[Kolorabi]

I've known about this title for a while, but now it's official. Find info and screenshots here: http://www.ageofconan.com/

Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures is an Online Action RPG scheduled for Windows in the first half of 2006. A mix of a deep, story-driven single-player experience and a massive and brutal multiplayer end-game brings forth the ultimate representation of the Age of Conan. Now you can enter the brutal domain of the world’s greatest fantasy hero.

In Conan the players will encounter a dark, lush, violent and sinful universe, presented in fantastic graphics and stunning 7.1 surround audio. In a world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia. But Conan’s rule is on the brink of chaos, spiraling towards the doom of ancient evils.

In this twisted fantasy world, dark magic and brutal combat lurks around every corner, and each man and woman must carve their own unique destiny under Conan’s reign. In the true vision of Robert E. Howard’s dark universe it’s now time for you to become a messenger of death.

* Explore Hyboria, the legendary world of Conan, presented in incredible graphics and sound.
* Emerge as a hero from a story-driven single-player experience and embark into even greater adventures in the multiplayer part of the game. The branching single-player story is created by the award-winning writers behind The Longest Journey, Dreamfall and Anarchy Online so expect a rare treat.
* Experience Funcom’s revolutionary “Real Combat” engine. A new multi-point melee system allows the players to swing their weapons where they direct it, in real-time, going head-on against the formulaic nature of online RPG combat.
* Create player-made battle formations, and command both NPC’s and other players in epic multiplayer battles.
* Form guilds in the multiplayer game and lay siege to hostile castles. Let the catapults sing their merry song of death as the enemy is brutally crushed to a pulp.

Age of Conan has a plethora of additional features, as is expected from a Funcom online game. A presentation of the game, including more information about its features, will be held at E3 in May.

[Royal Fool]

Sounds.... err...

Anarchy Online. Yeah.

[Crunchy in milk]

Boy that Conan really gets around. After being in Dark Axe earlier this year he's back again with a different developer?

Multiplayer Conan works how?

[Kolorabi]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

Multiplayer Conan works how?

I would guess as in any MMO-game, though this one has a few interesting features I'm looking forward to seeing (and it thankfully uses a proper real time fighting engine instead of the dull turn based system you get in most MMORPGs).

There's a preview at IGN, for those who are interested.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/606/606369p1.html?fromint=1

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by Kolorabi

I would guess as in any MMO-game, though this one has a few interesting features I'm looking forward to seeing (and it thankfully uses a proper real time fighting engine instead of the dull turn based system you get in most MMORPGs).

[/url]

Eh? I don't know of a SINGLE mmorpg that uses turn based combat. UO? real time, EQ? real time, AO? real time, Lineage? real time, WOW? real time...

I was referring to the oddity that you play as conan in the single player aspect... and then 350 Conan's all walk into a bar online and start arguing over who is the real deal?

[Maquisard]

You don't play as Conan, you play in the age of Conan. He's the ruler of the land, you're...someone else. And the games you mentioned might as well have turn based combat. "I hit, you hit, I hit you hit..." Boring.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

The graphics look beautiful. They have this strange, romantic tinge to them.....

[Kolorabi]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

Eh? I don't know of a SINGLE mmorpg that uses turn based combat. UO? real time, EQ? real time, AO? real time, Lineage? real time, WOW? real time...

No, most of these (at least the ones I've played) are based on a (not so well) hidden turn-system that plays out in real time. So you don't have the typical waiting and "end turn"-button, but the mechanics are basically the same.

I was referring to the oddity that you play as conan in the single player aspect... and then 350 Conan's all walk into a bar online and start arguing over who is the real deal?

I think you've misunderstood something

[UPtimist]

I was so hoping this would be about Conan O'Brien...

[Aj_]

No, most of these (at least the ones I've played) are based on a (not so well) hidden turn-system that plays out in real time. So you don't have the typical waiting and "end turn"-button, but the mechanics are basically the same.

True. It isn't turn-based, but it isn't really real-time either. If you have ever played Fallout and Brotherhood of Steel, then one is a turn based system, and the other is the same turn based system with time limits and overlapping, partly real-time, but not the same as real-time.

[Crunchy in milk]

Please give an example of a popular mmorpg that uses real time combat? Most may use statistics to effect hit and miss and limit the speed and number of attacks available to different weapons but that doesn't make them turn based.

Turn based is generally shunned online excepting strategy nuts playing war games with hundreads of units under their command.

Fallout and Brotherhood of Steel are not mmorpgs.

Mares, I'm almost upset they avoided that little identity problem, It would have been an amusing scenario. I eagerly await to see how Shenmue online deals with the fact that no one is really Ryu but still give them the motivation to play the game... will everyone have their own little mystic farm girl lover who invades their dreams till they're destined to meet... or will Shen Hua just 'get around' quite a lot? Motivating Conan wannabees will be easy by comparison, plenty of nameless villages to pillage, men to kill and women to lament their deaths.

I hit, you hit

Very droll but hardly very accurate. And yet even that description points out its superiority to turn based combat which while also boiling down to the same "I hit, you hit" description it comes with the handicap of "you hit me 3 times while I sit there, dodging if I'm lucky the programmer thought of it... then its my turn". At least in real time combat there is always a chance of retaliation and an element of danger even when facing a weaker opponent.

[Kolorabi]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

Please give an example of a popular mmorpg that uses real time combat? Most may use statistics to effect hit and miss and limit the speed and number of attacks available to different weapons but that doesn't make them turn based.

Well, I guess we might just be having a discussion about semantics here - because I'm talking about turn-based combat mechanics here, not actual turns that you have to go through and press a button when you're done so that the other player/AI character can take his turn. Most MMORPGs have turn based combat mechanics, but plays them out in real time.

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by Kolorabi

Well, I guess we might just be having a discussion about semantics here - because I'm talking about turn-based combat mechanics here, not actual turns that you have to go through...

Maybe. All online games have a ticker counting off time, but I only think of a game as turn based, when that ticking or round or turn... whatever you use to describe it, is the limiting force in determining how many actions you can perform.

There is no such limitation in Ultima Online or lineage, where other things like weapon speed, statistics and animation are the limiting factors in how much damage/number of actions you can perform per 'tick'.

Everquest comes about the closest to your description I realise now, I do agree with you that limited actions per round can be frustrating, and also that click and forget real time combat can be equally boring. I do prefer direct control combat in most games, not just online games, but only if its of a superior nature to say that in Morrowind (god that's dull).

[Aj_]

Fallout and Brotherhood of Steel are not mmorpgs.

No... are you serious? Because one is a single player game, you must be really good at genre definition.

Everquest
Everquest 2
World of Warcraft
Lineage 2
Dark Age of Camelot

I guess you know how these games work, because you obviously understand Kolorabi's point on turn based systems played out in real time.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures approved for Xbox 360 | GamesIndustry.biz , 12/12/06

Funcom announces that Age of Conan is approved for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. The announcement means that the highly anticipated Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO) has received the green light from Microsoft, and that Funcom can start official development of an Xbox 360 version of the game.

[tabacco]

Just fyi, this has been at E3 for two years now, so it's been official for awhile. The art's looking a lot nicer than the last demo I saw though.

[Henke]

I'm really looking forward to this one, I hope it will live up to my expectations. The latest gameplay-movie looks much nicer then the older ones.

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by tabacco

Just fyi, this has been at E3 for two years now

So has this thread.

[JemyM]

The fact that there's a singleplayer mode in plan made the title more interesting. I swear I will never ever pick up another MMORPG again. Life is just so much better without them.

[Solid Snake]

Uhm, actually there is no single player mode you just start the game as single player but you have to be connected to a server anyway.