Beta available!

[granny]

Get it here. It's fileplanet so you've either got to pay or wait in a huge queue to download. Oh and it's 560mb. And then another 60mb+ patches. It's taken me about 4 hours so far to queue, download, install and it's running the auto-update now, I'll report back when I'm playing it

 

[whipped]

Damn 71 mins to queue

I left the Beta CD on my desk in work so I guess I'm going to have to download instead.

 

[granny]

Ah well, never mind eh

Been playing it for a couple of hours now, seems pretty cool, not got much into it yet though, *lots* to learn... especially since it's set to bump you up to lvl 20 soon as you complete the first quest so they can test the higher level skills etc.

Graphically it's beautiful but very resource intensive - athlon 1800+, gf3 here and had to drop it down to medium detail settings at 1024x768 to be playable.

Gameplay is smooth and fast, no downtime between combats yet but I haven't found anywhere with mobs higher than about level 6 yet so maybe it'll be tougher when I find my way around

 

[.Cask]

I ran around for ages and ages and ages and eventually found a site with lvl 11-12 mobs. When I first got there they almost killed me but as my equipment improved I was killing them quite easily.

Not too sure about the skills system, though. I randomly selected a few skills then dumped all my exp into 1 or 2 giving me something like 43 in basic melee skill - and I can't say it made much difference. The other skills just give me something to do while in combat, can't really say they turn the tide of battle. But then again I'm a n00b.

It's a very quiet world. Rarely saw anyone speaking, and when I'd run up to people and wave they'd normally ignore me and run off - or were probably afk. Managed a 5 line conversation with someone but that was it - I don't really feel compelled to seek out a group.

I died once and lost about 31 hit points. It said something about needing 390 exp points to get them back - but these 11-12 mobs give me 2 exp each so that would take ages. Don't even wanna think about how long it would take to level at that rate, we're prolly talking weeks.

Have to remind myself that it is still just a beta. But even so, it's unlikely they'll change something as integral as the combat system - which from what I've experienced so far takes no skill whatsoever. The days of autoattacking and going back to your novel should be over imo.

 

[krait]

Definitely great looking graphics,especially when you get to a seashore....swaying palms and surf on the beach.
One thing i found out about melee combat was that putting points into "styles" like backstab or unpredictable blow raised damage a lot more than when i put points into melee or master melee.
I also like the way that any treasure the mobs drop can be instantly turned into gold or (somehow) into base components to craft with, (someone gave me a crafted sword that did a bit more damage than the drops).
The vault dungeon,that i finally found, looked really good as well,although underpopulated atm.
Apart from these good points,i'm hoping the character animations improve whilst running/jumping (minor point i know,but thats what i have to look at all the time)

Overall it looks promising,although i'm still in DAoC mode,so i'm wearing rose-tinted glasses when looking at anything new.

 

[granny]

I'm getting the hang of the combat - if you "autoattack and go back to your novel" then it's tough but if you watch the combat and use the right styles at the right times then you can cut mobs up like butter. Watch for the yellow rays meaning they're vulnerable then chain special attacks - some combinations are serious killers. With my tumerok melee blokey if I time it right and get off a Lunge when the mob is vulnerable followed by a Lightning Strike and then a Steal Youth attack the mob gets *twatted* and I also get a large bonus to my vigour mid-combat which rocks

Also I've discovered that putting XP points into the "mastery" skills is crucial - dumping points into the seperate styles is a lot less effective if your masteries are un-pumped.

Not got to grips with crafting much yet, got to work out how to transmute loot into raw materials...

Oh and getting into groups (fellowships) is great fun, we had a fellowship of 6 of us lastnight for a couple of hours and it was a right giggle, ganging up on mobs, playing about with synchronised diving-off-of-cliffs-into-water, all getting instruments and going and putting on a band show for some crafters, much more fun than soloing mobs for hours

 

[tazzke]

Well i just got the game...

got my pass and username...once i come at login screen i type them both in, click on next...and nothing happens...

the pass and username dissapear again, but he aint login in :/

maybe loginserver down or? did i just spend 1/2 day downloading a game that doesn't work?

 

[Xavier]

granneh/anyone

need the beta - fileplanet is being lame and I can't seem to get it, damnit!

anyone who has it available for l33chag3 PLEASE let me know!!

Xav

 

[.Cask]

Can you get a username/password without getting it off fileplanet?

 

[Xavier]

i've got a logon
just need the installer nowee

 

[.Cask]

I could upload it but you'd only be getting it at 20k max (got edonkey running). Prolly take all night, but could be used as last resort

 

[granny]

Same here, I could upload it somewhere but I'm on cable and my upload speeds suck - I reckon it'd take about 20 hours. Perfectly willing to do that though if someone gives me somewhere to upload it to.

 

[Khalen]

Is the autoupdate the 60 mb file that includes the very high detail graphics?

 

[granny]

Nope the autoupdate is just 60mb or so downloaded when you play first time. The high detail graphics file is another 681mb and it's here .

 

[whipped]

I would put the high detail patch on BarryFTP, but I'm liable to get lynched by DBs and Ted.

 

[Wij]

Put them both on the FTP m8. Wtf else em I getting from my subs ?

 

[whipped]

I'm on the case. No promises though. If this is a FilePlanet exclusive we could well be in a world of hurt if we bung it up there.

 

[.Cask]

I'd gamble that it probably is

 

[Khalen]

pfff then I just downloaded 560 mb for nothing again because the autopatcher is downloading with speeds of 0 to 4 kb/s... talk about slow and disconnects often..

 

[granny]

Er Khalen you won't have to download the entire 540mb again just because the autopatcher is being slow..

I dunno, you DAoC players, conditioned to auto-moan

 

[.Cask]

If you had payed your hard earned money to play DAoC then you'd probably moan too

 

[whipped]

I gladly cancelled my DAoC account last week. No more auto subscription payments for me. Those cheeky feckers.

 

[Khalen]

I didn't mean in the way of downloading the file again... I ment in the way of I downloaded 560 Mb and still got nothing to play with (considering the long waiting lines at fileplanet..)

 

[granny]

Originally posted by .Cask
If you had payed your hard earned money to play DAoC then you'd probably moan too

I did, I quit cos it got crap

Originally posted by Khalen
I didn't mean in the way of downloading the file again... I ment in the way of I downloaded 560 Mb and still got nothing to play with (considering the long waiting lines at fileplanet..)

Ahh I see, fair enough, yeah that sucks Did you get login details though? If so cool, means you will be able to play it, I know a few people who downloaded it then got a 404 error when it came to the login details page which really sucks :/

 

[whipped]

Has anyone got a Beta username/password and is still trying to download the client and high detail add-on?

 

[granny]

Downloaded it yesterday whipped, unfortunately setting the high detail settings on makes the game completely unplayable (if very pretty) so unless you've got a serious monster PC I wouldn't worry about it :/

 

[whipped]

Well, the thing is. I got the go ahead to put both files on the BarryFTP. All I'm trying to do now is make sure Microsoft won't sue us. But as there are no beta places left I was trying to find out if it is even worth us mirroring these files now.

 

[granny]

Arr, probably not then - all it'll do is let people download something huge they can't use :/

But then again, if they open up more beta slots in the future it'd be very handy for people to have a better source than FilebastardbastardbastardPlanet.

 

[Wij]

Tried it several times over the weekend with several different results. None of which concluded in a download.

 

[whipped]

Good old Microsoft are being their usual selfs and haven't replied to my mails yet. They may have been offended by my remark that FilePlanet is in a different dimension where time runs at about 1/5 the speed of ours. This turns a download queue with an estimated time of 50 mins into a 4 hour wait.

I'll bung em up on the FTP if they'll let me incase anyone wants to grab them.