Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
What's up with WAC FAQ
KenFisher
Member UncommonPosts: 5,035
Is WAC still in development?
Yes. I'm currently working on merging two different projects into a final game. I'm using the FPS style combat developed for DSR and an old version of WAC with lobby based dungeon runs. Plan is to integrate an overland for grinding / farming. Too early for details, but since most of the work already exists, I might have alpha testing ready fairly soon.
What's up with the Deep Space Rangers project?
Nothing. Mothballed. It was a test to see if I could push the TGEA engine (as used in WAC) into doing a sci-fi PVE oriented hybrid RPG / FPS with a similar feel to Unreal (classic not tournament) and System Shock II. It didn't go well. Most of the character and mob artwork I have available fits with medieval fantasy and not sci-fi.
How did the work go with building a new MMO framework based on Torque 3D?
Pretty badly. T3D is a very strong engine, but the feature list is lacking in terms of using it for an RPG. I might re-visit work with T3D in the future, but for now I'm staying with TGEA.
You talked about cyber-punk, anything happening?
Sort of. I have a great urban artwork set that works well with T3D. Unfortunately I'm not working with T3D because of not having a good RPG conversion, so this is shelved until later.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Comments
Is WAC an eye-candy game?
Absolutely not. The engine is circa 2009. Most of the artwork is on par for 2003. The overall look and feel is clearly retro.
What is gameplay like in WAC?
WAC is locked first person UI with full aimed combat. Major activities are leveling a character, gaining wealth, gaining gear, crafting, farming, dungeon runs and optional PVP.
There are no private instances in WAC. Anyone can go anywhere at any time, with or without a group. Of course surviving a group dungeon will be difficult without a group, but they are not instanced.
Is WAC a storyline driven quest hub hopper?
No. By release there will be some adventuring quests, but questing is not significant in the game. Storyline is minimal and consists mostly of short arcs. There is no long arc main storyline.
Is WAC a sandbox?
No. It's not like any other games that call themselves sandboxes.
What's the world like in WAC?
The main overland is 9 zones arranged as a single continent. There's content in the overland, as well as entrances to non-instanced public dungeons (caves, crypts, mines, ruins, etc). There are also 16 overland raid areas.
The lobby (a large undergound fort) that existed in previous versions is being dropped in favor of a large self-zoned city. Access in and out will work like Oblivion with zone triggers at the doors. This city will be main access to vendors, trainers, mail, and marketplace.
EDIT: Rather than a large major city, there are smaller towns located around the world. One town has an entrance to a marketplace building (the interior is its own zone) which provides mail and auction hourse access.
Overland raid areas?
These are overland zones reached by portal or other transportation, but apart from the main overland. They function as linear non-instanced public dungeons with a starting point, trash mobs, mini-bosses and end boss. They serve as alternative content for high level characters and will require a strong group or possibly multiple groups to complete. Since these are public, there's no minimum or maximum to how many players participate.
Are there classes, skills, levels and XP?
Yes, yes, yes, and no. While that might seem an odd answer, allow me to explain.
Classes - Class is chosen at character creation. Target is for 12 classes, 3 each for the 4 armor types.
Skills - There are at least two types of skills, class skills and general skills. Class skills are class specific. General skills can be learned by any class. Skills are raised by paying a trainer with in-game gold. They are NOT raised by use of the skill, so there is no need to macro skills.
Levels - Character level is calculated based on primary skills. Raise the skills, the character level goes up.
XP - None. Zero. Completely removed. Grinding and questing for XP has been replaced by farming, crafting and trading.
EDIT: Classing has been changed. Class choice at character creation has been dropped. Skill system allows players to custom class based on their own design. Skills are being organized into three categories: Combat, Magic and Stealth.
How are characters customized?
There are two methods of customization:
First is the choice of skills leveled up. These are permanent changes to the character.
Second is advancement points for bonuses in skills. The advancement point system can be reset allowing a player to respecialize.
...
NEW
A starsign system has been added. On character creation the player picks the sign under which the character is born. The starsign has a significant effect on how stats increase as the character levels. For example, character born under "The Bear" will have great strength and stamina, while those born under "The Maiden" will have a deeper mana pool and a larger bonus to spell casting and healing.
So, at creation, a player selects both race and starsign. Once inside the game they train skills creating a custom class, and use advancement points to further customize their character.
What is the combat system?
Combat in WAC is fully aimed for both melee and magic. There is no tab-targeting at all.
1. Attack Melee - This triggers a weapon swing with the mainhand weapon, or offhand weapon if mainhand swing is still in cooldown (assuming the character is setup to dual wield). Weapon swing hits all targets in the area of the swing.
2. Melee Special Abilities - Damage or crowd control abilities not part of the normal attack. Some hit targets using AOE calculations. Others use weapon swing area of attack (note: currently experimental)
3. Magic Projectile - A spell cast that produces a visible projectile aimed by the client. Projectiles have a limited range and proc on impact with whatever they hit.
4. Magic AOE - A spell that radiates damage from the caster for a limited distance. Any hostile target in the area takes damage when hit by the AOE.
How is the combat UI?
Combat UI should be immediately familiar for players of Morrowind, although there are some significant differences.
There are 10 action-bar keys (hotkeys 1 to 0). These can be bound to attacks, spells, special abilities, or items like potions.
Hotkeys 1 and 2 are unique in that they are also triggerable using the mouse. For example, a tank might setup "Attack Melee" to mouse 1 and "Shield Bash" to mouse 2. A magic DPS player might have "Fire Bolt" on mouse 1 and "Fire Blast" on mouse 2.
The additional action-bar hotkeys are used as needed. For example, a tank might bind "Regen HP Self" (a healing spell) to key number 3 so it can be easily available.
NOTE: I'll post some combat video as this gets closer to alpha testing.
"Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day!"
Could even be sooner. End of Q1 at the rate things are moving.
The engine seems pretty solid. If it survives the alpha, then most of the work left is cosmetic and gameplay.
Greets Stizzled,
Alpha starts Saturday. I'll probably have the client ready by Friday night.
I'm looking forward to it. There won't be many testers. Just enough to get confirmation that I haven't broken anything major as far as the engine goes.
Combat is fully aimed, click to shoot, click to swing. Locked first person view.
Months after I had completely given up on ever getting it working, I finally figured out how to fix it.
Will do. I have a short video on YouTube that shows an early test. I'll do a more current vid in a couple days. At the moment scrambling to get as much done as possible before the weekend.
Progress towards alpha is going slower than I expected. I just keep finding more things that need to be done.
The good news is the engine is doing very well. Recent fix-ups on building lighting have the interiors looking much better than before.
WAC's web site has been updated. Thanks for the tip. I hadn't given much thought to it being so far out of date. Just too much going on and I forget details.
At this point, it's just basic information about the game. After alpha gets started and some of the design issues resolved, I'll work towards getting more complete info online.
http://www.WizardsAndChampions.com
Thanks for the Info.
Love the look of this, and the style of gameplay, world, combat, etc you're going with! Can't wait to see how this progresses!
Awesome work, keep it up!