There and Back Again

Traveling always seems to bring out the most beautiful aspects of the world. Wednesday morning was when I set out from Seattle for San Diego on a flight that left at 6:15 am. As we took off, everything was pitch black. The plane ascended and the lights below became a collage of light against dark. Long winding highways became a dotted worm of headlights, crawling through the static patterns of the buildings. Eventually the lights gave way to a pure black, flying above the ocean. It was the first time I had witnessed a sunrise from above the clouds. The first sign was a thin line of blue on the horizon. Not orange or yellow, but the midnight blue of a sky transitioning into day. The gradient grew larger as a layer of clouds began to flow below like a silken ocean. The sky grew lighter until the clouds below were the color of water. And then the most beautiful image hit me: A small break in the layer of clouds revealed the most pure shade of dark orange I had ever seen, bursting through in a fountain of color that lined the silver clouds in gold. In the wake of what occurred later, unbeknownst to any of us, the day began as picturesque as one of Keith Parkinson's immortal paintings, framed for me in the small window of an airplane.

The rest of the day flowed along like a river: smooth, but not without a few bumps along the way. After being lost in search of the hidden building of Sigil, Nick Parkinson speeded along to aid our arrival. The tour began, and the photos documented in Vanguard's "picture of the day" archive sprung to life and became reality. Though on lunch break, several team members were still scattered around the landscape and chatted with us, the tan-shirted entourage. At one point we ran into Darren McPherson, taking a break from his work on getting the Dread Knight tuned up and ready for beta. Travis Williams also made an appearance, flanked by at least 6-7 staff members on their way outside. There was a brief confrontation between Darkness and the Gnome. Luckily, our host emerged unscathed. We took a lunch ourselves, accompanied by Nick and Zack Karlsson to the local TGIF for burgers et cetera. Many stories from the past were recalled, several connections discovered as the conversation wore on through the meal.

Returning to the elusive base, we parted ways with Nick. Reflecting back, the reasons are clear. Zack took us into his office and presented a sampling of the beautiful compositions that Todd Masten has written for the game in progress. A favorite was clearly the elven hometown of Leth Nurae, providing a simple background of strings to a gorgeous female voice singing in what seemed to be the high elven language. Yes, an original language constructed for the world of Telon. It was revealed that every single language has been crafted and is contained in a tome of epic proportions. The piece itself contained shades of Shore’s LotR score, but not derivative at all, existing within Todd’s own style. Upon being played, artists from the cubicles outside flocked to the doorway, asking “is that from our game?” Even an unknown location of the raid category was thrown into the mix, piquing our curiosity for those regions yet to be unveiled. Our leadership again switched places however, Zack being called off to other matters.

Our longest host of the day was Paul Luna, taking us down into his cube for some more hands-on looks at the gameplay and world. As he showed us several areas, we got a great look at the new world lighting system recently implemented into the game. Multiple layers of clouds drifted through the sky, lit and filtered through the sun, drenching the world in a much less-brown hue. A cleric and warrior were showcased at several levels, displaying the sheer amount of detail that’s going into the combat system. At one point, we were given a grand tour of Bordinar’s Cleft, an area I became familiar with at PAX, yet still just as brilliant here. It was great to see everyone else’s first reactions to the beautiful paintings on the throne room walls. We even got a chance to do a bit of unintentional beta testing: Upon suggesting we get a closer look on one of the stone dwarven statues on the wall, we were suddenly flung outside onto the very mountain the city was built inside. Certainly a sign of a seamless world in action.

With wanderlust kicking in, we headed back upstairs to the art department for a closer look at the world in its creation stages. One of our stops included Ben Thompson, hard at work creating some of the most beautiful spell and skill icons yet seen in an MMO. His process was especially intriguing, painting each icon at a very high resolution directly onto the tablet monitor. While we chatted he began sketching out a human head for a new spell, working at an incredible speed. It was revealed that he was also responsible for the paintings found inside the throne room we had seen earlier. Another notable sighting were many artists working on different stages of the raid dungeon we had heard the music of earlier. One artist worked purely with the wire frame of one room, another was playing with its textures. Yet another created lighting and atmospheric effects. While the details are classified, I can say that hardcore raiders will not be disappointed. What we saw tops any raid location I have seen to date.

This part of our trip also marked our second encounter with Travis, ordering an animator to “make Bambi die.” Indeed, we swung around his desk to see a looped animation of a poor stag dying over and over. Also, in progress on the creature side of the art department, was an amazing draconic foe, most likely on the drake side of things. We then wandered over to the opposite side of the room, witnessing some work being done on several elements of Qalia. The capital city of Aghram was having some touchups being done on it. As with the other cities seen so far, Aghram is nothing short of great architecturally and aesthetically. HDR lighting was shown off to great success in this bright environment, nearly blinding us as we emerged from the hallways into the sun-drenched outdoors. We were very much reminded of Aladdin or Prince of Persia as the artist toured the city. Many ledges are able to be leapt onto, and in the slums part of town there were even wooden catwalks where aspiring thieves could certainly take refuge before lowering themselves down to snatch a purse or loaf of bread.

Across the way was another artist working on finalizing the lighting inside an unknown Qalian dungeon. The result was extremely moody and effective as he crawled through the long halls. An especially nice effect was the layering of textures for the ground, patches of sand smudged across the stone floors. At some points there were even little piles of it, leaking from the walls. At several cubicles, we even got a slight glimpse of what concept art had in store for key places in Kojan, yet to be created fully. If the concepts come to life as well as the other areas, we are certainly in for a treat.

At this point, we headed into the Customer Service room and got to meet Michelle Butler and her crack team of GMs. They were all very friendly and many things were discussed regarding the future of CS within Vanguard. I’m certain our own expert on the matter, Aredhel, will be able to expand on this more in a future article.

Nothing, and I mean it, nothing comes close to the great finale of our adventure through Sigil’s offices. It was somewhat late in the day, but we had one more stop to make: Brad McQuaid’s office. I must emphasize how great a person he is. Regardless of fame, money, whatever, he’s just a down-to-earth guy with a passion for what he’s creating. All that was displayed as he gave us the tour of New Targonor, displaying another marvel of architecture and design. Slightly eroded bronze on rooftops and statues. Bricks coming together to form walls, not simply a plane with a texture. A thin bridge leading across an open drop of roughly 300-400 feet down to the rocks and ocean below. Docks along the beach with workers creating a boat. An ocean-side cave with more workers housed in shacks connected by wooden boardwalks. All this was done and Brad was especially gracious as we departed, saying to come back and visit. Provided the funds involved, I very much hope to do so.

The car ride back to San Diego was filled with gushing from all members of our team. Our heads were full to the brim and we hadn’t even scratched the surface yet. To place a personal conjecture into things, I have to say that if I had to mention the biggest thing I gained from the trip it would be: I want to do this. The passion, the collaboration, the sheer creative vibe is so strong in those offices. I know not every company is the same, but to be a part of something like that is still among the forefront of my dreams.

Thank you, Sigil, and everyone that was gracious enough to host us for the duration of a long and memorable day. It’s an experience that won’t soon be forgotten, for many reasons.