Curse

A. Noid · Sep 28, 2006, 04:52 PM // 16:52

--From Numa
"One solution would to do like Morrowind does (and presumably Oblivion), and use portals. When you entered a house, you'd be transported to a new instance. That way complexity could be reduced, but on the other hand you'd get tons upon tons of loading screens, and walking around in town could easily get very tedious. Not to mention making finding people in towns very hard."

In another MMO I play- this is how it is handled. Actually, my hardware is less strained by this as there is much less to draw. There is 1 load for each instance. It is a 'mission' instance.
For me, leave the game as is. When I enter my own mission instance, let there be an opportunity to explore. If I happen upon a building- in my mission instance- then that shouldn't be too hard to manage.....IMO.
Now- I have no idea how game engines work, so, forgive me if this one is not able to perform as well as others...I am completely unaware

It does seem to me that if the engine allows caves, rooms can't be that much harder to render.
Heck- I don't care to make this game instance to instance, but being able to enter and explore a couple of buildings would be nice.
It's the complete absense (sp?) of interiors that is self-defeating. If I could get 3-5 per game I'd be pleased.

Overnite · Sep 28, 2006, 08:12 PM // 20:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scavenger Rage

Anyone here ever played pre-searing?! If so, lets try to remember the CATHACOMBS...

The camera is NOT an issue there...we have tons of small narrow corridows and it goes perfectly well...

ALSO the agroo circle is not...the disegners where smart enough to create "pop-up" spiders and place the mobs in specific places where the agroo does not affect trought walls (even thought in the time I went trought it the agroo circle on the compass did not exist, it was already there on the game code).

Z-Axis where not a problem also...and as someone already said, loading screens betwen levels of the caslte / cave would be a breeze....

And for the monsters AI... it is not all that hard to implement a code that make then run and lock themself in rooms to avoid enemy contact... OR simply run away trying to lure the group into traps or such...

AoE spells and such...there is always room to run away (foward or backward), and since EVERYSINGLE GAME have eoe spells and dungeons (castles, caves or such...) this is not a problem...

I am still lacking some tecnical explanations for why don't have indoors...

Latter.

I think it's official, some Anet guy said that the interiors are not supported. Don't ask me why, I don't really know or care. All I know is that WoW and a ton of other games have indoor areas and Guild Wars doesn't, apart from a few extremely large caves.

lyra_song · Sep 28, 2006, 08:46 PM // 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scavenger Rage

Anyone here ever played pre-searing?! If so, lets try to remember the CATHACOMBS...

The catacombs isnt really indoors.... its just like Sorrow's Furnace.

its a series of really narrow passages and then a bunch of large rooms.

Its about as indoors as Riverside Province....

crimsonfilms · Sep 28, 2006, 09:29 PM // 21:29

Quote:

Z-Axis where not a problem also...and as someone already said, loading screens betwen levels of the caslte / cave would be a breeze....

But that is just one workaround for one problem.
There are various limitations and issues with GW limited Z-axis support.
Ever tried looking up? Ever tried hitting somebody above you on a bridge with a sword?
that is one [email protected] up Z- axis logic.

myword · Sep 29, 2006, 12:05 PM // 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyra_song

Camera works fine next to walls, imo, since Guild Wars for the most part uses one way normals on walls. Some fine tuning on the player's part to get the best angle would be required.

hmm really? if i recall correctly, if i stood next to walls in areas of sorrow's furnace, my camera angle would swing around sharply and give me a top down view instead

catacombs was fine though i think... can't remember

WasAGuest · Sep 29, 2006, 01:31 PM // 13:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyra_song

The catacombs isnt really indoors.... its just like Sorrow's Furnace.

its a series of really narrow passages and then a bunch of large rooms.

Its about as indoors as Riverside Province....

But it (catacombs), and Sorrows Furnace gave the illusion of indoors; and the illusion of being indoors is all we truely need. There are also many caves scattered amoung the landscape in Prophesies and Factions.
In Prophesies, around post-searing Ascalon there are several small caves. In Factions, yeti's and dredges hung out in caves. The roof just seemed to melt away as you entered them and the transition was so smooth, you really never noticed it.
Having more caves, dungeons and internal castle type areas would not be hard to do, it's all about decoration and illusion.

lyra_song · Sep 29, 2006, 02:56 PM // 14:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by WasAGuest

But it (catacombs), and Sorrows Furnace gave the illusion of indoors; and the illusion of being indoors is all we truely need. There are also many caves scattered amoung the landscape in Prophesies and Factions.
In Prophesies, around post-searing Ascalon there are several small caves. In Factions, yeti's and dredges hung out in caves. The roof just seemed to melt away as you entered them and the transition was so smooth, you really never noticed it.
Having more caves, dungeons and internal castle type areas would not be hard to do, it's all about decoration and illusion.

i agree. its a good illusion, but engine wise, its still technically outdoors (cave areas in Shing Jea were particularly cool).

Thats why i excluded those from my previous post about addressing the problems with interior or indoor areas.

Those kinds of things arent a problem at all.

Multifloored castles with many rooms and dividing walls are what i am envisioning as being a problem for aggro and spirit abuse/ aoe choke points.

akh · Sep 29, 2006, 03:08 PM // 15:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyra_song

i agree. its a good illusion, but engine wise, its still technically outdoors (cave areas in Shing Jea were particularly cool).

Thats why i excluded those from my previous post about addressing the problems with interior or indoor areas.

Those kinds of things arent a problem at all.

Multifloored castles with many rooms and dividing walls are what i am envisioning as being a problem for aggro and spirit abuse/ aoe choke points.

I agree. Oncoming Nightfall introduce dungeon traps (such as the ones in Jokanur Diggings mission) so it's possible that we'll get more fake interiors.

Psyks · Sep 29, 2006, 08:11 PM // 20:11

Ok take a look at how many people are swamped around the merchant, armour , skills person etc

That is why there are not interior areas. it would play havoc and not to meniton having to shoot up the minimum spec requiements. Why do you think WoW is so ugly?