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Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:12 PM
Here I'll post the Friday updates as they come in.

Jan 24, 2006: Conan Properties Interview (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1471&postcount=2)

Feb 24, 2006: Lore Updates! (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1472&postcount=3)

Mar 10, 2006: Gameplay Preview #1 Ranged Combat (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1473&postcount=4)

Mar 17, 2006: Gameplay Preview #2 Class Tree Explained (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1474&postcount=5)

Mar 24, 2006: Gameplay Preview #3 Mage Archetype (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1476&postcount=6)

Mar 31, 2006: Gameplay Preview #4 Warrior Archetype (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1478&postcount=7)

Apr 07, 2006: Gameplay Preview #5 Thief Archetype (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1479&postcount=8)

Apr 14, 2006: Gameplay Preview #6 Priest Archetype (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1480&postcount=9)

Apr 21, 2006: Archetype and Class Feedback (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1481&postcount=10)

Apr 28, 2006: Gameplay Preview #7 Prestige Classes and Guilds (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1482&postcount=11)

Jun 03, 2006: Age of Conan and Dark Horse Comics (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1483&postcount=12)

Jun 09, 2006: Music Feature: Knut Avenstroup Haugen (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1484&postcount=13)

Jun 16, 2006: Character Customisation Preview (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1485&postcount=14)

Jun 23, 2006: Gameplay Preview #8 - Spellweaving (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1486&postcount=15)

Jun 30, 2006: New Concept Art added (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1488&postcount=16)

Jul 07, 2006: Competition Winners (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1489&postcount=17)

Jul 14, 2006: Conan at Comic-con (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1490&postcount=18)

Jul 21, 2006: Conan @ Comic-Con (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1492&postcount=19)

Jul 28, 2006: Gameplay Preview #9 - Siege PVP and Massive PVP (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1501&postcount=21)

Aug 04, 2006: Behind the Scenes #1 - What is a Game Designer? (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1502&postcount=22)

Aug 11, 2006: Concept art : Conan's world (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1503&postcount=23)

Aug 18, 2006: Gameplay Preview #10 - Blood Money and PVP (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1504&postcount=24)

Aug 25, 2006: Behind the scenes #2 (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1505&postcount=25)

Sep 1, 2006: New Concept Art (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1506&postcount=26)

Sep 15, 2006: Lore Updates (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1509&postcount=27)

Sep 22, 2006: Gameplay Preview #11 - Crafting in Age of Conan (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1510&postcount=28)

Sep 29, 2006: New Character Concept Art (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1511&postcount=29)

Oct 06, 2006: Behind the Scenes #3 - Beta progress (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1512&postcount=30)

Oct 13, 2006: The Clan of Conan (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1513&postcount=31)

Oct 20, 2006: Tarantia Screenshots (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1514&postcount=32)

Oct 27, 2006: Behind the Scenes #4 - On the Road with Conan (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=1515&postcount=33)

Nov 3, 2006: New screenshots (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=2830&postcount=42)

Nov 10, 2006: New Concept Art and Fan Site exclusives (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=3545&postcount=43)

Nov 17, 2006: Behind the Scenes #5 - Beta progress (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=4244&postcount=44)

Nov 24, 2006: The Conall's Valley conflict (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=4615&postcount=48)

Dec 01, 2006: Concept Art Update (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=4827&postcount=49)

Dec 08, 2006: New screenshots (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=5096&postcount=50)

Dec 15, 2006: Coverage, screenshots and a video! (http://www.mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=5191&postcount=53)

Dec 22, 2006: Clan of Conan Update and Happy Holidays (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=5471&postcount=55)

Dec 29, 2006: New Lore Update (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=5973&postcount=56)

Jan 5, 2007: New concept art feature (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=6242&postcount=57)

Jan 12, 2007: Class System Review (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=6243&postcount=58)

Jan 19, 2007: Class Preview: Scion of Set (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=6417&postcount=59)

Jan 26, 2007: Latest Clan of Conan Issue (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=6602&postcount=60)

Feb 02, 2007: Class Preview - Druid of the Storm (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=6744&postcount=61)

Feb 09, 2007: Class Preview - Lich (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=6902&postcount=63)

Feb 16, 2007: Class Preview - Herald of Xotli (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=7005&postcount=65)

March 02, 2007: Class Preview - Necromancer (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=8288&postcount=68)

March 09, 2007: Update from GDC (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=8289&postcount=69)

March 16, 2007: Class Preview - Demonologist (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=8291&postcount=70)

March 23, 2007: 4 new screens (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=8294&postcount=71)

April 13, 2007: New video developer diary (http://mmorpgforum.net/showpost.php?p=8295&postcount=72)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:12 PM
Conan Properties Interview


- Jan 24, 2006
To mark the launch of the new community portal we invited the guys at Conan Properties to say a few words and explain their plans for Conan!

Joakim Zetterberg was kind enough to sit down and answer some questions on the license team, what they do, and why they choose to work with Funcom on Age of Conan.

Can you tell us a little about the Conan Properties team and what you do?

The creative team consists of Fredrik Malmberg, Head of Licensing and Creative Affairs, and Thommy Wojciechowski, Manager of Creative Affairs. Most of the job is working with all licensees to make sure that everything is of high quality, looks good and is consistent with the character and universe.

Why did you decide to bring Conan's world to life in an online game?

Hyboria is a vast world which has only partially been explored in REH’s writings and other authors’ pastiche works. There are many gaps in the history, many characters to develop more, and of course a lot of fighting opportunities, which altogether make online gaming a great way to develop these storylines and visualize settings.

What attracted you to partnering with Funcom on the project?

We had studied the segment carefully and it boiled down to maybe three or four choices. Funcom had a previous experience and we valued this much because it is so different to make a good online game from other games that you play on your console or in LAN. We were also impressed with their creative pitch and that their vision was so close to ours.

How do you find it working with so many different and varied partners on the Conan License?

It is very interesting and fun to work with a character that has a base as strong as Conan’s. We try to work with the top talent in various fields and once we feel we have a mutual understanding we give them very few restrictions to inspire creative processes.

How important do you feel it is that the various license holders are working towards a common representation of Conan?

Very important. Different authors and other artists have had different images of Conan over the years. Our goal is to go back to the basics, to how REH portrayed him. I think we’ve succeeded very well in this with all our licensees, with Cary Nord’s and Kurt Busiek’s interpretation of Conan in the Dark Horse comic being our lead star. They have so well captured how we believe Conan really is, and we always point other licensees in that direction.

Anything you can tell us about your plans for Conan for the coming years?

A lot of things are going to happen over the coming years. There’s of course the Warner Bros. movie planned for a summer 2007 release which will result in a significant rise in consumer products. There are plans for a new line of toys from McFarlane, Dark Horse Comics will continue with their Conan comic as well as with the Chronicles of Conan series. We’re also discussion the possibility of reprinting the other larger classic comic book series, Savage Sword of Conan. Another major license holder, THQ Inc, is working on games and wireless content which is absolutely stunning. In addition, we are now carefully crafting plans for select product categories for a mature audience.

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:16 PM
Lore Updates!


- Feb 24, 2006
Want to find out more about the world of King Conan? We've updated our lore section with four more entries today.

You'll find new entries for three of the locations you will get to visit in the game, Old Tarantia in Aquilonia, Broken Leg Glen in Cimmeria and Khemi in Stygia as well as an insight into one of King Conan's allies, Kalanthes.

You can find the lore section here for all the details here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=frontend.show&p_id=1007&template=inc_list_all_lore&selected=1007)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:20 PM
Gameplay Preview #1 Ranged Combat


- Mar 10, 2006
Today we take the first look at how ranged combat will play out in Age of Conan. Want to discover the archer in you? Then this is the feature for you!

Ranged combat will operate from a number of different 'stances', each different stance will offer the player a chance to use a different style of ranged attack, from a 'snipe' type shot to blanketing an area with as many arrows as they can fire.

Most of the ranged combat stances see the action shift into a kind of first person view. The camera zooms into an over the shoulder or first person view and displays a targeting crosshairs. Here you aim with your weapon, and fire towards advancing opponents much like you might find in a FPS game (but not quite as fast-paced). This serves to try and bring the player "there", into the action, and into the world.

The crosshairs changes colour to indicate whether the target is in range or not to give a clear indication of whether you have a good chance to hit your target. This introduces a great combination between actual player skill (targeting and choosing your targets) and the more traditional RPG skill systems. The different classes will have varied skills with ranged weapons so stats, and how you have chosen to advance your skills, will still bear heavily on your chance to hit, and how much damage you might do (and how quickly you can do it!) whilst still needing the player to have their wits about them and actively have their foes targeted!



So the good old-fashioned 'ToHit' roll is still present and correct, but there isn't any easy 'lock on target' mode here, if your target is moving (and lets face it anything that might be aware you are trying to poke holes in it with a well placed volley of arrows is going to be trying to move!) you'll have to keep your aim straight and true to keep it in your sights.

Therefore ranged users will always have to be paying attention and choosing their targets carefully, picking the right target at the right time, and always having to consider the reaction of their target to being shot at! The best bow skills in the world won't help much if a stray arrow attracts the attention of an entire village of angry Picts you might have been better of avoiding!

The system blends in with the rest of the real combat engine so that it hopefully doesn't become a pure 'twitch fest' that you might find in a FPS, it won't be that hectic, but just like its melee counterpart ranged combat will put some of the finesse and skill back in the hand of the players!

Overall we really feel this brings a degree of realism to using ranged weapons that is very different to anything that you might see in most fantasy MMOs.

http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/CONTENT/ranged01.jpg

http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/CONTENT/ranged02.jpg

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:22 PM
Gameplay Preview #2 Class Tree Explained


- Mar 17, 2006
Want to know what classes will be available to play in Age of Conan? Look no further as today sees the first reveal of our playable classes!



So how do you develop your character in Age of Conan?

The first thing you choose in your character development is your class. Here you can choose from Cimmerians, Aquilonians and Stygians. Cimmerian is Conans race. They are tall, grey-eyed, dark haired and fair skinned. They are typically tall, muscular and fierce. Aquilonians are the "Romans", if you like, and they represent the pinnacle of Hyborian culture. They are darker in skin, but they have a larger variation of skin and hair tones than the Cimmerians. Both the Cimmerians and the Aquilonians can choose from three different class types: Warrior, Priest or Thief archetypes.

To become a Mage, you must choose the Stygian race. They can be understood as the Egyptians from the age of the pharaohs. They have the darkest complexion and are the smallest, but they have a rich and mystical culture. The Stygians can not become warriors.

You choose the main archetype (warrior, thief, priest or mage) at level five as you reach the city of Tortage in the beginning of the game (after around twenty minutes of play).

The class specialisation then happens when you reach level twenty. This happens when you leave the single-player part - and enter the multiplayer universe. You can then choose your class from those available for your archetype!

Over the next few weeks we will be exploring the different archetypes in more detail, but for now you can check out the entire listing of available classes!




That's not the end of the character development either! In Age of Conan there will be special Prestige classes available for players who join a guild to choose from. These are first available from level five and are in addition to your archetype and class! These prestige classes give the players extra abilities to benefit their guild. Being in a guild is always a key factor in any MMO and in Age of Conan prestige classes provide a deeper and actually meaningful way for players to contribute towards their guild!

There are four prestige classes that players can choose from: Lord, Commander, Crafter or Master. Each brings something different to the guild, from the city building and taxation benefits of the Lord, through the team skills of the Commander and the crafting skills of the crafter to the Master's ability to have an NPC follower to do their bidding! There will be more information released on the prestige classes in the weeks to come as well!

Guilds will be a very important part of Age of Conan and prestige classes are very much your incentive to join up into a guild! Each prestige class that exists in a guild will give benefits to the guild (on a 'by account' basis to prevent players bolstering their ranks with 'alt' characters! You can have alt characters but only the prestige class of the first to join will benefit your guild)

Finally it's worth noting that this structure for character development is slightly different to what we had mentioned in some of the original interviews. We have moved prestige classes earlier into the development and allowed players to select their final class at level twenty instead of later in the game. As we worked on the character development tree and listened to the community feedback through our forums we realised that it might not have been wise to force players to get to level forty or beyond before making final choices that they might find don't suit their play style! Therefore this system allows players to choose their class and prestige class earlier and avoid any disappointments later in the game!

That's it for today and keep your eyes out over the coming weeks for more details on the archetypes and Prestige classes!

Class Tree (http://www.ageofconan.com/classList/classList.html)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:25 PM
Gameplay Preview #3 Mage Archetype


- Mar 24, 2006
This week we reveal some more details on the Mage archetype and classes that will be available in Age of Conan. Wondering what exactly a Herald of Xotli is? Then read on!


The mage class is based around inflicting damage from range. In their cloth armor, they are unable to withstand much direct conflict. Given the demonic sources from which some of the mages draw their power, the mage classes in Age of Conan will be able to call on dark powers to help them on occasion even when the enemy gets closer! Through the use of spellweaving, mages will be able to create some staggering attacks.





Herald of Xotli
Some demonologists are either too weak minded or venture too far down the path of demonology to remain untainted. The Heralds are those that bargained with the demon god Xotli and paid the ultimate price, becoming a host to true demonic powers. In battle, the Herald transforms into a demon, preferring to melee opponents and feel the enemy's flesh tear rather than rely on spells, although they retain a fearsome arsenal of spells to call upon as needed.

Specialties: melee mage, two handed edged weapons, summon weapons, demon form

Demonologist
The Demonologist bargains with demons for power, binding them to his will. While able to use certain magic without the aid of demonic powers, the Demonologist is not as studied as other mages, having a need to make blood pacts to reach full potential. Still, the Demonologist is powerful enough to bring demons to this realm and bind them to service.

Specialties: fire or electrical Direct Damage, demon pet, short duration buff to increase casting abilities

Necromancer
The master of unholy magic, the Necromancer animates the dead and corrupts the living. Looking down on the Demonologist for needing to strike bargains for power, the Necromancer needs no such crutch, relying on his own master of death of kill his enemies.

Specialties: Cold or Unholy Direct Damage, undead pets, lifetap

Lich
Where the Necromancer animates the dead, the Lich embraces and joins the dead, if only for a period of time. By fusing with the bones of the dead, the Lich gains impressive physical strength and resilience. In this form the Lich prefers to wade into battle and club enemies to death, although retains access to their full array of spells.

Specialties: melee mage, two handed blunt weapons, summon weapons, undead form

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:27 PM
Gameplay Preview #4 Warrior Archetype


- Mar 31, 2006
We continue our look at the available playable classes this week as we explore the options for the warrior archetype in Age of Conan! Want to know the difference between a Guardian and a Halberdier? Read on to find out...


Able to wear heavier armor than any other class, the Warrior is able to soak up damage like no other. The heavy armor also allows the warrior to resist knockback attacks more than any other class. Later specialization classes gain a defensive and offensive stance, the warrior is able to decide whether to hunker down when under attack, or go into a battle frenzy and significantly increase damage output while lowering defense.



Guardian
Encased in the heaviest armor and carrying around a shield, the Guardian focuses on powerful directional attacks that temporarily damage armor and protection, increasing the amount of damage the enemy takes.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (including full plate), shield, one handed edged, directional damage mod

Halberdier
Encased in the heaviest armor, the Halberdier specializes in pole arms, trusting in evasion to avoid enemy attacks, rather than a shield to block them. Although limited in the amount of damage they can inflict, the Halberdier does focus on inflicting multiple hits in rapid succession in an area of effect.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (including full plate), pole arm, multihit Area of Effect

Conqueror
With a standard strapped to their back, the Conqueror leads the charge into battle. Wearing heavy armor and using 2-handed weapons, the Conqueror relies upon evasion to avoid enemy attacks. The standard being carrier around provides a boost the Conqueror team, typically increasing damage. In times of need, the Conqueror is able to take the standard and plant it into the ground in a devastating attack.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), two handed edged, two handed blunt, banner for one group buff.

Liberator
While the standards the Conqueror uses typically increase damage, the standards of the Liberator renew and augment the team in other ways. Wearing heavy armor and dual wielding, the Liberator relies upon evasion to avoid enemy attacks. In times of need, the Liberator is able to take the standard and throw it in a devastating attack.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed edged, one handed blunt, dual wield, banner for one group buff

Zealot
Wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield and blunt weapon, the Zealot has a small amount of priestly ability. Able to augment the team with a single aura, the Zealot is the only class not in the priest class that has healing spells.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed blunt, aura for one group buff, team heal

Dark Templar
Wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield and blade, the Dark Templar drains the life from enemies while attacking. Like the Crusader, the Dark Templar is able to augment the team with a single aura. While able to transfer life to the team, the Dark Templar suffers for this, although with life draining abilities this is rarely a problem. However, the Dark Templar is susceptible to soul corruption effects more than most other classes because of powers they traffic with.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed edged, aura for one group buff, team life transfer, lifetap

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:28 PM
Gameplay Preview #5 Thief Archetype


- Apr 07, 2006
This week we reveal some of the details behind the Thief Archetype in Age of Conan. So step into the darker corners of Hyboria and learn a little more about the scheming and dangerous world of the thief...



Unconventional and devious fighters, characters in the Thief Archetype are those intent on causing maximum harm to their opponents through any means necessary.

These classes are not the disciplined soldiers of the warrior archetype, but cunning and often vicious opponents that their enemies would be unfortunate to meet in one of the many dark corners of Hyboria.

Capable of dealing great amounts of damage to their victims, they typically wear lighter armor for the sake of mobility and secrecy. Thieves use a variety of weapon combinations based on situation and necessity, dispatching their enemies in a brutally efficient manner.






Reaver
The Reaver is a rabid combatant, harnessing the anger and heat of battle to unleash a devastating flurry of blows. Trained in the art of using multiple weapons simultaneously, Reavers are less concentrated on powerful single attacks as they are on hitting their opponents many times in quick succession. Mostly unconcerned about their own personal safety, they wear light armor for the sake of mobility and speed.

Specialities: One-handed blunt, one-handed edged, dual-wielding, armor debuff, berserking, multi-hit combos and light armor.

Barbarian
The Barbarian is a muscular combatant, focusing on a combination of pure strength and panther-like agility to overcome their enemies. Specialising in using a two-handed weapons for maximum impact, almost all of the Barbarian's attacks are area-of-effect. Having a mastery of sweeping and wild swings, the Barbarian relishes the opportunity to crush as many opponents as possible in a single blow.

Specialities: Two-handed blunt, two-handed edged, stun, evasion debuff, multi-target combos and light armor.

Defiler
Lurking in the shadows and trained alongside those studying the dark arts of necromancy, the Defiler utilizes more unnatural means to dispatch those he intends to assassinate. Whilst not as deeply enshrouded in magic as the Stygian Mages, Defilers are able to consume some of the essence from the spirits of the fallen. Sacrificing this power in strange and dark rituals, the Defiler can be granted unnatural powers temporarily. Defilers do not use conventional poisons, instead relying on the dark energies flowing through their strikes.

Specialities: Dagger, dual-wielding, unholy attacks, draining soul essences to use with special attacks, damage-over-time combos and cloth armor.

Lotus Master
Typically found with both daggers dripping with lethal poisons, the Lotus Master focuses on fast attacks in order to inflict a quick and painful death. Trained with teachings shrouded in mystery, this assassin utilizes various forms of lotus extract in order to cause harm to his enemies or aid himself and his allies. Although a crafty and resourceful fighter, the Lotus Master prefers to let his poisons disorient and ultimately incapacitate anyone unfortunate enough to be his prey.

Specialities: Dagger, dual-wielding, damaging, disorienting, and slowing poisons, restorative elixirs, multi-hit combos and cloth armor.

Master Thief
The Master Thief is the epitome of a dirty fighter, throwing kicks, elbows, and other cheap shots to disorient his foes. With the goal of gaining every advantage they possibly can in a fight, they are known to use many tactics deemed "unfair" by some. Not a poison user, the Master Thieves rely upon precise, powerful attacks to inflict damage as well as land blows that reduce the fighting abilities of their victims.

Specialities: One-handed edged, one-handed blunt, off-hand dagger, damage debuff, snare, blind, damage-over-time and light-armor.

Ranger
The Ranger is a bow-specialist, preferring to stay out of melee combat and dispatch his foes from afar. Relying on accuracy and precision, Rangers are less concerned with mobility and more with self-preservation and maintaining an element of surprise. Masters with their bows, they are able to provide essential ranged cover for their allies, be it through blanketing areas in arrows or sniping vulnerable targets that may be cowering behind the front lines.

Specialities: Bow, high rate-of-fire, volley attacks, sniper attacks, damage-over-time and medium armor.

Waylayer
The Waylayer is a crossbow-oriented marksman, taking advantage of the higher damage and slower firing rate of his weapon when compared to Rangers. Like the Ranger, Waylayers prefer to stay out of melee combat to maintain a high level of survivability while dispatching enemies from afar. The power of their mighty crossbows has been known to rip right through opponents, plunging their bolts into opponents standing or hiding behind them.

Specialities: Crossbow, piercing attacks, knockdown attacks, damage-over-time and medium armor.

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:30 PM
Gameplay Preview #6 Priest Archetype


- Apr 14, 2006
This week's update sees us take a deeper look into the Priest Archetype in Age of Conan. From the devout to the ferocious, these are not just the typical healers you might expect...


Priests in Age of Conan are a step beyond the stereotype of a vulnerable healer - they can call forth the power of their deities to smite and expose their enemies whilst protecting and aiding their allies! Whilst the priest is certainly the cornerstone of a good team in that they provide the vital restoration skills required to keep their allies standing in battle, they are so much more than that as well.

Priests draw on the strength of their faith and their abilities are derived from the power of their respective deities. Each god provides unique aspects to their followers, from the lethal poisons of the snake god Set to the elemental powers of nature itself harnessed by the Stormcaller.

The priests of Hyboria can be broadly split between those that follow the shamanic path and those that dedicate themselves as high priests of a deity.

Trusting in their respective deities to preserve their lives priests largely wear light armor, and need to avoid direct melee confrontation wherever possible.




Priest of Mitra
With powerful healing abilities and dedicated to Mitra, these priests are able to call upon the power of Mitra to throw back those that would confront them, keeping the Priest safe from harm.

Only Aquillonian and Cimmerian priests may serve Mitra

Specialities: healer, one handed blunt weapons, repulse area of effect ability

Scourge of Derketo
Another excellent healer, the Scourge is dedicated to the god Derketo, calling on the gods power to bring the woes of fire and brimstone to their enemy. These attacks focus on area-of-effect damage spells

Only Aquillonian and Stygian priests may follow Derketo

Specialities: healer, two-handed blunt weapons, area of effect damage

Scion of Set
Dedicated to the god Set, in addition to their excellent healing power the Scion of Set has been blessed by the snake god with the ability to inflict damaging poisons upon their enemies.

With the ability to take a lethal snake form the Scion is not a foe to be underestimated.

When they are faced with the enemy they prefer to wield their sacrificial and ceremonial daggers

Only Stygian priests may worship Set.

Specialities: healer, dagger, poison

Druid
Rather then following one particular deity the Druid is at one with the power of nature. The Druid can call upon swarms of bees and hornets to kill enemies, and has natural healing remedies and abilities to keep their allies standing in battle.

Any race may become a druid

Specialities: healer, damage over time abilities

Bear Shaman
This type of shaman has a powerful mystical kinship with bears and is able to call upon and be infused with the strength of a bear, and even become a bear themselves, providing great melee prowess. While still having good restorative abilities, the Bear Shaman prefers to rend and maul the enemy. The Bear Shaman is also the only priest class that is able to wear medium armor.

Only Cimmerian priests may become bear Shaman

Specialities: healer, two-handed blunt weapons

Stormcaller
Masterfully in touch with the elements themselves, this shaman can control and call upon the power of weather to hinder and attack their foes, calling down lightning and creating storms.

Like their fellow shaman their knowledge of restorative remedies and abilities is not to be underestimated.

Only Aquillonian and Stygian priests may be Stormcallers

Specialities: healer, electrical damage, summon storms and hurricanes

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:31 PM
Archetype and Class Feedback


- Apr 21, 2006
With all four archetypes now revealed, and much discussion amongst the community, this week we wanted to comment on the great feedback and reveal what we do with all your comments and suggestions!


We really appreciate the great discussion that was generated by the series of articles revealing the class structure. There have been a lot of interesting points raised, questions asked, and opinions offered.

So what happens with all those thoughts and opinions?

This week the design team and Gaute Godager, the Game Director, sat down with the community team to go over all the feedback and brainstorm on the classes again in light of some of the feedback. The great aspect of having such an active community at this stage is that things can still change.

We won't always agree with all the feedback, and opinions are subjective, but we are also very happy to listen to good ideas when we hear them!

So we sat down and went through all the feedback, decided which we could consider, who had a point, and what we felt we might alter or tweak. It was an interesting debate, raised lots of good points, some gameplay orientated and some on areas where we could be even more loyal to the original world as described by Robert E Howard.

To summarise the changes we decided on after a couple of meetings and more then a little debate of your opinions and views, here is what we decided upon:

The 'warrior' archetype has been renamed to 'Soldier'
The 'thief' archetype has been renamed to 'Rogue'
The 'Crusader' class has been renamed to 'Zealot'
The Priest of Mitra is available to Aquilonian and Cimmerian races
The Scourge of Derketo is available to Stygian and Aquilonian races
The Archetype Names
We decided to change the archetype names, warrior and rogue, to better define exactly what people can expect from the way those classes will feature in Age of Conan. Our warriors are the military and disciplined types that make up the various armies of Hyboria, so we agreed with the feedback that this should be clearer in the Archetype name.

Likewise having the name 'thief' didn't explain fully why the likes of the Barbarian and ranged type character classes were under a thief archetype. The characters in this archetype do all have inherent thief like abilities, but they are also serious combat classes with superb damage capabilities, so upon reflection rogue is a better suited definition

The Crusader becoming a Zealot
The key aspect of this class is that they draw their dedication from their faith, and we originally chose Crusader for that connection. However when we saw the objections that there would be a better way to suggest that in the name without invoking a very particular religious and historical symbol, and we really liked the Zealot suggestion, so we went with it!

...of Priests and Deities
Lastly we considered the debate around the racial restrictions on the Priest classes. There will always be some concessions made to gameplay considerations in a game like this, but that doesn't mean we aren't also willing to listen to those who have a valid point to make about the lore. This was one of those cases where we originally allocated which race had access to which based on trying to balance distribution between the races 'evenly' and allow a little more freedom then the lore might suggest.

When we saw the reaction, and the constructive and passionate arguments from the community against this though we gladly went back and took another look and decided that we could align the priest choices much closer to their lore roots and not be out of keeping with out gameplay intentions for the archetype

Conclusion
Whenever we do changes like this, people like them or dislike them. Few are indifferent about it. This paragraph is put here to really signal that we listen. If you would be so kind as to let that be the main summary of this discussion: we enjoy this dialogue! Not 'oh no, they cut the crusader' - or 'will the soldier have mirror shields? :p '* What we wanted to get across in this week's update is that we hope we can continue this dialogue.

So there you have it! Again, huge thanks for all the great feedback and keep it coming! As you can see from the above, it does count, of course we won't always be able to make every change people suggest, but we will always listen to good constructive thoughts on what we reveal, and if they are really good consider changes like these!





*you'll have to ask an Anarchy Online player for the inside line if you didn't get that one ;)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:33 PM
Gameplay Preview #7 Prestige Classes and Guilds


- Apr 28, 2006
This week we take a deeper look at the Prestige class and guild systems in Age of Conan

First up a word from Game Director Gaute Godager on the subject of guilds and the Prestige classes on all the interest shown amongst the community.

"I thought I would write a section for you about the balance between guild- and solo play. This has generated a lot of heated debate on the forums, which is something we really do appreciate, honestly, and it does inspire us to make sure we get this balance right.

The core of the question is: can we give any advantage to social gameplay without affecting negatively some peoples’ perception of solo gameplay? I guess that is impossible. The problem is, I want to reward people for being social, without alienating the true image of Conan as a truly solo friendly game. I have thus decided on making a compromise for the social classes, the Prestige Classes as we call them. The compromise is to let all abilities be available for your social class, but simply in a somewhat weaker form. You are barred from nothing, but you can not reach your full potential.

Now then, the remaining question is: how much more powerful will the abilities be in a Guild? Is it 5%, 10% or 50%. To be honest, I don’t know yet. This is something we will find out during beta. There will be a difference though. Now on to the important parts..."

Guilds will be a very important part of Age of Conan and the Prestige class system allows players to provide benefits and improvements to their guild in a way not seen before in an MMO. This system allows players to be truly engaged in the well-being and strength of their guild like never before. Everyone will have a true interest in helping support and grow their guilds whilst also getting personal benefits along the way!

There are four prestige classes that players can choose from: Lord, Commander, Crafter or Master. Each brings something very different to the guild and players will have a real choice to make in terms of how they want to benefit their guild.

In this update we mention the four types of resources. Everyone can extract the four types: Gold Nuggets, Iron Ore, Wood and Stone. They are used for building houses in the Guild Villages, in the building of Battle Keeps in the Massive PvP areas and finally for Crafting. If you are guilded you get resource extraction bonuses which goes to a guild repository, and which can be used by everyone. If you are not in a guild, you must gather all your own resources.

Lord
The Lord offers guild management bonuses and extras. In general, they provide a discount and savings in how much it costs a guild to build and maintain a city. In turn, this reduces the overhead associated with player cities and improves the efficiency of the the guild’s resource collecting.


Has exclusive placement rights in regard to the main Keep.
Can build Guard Towers that automatically defend against enemy attacks.
Each Lord in a guild increases the resource extraction of gold nuggets for all guild members – up to a max of 30 Lords.
Each Lord in a guild increases the experience point bonus for all guild members – up to a max of 20 Lords.
Has access to the Architect and Alchemy crafting skills.

Commander
The Commander is the military brain of the guild. In practical terms, their usefulness is that they allow larger team sizes (up to ten people from the standard six) as well as improved formation bonuses and morale abilities on the battlefield.


Adds one additional maximum member to a team, up to a total of 10 (with 4 commanders).
Can build Barracks for the Village or Keep that will spawn soldiers to protect the village on attack.
Each Commander in a guild increases the resource extraction of iron ore for all guild members – up to a max of 30 Commanders.
Can draw up special “Tactical Plans” to enable Commander only formations. Massive battle formations, such as large mounted formations or the special Raid Attack resistant formations, are available only to the Commander.
Has access to the Weaponsmith crafting skill.
Crafter
Crafters are those making essential items and equipment needed for the guild to succeed in extended battles and harsh conditions. Supplying everything from siege engines to weapons, the Ccrafter will be the person keeping their friends and customers supplied with goods.

Crafting has its own tiered progression system with 20 ‘levels’ but it is not experience based. Each level will be attained through a quest. Items also come in five tiers of quality, with the highest tiers reserved for crafters with strong and resourceful guilds.

Players will be able craft outside of a guild, although they will restricted from the higher-level tiers unless they have access to their own guild crafting facilities.


Can build crafting premises, smithies, and other tradeskill facilities in the guild villages.
Each Crafter in a guild increases the resource extraction of wood for all guild members – up to a max of 30 of Crafters.
Has access to all forms of crafting.

Master
The Master receives a loyal follower who stands by their side and helps them. Whilst the their follower can fight, that is not their specialty and shouldn’t be relied on when the going gets tough. The follower’s true role is in the domain of collecting resources, as they can be set to collect resources for the guild when their master is offline.


Can have one “follower”. Being in a guild gives you access to more powerful followers.
Can build Stables which upgrade the quality of mounts.
Each Master in a guild will increase the resource extraction of stone for all guild members – up to a max of 30 Masters.
Has access to the Armorsmith crafting skill.

Each prestige class that exists in a guild will give benefits to the guild (on a 'per account' basis to prevent players bolstering their ranks with 'alt' characters—you may have alt characters, however only the prestige class of the first to join will benefit your guild.)

Players will be able to choose a prestige class outside of a guild, although they may not get the full benefits or have access to the best skills and abilities of their chosen path unless they are a member of a guild

This is an overview of the Crafting skills available in Conan:

Weaponsmith
As the name implies, a weaponsmith specializes in making various forms of weaponry for arming those he plans to support in battle. Using techniques passed down for generations, a smith trained in these arts can produce some of the most deadly weapons in Hyboria. In addition to creating arms, this smith may also supply various other forms of weapon enhancement materials, such as whetstones and polishes.

Armorsmith
Similar to the weaponsmith, the armorsmith focuses on crafting various pieces of protective gear in addition to ways to enhance said equipment. Having many avenues available to them in terms of advancement, the armorsmith may choose to provide a very wide variety of armor styles, ranging from leather to full plate.

Gemcutter
Taking advantage of the skills of the armor and weapon smiths, the gemcutter specializes in honing and crafting gems to decorate and enhance equipment. While some gems only have minor effects, others found in crypts or carried by those practicing darker arts may carry strange powers which can be harnessed by the gemcutter’s craft. As the gemcutter is familiar with working with a fresh set of armor or weaponry, they can also provide some more straightforward modifications such as counterweights or other reinforcement.

Alchemist
Trained in various pharmaceutical and metallurgical arts, the Alchemist specializes in creating various compounds with strange and seemingly unnatural effects. Utilizing both common and rare ingredients found around Hyboria, those trained in this art may provide many useful consumables to their allies for use both in and out of battle.

Architect
Concerned more with the “big picture” than simply making equipment or potions, the architect is set on designing the more impressive buildings and siege engines used to wage war in the Border Kingdoms and beyond. Carrying a great burden of responsibility to those he allies himself with, architects facilitate the design of cities as well as devices designed to protect his allies’ assets or destroy his enemy’s.

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:35 PM
Age of Conan and Dark Horse Comics


- Jun 03, 2006
Fancy winning a place in our beta tests later in the year? Celebrate news of our upcoming collaboration with Dark Horse Comics with our great comic competition today!

We are delighted to announce today that in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics, a special Age of Conan limited edition comic will be produced! The unique comic book will premiere at the Comic-Con convention this summer, and will be printed in 400.000 copies.

The comic is being created by the award-winning Dark Horse Comics team, and Conan luminaries with the likes of Cary Nord, Scott Allie, our own Gaute Godager, Tim Truman and Tone Rodriguez creatively involved!

Competition!
To celebrate this release we have an extra special competition for you all today, with the prize of a place in our beta testing up for grabs*

So what do you have to do? Well we thought what would be better then giving you the chance to be a little creative in the comic medium as well! The kind folk at Dark Horse have provided us with two great pages from the comic, but without their final lettering. What we would like you to do is show us your creative skills and complete the pages. You can simply fill in the existing word bubbles or even add in a few of your own if you would like!

To enter, download the following pages and then add your own text, returning the final images (in .jpg format) to [email protected], including your full name, address and your login name on our forums before 1200 GMT/UTC on the 23rd of June 2006.

Rules

1. Only one entry per person
2. You must be signed up on our forums to enter
3. Do not alter the size and resolution of the original pages
4. Do not alter the file format of the images, only .jpg entries will be considered valid.


* Please note that the beta period will not start until later in the year. Entry will be dependant on acceptance of the relevant NDA documentation. Funcom reserves the right to deny entry to the beta, or alter the terms of entry based on behaviour and activity once inside the beta process. Winner must provide their own internet connection and pc capable of running the game at the time of the beta

NOTICE: The DEADLINE is over.

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:38 PM
Music Feature: Knut Avenstroup Haugen


- Jun 09, 2006
Want to get an insight into what goes into making the soundtrack and music for a game like Age of Conan? Wonder no longer as we grab some time with the man behind the music!


Could you please introduce yourself to the readers, what you do on the Conan project and how long you have been working on the game?

Hi everybody! My name is Knut Avenstroup Haugen. I create all the music for Age of Conan and I've been involved with this project since fall 2004.

What is it like to create the score for a gigantic game like Age of Conan?

It's a lot of fun! I've always been a Conan fan and a gamer, so basically, I've always wanted to work on a project like this. It's hugely exciting to be a part of bringing the world of Hyboria to life (and in my opinion it's the most captivating and convincing incarnation so far!). Of course, it's a monumental task, but I love writing music and on this project I'll be able to create music for a whole universe! It can't get much better than that :)

What is your vision for the in-game music in Age of Conan?

My vision for the score, is to create captivating musical landscapes and haunting themes that reflect and capture all the different moods of the Hyborian world. Music has the ability to add great drama and emotional depth to pictures and I want to help make the gamer really feel what it's like to be a part of this ancient world, not only by seeing it but also by listening to the sounds and music of times long gone.

With Funcom's new proprietary SIM-player (Sample-based Interactive Music-Player) version 2.0 (aptly nick-named 'the ear-candy machine'), I will have the possibility to create a score that changes dynamically to support the unique musical needs of the game in any given situation. With this tool it's possible to achieve a level of audio-visual blend that hasn't been experienced before in game-music.

Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating the score for the game?

For this particular score it was first of all important to decide on an overall style for the music. In this game there are several regions and each one of them needs a musical style of their own that's unique. Still, it's critical for the overall experience of the gamer that there is coherence between these individual styles. In other words, it's important that they all adhere to the overall style or convention that makes up the 'Hyborian Sound' so that the gamer get the impression that all these countries exist in the same world at the same time.

To find this sound I sat down with Gaute Godager (game-director) and Morten Sørlie (audio-director) and talked about what the Hyborian world was like and what would be a good approach for the score. I continued with reading all the design documents, all the Howard short stories and a lot of Conan comic books (as well as watching the Schwarzenegger movies anew). After a while, when I felt I had a strong opinion of what the music should sound like, I went on to study a lot of music, trying to find something to base the work upon: I listened to ancient music, traditional folk music and all kinds of art music as well as film-scores. In the end I've drawn inspiration from a lot of sources, but the concept for the score can still be described with a few key-words: barbaric, violent, cruel, dark, ancient, mythical, magical, decadent and at the same time heroic, majestic, lush and sexy.

Could you please tell us about the creative process you go through when creating a tune for the game? Where do you start?

For a particular piece of music, I will first of all consider what the music will be used for, i.e. combat, event or background, what culture it's connected to and what kind of mood it's supposed to express. From there I decide the tempo and imagine the form of the piece, what kind of musical texture, rhythm and instrumentation would be fitting and at last I narrow it down to melody and harmony. At this point I usually have a notion of what the melody should be like. I will then sit down and work it out with harmony on the piano and distribute the musical elements within the boundaries of the form and start orchestrating. At this stage, when most considerations are accounted for, it's mostly craft and little creative input.

If it's a particular orchestral effects I'm after, I often find it more useful to start out directly with the sounds on my computers. If I'm not sure were I want to go, I use a more associative approach and let the music or the sounds lead the way. Listening to sounds will often lead to unexpected associations and take the music in totally new and unplanned directions. Often you will get very interesting results that you'd never thought of otherwise.

The process from the conception of an idea through to a finished piece of music can sometimes be long: The process involves composition, arranging and recording as well as implementation. As a composer for video-games or movies, you are not allowed the luxury of sitting idle, waiting for your muse to come and bless you with divine inspiration to get things going. Composition is most of the time a quite unromantic process involving a lot of hard work and in general, the more you work, the more new ideas you will generate.

How do you go about creating the music? Do you use real instruments and voices, or digital ones?

I always start out with sampled instruments on my computers. I have a fairly large setup with six PCs running my orchestral libraries and other samples and it's possible to get very realistic sounding results using only this. Still, in most cases live instruments will add a sense of realism to the mix that in most cases is impossible to achieve with virtual instruments alone. The human voice and strings playing expressive melodic phrases are especially difficult to recreate synthetically. For this reason all choir parts and instrumental solos throughout the score, are (or will be) recorded with live musicians and all melodic violin sections will be dubbed and blended with live violins. In the music pieces that accompany this interview, you will hear examples of this. Most of the pieces are works in progress though and some haven't yet been dubbed with live instruments. Maybe you'll be able to tell the difference?

How do you get the music into the game, and how are pieces of music triggered in-game?

Whether it's a linear musical theme or a complex interactive piece of music, all the music in the game is implemented through the SIM-player. The interactive music is composed in a way that allows it to be deconstructed and puzzled back together in various ways. Thus every musical cue is cut into logical pieces of various length, depending on the cue's specific needs before I start working with them in the SIM-editor. Morten Sørlie and I sat down and designed a new and improved SIM-editor. This editor will have a lot of advanced features that will allow us to break new ground in the field of interactive music in games. It will among many other uses have great impact on the combat music. But that's still classified information ;)

In theory, almost every aspect of the game world can trigger music: The most common thing is to set boundaries in the game world that triggers specific pieces of music. In addition to this, all kinds of events will be able to trigger a musical cue. On the more esoteric side: even weather effects or particle effects (i.e. a fireball) will be able to trigger music! The bottom line is that the sky's the limit here and it's only your imagination and the time at your disposal that limits the ways music can be implemented in the game.

What is the hardest part about creating music for the game?

I don't consider it hard actually. I would rather say challenging and interesting :) The whole process of composing interactive music is a long and at times a difficult process, but all creative work is difficult. I compose music because I love to do it. Improving your skills and overcoming the challenges that will arise are part of what makes it so rewarding.

That said, it can be tricky writing complex and highly interactive music: At times there are so many possibilities to take into consideration that directly affects the way you are able to write, that it can be difficult to make the music feel as instant and alive that it should be. Writing music like that can take many times as long as composing a conventional linear piece of music. At the same time it's very rewarding to be on the forefront of the interactive audio revolution!

Anything you would like to add?

Yes! I haven't said anything about the combat music. There will be A LOT of combat music and it has a very high priority in this game. We have some very interesting concepts for this part of the score, but sadly I can't say too much about it for the time being. It's still very much a secret what we're planning to do, but I hope to come back to this in a later installment and tell you everything about it.

I'd like to say something about the music examples as well: The pieces I've chosen represent and should give you an impression of the different cultures and regions in the game. There's also music that's more generic or even otherworldly in quality. The Hyborian world is not only made up of what you can see, and the people in it live in the shadows of its past. There are forces at work that are both ancient and cruel. I hope some of this comes through in the music. They are short excerpts, but I hope you will enjoy them!
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
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You can find samples of Knut's tracks in the audio section
<!--[endif]-->

Audio Section (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=9qxozt9js2jh8shrboxleylltnkyb n&func=frontend.show&func_id=1023&template=inc_media_listing&selected=1023)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:41 PM
Character Customisation Preview


- Jun 16, 2006
This week we thought we'd give you a sneak peek into the character customisation options that will be available in Age of Conan


One of the most important elements in any MMO is the process of creating your character itself. In many ways the ability to give your virtual persona a unique and interesting look is every bit as important as their stats, abilities and items.

In Age of Conan we want to create a character customisation system that presents players with a deep and varied selection of options. A system that truely lets them craft a unique looking character, and one that is in keeping with the world of Hyboria. We went looking for the art team responsible for creating this system to find out a little about what inspires them when considering what options to present to players!

Kristian Vik elaborated for us: "When we set out to make one of the roughest places in fantasy literature come alive in an MMO, we wanted to embed the adverse nature of the world in everything we did. From the beginning, it was very important for us to enable the players to create characters with actual character, not plain-faced mannequins with armour. In Age of Conan, Hyboria is a cruel and unforgiving world, we wanted our characters to look like survivors, people whose features reflected the violent and merciless nature of Hyboria.

Your characters in Age of Conan will all be deeply customizable. In character creation you will be able to alter the shape of the body and head by scaling and editing the muscle-mass and bone structure, then tweaking the texture of the skin. Afterwards, you'll be able to slap on race-specific tattoos, scars and other asymmetrical detail, change the tint of your skin, and pick and choose from a wide variety of hairstyles and beards. All of this will give you a wide variety of ways to make your character stand out against the saturated and vivid backdrop of the brutal world in which he'll live.

We hope this will help and encourage people to make truly unique characters, filling the Hyborean world with characters ranging from valiant soldiers and unbreakable barbarians to degenerate swashbucklers and wizened mages."

After a little 'gentle persuasion', and a promise not to tell Gaute that we were distracting them (guess this has torn that one!) from the actual work of creating this great system, the team provided us with these three great images below. These show off how you might customise a character for each of the different races.




So if thats the inspiration behind the system, what kind of options can you actually expect to find?

Race - Chosing your starting race will of course be the first choice you have to make!

Bone scaling on all parts of the body, including arms, legs and torso etc, allowing you to define the height, weight and porportions of your character

Over twenty sliders for facial expressions (for example there are five sliders just to customise the nose - length, width, placement, angles and more...)
Skin Coloring of character.
A wide selection of hair and facial hairs.
An age slider so your character can be a determined younger man or a seasoned veteran

Texture Layering for Tattoos, scars, facepaint and more.
Ability to wear piercing, bands etc...
We hope that with these kind of options players will have no problems populating the Hyboria of Age of Conan with many a character you won't want to meet in the back alleys of Tortage late at night!

http://r058.d1.funcom.com/conan/frontend/files/CONTENT/aquilonian_render.jpg

http://r058.d1.funcom.com/conan/frontend/files/CONTENT/stygian_render.jpg

http://r058.d1.funcom.com/conan/frontend/files/CONTENT/cimmerian_render.jpg

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:42 PM
Gameplay Preview #8 - Spellweaving


- Jun 23, 2006
This week we take a look at the dark and arcane arts that are part of the magic system in Age of Conan, and in particular our unqiue spellweaving system!

Magic and Spellweaving

In Age of Conan we wanted the magic to reflect the world in which the game is based. Dealing with the arcane arts and siphoning the power of ancient gods is not something to be taken lightly. Just like our melee system, our magic system will also call upon the skills of the player. The player learning to balance their lust for powerful affects with the dangers that calling upon such extraordinary magic incurs.

There will of course be a number of simple and straightforward spells that casters can call upon, as you would see in other games. These though are merely the common incantations and curses that every young acolyte is taught, mere parlour tricks compared to what is possible with the magic in Age of Conan! Whilst useful in and of themselves the basic spells are merely the prelude to the true power that can be channelled – channelled through the art of spellweaving.

Our spellweaving system calls upon the caster to effectively weave an intricate series of incantations and spells into one final spell that can be unleashed to smite their enemies or aid their allies. It could be as short as weaving two simple spells together to boost their effect through to the fine art of combining up to twenty spells into a devastating blend of mystical power.

So how does it work?

The player will start the spellweave by activating their spellweave ability. This places them in a trance-like state where they cannot move and the only actions they are allowed to perform is adding more components to the weave.

Once in the spellweave the player can add as many spells into the weave as they can manage or want to. The maximum number of spells that can be called into a weave is dependant on the players level.

Then once the elements are all added they can end the weave by deactivating the ability and the weave will fire off at its target as the caster leaves the trance and is free to move around again.

The spellweaving system allows for some truly awe-inspiring effects to be invoked. This allows the caster to tailor a specific incantation best suited to their current target. Whether it is combining debuffs or enhancing your damage, or even a combination of the two - the spellweaving system will allow casters to adapt their strategies to the situation at hand!

The depth of the system lies in figuring out the best combinations for the weaves and how best to avoid the darker side of Hyborian magic, because spellweaving does not come without risk!

Dark and Dangerous: Ill-effects and magical burden

Using the ancient magic’s of the gods is far from a trivial matter, and spellweaving opens up the caster to the dangerous elements that dabbling in such arcane arts invariably attracts.

Spellweaving is almost a balancing act. How much power can you summon forth without incurring some ancient curse or other mysterious ailment?

When a caster performs a spellweave there is a chance that they will suffer ill-effects from the process.

The risk of this depends on how powerful a weave they are performing based upon the power of the spells they are trying to combine and their level. Stray too far beyond what you are capable of and you will run the risk of incurring one of these side-effects!

The weave is not an exact science and even the mana cost of the weave will vary from that of its base components and whilst the system even allows for a caster to use more mana then they have, a heavy price might be paid for delving too deeply beyond those magical reserves.

The other element to spellweaving is a characters magical burden, every time a weave is performed they incur a magical burden, a dept as it were that weighs upon them. If too many weaves are attempted consecutively, or they attempt a weave that pushes their limits the burden will increase their chances of incurring ill-effects on the next weave. This burden naturally decays when a caster is not in a spellweave


Developing Magic

We really think that the spellweaving system will provide players with a unique system that allows for a wonderfully diverse set of tactics to be used. We wanted to go beyond the standard ‘choose the right spell’ or ‘rock, scissors, stone’ approach to spell casting. At the same time try we also wanted to create something that is truly in keeping with the style of magic portrayed by Robert E Howard where magic was dark, dangerous and an art many tried but few mastered!

We hope that with this system players will really be able to tread that dark line between the quest for power and the risk of insanity or worse!

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:43 PM
New Concept Art added


- Jun 30, 2006
We have updated the concept art gallery today with four great new character concepts!


You can find the new images here. (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=04nt08o0wne52wav1e6j5joo4au6i 0&func=frontend.show&func_id=1050&template=inc_images&selected=1050)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:44 PM
Competition Winners


- Jul 07, 2006
Congratulations today to the winners of our recent comic and party competitions!

Dark Horse Competition

First up the winner of our Dark Horse comic competition whowins a place in our beta tests later in the year is:

Greg Panovich of South Milwaukee
Congratulations to Greg and thanks to all those who entered the competition!

Comic-con Party

Next up are the five winners of the places at the Conan Properties party at this years Comic-con event. The five lucky winners who will get to mingle with the Conan team are as follows:

Al Royce
Jim Eppard
Daniel Espinoza
Matthew Blinn
Ronald Scott Tilton
Congratulations to the winners and we look forward to seeing you there!

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:46 PM
Conan at Comic-con


- Jul 14, 2006
Next week sees a great Conan presence at the Comic-con event in San Diego. If you are planning on attending the show make sure you catch some of the action at the show!


We will be joining our friends at Dark Horse comics at their booth to talk a little about the game and to hand out the first prints of the exclusive Age of Conan comic created by the Dark Horse team (as well as our ever popular inflatable swords)!

In addition there is a great chance to ask questions of various members of the Conan properties team at the Robert E Howard panel that will take place on July 20th between 2 and 3pm in room 6B of the convention center. Our product manager Jorgen Tharlasden will be one of the panel that also includes authors, artists and other luminaries from the Conan property partners!

Community Manager Craig Morrison will also be there to chat with fans that want to head over to the Dark Horse booth to say hello! So if you are attending the show this year make sure you drop by!

For more details of the show you can check out their website here. (http://www.comic-con.org/index.php)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 01:51 PM
Conan @ Comic-Con

- Jul 21, 2006

This weeks update comes (literally!) from the show floor at the convention. Since my remote access systems seem to be playing up this weeks update will be a forums exclusive as it were!

The show has been a great opportunity to meet fans, show the game off a little and spend some time with the great creative team at Conan Properties and the various Conan partners.

Yesterday saw a great panel session with the Conan properties team celebrating a hundred years of Robert E Howard. Product Manager Jorgen Tharalsden took part in the panel, showing the game off, and showing the E3 trailer off on the huge screen in the auditorium.

The inflatable swords are as always one of the most popular swag items at the show with would be barbarians wandering the halls battling their friends in inflatable sword fights! (I'm not so sure we are that popular with the con security team though!)


Attached are a series of photos from the show

The crowds get a big screen viewing of the E3 trailer.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=32&d=1153526861

Jorgen speaks to the crowd about the game
http://forums.ageofconan.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33&d=1153526872

The crowd assembled for the Robert E Howard Panel
http://forums.ageofconan.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34&d=1153526881

The massive Conan banner across the Dark Horse Booth
http://forums.ageofconan.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=36&d=1153526916

Punchline
10-29-2006, 02:30 PM
Zomgz!! ++++Rep!! :p

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 02:50 PM
Gameplay Preview #9 - Siege PVP and Massive PVP


- Jul 28, 2006
This week take a look into the bloody conflicts that players will be able to engage in within the Border Kingdom PVP zones in Age of Conan

Destruction and betrayal brought about by the thirst for power is the nectar of Hyboria - the one constant in the world of King Conan. Death reaps a rich harvest in the battles for power between rival warlords, tribal chiefs and would be pretenders to the throne of Aquillonia.

As king, Conan has opened up the Border Kingdoms for conquest. The constant strife from other nations in the area has let him grant prerogatives to whoever holds the area! The border kingdom will once and forever be part of the great Aquillonian Empire! As befits the legend of the king himself only those with the strength of will and sheer ferocity for hard fought combat will emerge victorious in these most challenging of environments!

Bloody and hard fought, these battles will be just as integral to the life of guilds that enjoy PVP in Age of Conan. Entire guilds will lay their reputations and honor (or dishonor in some cases!) on the line to hold the coveted battlekeeps!

The Aim of the Game!

We aim to provide players with truly meaningful goals and ambitions in PVP. The joy of battle and glee of destruction will shape the blood soaked landscape of the border kingdoms. This conflict will provide those with ambitions for power the means by which they can forever carve their place in Hyborian history.

We have separated these border kingdoms from the rest of the gameworld for two reasons. Firstly we know that PVP isn’t for everyone, secondly we wanted to be able to craft an area for PVP without compromises to PVE. This system should provide a real sense of purpose to PVP combat (other then casting aside the broken limbs of your enemies of course!)

Battlekeeps versus player towns

One important clarification before we get into the details on the Battlekeep system is that the keeps are a separate system from the normal player built towns, although they use the same building system, so in learning one you will know the other (we will cover the PVE player towns in more detail in a future article), so player controlled land comes in two distinct types.

The resource building playfields that will house normal player towns will not be PVP areas, and will be fully instanced, meaning if your guild has the power and resources to maintain a town, it will always be able to do so. These are the areas where the RTS style NPC AI will build opposing camps and towns and threaten player towns. So whilst the normal player towns will still need defending and not be totally safe, they wont be prey to the most dangerous of opponents – other players! That is where the Battlekeeps come in!

We felt this was important so that players who wished to own towns and engage in battles with the NPC towns can do so without having to get involved in PVP if they don’t want to. However Battlekeeps will provide the worthy guilds with the skill and tenacity to survive the harsh world of PVP combat with another totally separate avenue for gathering even greater resource rewards!

Battlekeep Zones

These border Kingdoms are a dangerous and usually lethal environment. The rivers that coarse through their valleys, or the rolling grass plains that stretch between the mountains are more likely to be stained with the blood of fallen warriors, as they are anything else.

Each zone will be home to a number of pre-defined locations where a Keep may be built, but unlike the PVE player towns there will be a limited number of zones on each server, blood will have to be spilt to hold these most coveted of locations.

These zones will also be fully PVP enabled, you had best have your weapon at the ready if you dare to venture there as the Battlekeeps will not be the only reason to seek out bloody conflict in the border kingdoms. Each of the Border Kingdoms will be home to a series of other objectives as well, all offering the chance for the skilled to demonstrate their death dealing talents.

The Battlekeeps

Each keep will function as a hardened bastion for their owners. Hard won iron, stone and wood erected to stand as a mark of their standing in the Border Kingdoms, and a reminder to their enemies of the bloody conflict taken to earn and maintain it.

Like their PVE counterparts guilds will be able to populate the insides of their keep with a number of buildings and other amenities.

Players will be able to build structures like stables to provide cavalry, forges for constructing siege weapons, sentry towers that provide essential respawn points, as well as farms and other resource buildings. These will in turn provide other useful benefits, like perhaps a vendor that will sell items to those who visit the keeps, or some NPC guards.

The difference with a battlekeep is that guilds will have to remember that there will be others out to destroy their hard work, so the investment in the keep will not come without risk!

Laying Siege to a Keep

Battlekeeps will have periods when they are open to challenges. A period of time when another guild can declare their intent to try and take the keep! We realise its not fun or practical to force players to be on alert twenty four hours a day so this system ensures that you will be given the chance to prove your are worthy of holding the keep by smiting those who would have the audacity to challenge your right to own the keep!

Would be attackers can declare their intention to issue just such a challenge by building a war tent outside the keep in question. This is performed by those with the Lord prestige class and will require resources to complete. It is important that it isn’t something a single player can do on a whim!

The defenders then have a period to arrange their defence and the attackers to muster their forces! Then the bloody zeal of combat commences and you are thrust into an epic battle for control of the keep, stone and fire will rain down from above as walls are torn down and buildings razed to the ground around the frenzied combat between your troops as the attackers try and bring the keep to its proverbial knees!

As already mentioned though, the keeps are not the only reason to venture into the border kingdoms!

The Resource Areas

These areas that are also rich in resources scattered around the zone will provide collectable resources for those who control them. Mines for iron, lumber mills for wood, prospecting stations along the river where gold can be dredged up and quarries for stone.

At any given time one or more of these locations will be active for players who control them to collect resources from. Whoever controls the flag for the resource point will earn resources for as long as they manage to hold the flag.

Towers

Looking out across the battle scarred environs of the border kingdoms stand several large stone built towers. These are almost like mini-keeps, holding them will provide some bonuses to your guild, but nothing like those of a full keep. You also can’t build anything around a tower.

These locations do though provide something that smaller guilds can still take and hold even if they perhaps don’t have the manpower or resource to hold a Battlekeep! Like the keeps, these towers will have periods when they are open for attack. This means those precious bonuses they provide will have to be defended through force of arms!

In Closing...

Crushing the skulls of your foes is fun, but in the border kingdoms the blood spilled, and enemies cast aside will truly have a purpose. A purpose that we hope will provide PVP players with a dangerous and challenging environment. Striving for the rewards and honor that can only be won in bloody conflict upon these fields of death will be the most rewarding of ways to prove your worth against the most skilled of opponents – your fellow players!

These border kingdoms will also be the only place where players can train PVP feats and spend the earnings they have gained from the corpses of their fellow players through our PVP Blood money system…oh wait…we haven’t mentioned Blood money before now have we! That’s definitely a subject for another update though.

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 02:50 PM
Behind the Scenes #1 - What is a Game Designer?


- Aug 04, 2006
Ever wondered what exactly it means to be a game designer? This week join Lead Designer Ole Herbjørnsen as he explains a little more about what goes into designing a game like Age of Conan!

A game designer is actually a very generic term, especially so in MMO-terms owing to the fact that the teams are usually quite large. For any one person it is a difficult task to know everything about every single system and technology we are using. There are so many very different skill set involved that we actually have several very different types of game designer - our own form of classes if you will!

It's quite cool to get the opportunity to tell you a bit about their feats, pets, skills and special combos, so I hope you enjoy this little insight into what goes on here behind the scenes.

I thought it would be fun to start out with a theme of sorts, and explain the various types of designers that work together to bring a monster from concept to final implementation in the game.This is the realm of the npc designer, bcc designer and script designer...

NPC designer

The NPC designer is responsible for more or less everything alive in the game, from your friendly neighbourhood tailor to the gruesome cave-dwelling monstrosities. But they are all monsters in our eyes.

The most fundamental part of the NPC designer's job is to plan which monsters are going to be used in each playfield and the levels they're going to be.

This is information that other people like the quest designers depend on to get their jobs done, so it must be thoroughly and clearly documented. For this I use a combination of spreadsheets with various information and graphical maps with overlays depicting areas with information about specific monsters and levels as well as markings for camps, villages, bosses and such.

When the planning is done we use a special tool called the monstertool, which is written and maintained by our tool coders. Using this tool we can set and change many aspects of each specific monster, such as name, level, general looks (is it a human or a bull?), specific visual tweaks and combat settings. Every time any changes are done, we of course test them in the game itself to make sure it is working correctly.

The equipment and loot on each monster is also something that is handled in the monstertool, and here we work closely with our item designers. We have previewer tools that make it easier to see for example how a villager will look with different clothes, and even if it will have to be tested ingame in the end this makes it a lot faster to dress up our persons in a fashionable way.

BCC Designer

The guys working with the Behavioral Control Center don't really have a title in the design team, and are usually referred to as the BCC guys. Their job is to make sure the logics behind every character, animal, monster or animated item are correct. E.g. an animal can't hit someone when it's dead, or a character can't swim while he's climbing. The BCC designers are also responsible for "sewing" cool looking animations together, making the combat flow majestically.

The BCC designers work closely with the animators with directing what kind of animations they would like to see motion captured. They also work closely with the scripters, since scripters put NPCs in and out of different states, and need access to all the animations.

The designers working in the BCC tool are a part of the animations from beginning to end. Animations can either be motion captured or hand animated. All the character's and the human NPC's animations are motion captured, and there is usually a BCC guy preset giving directions. For all the hand animated animals and monsters, the BCC guy reads design documents from the NPC designers about the animal/monster, and then writes down which animations to capture and how they should look.

When the animations are done, it's time to add them into the game using the BCC tool. Here a skeleton, a mesh ("skin") and several animations are merged together into a monster. All NPCs have different states like 1H edge combat, swimming, sneaking and drunk. The BCC guy sets up which states the NPC needs access to and sets up the logics between them. After this is done, the NPC is ready to be spawned in game and can show off his new cool combos of death.

Script Designer

The scripters work is closely related to the work of the programmer. Perhaps more so than it is related to traditional design work. As games have grown ever more complex they have grown even more complicated to develop, it is no longer practical or desirable to program game logic directly into the code. This is where the scripter fits into the picture - part programmer, part designer - it is his job to implement game logic, such as character AI, quest mechanics, object interaction, cinematic cutscenes, etc. using a high level scripting language.

Often the script language is developed specifically for the game or the technology used. The scripter bases his work on the written designs developed by the character designer, quest designer, item designer and cinematic designer. Based on these designs it is the scripters job to get what exists only on paper into the game, functioning as a part of the overall game.

Often there can be many rounds (or iterations) of design and scripting of a game element before it is working within the game, both technically and creatively. Thus it is important that the scripter is both technically skilled as well as having a keen understating of gameplay mechanics.

Wrapping up...

So as you can see even just for creating NPCs there is a lot of very skilled people involved doing varied and challenging work, and thats just for the NPCs! There are still a whole other set of different designers I havent mentioned yet, like those responsible for creating items and creating quests, but that will have to wait for my next update!

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:00 PM
Concept art : Conan's world

- August 11th, 2006

This week we take a look at some of the great concept art from some of the locations found in Conan's world

You can find the new images here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=frontend.show&func_id=1050&template=inc_images&selected=1050) in the concept art gallery.

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:02 PM
Gameplay Preview #10 - Blood Money and PVP


- Aug 18, 2006
This week we take a look at the Player versus Player Blood Money system in Age of Conan. Blood Coins will be the currency of combat, find out how you will earn them!

The dark and dangerous lands of Hyboria that have seen Conan rise to the throne of Aquillonia make up a treacherous and deceitful world where even the most petty or trivial of disagreements will invariably be settled by the blade (not uncommonly from behind whilst the victim is unawares!) Something is always at stake when reputations are forged by force of steel or the ingenuity of will. In Age of Conan the player versus player combat will always have equally vicious consequences and a bloody purpose that will always ensure you have something worth fighting for.

When we came to think about PVP in Age of Conan we wanted to ensure that it reflected that dark and hostile environment. We want to make sure that there will always be something at stake when a player decides to make a name for themselves in the Border Kingdoms. Likewise though, PVP still has to be fun, and no one really likes losing their hard earned possessions, so we have a very special system of Blood Money that operates in the PVP areas.

Blood Coins are effectively the currency of combat in the Border Kingdoms, tokens taken from the dying corpses of your foes. These Blood Coins are a mark of victory amongst combatants that will serve as bragging rights, status symbols and also a very useful currency in itself.

When you travel to the dangerous and blood soaked Border Kingdoms your passage there must be paid for. When you first enter the Border Kingdoms the coin that would be used to pay for that passage is not taken away, but is converted into Blood Coin. Blood Coins is effectively a separate currency to your normal coin.

Defeating other players in PVP combat will result in you being able to loot some or all of the Blood Money that they earned from their previous fights. Everyone in the Border Kingdoms will have some Blood Money value.

In addition all PVP combat earns your character separate PVP exp that goes towards earning your twenty PVP levels and gaining access to special feats and abilities that are exclusive to PVP.

This means that everyone who enters the Border Kingdom has something to lose should they find themselves on the wrong end of an opponents assault. Blood Coin will also supply another way for players to know where they rank against their fellow players above and beyond a simple count of kills. The treasured Blood Coin torn from the body of a defeated renowned player killer will garner them more fame (or notoriety!) then just picking on easy targets.

Also your Blood Coins are even more then just a token of your stature with the bow, blade or mystical arts. Blood Coins will be used to purchase the PVP feats you earn access to from special vendors in the Border Kingdoms.

These special PVP abilities will only be purchasable with Blood Coin. You will have to fight to earn the Blood Coin to pay for these new skills that your combat with other players has earned you access to.

This means that only those who truly excel at dispatching other players to their bloody deaths will be able to gain an extra edge on players who gain their equipment only in the safer havens, away from the Border Kingdoms. Only by proving your worth against your fellow player will you be able to gain these PVP-centric feats.

Not all of your Blood Coins will be able to be traded away, stored, or otherwise hidden away from those that would see you as a trophy, or a fat payday if your skills in combat have earned you a reputation already!

We want to hopefully address the cowardly practise of hiding away your valuables when entering PVP as well, but also allow you to save something before being beheaded. Therefore some of your blood coin will always be available to your foes (we'll decide on the balance of this one as we proceed through beta).

The more battles you win and more scalps you collect, the greater the reward others will find in tracking you down and taking your blood money from your freshly slain corpse.

The vendors that accept Blood Coins will also offer various other black market goods, equipment and items that can only be purchased with Blood Coins.

The Bloody Conclusions on PVP

We feel that with this system the day-to-day PVP in the Border Kingdoms will also have a real and genuine purpose independent of the greater struggles that will come around the Keeps, Towers and resources. Reputations will be won and lost. Blood will be spilt and there will always be a reward for hunting down others, and of course the risk that comes with it. The more victories you secure and more foes you vanquish the more your Blood Coins will be eyed by envious souls intent on cutting your throat and your purse!

The Border Kingdoms will certainly not be for the faint of heart!

Also, as a final note for now on PVP we wanted to assure all the PVP fans out there that we will have at least some more 'free for all' style PVP servers once the game goes live. How many will depend on the popularity, but we have the systems being prepared that will let us allow PVP content outside of the Border Kingdoms as well.

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:03 PM
Behind the scenes #2


- Aug 25, 2006
This week we catch up again with Age of Conan lead designer Ole Herbjornsen as he explains a little more about how the design team works.

Hi again! Following up from my previous article I wanted to go into the other designer ‘classes’ that we have in Age of Conan. (Especially since I don’t want anyone feeling left out!) So today we look at the roles of the item, special effects, quest and system designers.



Item Designer

The role of an item designer is a bit multi-purpose, supplying both support for other professions and also being the main source of player-oriented equipment and rewards.

As many other professions rely on items, such as quest designers, NPC designers, and scripters, a lot of time is spent on providing them with the various resources they may require to finish a task they are working on.

The other side of the job is working to create the various boss loot, item rewards, and trade skill items in the game, in addition to working alongside the NPC designers to determine drop locations and drop rates of said items. This aspect of the job requires a large deal of planning, as ultimately players will become quite concerned with both the item design (stats, graphical appearance, and general effect) and drop location (how hard it is to get what they want, and if the risk/reward is worth it.)

Accomplishing the various roles of the job requires working knowledge of most of the internal tools used, including many of the various quest, scripting, NPC, data management, and item creation tools.

Overall, it is a job with many facets—often acting as a “middle man” in tying various elements together in the game—which requires a strong overview of the various aspects of game mechanics and design philosophy.




Special effects designer

The special effects designer makes all kinds of effects happen on the screen - it can be something as simple as a burning flame, it can be as complex as a vortex of unholy power drawing the player into it and closing afterwards. Spells, elements, weather, combat impacts, blood - all of this must be made by the special effects designer. Essentially - It's his job to make parts of the game become more alive.

The special effects designer work most of the time in an in-house tool known as the Particle Tool. The name is misleading, since the tool has far expanded beyond the boundaries of particles and is now using everything from planes and meshes to animations and scripts. Special Effect designers also work a fair bit in 3DstudioMax, Photoshop and our scripting tools in order to create textures, scripts and paths.

Since the special effects designer creates a lot of diverse elements for use in the game, he needs to talk to quite a number of different professions. Artists provide textures, meshes and animations, while designers help connect the special effects to monsters etc. Sometimes you need new code support to show off new types of special effects and other times you need a tools programmer to support the new code in the particle tool. Depending on who requested the special effect.

They also need to talk to that person to find out what it will be used for. Also since the Art Director has the final say on the visual appearance of special effects in the game, they also have to review their progress with the Art team as well.




Quest Designer

The quest designer’s role on the development team consists of many parts. The fist part is designing the quest concepts, both keeping in mind the technical limitations and being creative. It is important for quests to evolve and not get stuck in the same old trends, so it’s important to keep up with the latest games on the market and keep “thinking outside the box”.

The best tool we use for designing a quest is Word. There is no magic mystery tool automatically generating good concepts. Once the concepts are done, we have an approval and feedback process, and once everybody is happy, detailed design and implementation can begin.

Let me use an example. I want the player to talk an NPC, inside a house. Let’s add some mobs too. The quest has to be implemented and linked up in our in-house Quest Tool. Dialog has to be written and added to our in-house dialog tool, Knubot where requirements are set for where and when what dialog should appear. The NPC has to be created, and the dialog has to be connected to him. He also needs to have a special ‘brain’ if he’s supposed to act in a certain way.

The next step is for a world designer to create a house and place it out in the playfield along with the mobs and the NPC. If the mobs are supposed to drop loot, the gfx has to bee requested from the Graphic artists and the items have to be requested from the Item designers and later placed out by the NPC designer. When the quest is ready for testing, often with placeholders while we are waiting for assets, the polishing begins. This part is usually what takes the most of our time, meaning we have to test and trace bugs, both in code and data.

So to sum up, the quest designer's role is not so much sitting in a hammock putting word to paper, it’s mostly running around being a “coordinator”.




System Designer

The system designer as the name implies writes system designs and deals with the RPG mechanics - formulas used, etc. Also these guys work on how character development should proceed and general balance issues. A challenge here is to keep as much knowledge about the mechanics of the game in memory as possible.

The system designer uses Excel, internal content tools, Excel and top that off with some more Excel. On good days, spreadsheets are open on both monitors – duelling spreadsheets!

The system designer has a lot of interaction with the game coders dealing with RPG related areas. Lots of working with the item and monster designers, but not so much with the scripting or quest designers. They act as a general font of knowledge for any RPG questions others in the design team have.

If someone were to randomly take a look over their shoulder, they would typically find one or more of the aforementioned spreadsheets open!




I hope you found this overview interesting, and hopefully it gave you some more insight into how we tend to break down the workload for the game designers. Remember you can also drop by my blog. If you have any questions on game design and I’ll always try and answer if I can!

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:05 PM
New Concept Art

- September 1st, 2006

This week we take a look at some of the great new concept art. The two images featured in this weeks update are also going to be given away as exclusive signed Art Prints at the show at Dragon*con over the weekend, and you have a chance to win on the forums too! See here (http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?p=270364) for details

You can find the two new images here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=frontend.show&func_id=1050&template=inc_images&selected=1050) in the concept art gallery.

Watch the Dragoncon thread over the weekend as well for some extra photos, updates and info from the convention!

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:09 PM
Lore Updates

- September 15th, 2006

This weeks updates take a look at the most important Gods of Hyboria. Crom, Mitra and Set. You can find the updates here. (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=pnbrels8ummkcihnu42nt9zrb2hgu s&func=frontend.show&p_id=1007&template=inc_list_all_lore&selected=1007)

I also wanted to take a minute out to just say a quick word on the various forum reaction to the rumours over the last week or so. We have always had a very specific plan for the release of information around Age of Conan and we are confident its the right way to do things and think its working well so far, and that the coverage of the game is exactly where we want it to be right now.

Community wise we have been releasing one piece of game information every month. For example, Blood Money in August, Border Kingdoms in July, Spellweaving in June and so forth. I am in the process of writing up this months feature (on the tradeskill system) at the moment and it will be next weeks update. I could tell you what next months will be as well, but waiting to find out is half the fun (ok, and I enjoy teasing )

So whilst the date within the month might vary a little, its still the same pace we have always wanted to release material at, and is carefully planned. So its not really changed in any way, it hasnt slowed down or speeded up and is on track.

We will never go down the road of over-promising on details and features that later dont make it, get cut, or just dont work or arent fun when we beta test! We have said that from the very start and still believe it is the right way to do things

The games FAQ and features sections will always evolve in the background as well. We have people preparing that pretty much on an ongoing basis and it will get updated periodically outside of the Friday updates, as those pages are really for newcomers rather then you guys visiting every day or week. We do read the feedback though and take it into consideration when looking at the those kind of features

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:09 PM
Gameplay Preview #11 - Crafting in Age of Conan


- Sep 22, 2006
This week we take a look into the crafting system in Age of Conan.

Whilst the bare hands and ingenuity of a warrior can take them far, even in the brutal realm of King Conan, they are though even better served with some well forged steel or finely made iron sheathed by their side.

Weapons and armor are the tools by which those whose adventures find them in the dangerous lands of Hyboria live or die by. Likewise there is always a need for potions and other medicinal aids, as even the hardiest of warriors can find themselves in need of recovery.

This is where the Crafter prestige class comes in. Crafters in Age of Conan are those making essential items and equipment needed for them and their guilds to succeed in extended battles and harsh conditions.

Supplying everything from siege engines to weapons, the crafter will be the person keeping their friends and customers supplied with the goods that will see them through the dangers that threaten them at every turn.

With crafting in Age of Conan we wanted to create a system that would not be weighed down by the need for constant repetition. We also wanted to ensure crafting is able to yield useful items and abilities so that those who choose to follow crafting as their prestige profession feel that they can really contribute to their guild and other customers.

There will be five different schools of crafting that crafters will be able to progress through. Crafters will have access to all of the different crafting schools. Other prestige classes may have access to one or more of the schools (although they may be restricted in the tiers that can be attained)

Weaponsmithing
As the name implies, a weaponsmith specializes in making various forms of weaponry for arming those he plans to support in battle. Using techniques passed down for generations, a smith trained in these arts can produce some of the most deadly weapons in Hyboria. In addition to creating arms, this smith may also supply various other forms of weapon enhancement materials, such as whetstones and polishes.

Armorsmithing
Similar to the weaponsmith, the armorsmith focuses on crafting various pieces of protective gear in addition to ways to enhance said equipment. Having many avenues available to them in terms of advancement, the armorsmith may choose to provide a very wide variety of armor styles, ranging from leather to full plate.

Gemcutting
Taking advantage of the skills of the armor and weapon smiths, the gemcutter specializes in honing and crafting gems to decorate and enhance equipment.

While some gems only have minor effects, others found in crypts or carried by those practicing darker arts may carry strange powers that can be harnessed by the gemcutter's craft.

As the gemcutter is familiar with working with a fresh set of armor or weaponry, they can also provide some more straightforward modifications such as counterweights or other reinforcement.

Alchemy
Trained in various pharmaceutical and metallurgical arts, the Alchemist specializes in creating various compounds with strange and seemingly unnatural effects.

Utilizing both common and rare ingredients found around Hyboria, those trained in this art may provide many useful consumables to their allies for use both in and out of battle.

Architect
Concerned more with the "big picture" than simply making equipment or potions, the architect is set on designing the more impressive buildings and siege engines used to wage war in the Border Kingdoms and beyond. Carrying a great burden of responsibility to those he allies himself with, architects facilitate the design of cities as well as devices designed to protect his allies' assets or destroy his enemy's.

Progression

There will be some rudimentary crafting processes that you will encounter in the early stages of the game, but we didn't want to focus on the early levels when it comes to the crafting elements. This is because we want to introduce it to people when it can make a difference and when they feel they can produce items, weapons and armor that will be truly useful to them and their friends.

We didn't want to go down the route of forcing people to 'grind' items countless times in order to progress in crafting and at the same time make the process more involved and in keeping with the ancient traditions of learning your trade from a learned master as was the way in ancient Hyboria!

At level 40 players will be able to begin to embark on the crafting quests that will see them progress through the tiers of crafted goods. You will seek out one already well versed in the craft you wish to study and perform a series of quests for them to prove yourself worthy to receive the knowledge they are capable of teaching.

There will be six tiers available for crafters to work through in each of the different crafting categories. Each tier is broken down into various categories, for example in weaponsmithing you will find categories like edged, blunt and ranged weapons.

These categories are then broken down further into specific types of weapon, like for example the edged category might include the knowledge of making daggers, short swords, long swords and bastard swords.

When you find the Master Crafters and seek to learn their knowledge they will ask you which of the categories you first wish to study. Then you will be asked to make an example of each of the separate types of item in that category until you have completed all the quests in that category.

Once each quest has been completed you will have access to that process and can make that item as often as you require (providing you have the components of course!) all the trainer asks in return is that the example piece you produce as part of the quest is returned to him as both payment, and an example of a job well done!

Once all the categories in your current tier have been learnt then you will be able to advance to the next tier of learning.

Crafters will also have the ability to use better or rare components to make a better version of an item from the same recipe. So for example if you already have the knowledge to make a 'Bronze short sword' using a rare or higher quality component might yield you a 'Refined Bronze Short Sword'

These more valuable components will have to be gathered from the wilds of the lands and by those who take the time improve their ability to gather resources through quests.

Making items that matter

Crafters in Age of Conan will be a vital part of the world, and the swords they forge and the armor they craft will see battle and blood and serve their owners in times of peril.

We really want the crafting in Age of Conan to feel useful to players. The items that are created through this system, especially when improved by gemcutters, will be a viable option compared to those items commonly found through your general adventures.

Likewise the toughest of encounters and most dangerous of dungeons might also yield components that will allow you to craft items that might even exceed those made by the great artisans of ancient Hyboria!

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:16 PM
New Character Concept Art

- September 29th, 2006

Four new pieces of character concept art for you today. You will find them in the concept art gallery here. (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=frontend.show&func_id=1050&template=inc_images&selected=1050)

Enjoy

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:17 PM
Behind the Scenes #3 - Beta progress


- Oct 06, 2006
This week we catch up Lead Designer Ole Herbjørnsen on how things are going with the games development.


With the internal beta stages of development now in full swing we tracked Ole down to find out a little bit more about what is going on behind the scenes.

"Hi there again! The question most asked at the moment is obviously how we are getting along with the beta! The first answer that springs to mind is that it's very busy but going very well! The team are now working in what we call 'strike teams' on the various areas of the game, roughly divided up across the games level ranges.

Each team has designers, world builders and QA members working hard to ensure the area of the game world they are responsible for is coming together. The quests are being tested and mobs placed out in the playfields, balance being considered and progression being mapped out.

Having 'teams within the team' as it were allows us to focus on specific areas in much more detail. It also ensures that each area gets that special 'hand crafted' feel that individual attention gives it. Each of the teams is deeply invested in making their area of the gameworld as good as it possibly can be!

The coders meanwhile are hard at work on the technology aspects, like the DX10 integration for Windows Vista, and optimising the graphical settings as well as working through the bugs and issues that our QA testing shows up.

Having people playing the game now is a great thing for our progress. When you are testing the areas you have been working on yourself, it's often easy to miss something because you inherently know every little detail of what you wanted it to be. When someone else gets their hands on it however there is invariably something that wasn't as obvious as you thought it was, or something you had forgotten!

Overall though it's going very well, and the game world starts to look more like a living and thriving environment every time I load up a new version of the client. Still lots of work to be done of course but the lands of King Conan are really starting to take shape.

Another aspect of these first beta stages I wanted to touch on was about what we show from the game right now. Hopefully you will all have seen some of the coverage from the recent press events like GC in Leipzig, Dragoncon in Atlanta and the recent X06 showcase in Barcelona but we know that people are always anxious to see more!

Graphical elements though are part of the game that actually tend to come into the project all the way through as they take time to produce. This means that most of the playfields and areas still have some 'placeholder' elements that tend to get in the way of good screenshots

It can also be very tricky at this stage of the process though to produce the top quality images that we want as we work on balancing the game engines performance and settings. When changes are being committed to the system every day as happens during these beta stages there is usually something 'not quite right' that you want to tweak.

Beta is about starting to polish the technology and features and that means that on any given day there is usually something playing up! It might be some textures, models with incorrect textures or lighting or environmental effects that aren't quite showing up in the game-engine as they should. They get resolved pretty quick, but then it's something else the next day!

So whilst the temptation might be to just take some screenshots anyway and trust that people will accept that its work in progress, we know from experience that every little last detail is scrutinised and criticised as appropriate! That's why we show things like concept art and renders more often then we do screens and video just now.

Trust me, we can't wait to show you the game in all its glory! I was wandering around the streets of Tarantia today showing our CEO how the zone is shaping up and it really is something that has to be seen for sheer scale and splendour. Looking up at the sprawling towers of King Conan's palace from the river docks really is a sight that I think will stick in the mind, and that's just one of the playfields!

It would be a massive shame if the fact that the lighting wasn't quite right or the sky was the wrong tint spoiled people's impression of what is an amazing sight. That's the kind of thing we want to avoid when it comes to showing off what we are doing with the game's visuals.

We are crafting a world we are really proud of and look forward to letting you see it for yourselves! We know that many of you are following the game closely and have seen every image but we have to keep the quality up so that the impression we give first time visitors is the best possible as well. Don't worry though, over the coming months though you will definitely start to see more in-game visuals and video, we are just making sure that the visuals are ready to show the game in all its glory before we release them."

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:19 PM
The Clan of Conan

- October 13th, 2006

This week sees the launch of our new fan club - The Clan of Conan, signing up for our Clan of Conan newsletter will entitle you to some great bonuses when the game launches and the first glimpses at our new monthly newsletters.

Those already signed up for the newsletter will find it in your inbox shortly. Otherwise you can find the entire newsletter online here. (http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/NEWSLETTER/issue01/issue01.html)

Please note that we have used the same sign-up as the old newsletter and everyone who had already signed up has automatically been added to the list for the new Clan of Conan Newsletters.

All members of the Clan of Conan will get a free virtual item that will entitle you to an extra special reward when you first meet king Conan in the game.

Lots to read and digest from the Newsletter...enjoy!

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:20 PM
Tarantia Screenshots

- October 20th, 2006

This weeks sees us taking a look at the majestic city of Tarantia in four great new screenshots.

You will find them in the screenshot gallery here. (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036)

Personally this is one of those areas in the game that I cant wait to see players reactions to, these screens give a hint of the scale and size of the city, but its just a hint, the world builders are really doing an amazing job on this area. Walking the streets, or wandering the harbour and staring up at Conan's palace is really quite a sight.

Enjoy

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:22 PM
Behind the Scenes #4 - On the Road with Conan


- Oct 27, 2006
This week we catch up with one of our Product Managers to find out a little bit about what goes into promoting the game around the world!


Product Manager Erling Ellingsen explains whats it's like to be on the road with Age of Conan!

When thinking about game developers, you probably wouldn't envision them traveling the world, sleeping in a new bed every night and spending more time at airports than someone who works there. That's what rock stars or presidents do, right? But the truth is that making a game is more than writing code and drawing graphics - there is also the element of promotion, something both the PR people and the developers participate in.

Ever since we first announced Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, we've been going around the world showing it to executives, journalists and players. Bringing the game on the road often involves a lot of work in advance, simply because we need to create a build (a version of the game) that can run on computers outside Funcom's offices.

When creating a game of this size and complexity, there is a huge amount of people working on it. They each have their own version of the game, so to speak, which they build upon, and once in a while all the different versions are merged together to create a new version of the game. Along the way, the quality assurance department spends thousands of hours finding bugs and then passes it on to the programmers who fix them.

The point is that during the development of a game like Age of Conan, there is usually something that does not work properly -- an NPC that won't communicate, a door that won't open or a quest that won't work. As such it isn't always as stable as it would be in the finished version, and bringing a game in such a state on the road with you to show it to outside people can be a true challenge in every meaning of the word. This is a challenge all developers have to face during the development of a game.

But as we've shown at E3 in Los Angeles, the Games Convention in Leipzig and so on, our programmers do a remarkable job in giving the PR department builds of the game that both runs and looks very well.

You could ask why we don't just wait until the game is finished before we go out and show it to the world, but the fact is that spreading the word about a game at an early stage is incredibly important to its success. The gaming business is huge, and we have to fight for the attention of both players and journalists alike. Having something to show during the development is therefore very important.

When creating a build that we're taking on the road, we usually develop a version that includes the most important parts of the game so that we can show the different features without having to run through the entire game. Usually we press different keys and write different commands to jump between different locations and features in the game.

At E3 we were showing combat, mounted combat, city-building and character creation. These are all central parts of the game that are usually still being worked on as we show them! This means the programmers have to more or less "wrap up" these features so that they work - even though they may have many months left to work on them. The entire process is quite a challenge to everyone on the team. Whilst it's great to be able to show some aspects of the game to the public, its also something we have to balance against the team actually getting to work on the features on a less hectic timescale!

All that is true for most games companies, throw in the online aspects that come with an MMO such as Age of Conan and there is an added challenge! A single-player game only needs to run well on the computer you're showing it on, an Age of Conan build needs servers to run on when our full server infrastructure isn't finalized or fully installed!

That means our server team and technical staff also get some practice at seeing how the game client runs remotely. It also means that us as presenters have to learn to adapt to the odd unexpected problem, or an unstable client. It might be easier to 'fake it' with a local client and server but we always like to use those opportunities to test our server set-ups as well, it gives the technical guys unique opportunities to test connection related issues and set-ups that they don't usually get at this stage in development.

Handling occasional server crashes while showing the game to an important journalist or even a board-member is an art that everyone who shows the game at these kinds of events quickly learns!

Usually it is the guys and gals in the PR department that takes Age of Conan on the road, often traveling from city to city with only a night's stay at a hotel in each of them. They go to everything from large-scale conventions to small and intimate showing of the game in some editor's office.

While doing this can be a lot of fun simply because they all have a huge passion for what they do and Age of Conan in particular, all these travels can easily take its toll on anyone, especially when crossing the Atlantic and multiple time zones for just a day or two at a time. But it is a job that has to be done, both to satisfy the community, the media and the different people who are involved on the business level.

Doing large conventions such as E3 in Los Angeles (though that might radically change due to the restructuring of this event from next year on), is a huge project. One might not think about it just visiting the booth, but usually it involves hundreds of thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours just getting it up and operational. It also takes a huge chunk of the development team's time getting version of the game running for the show.

Before I joined Funcom as a Product Manager, I used to work as a journalist in a daily newspaper, writing about games among other things. Even though I loved it, I always thought events such as E3 were incredibly hard work - especially for journalists. I always sort of envied the companies showing off the games, as it looked like such an easy job just standing there talking to people and playing the games all day.

I was wrong!

When I joined Funcom, I soon realized it's no picnic standing upright for four to six days in a row, nine hours every day, going over the same things over and over again. Not to mention the countless hours spent on planes, at airports, in hotels and even in traffic.

Don't get me wrong though: we all love doing it! It is very satisfying for us seeing the reactions of both players and journalists alike at these sorts of shows, and we always look forward to it. The feedback is also absolutely invaluable to us.

Looking at the rest of this year and next year, for the PR department, it means another batch of press tours and gaming shows that has to both planned for and attended. And even though it's usually us who venture out into the world to promote our games, we always bring with us some of the developers - after all, they're the ones actually making the game, and they too finds great pleasure in meeting both players and journalists.

Oh, and between you and me: Usually we try to spend a few hours seeing the sights of the city. So if you see someone wearing a Funcom shirt and wielding a camera, chances are that its one of us taking a breather before going to the next show on the list!

Punchline
10-29-2006, 03:35 PM
Christ...

This dude is an AoC encyclopedia!! :0

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 03:47 PM
Christ...

This dude is an AoC encyclopedia!! :0

Ah, finally done posting quick links in first post and updating with all previous friday updates. :o Now I can just add on each friday. Hope you like the info tho. I'll be hanging out in this forum posting info about the game to interest people so stop by once in a while.

And yeah, I know alot about it, been looking up on it since march, it's gonna be great.

Punchline
10-29-2006, 03:50 PM
Ya, thanks a lot dude!! I really enjoyed that info. I learned many things about AoC that I didn't know.

The Bum
10-29-2006, 06:09 PM
Yes, it was some really great info

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 07:44 PM
Thanks alot for the feedback, took some time to find and paste that stuff. :top:

unska
10-29-2006, 09:06 PM
I gave you some reputation for several good posts. :)

Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 09:08 PM
I gave you some reputation for several good posts. :)

I salute and thank you muchly. :)

Quazimodo
10-30-2006, 07:19 PM
Seems alot of people found this thread helpfull since this is the only thread I receive good ratings from, hopefully it'll prove more helpfull each friday. It's usually one big update each 2nd friday.Next one should be something good.... *waits and dreams*

Quazimodo
11-03-2006, 05:39 PM
Friday Update 03/11 - New Screenshots


This week we release four brand new screenshots showing off one of the games locations in the shape of some ancient ruins.

You can find the new images in the screenshot gallery (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=sd9z37ppw5g4lhvw6f36qubsh1se8 c&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036)

Enjoy

Quazimodo
11-10-2006, 05:38 PM
New Concept Art and Fan Site exclusives - Nov 10, 2006

Warriors, thieves, priests and mages are not the only citizens of Hyboria. This week we take a look at some concept work focused around defining the costumes of the everyday characters you will meet in the gameworld.


You can find the new images here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=jghhdkfpsx5h1ajhk7jp7bt5t1t4h z&func=frontend.show&func_id=1050&template=inc_images&selected=1050) in our concept art gallery.

Also keep an eye on the Age of Conan fansites over the weekend as we have sent out a series of these images to some of the sites for them to feature that continue the theme, and show you a little more of what the characters might be wearing when you get to walk the lands of King Conan!

Quazimodo
11-17-2006, 05:45 PM
Behind the Scenes #5 - Beta progress - Nov 17, 2006

This week we take a look at how beta feedback shapes and improves the gameplay experience and development process.

In this weeks update we wanted to go through some ot the process of change that goes hand in hand with the beta schedule. As you all know we are now in closed Beta internally, and we thought it would be interesting for people to hear about what we are working on and what is changing as we move through the beta process!

This time we take a look at how feedback has affected the work on the games opening on the Island of Tortage.

As you all know Beta is a time of finalization and changes, and as we see it the changes are for the better as it’s based on feedback from people actually playing the game. Like everywhere else in life change is unavoidable as no amount of planning, design documents or ceremonial sacrifices to the gods of game development will prevent your prized creation being subject to some alterations.

As a developer you always know that it’s coming, even if you don’t admit it, and doing changes is almost like one of those ‘unspoken truths’ of development that designers like to pretend won’t happen to them but is inevitable. (The devs don’t really fear change; it’s actually a good process, as ideas on paper might not always translate as well into real life. It sounds so much more impressive though when you picture it as some kind of mysterious evil entity that stalks the halls of our offices looking for some unwary dev to pounce on!)

Luckily in actual fact it isn’t such an evil entity and the changes brought on aren’t all about removing things, but more about reacting to the feedback we get and tweaking or improving the experience the player will have in the game.

So what have we been looking at with this beta feedback in hand? Today we wanted to take a look at how the beta feedback has affected the way we integrate the single player elements into the game and tying this into the greater journey players take into the big wide world of the multiplayer Hyboria.

Allowing players to establish themselves and learn the game in a solo campaign has always been the plan for the first twenty levels, and we always had a mind for how we would weave the multiplayer world into that experience. It still is, very much so, but after learning more about how this experience ties into the core MMO experience we have ended up in a direction that we believe will make for a more engaging experience for the player.

The chance to tell a great story, the players ‘destiny quest’ has always been the focus for this section of the game and we have been delighted with how testers have reacted to being able to experience such a story driven mechanic in an MMO environment, but we also want to ensure the blend between the single-player elements and MMO experience was as seamless as possible, and wasn’t an abrupt interruption of the play experience. The question was how to achieve that!

We always wanted players to want see more fellow players earlier in the experience. That we expected and planned for, we had laid out some communal areas where players would meet each other at certain points of the experience. The original thought though was for these to be more social areas and not really do have any real co-op gameplay elements.

It was soon apparent though from testing that this could be improved upon. While players were greatly enjoying the solo elements they also itched to tie up with other players through more than just drunken brawling and social interaction.

So we were faced with a slight dilemma, we certainly didn’t want to dilute the solo elements and the story of the players Destiny quests, but we also wanted to find a way to allow players to experience a more true MMO experience a little earlier.

In doing that though we also had to be sure though to not force the players into co-op game play, as we also didn’t want to water down the appeal of the ‘personal’ journey to level twenty!

So what to do with the Tortage island section suddenly became a new kind of challenge! How to get the best of both worlds? After locking the design team away in meetings for a while (the Game Director will neither confirm or deny the use of any potentially dangerous motivational tools!) they came up with a solution that we feel is ingenious and ‘fitting’.

So what was the solution? Now when players get to Tortage during the day, you will see other players around, and you will be able to group with them if you want and do areas and dungeons on a small team level. This is optional though, it was very important for us that even in adding co-op gameplay to this area the entire experience remains soloable!

Then as night creeps forth you will be sent off on the next legs of your personal quest in a pure single player environment again. The night time sequences are triggered by visiting a bed in an Inn , which we felt was a good, and natural, mechanic to use as people would be familiar with it from many single player RPGs. These sections allow the story to continue and the ‘destiny’ quests to play out for each individual player.

The solution has allowed us to keep the first few levels intact exactly as we originally planned as the players quest to seek access to the town at the centre of life in Tortage, but after we get there we have added more co-op gameplay elements than we originally envisioned to give players the option of seeking help with certain stages of the single-player experience should they want to.

So the daytime sections allow you to level up either alone, or in a small team, in order to progress to the next main section of your destiny quest. While at night you are always completely on your own, in and around the environs of Tortage.

We felt that this evolution of the original intention means that players get a better, more flexible and more social experience during the solo campaign (should they wish) and as we are now getting ever closer to the final iterations we think we have found the right way to integrate the different styles of gameplay. Getting that blend of both worlds is something we have really been striving for, and hopefully all of our players will agree on our choice once they can get their hands into the final product!

These changes have allowed us to improve the gameplay experience based on real input from real people, people who love MMO games. With Age of Conan we have set out to provide some unique MMO game experiences, of which the single player start is one. So with this new approach think it offers the best options for the players and has been reshaped to become something better and more involving then what we originally designed, and at the end of the day that is what matters most.

Quazimodo
11-17-2006, 05:54 PM
Finally a good update! :P

this sounds awsome, probably will take alot of programming, and bug fixes. But a good idea nevertheless.

The Bum
11-17-2006, 08:32 PM
Thats pretty cool :D

Hentai
11-26-2006, 11:31 PM
awsome post :D

Quazimodo
11-27-2006, 12:13 PM
The Conall's Valley conflict


- Nov 24, 2006
In the hash land of Cimmeria, a struggle between the Vanir and the native Cimmerians is taking its toll on the rugged lands of Conall's Valley. And you can participate!

In the wild and cold lands of northern Cimmeria, at the foot of the mighty mountain known as Ben Morgh, there is a valley torn apart by ages of conflict and war. The claws of time and the teeth of ice has cut a deep rift into the earth here, creating a place known as Conall’s Valley, sheltered by towering walls of solid stone and sharp rocks. This is where a tribe of proud Cimmerians have found their home -- and their calling -- as they strive to keep their small settlement out of the cold clutches of the savage Vanir who continually tries to breach their wooden walls in order to reach Broken Leg Glen that lies beyond the valley, somewhere to the west. At the eastern end of the great rift lies the entrance to the dreaded Field of the Dead, and Vanir have set up numerous encampments throughout the valley, leaving this small Cimmerian settlement the last defense between the Vanir of the valley and the Cimmerian village of Broken Leg Glen.

In Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, players can choose to be either spectators or participants in the conflict between the Cimmerians and the Vanir. As the player follows the windy path that takes them down the mountainside from Broken Leg Glen in the west, the modest Cimmerian settlement will slowly emerge from depth of the valley floor. A long palisade of wooden poles and spikes can be seen at the eastern side of the settlement, and as a player you won’t have to go far outside these protective walls before the corpses of slain Cimmerians and Vanir can be seen littering the bloodstained battlegrounds of Conall’s Valley. Depending on your alignment or where your alliance lie, you may be disgusted by this sight and vow to use your sword, bow or magic if that is what is needed to assist the Cimmerians in battle. The opportunity will definitively arise!



"Once in a while -- and the player will see this happen randomly -- a computer-controlled Vanir hornblower will emerge from a tent in the Vanir camp to sound the attack on the fortified Cimmerian settlement," says Content Designer Thorbjørn Olsen at Funcom.

When the hornblower has sounded his horn, a stream of determined Vanir will pour out from the woods and attack the settlement. Computer-controlled Cimmerians will do their best to fight off the attackers, but as Olsen explains, the Vanir may very well overtake the defenders and storm into the village. The Vanir will most likely attack with melee weapons, while the Cimmerians are more prone to manning the palisades and fending them off with ranged weapons before they get too close. The players present in the valley can choose to be involved in the fight or they can choose to distance themselves from the conflict and simply watch from afar as the battle unfolds -- though a true Cimmerian player might have trouble shutting out the horrors and sufferings of his or her fellow countrymen! The game will not force you to do anything you do not want to do.

"When walking around in Conall’s Valley, players are wise to keep their eyes open and be weary about where they step. We’ve added a lot of hidden encounters here, with Vanir and other enemies that may ambush you on the road," explains Olsen.

You see, the ongoing battle between the Vanir and the Cimmerians is not the only thing players must be mindful of when they journey through Conall’s Valley. The area of the valley is gigantic, and players will be able to explore the woods of the valley floor or even climb the slopes of the mountain and brave whatever dangers that lurk above the cloud cover. Olsen explains the depth of this experience in vivid detail, and tells a story of how even the sound designers have stepped in to make the experience as lifelike as possible by having howling winds going past the player’s ears when they are high up in the mountain, while the rustling sounds of an inhabited forest dominates the lower parts of the valley. The heavy foliage of this forest can be inviting in its visual appeal, but true dangers lurk behind every leaf – the developers have put in place a system that allows the designers to spawn ambushes, where a hungry wolf or a prowling bear might jump the player at any time. But the system is clever, taking the attributes and experience of the character into consideration as the ambush is triggered when the player walks too close.

"Players will have to be mindful of bushes and big rocks! It is quite possible that something dangerous might be lurking in such places, and players might want to stay away from heavy foliage when traveling unless they want a nasty surprise," says Olsen.

Indeed, life in Conall’s Valley is as dynamic as it is violent. The designers are also working towards having a natural wildlife within the valley, where animals hostile to each other may also attack one another -- even without the influence of a player. You might be walking along the forest path, minding your business, when you suddenly spot a moose being felled by a vicious wolf or even a pack of wolves. In Age of Conan, all enemies have a sense of smell, hearing and even eyesight -- so be watchful as you approach any such battle, the creatures might decide to engage you instead if you come too close. Such is the dynamic nature of not only Conall’s Valley but also Age of Conan in general. The developers are trying very hard to create a believable world where every action has a reaction -- and that means not only the actions of your own character!



But Conall’s Valley is more than just beautiful vistas, dangerous forests and an age-old conflict between two rivaling factions. Upon journeying through the valley, the player might stumble upon numerous quests that are not just given out by important characters, but are also being revealed from just exploring. As Olsen explains, one might stumble upon something in the game world that triggers a quest. For instance, the Cimmerians find that being captured by the enemy is the greatest of humiliations. When in battle, they often hide their women and children in their huts and homes before they head out to the battlefield. If they see they are fighting a losing battle, it is known among Cimmerians that they might run back and kill their wife and children themselves before the enemies can do so. Olsen explains that at one point in the game, the player might come across a spear stuck in the wall of some once-inhabited hut where such an event has took place, and a quest is spawned, urging the player to revenge the fallen warrior and his family.

"Conall’s Valley is a place heavy with lore. Take for instance Kern Wolfeye, a character that we’ve taken directly from the literature connected with the Conan license. He’s in there, and that adds a lot to the experience in Age of Conan," says an enthusiastic Olsen.

Quazimodo
12-03-2006, 01:52 PM
Concept Art Update


- Dec 01, 2006
This week we take a look into the Stygian culture will be represented in Age of Conan with a look at some of the great concept art prepared for the clothes and armors you will find in the region.

There are five new images added to the gallery today showing a range of Stygian armor inspirations. From clothing the refined and sensual curves of their mysterious women to displaying the ornate grandeur of the finest Stygian armor, our artists constantly strive to capture the essence of the Stygia that comes across so vividly in Howard's descriptions of the dangerous desert kingdom.

"These type of images serve as both guide and instruction for our 3D artists creating the armor and clothing, but also serve as important inspiration for the kind of atmosphere that we want to create for these areas", explains Assistant Art Director Grant Regan, "players should be able to get lost in the worlds we create and that drives through everything we try and do with our art direction. The artists have to convey in these images how we want the experience of walking around Stygia to feel - that is no small feat in itself!"

The images today show a selection from the Stygian concepts we have produced to inspire the armor and items you will be able to collect in Age of Conan. Whilst working within the Stygian theme there is still more then enough room for some great diversity in how their armor looks! These examples come from various different tiers of the armor ranges and types and show how the inspiration of Howard's Stygia can be used to create many distinctly Stygian but different looks.

You can find the gallery here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=z8lwbk743ey9tdj8gumpuiryx4k76 l&func=frontend.show&func_id=1050&template=inc_images&selected=1050)

Quazimodo
12-12-2006, 08:55 PM
New screenshots


- Dec 08, 2006
This week we bring you six more screenshots from Age of Conan. Take a look at how a Stygian slave galley looks like from the inside, or get a dramatic view from a Guardian fighting a horde of Vanirs!

This weeks update is a visual one. We've uploaded six new screenshots to the web site, showing off different elements and locations with Age of Conan.

Take a look at them in the screenshots section (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=89959f1ulfzaeiwtqvodncq8pj9in d&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036) of the site.

Have a good weekend!

Punchline
12-12-2006, 11:23 PM
Basically, this thread owns...

Quazimodo
12-13-2006, 01:00 AM
Seems like alot of people feel the same, I get lots of rep from this :P *wants 2 green squares!*

Quazimodo
12-15-2006, 04:36 PM
Coverage, screenshots and a video!


- Dec 15, 2006
This week saw a spur of information about Age of Conan hit the web, as serveral journalists were invited to see the game this week. Take a look at the articles, the screenshots and even a video!

Earlier this week we invited numerous journalists to come and have a look at Age of Conan for themselves. The result are several articles available on the web today, and more will follow in the coming days. We've also uploaded a massive batch of new screenshots (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=ciq3pqwwqhngo0ur2x0135no3a9oj 1&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036) to our screenshots section.

Here are some of the preview articles

Age of Conan on IGN (http://pc.ign.com/articles/751/751055p1.html)
Age of Conan on Team Xbox (http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1502/Age-of-Conan-Hyborian-Adventures/p1/)
Age of Conan on Voodoo Extreme (http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/750/750993p1.html)
Age of Conan on the Vault Network (http://vault.ign.com/View.php?view=Articles.Detail&id=8)
Age of Conan on GameSpot (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofconanhyborianadventures/news.html?sid=6163211&mode=previews&tag=previews;story;1)

Be also sure to check out the video available on GameVideos.com! (http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/7981)

Quazimodo
12-15-2006, 04:43 PM
Man, the graphics.... gameplay... I'm so in love with this game.

Quazimodo
12-22-2006, 01:48 PM
Clan of Conan Update and Happy Holidays


- Dec 22, 2006
We welcome the holiday season with a bumper collection of new updates in the latest Clan of Conan Newsletter

A huge thank you this week to all the community following the game, we are excited to see such a great and dynamic community emerging for the game and are really looking forward to being able to show you more of the game and launching next year!

This week sees the latest newsletter released and is packed with a bunch of new features videos and screens for you to feast over. You can find the online version here (http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/NEWSLETTER/issue03/issue03.html). So have a great holiday season and enjoy the latest newsletter updates!

Quazimodo
01-04-2007, 09:09 AM
New Lore Updates


- Dec 29, 2006
In between all the seasonal feasting we have two new entries to the lore section for you to enjoy today!


In keeping with the Stygian theme of this months Clan of Conan update these lore updates focus on one of the other deities that is revered and worshipped in the Stygian lands - Derketo

You will find the new entries here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=5l0fggwf45g2r6bpdp8maeh3fp0im k&func=frontend.show&p_id=1007&template=inc_list_all_lore&selected=1007) in the lore section of the site.

Quazimodo
01-12-2007, 07:45 PM
New Concept Art Feature


- Jan 05, 2007
This week we have added a series of great concept art pieces that highlight the very distinctive looks that weapons from each of the different regions of King Conan's world have.

In Age of Conan the player will be able to visit and face enemies from a great number of the locations and areas written about by Robert E Howard. We caught up with Assistant Art Director Grant Regan to find out a little more about what goes into matching up with the wonderful descriptions found in the stories when it comes to bringing the weapons of Conan and his many adversaries to life

"One of the greatest challenges of reproducing the world that was created by Robert E Howard in the Conan literature was that we have so much to live up to! Each and every region that Conan visited, or that Howard described, had such distinctive aspects that the reader was always given a wonderfully evocative mental image of what Conan faced."

"In Age of Conan we have to visually represent that in a manner that will retain that sense of being somewhere specific. If you are Stygia, or facing a horde of angry Hyperboreans then we want the players to be able to identify the difference visually. This isnt just represented by the world design but is also very important to the design of the weapons and armor that your foes will use."

"This means that the team spends a lot of time designing weapons and armor that have very different and unique looks to them. A Kushite weapon the players might face should look very different from that wielded by a Zingaran. We feel that the effort put into giving the different cultures unique aspects to their weaponry is very important to our goal of always allowing the player to feel that they are following in the steps of Conan and facing the same dangers!"

You can find the new images here (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=frontend.show&func_id=1050&template=inc_images&selected=1050) in the concept gallery

Quazimodo
01-12-2007, 07:47 PM
Class System Review


- Jan 12, 2007
This week we take a look at some of the changes that are taking place during the beta process and wanted to put some 'meat on the bones' on a decision tying into the class structure in Age of Conan.


This week we wanted to announce one of the major changes we have made during the beta process. As always we trying to give the best possible updates on any changes we are making to what has already been announced. For this week we wanted to put some meat on the bones on a decision tying into the entire class structure in Age of Conan.

One of the key things that the designers consider when going through the early stages of the beta process is whether the gameplay has turned out to be fun and involving. Have the designs that were originally done worked as we expected? Do they ensure that all-important fun factor is there?

Perhaps the most important factor we had to consider was whether the character development provided the right balance and sense of progression. Are the classes fun to play? That’s the question we have to keep foremost in our minds.

After our initial rounds of testing we found that the classes did what we had originally intended them to do, but there was one important aspect that we all felt was lacking a little and that was diversity of abilities. Each class played within its role, but those roles meant that each class had a more limited scope than we felt players would appreciate in the long term. With that in mind we started to look at the class roles, and decided that it was important to provide each final class we wanted in the game to have a little more flexibility. It was important that the classes didn’t have too much crossover between them which would blur the definition of what that class could perform.

So what we have done is a consolidation that provides each class with a more flexible role in the class structure. This means that in the long term it will ensure that there is an extra playability in each of the classes. We feel players will appreciate this approach much more than if we stuck to a more rigid structure with less scope within each of the professions.

So what has changed?

Effectively what we chose to do was to merge the character classes in order to improve the game further. This meant we could achieve our objectives without loosing anything from the original class listings. So for those of you that have followed the development from the previously listed professions here is the breakdown of what we have done:

Guardian and Halberdier have been merged, class name is Guardian.
Barbarian, Reaver and Master Thief merged, class name is Barbarian.
Conquer and Liberator merged, class name is Conqueror.
Zealot and Dark Templar merged, class name is Dark Templar.
Defiler and Lotus Master merged, class name is now Assassin.
Ranger and Waylayer merged, class name is Ranger.
Stormcaller and Druid merged, class name is Druid of the Storm.
Scourge of Derketo’s abilities have been merged across the Priest archetypes
So the final line-up is now as follows:

Priest Archetype – Druid of the Storm, Scion of Set, Priest of Mitra, Bear Shaman
Mage Archetype – Demonologist, Lich, Necromancer, Herald of Xotli
Soldier Archetype – Guardian, Conqueror, Dark Templar
Rogue Archetype – Ranger, Assassin, Barbarian
All the originally listed skills and abilities are still in the game, but they are just spread across fewer classes. We know that the players will benefit from the added abilities when it comes to the roles each class will fulfill in gameplay terms. We also know that this had to be done for the greater good of the game, and that our choice will seem the only logical one once you get your hands on the game.

What these changes accomplish is simply put that each class has much greater gameplay diversity, and we felt this was essential for the long-term playability. With more tools at their disposal players will for sure have a greater scope for their characters and thereby not feel so hedged in to a set role. At the end of the day it is all about the fun, and this consolidation will make the game more fun to play.

We didn’t feel that having classes that felt a little restrictive was the way to go as it simply didn’t make the game as much fun. As we see it is more fitting that characters who would flourish in the brutal and demanding lands of King Conan would have more then a few tricks up their sleeves!

You can check out the updated Class tree (http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/static/classlist/) for all the details on the class specialities and keep your eyes out for special class previews over the coming times both here and on some of our partner sites.

Quazimodo
01-19-2007, 11:17 AM
Class Preview - Scion of Set


- Jan 19, 2007
This week we start taking a look at some of the classes in Age of Conan in a little more detail. First up for this weeks update we travel to the desert lands of Stygia to find out more about the Scion of Set from the Priest Archetype.

Dedicated to the god Set, the Scions are often considered fanatics whose dedication to their god reaches devotion that many would confuse for insanity. The snake god offers the constant promise of power beyond mortal means and demands nothing short of total commitment in return.

While well schooled in the healing arts the true power of the Scion of Set comes from their being blessed by the snake god. This grants them with the ability to inflict damaging poisons upon their enemies and call upon the poisonous powers of Set to augment their allies' attacks with the venom of the snake god or curse their foes.

When they are faced with the enemy at close quarters they prefer to wield their sacrificial and ceremonial daggers and are certainly no slouches at cutting and stabbing their foes in cruel and very intentional ways!

Lets take a look at an example of the Scion's special magical skills and how they interact with each other.

One of the very basic abilities that all Scion's learn is known as 'Venom Strike', available from level 20 once they have chosen to follow the path of Set. This is a simple and straightforward poison based attack that they can call upon.

However as the Scion grows in power and knowledge they learn abilities that will augment and mean that using 'Venom Strike' provides them with extra effects and bonuses.

'Devour Essence' for example is first learned at level 55 (and can be improved upon at level 70) adds a mana restore element to 'Venom Strike' granting the Scion a moderate amount of mana back every time 'Venom Strike' lands. You also have spells like 'Set's Writhing Hate' moving towards their later dark arts that can learned at level 70 provides a poison damage boost to the Scion every time they use 'Venom Strike'

Those who truly show their unyielding commitment to Set and reach level 80 are rewarded with the ability to channel their god and become an 'Avatar of Set'.

With the power of their god cursing their very blood, the Scion becomes a giant snake, striking fear into their foes and temporarily giving them a powerful boost to their abilities.

This most powerful of ancient magic's increases the caster's magic poison damage and grants bonus poison damage to the caster's team. It also increases the amount of retributive damage from their 'Shroud of Snakes' spell line and causes the caster to actually be healed from poison damage, while continuously inflicts instant poison damage to enemies near the caster.

Like all Hyborian magic such power must be used carefully and soul corruption is always a risk, even for those as dedicated as the Scion. The art of using magic in Age of Conan revolves around timing the use of these powerful abilities so that you can inflict maximum pain on your opponents but avoid leaving yourself vulnerable to their retribution!

Quazimodo
01-27-2007, 12:13 AM
Latest Clan of Conan Issue!


- Jan 26, 2007
Today sees the release of the latest Clan of Conan Newsletter packed with goodies to feed your appetite for Age of Conan info!

This month's update includes links to more great features and articles, including the new DX10 screens and video as well as the usual treasure trove of location reveals, characters and developer profiles.

So keep an eye on your in-boxes or check out the on-line version here (http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/frontend/files/NEWSLETTER/issue04/index.html)

Remember if you aren't a member yet be sure to sign up here (http://www.ageofconan.com/conan/en/newsletter.html)

Quazimodo
02-02-2007, 11:33 PM
Class Preview - Druid of the Storm


- Feb 02, 2007
This week we take a deeper look into another of the classes available in Age of Conan - The Druid of the Storm.

Primal and resourceful, these priests of the shamanistic arts are masters of the world around them, at one with nature.

Their understanding of the world around them also means that they have an almost endless knowledge of natural healing remedies that can keep their allies standing in battle. Not just a healer they can utilise ancient arts, runes and charms passed down by their forefathers to protect and keep allies safe from harm

While obviously adept at protecting their allies makes them respected travelling companions, these Druids are actually more feared for what they can call forth from nature.

Masterfully in touch with the elements themselves, the Druid of the Storm can control and call upon the power of weather to hinder and attack their foes, calling down lightning and creating storms.

They can use the power of wind to throw their enemies back, and harness the raw energy of lightning to burn their foes, or call forth the bitter winds of winter to bite their opponents with the extreme cold that only nature can summon forth.

As an example their defining ability at level 80 is called ‘Eye of the Storm’ and calls forth a great hurricane down upon the Druid themselves that acts as natural shield, a wall of wind that not only keeps attackers at bay but charges the air around the caster with such electrical energy that it can augment the Druids lightning spells.

‘Eye of the Strom’ thus grants the Druid vastly improved defence against ranged attacks but has the down side that it is almost impossible to move. It increases electrical magic damage and the radius of effect for their lightning based spells. Enemies attacking the caster have a chance of being knocked back while the druids themselves become immune to most knockback effects.

Far from being ‘just a healer’ these Shaman are powerful and dangerous foes to cross on the battlefield.

Uzbeki
02-05-2007, 02:09 PM
Very cool class indeed. I cant wait to hear about all of the other classes. I hope they all got abilites like "Eye of the storm" :)

Quazimodo
02-10-2007, 04:45 PM
Class Preview - Lich


- Feb 09, 2007
This week the dark and menacing Lich class falls under our spotlight as we continue our previews of the classes available in Age of Conan.


Of all the mages the Lich is perhaps the most feared by the ordinary travellers. Where the Necromancer animates the dead, the Lich actually embraces and joins the dead, becoming one with the foul and decaying undead they can channel great power from by their sacrifice of parts of their mortal soul and body.

A Lich is a mage who has moved beyond merely summoning the dead and instead chooses to make the darkest of pacts with the undead. They allow themselves to be one with those who have passed from the mortal realm and can merge their own flesh and blood with that of the dead.

By fusing with the bones of the dead, the Lich gains impressive physical strength and resilience. In this form the Lich prefers to wade into battle and club enemies to death, although retains access to their full array of spells.

When using Champion of Death for example, that the Lich gets access to from level 20, The Lich inhabits the form of a powerful undead warrior, increasing health, attack rating and their unholy magic rating.

Calling forth dark and menacing clouds laden with the foul black reek of pestilence and disease the Lich can easily inspire dread on the battlefield.

The power of the undead is not just called upon to help the Lich defeat their foes, it can also protect. Pact of Dead Flesh for example, that is available from level 25 onwards, protects the caster's team against damage, absorbing the first X points of damage from each hit. There is a maximum amount of damage that can be absorbed before it fails though.

At Higher levels the Lich gets access to powerful and ancient magics like ‘Flesh of the Wight’ and ‘Acheronian Abomination’, the latter allows the Lich to literally take the physical form of an ancient Acheronian warrior. Twisting in pain that might cripple those not used to dealing in such foul arts, the Lich’s skin becomes re-enforced with the thick leathery, puss ridden hide of these powerful undead incarnations, his convulsing face masked by the ornately carved and distinctive helms that mark the source of these evil beings.

The Lich’s muscles and bones are infused with the ancient strength and malice that is breed by centuries of undead anguish and can then be unleashed upon their foes.

These spells Increase the amount of damage absorbed each hit by spells such as Pact of Dead Flesh. The caster also gains additional unholy damage on melee attacks, and attackers have a chance of being afflicted with a damage over time curse when they attack the caster or getting extra healing from foes that attack them. These are examples of where casters spells at the higher levels also increase the effectiveness of their other spells.

The Lich is a dread inducing and fearsome foe whose dark pacts with the undead give them a wide variety of options in battle, whether it is defending their allies or striking out against their enemies.

Uzbeki
02-14-2007, 01:11 PM
Sweet, so this is a shapeshifter class? Sounds like a fun class to play.

Quazimodo
02-17-2007, 02:09 AM
Class Preview - Herald of Xotli


- Feb 16, 2007
We continue our preview of the playable classes in Age of Conan with a look at the demonic and fearsome Herald of Xotli.

Some of those who meddle in the demonic arts are either too weak-minded or venture too far down the path of demonology to remain untainted for long. The Heralds are those who with an insatiable lust for power regardless of the cost have bargained with the demon god Xotli and paid the ultimate price.

They become a host to true demonic forces, allowing their very flesh and blood to be twisted and shaped to the purposes of their master.

The arcane and twisted pacts that have allowed the Herald to call upon the power of Xotli mean that they are powerful and dreaded foes in combat. Whereas other priests or students of the demonic arts can call upon the servants or blessing of their respective deities the Herald actually transforms themselves into a walking incarnation of Xotli’s wrath.

In battle, the Herald transforms into a demon, preferring to melee opponents and feel the enemy's flesh tear rather than rely on spells, although they retain a powerful arsenal of spells to call upon as needed. With their frenzied appearance and blood soaked muscles rippling with demonic strength the Herald becomes one of the most fearsome sights on the battlefield.

While many of the Herald’s abilities concentrate on strengthening themselves and their allies they can also call upon the primordial forces of fire and brimstone, hewn from the demonic depths, to smite their foes.

‘Hellfire Breath’, that the Herald can cast from level 25 onwards, deals instant fire damage to enemies in a cone in front of the caster. Likewise from 55 onwards, their ‘Hellflare’ spell blasts the enemies around the caster with an intense searing wall of heat, lowering their damage output and causing them to take more damage from physical attacks.

When combined with spells like their ‘Inferno Curse’ these attacks can be even more lethal. 'Inferno Curse' is available from level 40 onwards and allows the Herald to curse enemies in his near vicinity so that they take increased damage from fire based attacks.

So while the demonic flames might be their specialty the Herald is usually in the thick of the action and uses spells like ‘The Exultation of Xotli’, which is available from level 45 onwards, to increase their melee damage for a short period of time but with a period of reduced damage for a short while afterwards.

At higher levels the Herald gets access to the ability to not just strike fear in their opponents but can actually force them to run away in terror through their ‘Dread Visage’ ability. So the Herald is not only a fearsome foe at close quarters on the battlefield but their demonic powers can actually instill dread and make even the most hardened of opponents flee from them in stark fear.

Quazimodo
02-17-2007, 02:12 AM
Sweet, so this is a shapeshifter class? Sounds like a fun class to play.

Yeah, they seem to be doing some great stuff on the spell casters. Just hope rangers will be interesting. ;)

Punchline
02-17-2007, 03:56 AM
Sweet, so this is a shapeshifter class? Sounds like a fun class to play.

*cough, DRUID, cough*

Quazimodo
04-15-2007, 06:40 PM
Class Preview - Necromancer

- Mar 02, 2007
We continue our preview of the playable classes in Age of Conan with a look at the mysterious and dangerous Necromancer.

Evil and twisted Necromancers bring the cursed and the dead back from beyond the mortal realm to do their bidding. Looking down on the likes of the Demonologist for their reliance on bargaining for power, the Necromancer requires no such crutch, relying instead on his own mastery of death to dispose of his enemies.

The true power of the Necromancer is two fold, with a mastery of unholy magic, the Necromancer animates the dead and corrupts the living, while this is complimented by their ability to marshal the freezing winds of death itself and deal devastatingly cold attacks on those who would cross their path. Thus the icy touch of death is instilled in everything the Necromancer does and they have a wide variety of spells and foul magics to call upon.

Spells like ‘Flesh to Worms’ and ‘Pestilential Blast’ deal painful and disturbing unholy damage to their targets while ‘Gelid Bones’ and ‘Ice Strike’ use deathly cold to deal their damage. The stench of death itself provides the Necromancer with this tainted arsenal and their ability to manipulate it to their benefit is unsurpassed.

Not content with simply smiting their foes the Necromancer can also use their dark arts to boost their allies. Spells like ‘Runed Flesh’ allow the Necromancer\s team to absorb some damage, while ‘Bone Ward’ increases the Necromancers defences.

Lastly, but by no means least, the Necromancer can also command the dead themselves. Tearing the corpses of the fallen from the ground and animating them to their own evil intentions the Necromancer can summon forth a series of twisted cadavers to do their foul bidding.

With the ability to summon expendable foot soldiers called Undead Minions, through to raising magically adept Deathless Acolytes, the Necromancer can ensure that these rotting and malicious puppets of flesh are at hand to deal with any enemies that get too close.

Like much of the magic in Age of Conan the abilities of this mage are greatly enhanced by their later abilities, for example the pinnacle of their powers - Loathsome Teachings, that is available only at level 80, provides a boost to their ‘Ice Strike’ and ‘Glacial Storm’ spells while active, triggering an additional Freeze effect. Likewise their ‘Pestilential Blast’ and ‘Blasphemous Ruin’ spells benefit from an additional ‘Gangrenous Touch’ effect. It also benefits the amount of health returned when their Lifeleech spell is cast and any attacks against the Necromancer while it is active have a chance of applying a healing effect on the caster. At the same time the ability grants additional cold and unholy damage to the caster's team.

Their mastery over death itself means that Necromancers are amongst the most feared practitioners of magic you are likely to meet on the battlefield. Their icy grasp and command of undead mean that they are a threat taken lightly at your own risk!

Quazimodo
04-15-2007, 06:41 PM
Update from GDC

- Mar 09, 2007
Take a peek at the process involved in bringing Age of Conan to GDC, and also check out what the press is saying about the game at the show. And oh, we’ve also got a bunch of new screenshots for you!

For the last couple of weeks, both marketing and the development team have been hard at work preparing for the Games Developer Conference that this week took place in San Francisco. While the developers have been working on polishing many of the game’s features – such as the fatality moves – the marketing team have been working towards getting as many journalists as possible to drop in and have a look at the game.

Web sites such as IGN (click here to read (http://pc.ign.com/articles/771/771745p1.html)) and Gamespy (click here to read (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/age-of-conan-hyborian-adventures/771750p1.html)) have already given their thoughts on the game, but more will most likely follow in the coming days. Several new screenshots have also surfaced thanks to coverage from the conference, and you can check many of them out here in the community site’s screenshot section. (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=q966wgt8cnq0anl5wm7mgdx6w738j v&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036)

“This year’s GDC has been great for us. We’ve had the opportunity to show Age of Conan to many members of the press, and we’re thrilled to see how enthusiastic many of the reactions have been,” says product director Jørgen Tharaldsen who is in San Francisco together with several members of the development team as well.

The Games Developer Conference is first and foremost an industry event, a place where like-minded programmers, artists and other people involved in game development and marketing can meet and share their experiences with each other. But still, it’s also a great place to showcase your product and get the attention of the world’s gaming media. That’s why you will also see news articles and in-depth previews coming out of the conference.

The days leading up to the show are always hectic at Funcom. First comes the easy part, where everyone comes together and brainstorms over what they would like to show. Of course, everyone would like to show everything right away, but when you work with marketing a computer game you also have to consider the fact that you need material to show for several months ahead, and you don’t want to be revealing everything at once!

When both marketing and development have banged their heads together and have finally settled on what to show, reality quickly sets in and the “to do list” suddenly becomes a huge two-headed monster that eats developers for breakfast and forces marketing to watch. When developing a computer game, everyone is working on their little bit and it’s not until the latter part of development and during the beta period that it all fits together and works seamlessly as a game. For tradeshows, the developers often has to improvise by putting things together in haste and bug fixing as they go along.

It’s an industry fact, and we all have to do it. It becomes easier as the game matures and more features becomes available, and because Age of Conan is so far into the development of the game right now, we’ve been lucky enough to be able to more or less pick and choose what we want to show at the Games Developer Conference this year.

“Right now it’s all about determining what to show and when to show it. Early in the game’s development we had to create makeshift solutions to be able to show advanced features, but now our biggest concern is just making sure we don’t reveal everything in one go. And that’s a challenge, because we want to show it all now!” says Tharaldsen.

Still, things do need to be polished before they can be shown to the world, and for the last couple of weeks the developers have been hard at work going through their task lists and making sure everything works the way it should. A so-called strike team is created who works relentlessly on preparing a version that those going to the conference can bring with them -- with all the deadlines that involves!

One of the biggest challenges we face when setting out to demo Age of Conan, is how to show as much meaningful content as possible in the usually short amount of time that we have. Massively multiplayer online games are, as the name says, massive. It can take hours upon hours to reach different levels of character development, and getting to some parts of the game can mean months of actual gameplay.

So how do you show the good stuff right away when you only have half an hour to impress a journalist?

“I’ve created a series of scripts that quickly lets whoever is playing the game level up their character and get access to really cool equipment, feats and combos. That way they are able to quickly develop into a character that looks impressive, and show off features that wouldn’t really be available until later in the game,” says item designer Mats Remman.

One of the characters that are being showed at the Games Developer Conference is the Soldier who turns into a Guardian. Whoever is playing the game can quickly level up to the sort of Guardian that they want, and all the combo moves will suddenly become available to them along with some of the better gear. This allows us to show diversity in characters and gears without having to actually go questing for hours to get there!

As the week comes to and end and the conference closes its doors, both marketing and developers head back to the offices to continue working on the game, preparing it for the upcoming beta phases and finally launch.

Here is some of the coverage that has come out of GDC so far:

Preview on TenTonHammer (http://www.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=494)
Preview on GameSpy (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/age-of-conan-hyborian-adventures/771750p1.html)
Preview on IGN (http://pc.ign.com/articles/771/771745p1.html)
Preview on Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/gaming/age-of-conan/gdc07-conan-combos-and-fatalities-241961.php)

Quazimodo
04-15-2007, 06:43 PM
Class Preview - Demonologist

- Mar 16, 2007
This week we take a look at those who would trade their very souls in the quest for absolute power - The Demonologist.

Of all the mages the Demonologist may be the most power hungry and twisted amongst them. Such is their pure thirst for absolute power that they are willing to trade their very souls to whichever demonic power is currently seeking to extend their influence into the affairs of man.

Through demonic pacts and sacrifices they tread a fine line between the mortal world and the depths of the demonic realms, drawing forth the power of their immortal masters at the price of the corrupting influence of that power.

The Demonologist is not as studied as other mages, and while they might have some rudimentary knowledge of the magical arts it is their ability to wield and command these ancient and sinister arts that allow them to strike down their opponents on the battlefield.

The Demonologist has two main areas of expertise, firstly in the command of demonic minions and then also a variety of fire and electrical based direct damage spells.

The demons are of course the most trusted weapon in their arsenal, with the Demonologist having the power to control and command demons summoned from the pits of the ancient, long forgotten worlds below the world. With their 'Demonic Servitude ' ability allowing them to bind a demon to their will, the Demonologist can command these minions to do their bidding and bring agony and despair to their foes.

Dripping with the eternal blood of their victims and a twisted visage that can inspire dread in even the most battle hardened of warriors, the demons are a fearsome sight on any battlefield.

The demon alone though is not what makes the Demonologist a powerful and dangerous foe. They have the ability to smite their enemies with devastating fire and electrical attacks, channelling the searing heat and magical energy of the demonic realm into potent and potentially lethal attacks.

'Flamestrike' and 'Shockstrike' are amongst the first spells the Demonologist learns to wield and these are supplemented from level 35 with the likes of the 'Firestorm' and 'Shockblast' spells.

The Demonologist can also bargain with their demonic masters to sacrifice their own health in return for yet more powerful damage through their 'Sacrifice' and 'Blood Sacrifice' spells

As with the other mage classes the Demonologist also has access to powerful abilities as the highest levels that can greatly improve the performance of their other spells and abilities. For the Demonologist this comes in the form of their 'Archfiend's Pact' spell, which while active means that Flamestrike, Shockstrike, Firestorm and Shockblast have no cool down times and the caster gains very high mana regeneration. With their Magic damage greatly increased and stacking with both 'Sacrifice' and 'Blood Sacrifice' the cost of this powerful spell is not to be taken lightly. The Demonologist pays for such a wanton display of their power with a heavy amount of damage to their own health over the course of the spell and a very high Soul Corruption penalty.

So the Demonologist treads a fine line between eternal damnation and the power that can be bestowed upon them by their demonic masters, with their constant thirst for power comes the risk of insanity and worse, but while they retain mastery of their borrowed powers they are a powerful foe. With demonic minions to do their bidding, and such power at their disposal, the Demonologist is truly a mage to be feared.

Quazimodo
04-15-2007, 09:20 PM
Four new screens

- Mar 23, 2007
This week we bring you four new screenshots giving you a small glimpse at the Cimmerian settlement of Broken Leg Glen, and a trade caravan that runs through Stygia.

One of the things that we are really proud of in Age of Conan is the visual diversity that the development team has managed to deliver. This is particularly evident when looking at the different landscapes of Hyboria that is realized in this game, from the snow-capped mountains of Cimmeria to the burning deserts of Stygia. And everything in between!

This week we want to show you just how diverse landscapes in Age of Conan can be. Check out the screenshots section (http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?session=cagsz9s0bsofcy7ii978ui226vfp4 o&func=frontend.show&func_id=1036&template=inc_images&selected=1036) for four new screenshots from the game.

For Cimmeria we paid a visit to the settlement of Broken Leg Glen, a community that rests at the feet of the mighty mountains that surrounds it. These inhospitable walls of craggy stone are home to many threats. If the savages that have found refuge among their sharp peaks don’t kill you, a misplaced step in the dark of night might just as well.

In the Khopshef Province of Stygia, a trade caravan wanders across the burning sand, guided only by fading landmarks and the setting sun. Scattered around them are the remains of creatures long dead of thirst, or maybe they were cut down by the claws of the hungry lions that inhabit the province. But the scorpions are just as big a threat.

But these are more than just breathtaking environments. In Broken Leg Glen, players can choose to follow the twisting paths that run out of the settlement and up into the mountain peaks that loom above. In the Khopshef Province, players may choose to protect the caravan – or observe, from a safe distance, as they are attacked by ruthless bandits.

Quazimodo
04-15-2007, 09:22 PM
New video developer diary!

- Apr 13, 2007
This week we take an exclusive look behind the scenes to find out how the sound and music is made for Age of Conan, in this brand new edition of the video developer diary!

It’s not just stunning and detailed graphics that is needed to bring the exotic and brutal feel of Hyboria to life. What is a brutal picture without the sound of steel against steel? What is a battlefield without the sound of war-cries and lamentations? These are all questions that the sound designers and composers on Age of Conan have to ask themselves every day when going to work.

In this exclusive second edition of the video developer diary, we take a look at how the sounds and music in Age of Conan is made. Perhaps most importantly, we also get to meet the people who do this for a living – such as Audio Director Morten Sørlie, Composer Knut A. Haugen and Sound Designer Tord D. Nikolaisen.

From the roar of ferocious foes to the screams of your beaten enemies, countless hours have been put into creating thousands of sounds that will complement the fantastic sights you will witness in Hyboria. As you charge into yet a bloody battle, epic scores of heroism will shout from your speakers and grandeur melodies will fill the room as you explore the vast landscapes of Conan’s world.

As you will witness in this video developer diary, there is a huge amount of work required to achieve these ambitious goals. Not only must the sounds be produced, they must also be tied into the technology of the game. And making music is more than just playing the keyboard, as you’ll see when we bring a whole choir into the studio!

The video developer diary can be found at numerous different websites, such as:

GameSpot.com (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofconanhyborianadventures/download_ini.html?sid=6168951&autoplay=6168951&tag=topslot;title;4&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot)
JeuxVideo.fr (http://www.jeuxvideo.fr/)
Spillmagasinet.no (http://www.nettavisen.no/spillmagasinet/)
GameTribes.TV (http://www.gametribes.tv/index.html?movie=bck00004)

So plug in your headphones and turn the volume to max!

Gedan
04-16-2007, 12:44 PM
Thanks for keeping us updated Quazi, looks to be a great game, hope they can match the hard work they do with sound to the actual game engine to make the pvp feel authentic.

Uzbeki
04-16-2007, 12:50 PM
Those siege engines look like a lot of fun :)

Quazimodo
04-16-2007, 08:55 PM
Thanks for keeping us updated Quazi, looks to be a great game, hope they can match the hard work they do with sound to the actual game engine to make the pvp feel authentic.

The choir music they used in that diary sure made chills down my back tho.. so I'm sure they know what they're doing... seems a bit weird to not have a professional sound table with sounds tho.. but I guess they know how to make microphone recording sounds sound real in game...

And no problem.. hope to see alot of the people here in game and preferably in my guild.