Things to be Thankful For
Hopefully everyone made it through Katrina and Rita ok. I have been out of the loop lately helping out on the front lines and have not been able to follow Vanguard like I have become accustomed to in the past. When I came home, I was pleasantly surprised with some of the things that have developed since I last perused the official Vanguard forums.
Point One: The Devs are Talking and Posting and Corresponding, OH MY!
The Unreal 3 engine will be incorporated into Vanguard! This is wonderful news. Obviously, all of us would like Vanguard to ship with this engine; however, this just isn’t going to happen. But what does this mean, for us, the fans of Vanguard? It means a commitment to giving us the very best technology as fast as economically possible.
It doesn’t make financial sense to start back at pre-alpha with this new engine. However, they are working on ways to implement the engine upgrade as painlessly as possible. I am not a huge graphics guy. I like areas that don’t lag and where the mechanics of the fight or task at hand work instantly. I loathe the 37 second bank transfer in the bazaar. But if we can get lag free areas with better graphics, hey, I am all for it. This is something to be thankful for.
We have learned via Cynax how dungeons and “levels” are programmed with X, Y, and Z axis’. What does this mean to you and I personally? I have hope that I will not fall through the sky forever requiring a logout or a CotH (Call of the Hero). Those of us who played EQ and have “fallen through” the floor will happily appreciate this feature Sigil is incorporating. It is my opinion that it is the little things like this that will make Vanguard what EQ should have been. It’s the little things that make the big things better. Again, we have something to be thankful for.
Every week at work I rotate my screenshots of Vanguard and just take comments from people who pass by. People are impressed when they find out this is a game and not some stand still portrait. Well most people, some who play MMORPGs are skeptical. They wonder how it will look, and go into all sorts of discussions on frame rate. I simply ask if they have downloaded the video of the wilderness and distance shots. Usually the answer is no. I direct them to
www.vanguardspheres.com and call it a day. Almost all of my MMO friends at work have become believers in Vanguard., also something to be excited about and thankful for.
Point Two: www.vanguardspheres.com got an upgrade
If you have looked at our website lately, you will notice a logo change and a software upgrade. The staff of Vanguard Spheres will continue to upgrade and make the site more usable as we get closer to beta one. While the graphical changes may seem a little more obvious, the coders are busy at work in addition to the software upgrade. We have many more ideas and features that we plan to incorporate into the site. There are also some ideas that will need to be worked over and we’ll need your help and advice during the development process. Bottom line is that you have some hard-core gamers here who know what gamers want in a site and are bringing these ideas to life.
Point 3: The Treant
The Treant is just spectacular. Without a doubt he is the best screenshot of a mob or pc to date in my humble opinion.
Point 4: The Other Screen Shots
I’ve noticed a trend of late. The screenshots are getting better by the week. They are adding some secret sauce (ie new graphic coding magic which I do not understand) and the player models and outdoor shots look fantastic. It was also nice to see that they are putting in armor sets for casters that are not just robes. My most prized loot was always the Phoenix Vest of Feathers in EQ. Enchanters running around in a tunic, YEAH!
Another great feature if my memory serves me correctly, is that we will see such things as rings and necklaces. How cool is that? I guess what I am trying to get at in point four is that like most of us thought, the graphics have continued to improve. And while all these improvements are welcomed, we still have such a long way to go. The great thing is the developers realize this too! Yet another thing to be thankful for!
The Sidebar: Vanguard on X-BOX 360!
I find it sadistically funny that there are those of you out there swearing up and down that Vanguard will be on the XBOX 360. How many times do Tagad and Taranis have to lay down the smack on this issue? There were four new threads on the topic in the last month. Good reads honestly if you believe in black helicopters. Hey, it could happen! In all seriousness, don’t hold your breath. Vanguard will not be on XBOX 360 at the time of initial launch.
Anyway, we have so much to be thankful for. The game is sailing along in beta zero. I have no idea when beta zero will end and beta one will start. However, when we look at all the recent improvements, we can only hope that the development of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes continues along at its current pace.
