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Darkfall Beta Leaker.
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02-01-2009 8:28amCopypasta:
Thers a leaker over at betaleak.com that answers questions on the game, think the thread is 16 pages long by now.
http://betaleaks.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48
Get yourself a g-mail from gmail.com (cant use hotmail to register) and create a account. Really interesting read so far. Smile
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=mail&passive=true&rm=false&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2F%3Fnsr%3D1%26ui%3Dhtml%26zy%3Dl<mpl=default<mplcache=2%20&hl=sv&utm_source=sv-ha-EMEA-sv-google&utm_medium=ha&utm_campaign=sv
Some of the answers -Originally Posted by NerfMePls
Awesome, thanks for posting.
What kind of features are currently turned off? What sort of things have you actually tested?
Good question. Servers are down quite a bit. When they are up they are stable. I have only tested some starter stuff out and most of the questions people are asking I do not have the answers for, or even the time to answer. If other people feel like becoming betaleakers who played the game longer they might provide more information, but I can only share what I know.
I tried to find dungeons and could not. So they are either turned off or I simply could not find any. Low skills are in, I heard higher skills are not. There are maybe a half dozen NPCs in each starter area, not many more. Maybe this is all they need but it does feel a bit sparse.
I don't know anything about crafting. Other than there are objects all over the world you can gather from and there are forges and such in towns like Vanguard or AC2.
I was curious if Goblins were the only mob and explored out and found there are various monsters as well. There are undead monsters. Trolls. Some kind of scorpion man and so on. So while goblins seem to be near most or all of the starter towns, there are various other monsters out there. You usually find them by them attacking you from the side all of a sudden.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nolifeking
Could you please do a detailed combat review? Like strife speed, twitch importance, size of player hitbox, avoiding getting hit, stuff like that. Would be much appreciated.
Strafe speed is pretty slow / Strike speed is pretty slow. Twitch and calculation matter in range, but it plays more like Oblivion than an FPS. Sprint helps with movement but takes stamina. Not certain on the hitbox size differences, I always aim for the center. Hit avoidance is difficult in melee because movement is pretty slow. Jumping would be a waste of time for example, other than maybe in avoiding spells.
Arrows are pretty fast and very hard to dodge. Some spells are pretty easy to dodge. I found at range sprint zig-zagging works much better than trying to dodge side to side. Either closing on target or trying to run away and live.Quote:
Originally Posted by theuprising
how many weapon skills are available, i already deduced earlier that melee would be just trading blows unless the weapon skills are rad, how many are there? Knockback from the newb preview seemed cool but still, you're a REAL leaker and not bound by nda, could you tell us about how many skills will be available?
EDIT: why doesn't jumping affect melee O.o, i thought they said attacks would hurt more when physics is applied (if you jump from a large cliff and hit someone you will do a lot of damage, i would assume attacking while coming from a jump will do more dmg than a normal attack)
I think I saw three initial skills for each weapon class? You need to build the initial skills to open up others. Melee combat may get more complex as you advance in it. I have no idea.
Not sure about jumping helping with damage, it might? I can just say it is not like Unreal where people are jumping around like mad. Takes stamina that you need and does not help much.
Falling damage is very low, speaking of cliffs. I assume this will be adjusted.Quote:
Originally Posted by baggs
Thanks dude.
At last someone with the balls to throw those ****ty NDAs to the trashcan.
I'd like to know :
"1. Anything that's being discussed about an Open Beta."
I think it is supposed to happen. Not sure when.
"2. Are big guilds just going to zerg anyone? Or numbers don't really matter?"
I would guess yes. Alliances and politics should matter much like they did in Shadowbane.
"3. Would you pay to play the game as it is on release? I mean there's not much stuff 30 devs can do in 3 weeks."
I would. It is my type of game and my type of world though.
"4. How big is the DF client?"
18.4 GB
"5. Is ping a big factor in winning a PvP? Or even PvE for that matter?"
Ping is not an issue at all. I know players on the opposite side of the world from the server and they do fine.
"6. Maximum range of a bow & mage shots? I mean you cant shoot an arrow and expect it to hit someone on the other side of a mountain."
Not sure max range on bows. Magic missile I think could hit about as far as you could see. They would see this glowing bit of magic coming at them however and could just move a bit.
"7. Any details about crafting. Like how important do you think it will really be? Seeing as you can easily zerg a dozen of humanoid mobs and get a few sets for your group.
What exactly are the benefits of a player crafted item? Things like that."
I have not crafted anything. I heard it is critical. Pretty much like UO I hear.0
Comments
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More -Quote:
Originally Posted by luftwaffe70
one question have you noticed anyone \\\"Sparring\\\" for skill gain with other players instead of just killing MOBs?
I asked someone about that and they said you can get skill gain through normal pvp, so I would think you could. You would still need to kill mobs or players for loot though. On mobs I could get skill gain only by hitting them. With spells I was able to skill up just casting. Which is fine with me.
Generally Darkfall is realistic and without artificial restrictions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Metal
How hard is it to sneak up on some one?
Easy if they are fighting. Hard if they are resting and paying attention.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLeprachaun
Just a quick question about magic.
Are there any interesting spells you've seen so far(perhaps transformation,levetation etc...). Also could you talk a little bit about either ritual magic or witchcraft?
Also,how are the graphics with all settings at max compared with the pics from the noob previews. Is there a slight cel-shaded feeling to the art design?
Thanks in advance.
The spells remind me of AC1 the most. I have not seen the variety of spells like you mention. They might be there though, so I can't really say.
The graphics look much better than the noob previews. If you look at the best screenshots at the darkfall site, they look like that on a decent system. Overall the graphics have a realistic look to them.0 -
More -Quote:
Originally Posted by Faithkiller
My questions :
"1.Out of /10 what do you rate this game now?""2.Are you enjoying your self more then any other mmo? If not which is better?"
Difficult question to answer since things are not turned on and there are not many people around."3.Can you see big/small potential in dfo"
I am biased in that I started in the first three MMORPGs and prefer free for all PvP worlds. It was a shame that only one of those main concepts was cloned over the years, so I honestly do see tons of potential in taking many of the ideas from UO and AC1, instead of just EQ like most MMORPGs. I also think the basics are solid and that PvP players can forgive a little polish if things work well and provide the type of world they are seeking.
I imagine it could carve out a niche like Eve, and with luck find and keep a few hundred thousand players. Which would make it fairly successful in the big picture and show that different ideas can succeed.0 -
Originally Posted by Metal View Post
Thanks leaker!
Can we get an idea of the creation system and the ammount of people in beta?
That reminds me, the patching system works really well.
For creation you select the server, then there is a box on the right that says "Darkfall Beta World New Character" You click that and enter a que, and then after that you get on the server and you create the character.
Just appearance mostly. Standard stuff. hair color does not work yet. All the other options appear to.
You do have to have a first and last name. So start thinking of your last name if you don't have one.
I think there are three starting areas for each race as well, of those I have seen. You pick one of those and enter the world.
Hundreds of people in the beta, at least. I don't think there are thousands.0 -
Sounds great
Really worried about how feasible it is to expect DFO release on the 22nd but this has managed to allay some of my fears.
Looking forward to this game like no other0 -
I have my doubts about this leaker0
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Awesome, thanks for the posts. My anticipation for this has really reached an all-time high.. need now!0
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Leprachaun wrote: »You shouldn't. He's legit.
Yeh seems allright now but it was iffy to me in the beginning.Quote:
Originally Posted by Milk Fox
Sounds like you're not entirely impressed by the game, i mean we all knew it looked **** from the screenshots etc but we thought maybe there was some magic we hadn't seen yet that would bring back the years of UO.
I will be honest. I was a bit let down when I first logged in, because I thought the game would have been farther along. After I adjusted the settings and spent some time exploring and testing it, I found I was impressed by many of the elements. Mostly being like UO in a more modern game.
Ultima Online is exactly what this game is the most like. If you loved UO I can't imagine you wouldn't like this game. Assuming they get it all worked out and ready.
New UO with some old UO in it. Wonder how long it takes before the freedoms in the game are patched out.0 -
Heh,I keep seeing people on other websites saying go to boards.ie to find the beta leaks. :pac:0
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Seems betaleaks.com has gone down for changes. You can post the following on your blog if you want.
There are more stats for weapons and armor after I double checked, so I made some errors. You can run in windowed mode. You can easily switch weapons and modes with the hot key bars. They tweaked some things and have improved it I think.
They have added in a bit more content as well and the game is starting to get pretty addictive. So I will give it an 8/10 right now and would rate it higher once it is complete. I will be buying and playing it for sure.
Guess that is all... take care.
-leakreader20 -
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Seems like a strange time to go down for changes right when they finally get a DF beta leaker and start generating more traffic for the site again.0
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As is the way with Darkfall.. so much goddamn mystery and shít..0
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I is teh famouz --> http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nuMnDH5MMwo/SWTLSjowcLI/AAAAAAAAAAM/ncEOvL9nf5U/s1600/betaa.JPG0 -
MoreMore stuff
You probably would like know what the stats actually do.
The following has been taken from the ingame description of each stat.
Str : Increases damage dealt with melee weapons,and moderately affects max health.
Vit : Grants a bonus to max health and moderate bonus to stamina. A high vitality may slightly reduce the effects of poison and bleeding.
Dex : Increases archery damage taken from area effects.
Quick : Slightly increases melee and archer speed,and may reduce damage taken from such attacks. Also Grants a moderate bonus to max stamina.
Int :Increases the power of spells,and greatly affects max mana.Also Improves resistance against mental attacks.
Wis : Grants a bonus to all crafting and harvesting skills, Also it moderately affects max mana,and grants a slight resist bonus against curses.
"Could you go into detail how heal spells work. Self heals and target heal. Is it all over time"
What I know of has casting time and then is instant. You do not target yourself, you just cast a self spell while holding a staff. I believe every spell for others is aimed in some manner. Nothing is easy.
Briefly I would like to clarify melee combat slightly more. Sprint is for moving foward only. Stepping to the side or back has equal movement speed. To dodge a melee attack it is better to step back, as side stepping is quite easy to follow with mouse look. You could also step in as they step back, but I still think it is a better tactic for a variety of reasons. Essentially it is like real life.
Here is some more magic stuff for you guys.
Lesser Magic
0 skill
Magic Ward - Instant ray, AOE resistance buff
Heal Self - Heal, self
Arcane Missile - Arcane Bolt
25 skill
Mana Drain - Reduces the target's mana
Mana to Stamina - Sacrifice mana for stamina
50 skill
Stamina to Health - Sacrifice stamina for health
Launch - Instant ray, damage + knockback
100 skill
Blast - Arcane bolt + Dexterity debuff
Burden - Encumbers the target, debuffing their casting / ranged speed
Greater Magic
0 skill
Beacon - Instant ray, lights up a target
Rend - Bleeding bolt + AOE
25 skill
Frailty - Damage resistance debuff
Unburden - Encumberance buff, self
Infliction shield - Resistance buff against bleed, poison, and drains, self
Heal Other - Instant ray, heal
50 skill
Venom - Poison bolt
Telekinesis - No description
Infliction ward - Infliction resistance buff, self
Flesh curse - Infliction resistance debuff
75 skill
Shrapnel - Arcane bolt + AOE ; bolt effected by gravity
Insight - Wisdom buff, self
100 skill
Begone - Arcane bolt + knockback
Confusion - bolt + AOE blindness0 -
New long one -
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Darkfall starter guide!
I hope you guys have enjoyed these leaks, and I hope to read more previews from other testers here over the next few days or weeks until Darkfall is released. I trust Faithkiller and I think you can as well. I would also like to say that if other testers did want to safely leak screenshots they could hit ALT-H to remove the entire interface and then take a photo of it with a digital camera. -leakreader2
Darkfall Tester Guide -
When you enter Darkfall for the first time, you will spawn in the starting village you selected in the character creator. All races have three starting villages each.
You spawn next to a guard tower, so you are reasonably safe here. The guard towers will fire at anyone entering its range with an evil or rogue alignment. Currently the damage of the guard towers are a little low, and it will be increased slightly over the next few weeks.
The interface
The first thing you want to do is to arrange the interface to your liking, and maybe try out different video settings.
You bring up the GUI-mode by RIGHT-CLICKING your mouse. You close it again with another RIGHT-CLICK.
In your backpack you will have three different starting weapons – a club, a sword and an axe. You equip one of them by either double clicking it or dragging it to the weapon slot of your paperdoll. You will always respawn with these three weapons. They can not be sold, destroyed or lost.
Everything else on your character will be left on your grave when you die, and can be looted by anyone.
Always make sure to keep your bank vault well stocked with equipment or gold. You will never lose items in your bank vault.
To perform any attacks, you need to unsheathe your weapon. This is done by pressing R. Pressing R again will sheathe your weapon.
When your weapon is sheathed, you are in 1st person view. When your weapon is unsheathed (i.e. when you are in combat mode), your view changes to 3rd person view if you are holding a melee weapon, and stays in 1st person (but with hands and weapon visible) if you are using a ranged weapon, such as a bow or a magic staff to cast spells.
To cast a spell you need a staff. You can either find a staff on a monster, or buy it from an NPC vendor.
Most active skills in Darkfall follow the load and fire principle. You select the skill of spell you want to perform (drag the ones you use more often to the hotbar for convenience), then press the LEFT mouse-button to perform the action.
Getting quests
Next to the bindstone where you spawn for the first time, is an NPC Councelor.
You interact with all NPCs, bank vaults, mail boxes, gravestones, ships, mounts, cannons etc. by pressing the F (use) button.
Remember to sheathe your weapon (press R) before you interact.
When you talk to the Councelor, he will have tabs for buying, selling and quests. Pick the quest tab and accept all quests he is offering.
Once you have gotten the quest to kill goblins, an indicator on your minimap will show where some of the closest goblin camps are.
Monsters
Monsters in Darkfall are tough. Try to fight one monster at a time if possible, and always watch your stamina and hitpoints. If you are in trouble, RUN.
Sprinting
You can run faster by pressing LEFT SHIFT to sprint. Sprinting will drain your stamina, so keep an eye on your stamina bar. Getting attacked by a monster or player with almost no stamina is not good.
Going Rogue
When you target/look at another player, if his name is in blue, he has a positive alignment to you. Attacking him will make you a Rogue. When you are in Rogue-mode, your name will appear in brown to other players, and they can kill you with no penalties. If you kill a blue player, your alignment will drop, and if it drops enough you will turn red to other players, and they will be rewarded with positive alignment for killing you.
Red players will be auto-attacked by guard towers.
Looting a grave
To loot a grave, sheathe your weapon (press R), target the grave and press use (F) to open it. Items can now be dragged from the grave to your backpack.
Resting
To rest, sheathe your weapon (press R), then use the Rest skill (which you can drag to the hotbar from the skills list). This does NOT make you rest yet, it simply loads the skill. Left click to start resting. A ‘zzz’ icon will appear at the top of the screen and you will see your character in 3rd person view, sitting down. You can mouselook and arrange your bags etc. without breaking out of rest.
To stop resting, use the Jump key (space by default).
If you have any food, eating before you rest will increase the recovery rate.
Chatting
/say (default) - talk to people in your immediate vicinity
/say_global - talk to everyone on the server. This is a temporary chat command that will be removed before release
/msg firstname lastname - sends a private message to another player. The message will show up in its own tab, and by switching to this tab you open a private conversation with each other.
If you are a veteran gamer you should now be ready to start, otherwise keep reading!
FIRST STEPS IN DARKFALL – A WALKTHROUGH
Does it sound all a bit too much to learn? It’s actually quite easy once you get used to it. Let’s bring all this information together with a short walkthrough.
Step 1 – Initial preparations
You have just created your character, and have appeared just outside the gate of the village that you chose as starter location. You will see a clanstone (i.e. bindpoint) and the NPC that gives the starter quests.
Under the System messagebox there is a ‘Chat’ button. Click on it to open the public chat bar. If you want to type a message to all, type /say_global then your message. If you want to start a private conversation, type /msg then the player’s name and last name followed by your message
You don’t see your character yet (since you aren’t in combat mode). Right click. This brings up the utility windows, such as paperdoll, backpack, etc. A links menu on the top left allows you to access options, journal, minimap, etc. Click now on minimap to open it, if it’s not open already in the top right corner. Leave it there, it will be handy shortly to find where the monsters are.
Click on Skills, and under general skills find ‘Rest’. Drag it to the ‘0’ (zero) slot of the hotbar (you’ll see how to use it in a moment). Equip one of the 3 starter weapons by dragging it from the backpack to your paperdoll.
Right click again – the utility windows will disappear. Press R to unsheathe your weapon. Now you can see your character!
Step 2 – Moving around
Time to familiarise yourself with the basic movement keys:
W,S,A,D move you forward, back, left, right
Space – Jump
Left shift – Sprint (it consumes stamina but you run much faster)
C – crouch (npcs have more trouble spotting you)
Remember that you can remap these and all other keys in Options, which is an item of the menu that you can see when you right click.
Step 3 – Get the starter quests
Run up to the NPC. To interact with him, you must first sheathe your weapon, if you are in combat mode (press R to sheathe/unsheathe)..
Press F to interact with the guy. You will see a window where the last tab is Quests. Go to that tab and take the two quests available.
You will now see on the minimap (that you opened in step 1) the locations of the nearest goblins. Start running there.
Step 4 –Combat
Unsheathe your weapon (press R - you’ll now be in 3rd person view) and left click to hit your target. Note that you do NOT autotarget or lock target. You have to actually be facing towards your enemy and be aiming at it/her/him in order to hit. Keep an eye on your stamina bar so that you always have enough to sprint away if you are in too much trouble.
Step 5 – Loot
Let’s assume that you defeated your enemy. After a few moments, a tombstone will appear instead of its body. Sheathe your weapon (press R), then target the tombstone and press F to use it. Drag its contents to your backpack.
Step 6 – Rest
Walk out of the way of the spawn to avoid surprises, then sheathe your weapon if you were in combat mode (press R). Press 0 (we had dragged the Rest skill to this slot in step 1). Rest is now loaded, as you can see by the small campfire icon under the hotbar. To start resting, left click. You will see your character sitting down. When your life and stamina bars are full, press space to jump up.
Congratulations, you’ve learned the ropes of getting by in Darkfall, and are now ready to discover more by yourself, such as how to use magic, crafting, archery, and so on. If you are ever in doubt on how to do something, don’t forget to ask in general chat. People are happy to help and there’s usually a Dev at hand to answer most questions.
Darkfall Default Controls
Please note: all of these controls can be changed ingame
Right Mouse Bring up / Close the User Interface windows
W,A,S,D movement: forward, strafe left, backwards, strafe right
Mouse Turn,mouselook
F -Use/ action key (vendors, mounts, ships, guns, vehicles,looting)
R -Sheathe / Unsheathe (equipped weapon or staff)
C Crouch
Space Jump
Numlock Autorun
L Shift +W Sprint
Ctrl(+ W,A,S,D) Walk
0-9 Hotbar Slots skill/spell selection
Shift+0-9 Hotbar selection(For fast access to the hotbar use shift 0 -9)
First Person Mode Controls (Ranged, Spells)
Mouse left button Fire
Swimming Controls:
W,A,S,D Forward, left, backwards, right
C Dive
left shift and movement key crawl-stroke swimming (faster
Space Swim Upwards
Special Controls:
To revive the character needs to have its weapon sheathed.
Z Revive (LMB/Attack bind to use)
X Gank (Press LMB/Attack bind to use)
SPACE Release(die) when incapacitated before the timer runs out.
Mount Controls:
F to mount/dismount
R Sheathe/Unsheathe a weapon on mounts
W,A,S,D move forward, turn left, move backwards, turn right
Mouse Mouseloook
Q,E Lean left, right
Space Jump
Movement +Ctrl Mount walks
Numlock Autorun
Left Mouse when mount is standing still Mount attacks Forward
Left Mouse + S when mount is standing still Mount attacks Backwards
Left Mouse + S when mount is standing still Mount attacks Backwards
Left Mouse+ W,A,D Weapon attack when mount is in motion
Ship Controls:
WASD move forward, turn left, move backwards, turn right
Mouse Mouseloook
Numlock Autorun
Cannon controls:
Mouse aim
Left Mouse Fire cannon
Warhulk controls:
F12 Change Camera Mode
WASD move forward, turn left, move backwards, turn right
Left Mouse If warhulk has a cannon for the driver: Fire Cannon
Mouse Rotates camera in secondary camera mode. If driver has a cannon, it rotates the cannon. />
Posted by Faithkiller at 8:34 PM 9 comments Links to this post
Labels: leak
Lesser magic spell list + more!0 -
I'm not sure I believe this leaker. . . he was talking about the different size of hitboxes, but it is common knowledge that there are NO hitboxes in DF.0
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Ok, but I thought it was common knowledge that Darkfall does not have hitboxes. It would simply take up too many resources during large scale battles.0
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Ah, but there's common knowledge that there are two hit boxes.0
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Apparently this is from patch notes:# Ganking has been enabled. (Default key to select the skill is 'X'). Use a melee weapon. Aim at a helpless player on the ground and press attack (Default: Left MB) *6)
# Reviving has been enabled. (Default key to select the skill is 'Z'). Sheathe your weapon, aim at the player and press attack. *6)
# Gank/Revive has been enabled. When you die now, several things might happen to you: You might be decapitated, your head might be violently crushed, you might simply die OR you might end up on the ground helpless. If the latter is the the case, then you have 3 things that might happen: You can tap out using the space bar (which will bring you back to your bind point), a friend (or enemy) can choose to revive you or an enemy (or friend) can choose to gank you (finishing move). Also note that blood effects for ganking are not complete.
Hope it looks as good as it sounds rofl0 -
Here you are : http://www.eu1.darkfallonline.com/dl/Darkfall.exe
You need an account to login on that and download the proper game,but if you want to have a darkfall icon on your desktop there you go. :pac:
More stuff:
http://www.eu1.darkfallonline.com/news
Deadly patch notes there. The game seems really to be coming along.0 -
groovy. Anyone got login details ? :S0
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I received an email with some good news today. I wonder what it could be.
PM me if you wanna 'chat'. :pac:0 -
Leprachaun wrote: »I received an email with some good news today. I wonder what it could be.
PM me if you wanna 'chat'. :pac:
Lucky ****er!!
Btw when have you been signed up for the site since?? Seems to have the biggest impact on who gets the "good news"!!0 -
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Has nda being lifted? Anyone care to express some first hand experiences?0
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NDA hasnt been lifted as far as I'm aware, but it's not my beta account I'm using so I find it hard to imagine they'll track down whose it is from my boards info
First impression is really bad.
Let that sink in for a good minute before you move on, because I was as disappointed as you are just now.
The graphics are not what you'd expect from a modern day MMO, if you've seen the videos chances are you have a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about. The architecture is really great though. The buildings look majestic and threatening at the same times but the textures seem kinda shoddy in most places. Most commonly noticed are walls and ground textures that look almost like a port from Quake 1.
The sunsets are stunning though as are the twin moons but you need to accept the fact that the graphics are average at best. I'm using default graphic settings at the moment and an 8800 GT with a 2.6ghz Dual Core and 2gb Ram.
The UI is like a hello world VB program I once wrote in college, seemingly using some kind of html link to a database for your quests info and other character stats. Honestly, its dirt poor and I have no idea if its ever intended to be changed. Probably not this late to launch.
The sounds are awful too; though I'm reliably informed on the beta forums that sounds are expected to be updated before it launches. As it is it sounds like midi sounds playing everytime a spell is cast or an NPC goblin grunts as he charges you.
BUT thankfully I found none of that mattered. About 20 minutes into the game I started to feel like I was in a matrix. I stopped seeing badly textured walls and instead started to see avenues of attack from marauding gank squads.
Generic looking trees became cover I could run to, to hide from REDS bulldozing all life in that area.
Sounds were still less detailed than I would have liked; but were no less emotive nonetheless. The slightest sound of combat, of which there are many, became an instant notification of potentially impending doom.
Foot steps were significant clues as to whether I was being followed or not - if I could only make my heart stop thumping quite so loudly.
Darkfall is full of these types of compromises. Things that appear rubbish at face value are full of layers, and in most cases; reasons for appearing rubbish. There are exceptions to this rule at least in so far as what I have experienced, but in enough of a way that you find that you enjoy the game - you are willing to compromise.
Leveling skills is a monumental task, when you look at it through the eyes of a newbie just logged into the game for the first time. I was mostly prepared for this, as adventurine announced they had over 500 skills and 500 spells for the game. In reality that turns into a run skill, a sprint skill, a mining skill, a smelting skill, an armour crafting skill, a weapon crafting skill - essentially what is commonly a single skill is broken up into 2 or 3 different skills in Darkfall.
But personally that was fine. I was happy to do double or treble the work on one character, compared to "rerolling" a 2nd and a 3rd character, just to explore those other avenues of gameplay.
My general combat technique consists of casting ranged spells to get some extra damage until my target gets close enough to make running into melee worthwhile. Follow up with some light sword+board melee and swiftly change to bow and arrow should the target make the mistake of turning tail and running; something NPC and player character tend to do equally often and equally well, again with some exceptions.
The day and night cycle is fantastic. There was recently a patch to reduce the duration of both and I think it works brilliantly.
Daytime is exactly how you would expect a traditional MMO to work. It's bright and cheery and sunny, there could be an NPC or a potential enemy player behind every boulder, but at least you know you will see your target clearly and without greatly reduced risk of an enemy appearing out of nowhere and jumping you.
Night time is a whole different story. Honestly, it's so dark I feel like I should be equipped with a shotgun and a flash-light hunting zombies, though perhaps thats too much Left 4 Dead.
The two nights I wandered around outside the city walls, I came across enemy gank squads just blitzing the few rare NPC spawns that are turned on.
The first night a RED/Murderer (the same faction member whose alignment has gone below 0 and is considered an enemy of the state) and an Alfar (I was playing Human) appeared and started killing 2 farming players, while I was just approaching from the hill. I ran alongside the fleeing farmers sprinting to the protection of the guard towers. One of them lagged behind (obviously ran out of stamina) and was caught up with. He made it to the guard tower but shortly afterwards died to the combination of their melee and spell-casting. The Alfar caster, however, took significant damage from the guard towers (they hurt) and paniced. He ran for the treeline away from his red friend and I gave chase. Launching about 4-5 arrows in his back before he got behind a tree. This being night time and the guy having nothing shiny to draw attention to himself, he just disappeared.
I ran around the tree, swinging my sword unable to see him at all, until he made a bolt for another tree. I did manage to catch up with him and incapacitate him and quickly ganked him. This gave me some bonus alignment and some nice loot to boot.
I raced back to the town, in fear of reprisal from his red friend.
The second night I went out, I just came across a lone soul killing goblins. He accidentally hit me and went grey, this means he can be killed by same faction members without an alignment penalty and the guard towers will automatically attack him. The grey/rogue status lasts about 2 minutes from what I can tell, but the few times I went rogue; well, it felt alot longer than that
But anyways, the moment he went rogue he ran off away from me, drew his sword and crouched. I watched him run so was able to make out his silhouette but I wasnt interested in fighting so I warily watched him but made it clear I wasnt interested in a fight.
Shortly afterwards he went back blue (friendly/non-rogue) and he continued to kill goblins, as did I. He saw one first and attacked, I accidentally hit him in the back with an arrow but thought nothing of it and continued to kill the goblin.
When it died my "friend" turned and proceeded to attack me. With some circle strafing and jousting, he was getting low and made a break for the guard tower. I gave chase and launched a few arrows into his back, but he made it to the guard towers so I gave up and ran away. He chased me for quite a bit, launching magic missiles into my back before I could get over a nearby hill.
I managed to lose him in the darkness and a bush almost instantly however and he gave up and ran off.
I sat down and rested until my rogue status wore off and went back to the camp.
I saw him just after killing a goblin and with ~50% hp so I shot 3-4 arrows into him while crouching behind a tree. He clearly had no idea where I was shooting from, or hell, who or what was shooting him and started to make a break for it... right towards me. I just jumped out of my cover and managed to finish him with some melee. Causing him to drop just at my feet. Fully looted him and laughed evilly, as my previous nights Alfar kill combined with a red from that day, meant I still had +2 alignment and got my revenge.
My 4 days playing Darkfall for about 3-5 hours a day or as much as the repeated downtime will allow for, has been full of similar experiences. PvP is rampant and while it might be the fact that its "just beta", the fact is its so easy to go grey or to force someone grey by jumping in front of them, and there is never any reason not to gank a grey; means as soon as you or someone else does go rogue, there will be piranha's waiting nearby to kill you and loot your things. Myself included
With this mentality, combined with the added factor of 2-3 red kills means you can cover the random killing of anyone you can get away with - makes for constant PvP on the brain. You are looking out for it all the time whether you want to avoid or embrace it, simply because it is there, all the time. At the back of your mind, screaming wildly that that random guy on the horizon with his sword drawn, heading towards you, is about to take your stuff - and likewise that that kind chap who farmed mobs alongside you for 2 hours and maybe even helped you when a pull got nasty, and is now like a ripe fruit - full to the brim of 2 hours worth of loot; makes for a compelling target. Kill him, loot his corpse (leaving a weapon or two being optional) then sprint to some nice trees and wait for your rogue status to wear off. Then hit up the town and bank your ill-gotten gains. Albeit, all the while waiting for that inevitable betrayal from some random guy who you ganked 3 hours ago to jump you while you mine some metal from a rock, totally oblivious as he sneaks in for a surprise attack.
So, for the TL;DR and to summarise: if its got what you want from an MMO; a fully skill based MMO both class system wise and player skill wise combined with a sandbox world then you will probably enjoy the game as much as I currently am.
Throughout my years as a gamer, I have always judged my overall enthusiasm for a game based on one thing, my sleep pattern. Its not uncommon for me to stay up for 36 hours on a trot while enjoying a good game. But not since I first started playing WoW 4 years ago and again now with Darkfall Online, have I actually woken up after less than 5 hours sleep - excitedly plotting my next adventures in-game.
And I havent even gotten to build my boat yet! o/
So yeah, I've been foaming at the mouth for every little detail I could find online about Darkfall and now that I've gotten a chance to get a taste of it first-hand, I feel obliged to pay it forward. This is just my personal opinions about the game. I've not really been keeping up much with the proposed changes but I always read the most recent patch-notes and while they are often small patches, they are coming in 1-2 patches a day. Admittedly, sometimes bringing the server to its knees for 6+ hours but they generally get a handle on whatever they break fairly rapidly.
Pingwise I'm at 46 so often that I actually thought the Ping Meter was just set to <50. When I tried playing while grabbing a torrent at 90% of my line speed I quickly dispelled that theory. FPSwise I've had no issues except for the change between "zones" is noticeable and the recent patch has given rise to some stuttering, but I read on the recent patch notes they've included some fixes for that that I've yet to try. I'll let ye know how it goes.
As it is I'm just wandering around randomly, trying to experience as much as I can, so if you've questions I'll try answer them or try them out if I get in-game again0 -
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Very nice and indepth details of the game, I enjoyed reading it.
Sounds to me like it could be an awesome game (in what I'm looking for) if they polish it up a bit more. I know I don't mind waiting another few months but I can see how others will be impatient at this stage.0
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