the EMotions FX 2 graphics engine in the press release, but not the Gamebryo (NetImmerse) engine. Does this mean that you're moving away from using Gamebryo in Catacombs?

MF: Not at all - we are extremely happy with Gamebryo, which for those that don't know, is the 3D graphics engine that we have used for Camelot since the first version of the game. We are using the EMotions FX 2 toolkit for advanced character modeling only - it gives us more defined facial animations/features, character animations, and overall a more solid player character model graphical feel.

Question 2: The Catacombs press release talks about PvE (playing fighting monsters) instanced content, but doesn't mention RvR content. Are you planning on implementing instanced RvR dungeons in the expansion?

MF: Yes, we are planning on doing RvR instanced content in Catacombs. That being said, we want to wait until the launch of our upcoming free expansion Dark Age of Camelot: New Frontiers until we make any firm decisions about how we will implement RvR content in that expansion. As you know, New Frontiers - which is due early this summer - overhauls Camelot's RvR system. We want to make sure that this system is working properly and assess it
before we really start designing the RvR content for Catacombs.

Question 3: Why another retail expansion?

MF: The best way to give our community graphical engine upgrades is with a retail expansion. Usually when you revamp part or all of a 3D engine, you want to provide upgraded art to go along with it.

We are giving the community a new load of content (new classes, zones, and all the instanced material) along with a graphical overhaul (specifically, player models). In our first expansion, Shrouded Isles, we upgraded the game's original engine with higher- resolution textures and better looking trees and water.

In Trials of Atlantis, we upgraded all the game's terrain textures, and upgraded the tree system and water again (and added underwater play), and provided a flexible user interface that players can personalize.



Question 4: What would you say to the community who want you to focus on New Frontiers before you dive into another expansion?

MF: The encounter and content people are ALL still working on New Frontiers. Some of our artists are mostly done with New Frontiers at this point, since we're into the beta test now. So, we are moving those artists and designers over to Catacombs so that they can get started with the concept work and modeling the new underground areas, and of course designing the new classes.

Sorry for my spacing problems, I tried my best to edit it out of there but didn't do so well

/edited by LegendsCafe

-Exano

 

[Indiana]

MF: Not at all - we are extremely happy with Gamebryo, which for those that don't know, is the 3D graphics engine that we have used for Camelot since the first version of the game.

huh they are happy with the 3D engine??? the one that can't handle relic raids with over 200 players?

 

[Phusion]

MF means motherfucker?

 

[klavrynd]

We want to make sure that this system is working properly and assess it

Let's patch the sputtering machine...

 

[Fana]

Question 2: The Catacombs press release talks about PvE (playing fighting monsters) instanced content, but doesn't mention RvR content. Are you planning on implementing instanced RvR dungeons in the expansion?

MF: Yes, we are planning on doing RvR instanced content in Catacombs. That being said, we want to wait until the launch of our upcoming free expansion Dark Age of Camelot: New Frontiers until we make any firm decisions about how we will implement RvR content in that expansion. As you know, New Frontiers - which is due early this summer - overhauls Camelot's RvR system. We want to make sure that this system is working properly and assess it
before we really start designing the RvR content for Catacombs

Sounds *very* interesting indeed. Imagine competing with a grp from an enemy realm to complete a mission in a dungeon area^^ Might provide RvR with more immediate goals than farming rp's as well if there is a reward at the end

 

[Nibbles]

MF means motherfucker?

lol, could be Matt Firor, producer of Mythic Entertainment

 

[Sharma]

Question 2: The Catacombs press release talks about PvE (playing fighting monsters) instanced content, but doesn't mention RvR content. Are you planning on implementing instanced RvR dungeons in the expansion?

MF: Yes, we are planning on doing RvR instanced content in Catacombs. That being said, we want to wait until the launch of our upcoming free expansion Dark Age of Camelot: New Frontiers until we make any firm decisions about how we will implement RvR content in that expansion. As you know, New Frontiers - which is due early this summer - overhauls Camelot's RvR system. We want to make sure that this system is working properly and assess it
before we really start designing the RvR content for Catacombs.

Does this mean that there will be no more gank groups in emain??

Im pondering this because although most of them seem to complain about zerging newbies etc and how they like to show skill, I still kinda doubt they will move away from emain as its RP they want, and farming 2fgs of rr2 players would be easier than farming another opted full group.

 

[gervaise]

Question 2: The Catacombs press release talks about PvE (playing fighting monsters) instanced content, but doesn't mention RvR content. Are you planning on implementing instanced RvR dungeons in the expansion?

MF: Yes, we are planning on doing RvR instanced content in Catacombs. That being said, we want to wait until the launch of our upcoming free expansion Dark Age of Camelot: New Frontiers until we make any firm decisions about how we will implement RvR content in that expansion. As you know, New Frontiers - which is due early this summer - overhauls Camelot's RvR system. We want to make sure that this system is working properly and assess it
before we really start designing the RvR content for Catacombs

Maybe they do read my posts

 

[Chrystina]

huh they are happy with the 3D engine??? the one that can't handle relic raids with over 200 players?

hmmm... if you manage to explain to me what the 3D engine that runs on your side has to do with the servers and them being unable to handle some extra workload and deliver data on time then you shall be my GOD of technical wisdom for all times and I'll resign from my job as games programmer... :touch:

 

[Wij]

hmmm... if you manage to explain to me what the 3D engine that runs on your side has to do with the servers and them being unable to handle some extra workload and deliver data on time then you shall be my GOD of technical wisdom for all times and I'll resign from my job as games programmer... :touch:

:handbag:

 

[Ormorof]

Question 3: Why another retail expansion?

MF: because we want more money so you players will have to go along with it

 

[Sharma]

Watch em stick like, 4th scrolls for artifacts in the catacombs are which allow for 15 levels on Artifacts or something and you will need to spend another good few days grinding them to compete.

 

[Skilgannon]

Does this mean that there will be no more gank groups in emain??

Im pondering this because although most of them seem to complain about zerging newbies etc and how they like to show skill, I still kinda doubt they will move away from emain as its RP they want, and farming 2fgs of rr2 players would be easier than farming another opted full group.

I'm gonna stick my neck out and predict that gank groups will have left Emain around 6 months before the release of Catacombs

 

[Archeon]

Pfft. Only 1 extra scroll? Thats no way to experience the wonderful new content. The explorer bods will have discovered a super-race. One which was even better than the Atlantians with lots of mystery. You'll need to personally translate tablets which are instanced for each player. Hence no guide... and if you get it wrong the tablet breaks! These tablets can only be farmed from the Epic mobs and you need five of them. PLUS! The new artifact which can only be gained after doing a trial five times as long as ML3!

When you've translated all 5 tablets and gotten the uberfact you've then got to located 'teh old m4n' he spawns randomly on Feb 29th for 6seconds in an unknown location every 7 years (7 is a holy number of the mud-person super-race, if you don't know that then your character gets /deleted automatically)

Once your ubarfact is activated it'll have 0.0dps, no stats and a 8.0spd - as you level it up (50 levels, just like you - you'll have to start off with Wildings and work up) its dps will increase, its spd will decrease, and it will gain stats.

At level 40 it will start minidinging and its damage will change to 'uber' it will also start proccing an 'uber-resist debuff' proc.

Finally when you get to level 50 the item will crumble and fall apart, its time well spent in serfive of its master.


I should apply for a job at Mythic, we seem to have the same goals in life. Making others suffer

 

[Garok]

^^ stop giveing them ideas imo !!!!

 

[Morchaoron]

lol, could be Matt Firor, producer of Mythic Entertainment

same thing

 

[enigma]

hmmm... if you manage to explain to me what the 3D engine that runs on your side has to do with the servers and them being unable to handle some extra workload and deliver data on time then you shall be my GOD of technical wisdom for all times and I'll resign from my job as games programmer... :touch:

When I run up to a zerg it's not the server performance indicator(the one in the middle, iirc) that usually goes red, it's the clientside(the one to the left, iirc) fps indicator that goes red... That's according to Right Now though.

 

[Chrystina]

When I run up to a zerg it's not the server performance indicator(the one in the middle, iirc) that usually goes red, it's the clientside(the one to the left, iirc) fps indicator that goes red... That's according to Right Now though.

decent gfx card + cpu + ram + settings > zerg ... one of the main problems is that everyone wants to have a high resolution and all effects on bla bla bla ... and then blames the gfx engine instead of thinking that MAYBE his 1.2ghz Celeron with 256mb RAM and on-board gfx card might be a problem
fac tis the engine CAN handle zergs if you give it enuff CPU power and RAM and keep your settings realistic... anyway... that's stuff ppl can and have argued/discussed/started wars about...

 

[enigma]

decent gfx card + cpu + ram + settings > zerg ... one of the main problems is that everyone wants to have a high resolution and all effects on bla bla bla ... and then blames the gfx engine instead of thinking that MAYBE his 1.2ghz Celeron with 256mb RAM and on-board gfx card might be a problem
fac tis the engine CAN handle zergs if you give it enuff CPU power and RAM and keep your settings realistic... anyway... that's stuff ppl can and have argued/discussed/started wars about...

It doesn't handle zergs well. I'm not running heavy resolutions etc and my P4 2.53ghz, 1gb 333mhz ddr, radeon 9700pro still isn't running smooth in zergs. And the system is tweaked with other games and I have absolutely no problems whatsoever, except daoc zergs. It's not unplayable, but it's not what you should be able to expect.

 

[Chrystina]

And the system is tweaked with other games and I have absolutely no problems whatsoever, except daoc zergs.

Are you talking about other MMORPG's with a lot (zerg size) of objects that have to be calculated in realtime?

 

[Indiana]

decent gfx card + cpu + ram + settings > zerg ... one of the main problems is that everyone wants to have a high resolution and all effects on bla bla bla ... and then blames the gfx engine instead of thinking that MAYBE his 1.2ghz Celeron with 256mb RAM and on-board gfx card might be a problem
fac tis the engine CAN handle zergs if you give it enuff CPU power and RAM and keep your settings realistic... anyway... that's stuff ppl can and have argued/discussed/started wars about...

really?? Last weekend an albion RR (on prydwen) failed, when about 80 albs were on the relic keeps doors, when the server crashed
https://forums.freddyshouse.com/showthread.php?t=13490


Must have been their gfx card i guess

And i don't entirely blame Goa for this. Server crashes happen here and in the US.

 

[Svartmetall]

Last weekend an albion RR (on prydwen) failed, when about 80 albs were on the relic keeps doors, when the server crashed

Ahh...it was two animists that logged in just outside Tir Na Nog, they crashed the server.

 

[Chrystina]

really?? Last weekend an albion RR (on prydwen) failed, when about 80 albs were on the relic keeps doors, when the server crashed
https://forums.freddyshouse.com/showthread.php?t=13490


Must have been their gfx card i guess

And i don't entirely blame Goa for this. Server crashes happen here and in the US.

follow the conversation which YOU actually started before replying imo otherwise you'll look stupid...

 

[Kami]

Show me ANY game engine, server or client that can cope with the same stresses that DAOC has. There isn't one. It's a grand idea but it's severely limited by server hardware, client hardware, network hardware and of course the associated software. It amuses me that people slag it off, it's doing a damn good job supposing that your ISP is probably running on 6 year old routers, hubs, switches and any other old pieces of shit they have lying around and as the same time half of the people in that zerg are probably either 1. on 56k modems, 2. under spec'd PCs, 3. downloading pr0n on kazaa 4. also running radar and/or 3rd party programs like IRC/messengers.

One day zergs will be possible but only once the hardware has caught up and the clients stop going for looks and go for purely for speed!

 

[Indiana]

follow the conversation which YOU actually started before replying imo otherwise you'll look stupid...

mmm lets see
first you asked what 3D engine has to do with servers,...
then Engima replies that its the clientside indicator that goes red during zergs,...
then you give some advice about getting decent gfx card, cpu, memory,...
Enigma counters that by saying that his (quite decent) config doesn't run the game smooth
and finally then i give my reply to which you say that i'm not following the conversation

i am following but i don't get what you are pointing at.

The game does require a strong config to handle zergs well. But when a zone crashes when 100 - 200 are running around in it... maybe its me, but i don't think that a zone/server crash has anything to do on how strong MY computer is.

Mythic designed the game so that relic raids require a huge zerg. And when you assemble that zerg... their hardware fails... and keeps failing. Perhaps the engine isn't the problem. But why release a game, if there isn't any server-hardware that can handle it

 

[Lejemorder]

mmm lets see
first you asked what 3D engine has to do with servers,...
then Engima replies that its the clientside indicator that goes red during zergs,...
then you give some advice about getting decent gfx card, cpu, memory,...
Enigma counters that by saying that his (quite decent) config doesn't run the game smooth
and finally then i give my reply to which you say that i'm not following the conversation

i am following but i don't get what you are pointing at.

The game does require a strong config to handle zergs well. But when a zone crashes when 100 - 200 are running around in it... maybe its me, but i don't think that a zone/server crash has anything to do on how strong MY computer is.

Mythic designed the game so that relic raids require a huge zerg. And when you assemble that zerg... their hardware fails... and keeps failing. Perhaps the engine isn't the problem. But why release a game, if there isn't any server-hardware that can handle it

that usay there have nothing to do with u gfx (if decent), u setup (unless as me want to have best resultion ), the grafic engine (1 of the best right now), not the servers (i think they use nearly top gear), but simply the fact that microsoft is f*cked up OS to run servers on (i dont think they run Linux, as u need directX).
Linux server > microsoft server no mather how good the rest is.
and even microsoft use Linux servers when they realise they f*cked up and some nice guy send out a new worm

 

[Balbor]

I'm gonna stick my neck out and predict that gank groups will have left Emain around 6 months before the release of Catacombs

um NF means Emain as we know it will be gone

 

[Damon_D]

Show me ANY game engine, server or client that can cope with the same stresses that DAOC has. There isn't one. It's a grand idea but it's severely limited by server hardware, client hardware, network hardware and of course the associated software. It amuses me that people slag it off, it's doing a damn good job supposing that your ISP is probably running on 6 year old routers, hubs, switches and any other old pieces of shit they have lying around and as the same time half of the people in that zerg are probably either 1. on 56k modems, 2. under spec'd PCs, 3. downloading pr0n on kazaa 4. also running radar and/or 3rd party programs like IRC/messengers.

One day zergs will be possible but only once the hardware has caught up and the clients stop going for looks and go for purely for speed!

WTF shit game here I am running ToA on my old toaster and it lags like wtf shit game imho............

But ToA still lag's on my 3400 AMD 64 , 1 giga ram , FX 5900 gfx card on a 3 mb adsl line ... guesse I need better hardware to run ToA , cause it sure as hell aint GOA's fault

 

[Ctuchik]

i am following but i don't get what you are pointing at.

no u dont follow. most of the problems are SERVER side. not user sided. like the server crash.. what the hell have that got to do with grafic?? thats SYSTEM OVERLOAD on GOA's servers!! have absolutley NOTHING to do with the grafic engine.. AFAIK thats GOA not having their side setup right. and u having maxed visuilasation (sp?) when 200+ ppl are on screen just screams PLEASE LAG ME! if u need eye candy when playing this game u have ur own to blame if ur computer cant deal with 200+ ppl on screen... sheesh

im currently running with 1.4 ghz and 512 meg rambus and im doing quite OK. even in zerg. yes i do lag abit. but its not even half as bad as u wanna make it.. i dont have any of that fancy shit grafic that make the game look "sweet" for the eye coz that doesent make it more fun to play...

turn down the visuals and i bet u will do ALOT better in zergs.

 

[Indiana]

Thats what i'm saying... Problems are SERVER side.

When i say:

Mythic designed the game so that relic raids require a huge zerg. And when you assemble that zerg... their hardware fails... and keeps failing. Perhaps the engine isn't the problem. But why release a game, if there isn't any server-hardware that can handle it

then its pretty obvious imo that i'm blaming the servers, not the client side

I do turn down most of the visuals and it helps during raids. But what good is it when the server crashes.