The biggest Greek MMORPG is in its final development stage, and Tasos Flambouras reveals all that we should know. Read the interview...
We've been hearing things for quite some years about the development of the first big Greek MMORPG, Darkfall Online. We met with Tasos Flambouras at the 1st Game Developers Meeting in Athens, and learned a lot of interesting information about our country's bet to attract international gaming attention.
Tasos Flambouras has been working in the field of Computer Engineering since 1984. He has worked for projects like Microsoft's MSN Gaming Zone and Asheron’s Call , Age of Empires, Messiah by Interplay and many others. Aventurine was established in 2002, when a team of Norwegian programmers decided to join forces with Tasos, who saw that as an ideal opportunity to return to Greece. The Norwegians already had the game “Neocron” at their hands,developed from scratch, so that we can now have Darkfall in its final development stages. Darkfall's community (at
www.darkfallonline.com ) is very strong (3.000.000 users, 52.000 active in the forum) and certainly a very good reason for companies to invest in this field.
What's the budget of Darkfall so far, spent for development?
Many millions of Euro, something short of 10M.
What is Darkfall's theme?
There are 6 different races. The Alfar of Nagast (Elves), the Dwarves of Dvergheim (dwarves), the Humans Of Mercia (humans), the Mahirim of the Tribelands (wolves), the Mirdain of Mirendil (High Elves) and the Orks of Morak (Orks). Each race is further divided in two sub-races (factions perhaps? - translator's comment) . As for the scope of the game, it is practically determined by the user. There are no instanced Quests.
How are skills determined/distributed?
First of all Darkfall has no levels but is skill-based. The user can assign skill points during character creation. Skills are increased through experience. For example if you're using a sword, you'll be increasing your skill with the sword. If you're riding a horse, you'll increase your Riding skill. Other skills are Block, Parry, etc. What's the point of leveling a character to max. level and have your abilities maxed to such an extent where no further advancement is possible? That's the moto of MMORPGs developed in the last years. Skills can keep you involved for a large period of time and the advancement pattern is tree-like; if, for example, you choose a path you don't like, (i.e. axe use), you have plenty of time to change specialization simply by using a different weapon and other skills.(gameworld comment - this reminds a bit of Oblivion). Skills deteriorate if not used for an extended period of time.
In theory one should have a bit of every skill, i.e. be both skilled in magic and in fighting.Of course there are limitations on what you can wear in each case. As a rule of thumb however, you can develop your character any way you want since the game has hundreds of skills.
The game's graphics engine is in-house developed. Tell us a bit about it
Yes, it was built by us from scratch. We have not given it any formal name, but we do have a name we use as an inside joke. It has very strong foundations, something that experts in the field will be able to attest soon. At the moment it's not packaged for commercial use, but that's something we'll think about after the game has launched. The engine supports collision-detection and physical reaction when a player gets hit. Cameras will be 1st or 3rd person, depending on what the user wants.
How are Darkfall's graphics?
A few days ago (June 2008) we set-up the entire game world of Darkfall. The environment is medieval and you'll need many hours to travel from one end to the other. Terrain will have vast variation, and naval battles will be included.
Are there pets to use?
Currently only horses (my comment - probably means mounts) are included. Furthermore you can use Warhulks and ships.
What are Darkfall's main gameplay features?
Our main concern was to make gameplay as open-ended as possible and let the players in control of their character. For example when you want to mount a horse you don't simply click and ride, but you'll have to make all the process manually. Another example is Gran Theft Auto, when for example your character opens the door of a car you have no control over him for a brief period. Our game will be real-time and we want to player to have full control of his actions. Additionally, the world is seamless and not zoned.
How is the combat system?
As I mentioned before, everything is real time. You don't simply click-autoattack or tab-lock the target, and you wont be seeing colorful numbers flying over the enemy with every hit! You'll have to be constantly involved in the battle and aim at the enemy. Hits will be in different body locations and fairly realistic. Θα πρέπει λοιπόν διαρκώς να συμμετέχετε στη μάχη και να χτυπάτε τον εχθρό. Should you be hit by an arrow on the chest, the arrow will remain on you.
How many people are working in sound and music production for the game?
We have a studio and a sound engineer, who records sounds in-house.The game will have 2 types of sound: environmental sound, and ingame music, depending on the location you're in.
Have you had any publishing talks yet?
We've had some offers from all over the world (America, Europe and Asia) for both local and international distribution. In some regions we'll go with publishers and in some others (i.e. Europe) on our own, with a possible mediator. Publishing has always been a concern for us, since most publishers usually simply offer 10-15% downpayment to cover immediate expenses, and then some royalties based on sales.
What are the estimated system requirements?
We've recently simulated large battles and it seems that a single-core processor will be sufficient. 200 vs 200 battles produce between 30 to 60 FPS. When running alone in the wilderness, FPS can shoot to as high as 170-200. This will be further improved once optimizations has been done. Our main concern is to be able to run large battles smoothly.
When will there be a Beta test?
Within this year, actually very soon.
How many users can the servers hold?
10.000 concurrent users. The farms will be set abroad, with the potential of expanding if player numbers rise.
When will the game be released? Will you also release for different platforms?
The PC version will be released as an estimate within 2008. We have a firm date set but cannot release it before certain publishing conditions are resolved. If all goes well, we plan on creating an Xbox 360 version in the future.
Closing words
Tasos Flambouras' presentation at the Gaming Conference lasted something more than an hour (was planned to be 20min long), and received the most diverse reactions from all other presentations made. Within the next months Aventurine must give firm answers, first through Beta and then by releasing the game. Darkfall Online is a big bet for our country. Based on what we've seen it's not absolutely certain that it will have record sales by Greek standards. We wish it the best of luck
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, czyli może nie będzie to zależało to od tego czy czarujemy/strzelamy , czy walczymy bronią białą
