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[Crowfall] Game of Thrones meets EVE Online. Early Access available now.

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Posts

  • franciscourantfranciscourant Registered User regular
    edited June 2016
    Monday the Studio is live streaming from their office for 12 hours. Raph Koster, Todd Coleman, Gordon Walton and the other folks are going to answer questions, announce new partnership, play against the fans in a beat-the-devs playtest. We can expect giveaways, design reveals, live demonstration from the artists, etc. I want to see something like that since a while (1+ year), so I'll make sure to not miss it =P Their twitch:

    franciscourant on
  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    One thing I really like about these devs is how transparent they are with their design goals. Blizzard is getting there, but these guys right from the word go are saying exactly why they make design choices and what it'll take to change their minds. I'm really interested in what comes out in tomorrow's stream. Right now the biggest complaint on the forums is that abilities root players making combat in a dynamic moving scenario frustrating at best. They're responding saying that it's totally intended, but the problem lies with the underlying physic system not using weight or whatever properly, and once it's fixed the rooted combat won't be a problem.

    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • RoeRoe Always to the East Registered User regular
    Kickstarter devs in my experience, are very transparent. Probably because not only did their kickstarter need crowd funding, they need more money from backers to complete the game, and get the word of mouth out the door from them as well.

    CSE has been transparent as I've ever seen a company be, mainly because the fan base backs, tests, and plays the game they set out to produce.

    oHw5R0V.jpg
  • fenrisddfenrisdd Registered User new member
    I'll be looking out for this one.

  • JimboliniJimbolini Registered User new member
    I recommend you check out the live stream tomorrow 6/27. 8-8 CST.

    Having tested this game for many months now, I can say it has a ton of potential.

  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Speaking of that stream, so far they had Q&A with Raph Koster and Gordon Walton, 4-5 devs of Shroud of the Avatar payed them a visit and gave a bottle of whiskey (which is already almost empty...), there was a bunch of artwork/tech/gameplay demos and Travian (!) was announced as their European partner (publisher I guess, I wasn't folowing that part closely).

    I'm likely forgetting a lot, and I won't be able to follow it till the end. I hope someone, somewhere, will write a summary!?

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  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Allright, here is not one but TWO summaries :)

    First one, shorter:
    • Travian is Crowfall's Euro-partner and two senior Travian guys (the CEO I guess? + a younger one) chatted with Todd and Gordon for long time after the announcement; It seems that ACE (at least, Gordon) has good connections with them since long time ago, they mentioned stuff they were doing together in 80s;
    • ACE negotiated with lots of potential partners, including a number of companies bigger than Travian, but in the end decided that similar vision and spirit matters more than big numbers; Travian should "cover" Europe, Brasil, Middle East and North Africa;
    • EU and USA will be in the same universe but will have different servers - some for USA, some for EU and you can choose which ones you wan to play on;
    • Raph Koster gave a kind of Q&A/chat mix with Gordon, but for some reason questions allowed were about their general lives and careers, not Crowfall!?
    • There was a quick "surprise" visit from 4-5 developers of Shroud of the Avatar, including Starr Long who presented a huge bottle of whiskey to Todd; Couple hours later, bottle was almost empty - see below;
    • ACE played a little game of taking whiskey shots whenever they get another $500 worth of pledges; Total pledges during stream went well over $10 000 - there was a wheel with ACE names written on it, they were spinning it at every $500 and the (un)lucky winner was taking a shot. It seems that someone rigged the wheel, since Todd took three big shots in a row quite early (at least while I was watching);
    • There was a lot of live artwork/modeling/animating/developing - say, we saw future Frostweaver + Minotaur art, Mino animations and early developing/testing of some skills by Blair;
    • New environment graphics update coming very soon, they showed some and it looks sweet;
    • Swimming confirmed, still in rudimentary state of development;
    • Trees will be actual harvesting nodes for lumberjacks, and similar for some flowers/grass; After harvesting, some resources will just "explode" into pieces, like a pinata, to be gathered;
    • Campaign worlds may take hours to run across.
    • Crafters can build custom wall pieces for castles, players can hire crafters to modify their castles.

    ...aaand second one, twitch stream recording index with times (credits to Tinnis of Crowfall forums):


    "0m to 26m Travian international partner (EU, Brazil etc).

    26m53s to 58m45s ‘Cooking with Dogget’ (Myrm model animation – Dogget = senior animator).

    1h13m to 1h56m30s John o’neil (envinorment) Steven Wyckoff (programmer); Graphics upgrade and world building process; First time showing a seamless large scale world.

    2h03m45s to 2h32m15s Castle building process with Melissa Preston (Art Director).

    2h32m15s to 3h Raph Koster (Game design consultant) and Gordon Walton (Executive Producer) - Biographical questions.

    3h08m10s to 3h59m Dave Greco (Art Lead) sketching the Frostweaver.

    3h59m to 4h23m30s Travian partner Lars Jannssen (Travian - CEO) + Jess Mulligan (Travian - Director of Publishing).

    4h23m30s to 4h27m35s SURPRISE WHISKEY WHEEL GUESTS! Shroud of the Avatar team; Now every $500 raised – the wheel of drinking will spin!

    4h31m to 5h2m12s Billy Garretsen (UX Design lead) Illustration – The MYRM poster.

    5h12m30s to 6h00m08s Thomas Blair (Design lead) showing how powers are made with the Myrm (bullrush, berserk, ‘fury’ resource tease).

    6h00m08s to 6h05m45s RIP TODD LIVER AND THE CROWFALL SOCK PUPPET!

    6h05m45s to 06h30m50s Mark Halash (Senior game designer) and Thomas Blair (Design lead) - Combat disciplines preview.

    06h33m06 to 06h36m WHEEL TREACHERY REVEALED! And talk with Max the production intern.

    06h36m to 07h02m07s Steven Wyckoff (Senior programmer) Playing against the testers (Lego).

    07h03m to 07h10m40s Valerie Massey a.k.a. Pann (Director of community) and Jonathan Pollard (Game designer); Nocturnal Demise sent them crow desserts!

    07h10m40s to 0731m15s Mark Halash (Senior game designer) and Thomas Blair (Design lead); Merchant pack pig stream stretch goal; Exploration and Crafting disciplines preview.

    07h31m34s to 07h59m40s Valerie Massey a.k.a. Pann (Director of community) and Todd Coleman (Creative director) - Todd interview.

    08h09m37s to 08h14m More drunk Todd :)

    08h14m to 08h31m25s Thomas Blair (Design lead) and Raph Koster (Game design consultant) - Harvesting and combat at points of interest.

    08h35m31s to 09h02m05s Mike Mcshaffry “Mr Mike” (Principal engineer) and Jason Hewes (spelling? - “tech gizmo worker”) - Performance technology demo.

    09h02m10s to 09h12m25s Dave greco, Melissa Preston, The Dogget, Billy Garretsen; Behind the scenes: Harvesting video...And bloopers.

    09h18m28s to 09h36m20s Billy Garretsen (UX Design lead) - World creation (swimming confirmed...just not underwater!).

    09h41m07s to 10h00m50s Eric Hart (Character artist), texturing Myrm axes.

    10h01m55s to 10h31m20s Thomas Blair (Design lead), Todd Coleman (Creative director) [now on coffee and 7 alcohol drinks] + Raph Koster (Game design consultant); Many interns! Intern introductions, Developer Q&A.

    10h35m19s to 11h01m02s Greg Tapper (VFX artist) guest appearance hug from Dogget THE CROW! Preview of building siege weapons in siege perilous as a player; The ballista; Scatter storm; Rallying banner; How the graphics effects are made.

    11h01m40s to 11h08m08 Andy cook (Senior animator); Introduction and talk + misc drinking; $8,000 stretch goal reached (merchant pack pig)

    11h08m11s to 11h10m01s Thomas Blair (Design lead); Kitten(s)! PEEWEE! + New stretch goal: The archer’s / ranger tower - $10,000 target.

    11h10m01s to 11h44m10s Thomas Blair (Design lead); Playtest (Druid).

    11h44m10s to 11h52m57s Close to end of stream and pledge goal; Gordon, Todd, Dogget; Finally wheel landed on Gordon! $10,000 pledge goal reached (ranger/archer tower)! NO DRIVING HOME! :) Group thanks and goodbye; Closing with tiger chat video.

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  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Couple words about procedural generation - that's how we'll be building our own kingdoms: by placing mountains, rivers (!) etc. at will.

    First, A quick intro with couple recent screenshots; part of it was based on this official update (warning! quite long and full of tech details):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pRvhMSjcbc


    PS Kinda off-topic (non-building), a short comic about Crowfall death mechanics.

    That includes a possible sex/race change.

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  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Duelist is revealed - basically it's rogue guinea pig (!) with a sword and a gun.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohRKdA9Jx78

    Bit earlier, Minotaur was introduced - a kind of warrior with quite strange tanking mechanics:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBGA_K9XHrY

    ...and this is recent crafting & gathering demo (TLDR - it's very similar to that of Star Wars Galaxies, and same SWG guys are working on it):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-6LF3IyzCw&feature=youtu.be

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  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W52SD7MAIPk

    Gives a nice look at the early alpha.

    Overall I am actually really, really surprised at how good it all looks. Still a ways to go, but for an early-alpha I'm very impressed.

    The quality of the animations caught me way off guard.
    The art style is very slick.
    Combat looks really fun. I'm eager to see what combat looks like between groups.

    I don't remember if this guy mentions it in this video, but one of the cooler things about Crowfall's PvP campaigns is that your faction (or guild depending on which campaign you sign on for) has three ways to win. Glory (whatever that means), Fortune or good old fashioned Conquest.

    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    @Axen We miss you Axen, come back to us!

    Also glad to see one of these still in development MMOs is looking good.

    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Couple more videos - combat, crafting/gathering and that Van Helsing guinea pig:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUBerFx6Mck

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4glvv-ZxXI

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HptlLpR71sk

    PS
    Axen wrote: »
    ...<snippety snip>...
    I don't remember if this guy mentions it in this video, but one of the cooler things about Crowfall's PvP campaigns is that your faction (or guild depending on which campaign you sign on for) has three ways to win. Glory (whatever that means), Fortune or good old fashioned Conquest.

    It's actually very complicated, they plan to have all kinds of winning conditions, including even building and economy. It's still in flux, but there will likely be lots of extremely "experimental" rulesets - at least in the beginning.

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  • V1mV1m Registered User regular
    Did anything ever happen with this?

  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    Quite a bit.

    Honestly much to my own surprise I'd say this project is coming along at a respectable pace.

    Combat and animations are very slick and are even more impressive when you consider it is still pre-alpha.

    Crafting and gathering systems seem to be solid, though IIRC they've mentioned that they'll be tweaking both of those things over the course of development.

    I don't think there have been any huge developments since last December though.


    I'm still looking forward to this and Camelot Unchained. Whichever one I end up playing will probably come down to whichever releases first. Though I'm more partial to Camelot since I'm an old time fan of DAoC, but I love the idea of Crowfall's campaigns.

    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • vamenvamen Registered User regular
    The duelist single-handedly made me go from ignoring this game to being excited for it.

  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Templar is added to tests, that makes 9 classes (out of 13) so far. This is the very first - and rather rough, as you'll see - showing of her basic abilities:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsd6c2NVEi0

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  • Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    Damn this game has some amazing animations.

    It really looks incredible visually right now. That alone makes it worth having on the radar. But it also is really aiming to be such a unique experience as well.

  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    That Templar is everything I wanted out of a Paladin class. I'm stoked. Expecially because my second choice, the Knight, is outclassed by just about every other class out there. That being said I trust these guys to get the balance right by launch.

    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    Oh good lord there is no way they are even looking at balance yet.

    I wouldn't take balance seriously in designing a game like this till you can at least open it up to a ton of players and get the people who will try to break the numbers involved.

  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    Too true, the only reason I mention it right now with the Knight is because the design goal for the class seems to be high defense, moderate control, and low damage which I don't think has ever been a winning combination in an MMO.

    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    The game does seem to be based on team pvp so it might be based on that. It is hard to judge how a class is built before you understand exactly how it fits into the game. It doesn't seem to really be a typical MMO as far as gameplay is concerned.

  • StragintStragint Do Not Gift Always DeclinesRegistered User regular
    Has anyone played this? I was thinking of getting early access but I don't know if I should trust investing in a game this early.

    PSN: Reaper_Stragint, Steam: DoublePitstoChesty
    What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak

    I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    edited February 2017
    There's been a big patch with some huge updates since the last time I played. Here's a good video showing it off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUBerFx6Mck

    They're planning on releasing the eternal worlds with their next update I think, and that might be when I poke my nose in to take another peek. Until then I'm trying to reduce this crippling back-log of games I have. First world problems...

    edit; Doh, I haven't been to this thread in such a long time I didn't realize that video had already been posted on this page no less.

    While I'm here, I'm not personally a big fan of playing early access games. I like the sneak peek into the development and design process, and the bragging rights to be able to say "Well in Alpha it was like this, but it really wasn't that great in practice..." I do like to support new things through crowdfunding, so there is that aspect of it, but Crowfall's funding success is going to be through their major partners imo.

    italianranma on
    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • StragintStragint Do Not Gift Always DeclinesRegistered User regular
    Probably a stupid question but it is something I feel like I need to ask. If I buy one of the pledge packages do I get the items from it when the actual game drops or are these just available for the alpha/beta phase?

    PSN: Reaper_Stragint, Steam: DoublePitstoChesty
    What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak

    I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
  • RoeRoe Always to the East Registered User regular
    Stragint wrote: »
    Probably a stupid question but it is something I feel like I need to ask. If I buy one of the pledge packages do I get the items from it when the actual game drops or are these just available for the alpha/beta phase?

    Most definitely when the game goes live.

    oHw5R0V.jpg
  • StragintStragint Do Not Gift Always DeclinesRegistered User regular
    Roe wrote: »
    Stragint wrote: »
    Probably a stupid question but it is something I feel like I need to ask. If I buy one of the pledge packages do I get the items from it when the actual game drops or are these just available for the alpha/beta phase?

    Most definitely when the game goes live.

    Cool, thank you.

    I am genuinely curious about this $7000 palace. Some of the prices for the in-game stuff are insane. I can only guess that the idea behind that is a guild all puts in funds to purchase it.

    PSN: Reaper_Stragint, Steam: DoublePitstoChesty
    What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak

    I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
  • Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    Well it is an MMO, I guess they are putting up prices that will actually help with the development.

    They do look expensive but there are people that will pay it. I wish I had the money because I really do want to get involved now. I liked this when I saw it originally but tried to temper expectations for awhile. It has been awhile, and things are coming out making this look like something I want in the future.

  • italianranmaitalianranma Registered User regular
    I went with the $500 kickstarter buy-in so I could get Alpha access. The random goodies it comes with are nothing to sneer at certainly, but for me the access was what I wanted, even if I don't take much advantage of it. I was also deployed at the time and had a bit of extra cash. I can't say that it was the most frugal purchase I've made, but I can at least feel that I'm supporting interesting game design.

    飛べねぇ豚はただの豚だ。
  • DarkMechaDarkMecha The Outer SpaceRegistered User regular
    The combat changes look great! Wow what a difference. That combined with the cycling worlds thing is what has me really interested in this game. I hope it does well, I will buy it on launch for sure.

    Steam Profile | My Art | NID: DarkMecha (SW-4787-9571-8977) | PSN: DarkMecha
  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Too true, the only reason I mention it right now with the Knight is because the design goal for the class seems to be high defense, moderate control, and low damage which I don't think has ever been a winning combination in an MMO.

    I hope for something similar to Warhammer tanks, tho their control was quite high.
    Stragint wrote: »
    <snippety snip>

    I am genuinely curious about this $7000 palace. Some of the prices for the in-game stuff are insane. I can only guess that the idea behind that is a guild all puts in funds to purchase it.

    Yes, the trick with so high price is that, when you break it down over hundreds of players and weeks/months of fight & grind (likely needed to actually obtain something like that in game), the numbers are becoming usual for similar cosmetics/vanity stuff in MMOs.

    PS Here's some more Templar gameplay, first impressions by Zybak (action starts around 30 sec in the video):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbH6wR3tgEY&amp;feature=youtu.be

    ...and this is funny stuff, how you can kill players on a PvE server (!) by building (!!):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDTs2ZaUYWM&amp;feature=youtu.be

    PPS They announced Fae assassins as next class, classical sneaky sneaky stabby stabby rogue (just with wings...also, check her daggers!):

    dave-greco-fromtheheavens.jpg?1480480949

    ...and here's an early 3D render, I hope they'll make her less bulky:

    Crowfall_Assassin_Render_Watermarked.jpg

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  • Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    I gotta give this one a try, I've been a fan of the art since Zombie Ice Gryphon.

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  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    I think Camelot is starting to edge ahead of Crowfall in my excitement department. Both were neck and neck, but Camelot seems to be going for a greater emphasis on supply routes and depots being a necessity and legit military target. Which is a concept I've been wanting to see in these types of games for a long time.

    Plus it makes smaller raiding parties have a much more legitimate use in the Big Picture above simply ganking people for ganking's sake. Don't have to be part of the Zerg to feel like you are actually contributing something worthwhile to the Cause.

    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    @Axen I don't see much difference between Crowfall and Camelot in that regard (in fact, both are on the level of concepts there, with Crowfall being maybe a millimeter ahead). It's still veeery much wait and see.

    Here's a video of some player-made buildings from this weekend, first tests of game building tool:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcqW74LdkI0

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  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    They just introduced personal kingdom building to player tests (not just buildings, but virtually building the whole map!):

    https://youtu.be/639NkfCfUqI

    This building tool is currently available to pre-alpha 1&2 players. I'm saying this to avoid confusion, because the current tests are, in general, for anyone with beta 2 ($70) or higher but new features are always first allowed to more expensive test groups.

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  • StragintStragint Do Not Gift Always DeclinesRegistered User regular
    How do I figure out what group I am in?

    PSN: Reaper_Stragint, Steam: DoublePitstoChesty
    What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak

    I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
  • JamesGoblinJamesGoblin Green Menace HarareRegistered User regular
    Stragint wrote: »
    How do I figure out what group I am in?

    Go to your account (drop down menu below your name) and click "backer rewards". You should see the list with, among other things, something like "Beta Group 6" or "Alpha Group 2".

    In case that it doesn't work for whatever reason, and if you know what pledge package you got (you can read your pledge package name on the same, aforementioned "backer rewards" page - it should be the first item on the list), you can check this mammoth spreadsheet by Caenth - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LCUtaFNMAuHuhLXmB3UkoIiK3vR-9eVbUTo4uOeIi8Q/edit#gid=0

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  • nonoffensivenonoffensive Registered User regular
    edited May 2017
    A couple new videos are up on Youtube, a "Massive Reveal"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6wFLBnTA9s

    Classes aren't locked to race any longer.
    Information about Disciplines your character can take.


    https://youtu.be/Dk9C1yDfF0U

    Graphics Overhaul looks a lot darker with much more contrast from lighting than before

    nonoffensive on
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited May 2017
    Oh man class no longer tied to race? That is crazy awesome news!

    I'm not a fan of class = race, but was willing to let it slide since everything else looks cool and they do have a pretty varied list of choices. But now? Fucking cool!

    Also a fan of the "darker" graphics overhaul. The whole background to the game is basically one of the inevitability of entropy so having a more "dark" setting seems apropos.

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    The stuff they are releasing about it sounds amazing. The only thing that sucks is they are still so far away from having a game. Reports are very little still actually works in the game to the point where anyone who was thinking about trying it out was told not to bother because there is nothing to try.

    Like I loved the concept of the game, and they seem to be sticking 100% to that concept and then some. I know that is WHY it is taking so long, but the world of MMOs needs something like this right now.

  • RoeRoe Always to the East Registered User regular
    I enjoyed hearing all of the new changes in the latest update. The footage of the castle siege actually reminds me a lot of Shadowbane.

    The new graphics look superb, the changes to the class and race are welcome. I think the end product will be great from what I've seen. That being said, I think it is great that there are more PVP mmos being created, the genre has become a bit stale.

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