|
Regular
Character: Pantheya
Server: LDL
Posts: 804
|
Re: Age of Conan
Here is stuff from Friday's Newsletter, there is an article on ranged stuff and a new video (i highly recommend):
Ranged combat in Age of Conan
Many things have changed about the ranged combat system in Age of Conan since we first started revealing details about this feature in early 2006. Game development is an ever-changing process, and what might have looked great on paper earlier in the game’s development cycle may turn out to be not quite as good when it finally becomes implemented. That’s when the developers create several iterations of a game feature before they finally set on how it’s going to work in the final game.
The ranged combat system has been through several of these iterations before we ended up with what we have today. Just to take an example: while the game still supports first-person mode for firing off arrows – complete with a crosshair and realistic targeting – we’ve also improved third-person ranged combat heavily by introducing what we call the cone targeting system that is used in all distance combat, including spell casting.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start at the beginning as we unravel the meaty details about the ranged combat system in Age of Conan.
Aiming and firing
In Age of Conan, shooting at something with a bow and arrow is much more than just clicking a target and then clicking an icon. Here you’ll have considerably more realistic targeting, as mentioned, in both first-person mode or in third-person mode. In first-person mode you will have a crosshair and you will be able to aim manually and shoot at your enemy, and you’ll even be able to shoot further in first-person mode than in third-person mode. But of course, aiming in first-person mode is going to take more skill as well!
When in third-person mode, you will have your cone targeting. The cone is basically a relatively narrow, cone-shaped area extruding from your character and everything within this cone is a potential target. The cone is also a visual guidance tool that can be turned off if you don’t want it on your screen. When moving and turning around, your target will change depending on what enemy is in the cone closest and most directly in front of you, and you can change targets by adjusting your angle so that you get a clean shot. It also makes so-called kiting considerably more difficult to do in Age of Conan.
It might sound odd, and it’s really a system that you have to try in order for you to understand how it actually works and why it works well. It definitively takes ranged combat to another level for massively multiplayer online games, and while it’s not completely precision-based (you don’t hit individual parts of the body, for instance), it is very much a solid compromise between a first-person shooter and a traditional MMO.
Ranged combos
Just like melee characters, rangers have combos. While there are several classes in Age of Conan that can use ranged weapons, only the ranger can perform ranged combo moves. This makes them a deadly opponent on the battlefield, and for the player, it makes ranged combat considerably more interesting and diverse as it suddenly becomes much more than a matter of firing off arrows at a target. It simply adds another layer of strategy to it.
Basically, just as with melee combat, you have five different directions in which to shoot. That’s upper right, lower right, upper left, lower left and head/torso. As a ranger, and only the ranger, you can acquire different combos that will be extra deadly. Each step of a combo fires off an arrow and the last arrow usually triggers an effect. It should also be mentioned that rangers are the only class who can used ranged weapons while mounted and they have the opportunity to use combos as well in those situations.
One example of a combo is the Hamstring Snipe, a powerful combo that ends up with sending barbed arrows into the heel of your opponent, making it unable to move at full speed. It can also result in fatality moves, of course, like sending three arrows at once right through the head of your opponent and watch the blood gushing wildly!
Weapons and ammunition
In Age of Conan there are two types of bows: the standard bow and the crossbow, and there are several differences between the two apart from the mere visual style of them. As an example, crossbows are mainly focused towards single-target damage while bows can be used to deal area of effect damage. The crossbow, however, has the added feature of being so powerful that you can actually shoot straight through one enemy and hitting the enemy behind him! Also, the crossbow deals a lot damage but the bow is usually faster.
Of course, all classes that uses ranged weapons can also use melee weapons – including the ranger. In Age of Conan rangers can’t dual wield, but they can use any one-handed weapon and they can use shields. They also get access to combos for melee weapons, and in close combat, the ranger has some very good snare/root attacks that allows them to gain distance to enemies so that they can go back to firing off those arrows again.
There is no need to buy ammunition in Age of Conan. What you need, however, is a quiver but it will always be full of arrows and you won’t use them up as you fire them. But each and every quiver has different attributes tied to it that gives the arrow different effects. For instance, one might let you fire off flaming arrows while another one uses a certain type of arrows that do more damage. We removed the need to buy arrows because we felt that this was nothing more than a frustrating element that we could get rid of.
Unique abilities
Players opting to play rangers will find that they have a wide array of different abilities to use when playing. Rangers can, for instance, track enemies around them so that they can avoid dangers or even follow prey that they might be hunting for. The ranger also has access to traps that can be placed out, and there are different levels of traps that each have their own unique effect and potency – such as keeping an enemy glued to the spot.
Another example of a valuable ability for rangers is the hide-attack. Rangers can go into hiding and if they shoot an enemy while being hidden, they have a chance of putting that enemy into a mezzed state. Think of this as using blunt arrows with a round stone at the tip, used to knockout enemies or rendering them unable to move or fight back.
Last, but not least, rangers also have access to different stances. Stances are vital abilities in Age of Conan, and while melee characters for instance can go into aggressive and defensive states (among others), the ranger also have access to a wide variety of stances that are triggered by simply clicking on the stance icon. The sniper stance will, for instance, increase the range of your attacks while the volley stance will provide area of effect damage. Another example is the piercing stance for crossbow-wielders.
Conclusion
The developers are continuously striving towards perfecting the ranged combat experience, and there will most likely be several changes as we progress through beta. We wanted to capture the excitement of being armed with a bow and having to shoot enemies with arrows, and we feel that we’ve achieves many of our goals by introducing not only the much more dynamic and hands-on targeting system, but also introducing strategic features such as stances, combos for rangers and so on.
So – will you be the one hiding in the shadowy woods of the Border Kingdom, ready to put an arrow in the brain of poor adventurer who happens to pass by? You decide!
There is a NEW VIDEO available at Gamespy and a few other gaming sites. It’s very good and really shows off the flavour of the world itself. It shows the area described below:
Atzel's Approach
- Jun 29, 2007
The Border Kingdoms: between the settlements within the gray realm of Cimmeria and the prosperous spires of Nemedia’s great cities, brigands and would-be rulers carve out hordes of territory within a disparate and chaotic land. The prize of the Border Kingdoms, within the grasp of the bandit-king Atzel, is the main pass into Cimmeria—used by humble traders and merchant-princes alike. Control over that pass keeps Atzel’s bandit minions well-paid, well-fed and well-armed.
Gripped by a cruel winter, the mountain passes of this lawless land are choked with ice, while snow-laden winds howl through the canyons, sounding to mortal ears like the cries of a dying god. Any who set foot in these lands walks into the frozen heartland of Atzel’s power, falling under his sight as he watches all transpiring in his realm from the highest windows of a great fortress. Atzel’s Approach, the region leading to the bandit-lord’s castle, is a land teeming with thieves and brigands banding together under their master’s banner.
Some tell stories of Atzel’s death at the hands of Conan the Cimmerian some years ago, but if these tales are true, how then does the bandit-king walk once more? Why do lawless killers from across Hyboria answer his call to arms? Why does an army of bandits flood the high passes of Cimmeria, killing and plundering in his accursed name?
Ruins jut from the scarred land of Atzel’s Approach, the broken bones of a long-dead civilization. An ominous shadow falls upon these ruins, an unholy silhouette of inhuman size and shape. The word dragon passes many lips in a fearful hiss. Others whisper demon, and pray to their gods for protection. Whatever the truth, a great unease bleeds through the region. Were neighboring kingdoms not so concerned with the invasions ravaging their borders, Hyboria’s rulers would look to Atzel’s lands with grim resolve in their eyes and blades in their hands. Evil breeds here unopposed—that much has become clear.
Deep within the canyons and upon the mountainsides, bandit armies toil alongside Stygian sorcerers among the shells of decayed settlements, pulling ancient relics from the earth and hoarding them for purposes unknown to all others. It seems Atzel has forged an unusual alliance in recent months. Time will tell what the unexpected ties between the bandit-king and the Stygians will spell for Hyboria.
__________________
|
Can't wait...
