Quote:
Originally Posted by Jibartik
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
Yeah the original spell particles are like, magic.
|
The distinctive sound effects are every bit as important if not moreso. For example I seldom see my own spell effects, especially defensive spells, owing to using first-person mode. I hear them all, though, and that's an important part of both situation awareness as well as the memory of the game. It occurred to me awhile back that I can't remember any of the spell sound effects from World of Warcraft and very few of them from Vanguard. They weren't memorable.
Something EQ got right that a lot of more modern games screw up is that the fancy particle effects are indeed restricted to magical spells. It makes magic--magic. Ordinary physical melee attacks should not create huge firework displays like they do in so many of the newer games of this type. Magical spells should look and feel dramatically different than swinging an ordinary wood or steel weapon.
New technology will allow a game such as this one (I hesitate to call it "M&M," that's a somwhat unfortunate coincidence of initials) some room to improve things where old games were limited by technology. I was always somewhat under-whelmed by EQ's offensive "nuke" or "bolt" type spell particle effects. I would've liked a wizard who actually could shoot lightning bolts out of his hands or hurl fireballs. Such effects need to be rare because if they're common they become mundane and everyone simply turns them off--but they ought to be there as a special treat. Looking forward to seeing more of the work on this one.
------------------------------------------------
As for character models, I like seeing the digitigrade models. One serious complaint with Vanguard was how some races looked like (and clearly were) nothing more than a human body with an animal head cut-and-pasted on top. Improved technology leaves room for improvement of other little details as well. My wife has been griping in these games for twenty-plus years that almost none of these games have high-heel shoes for female characters. Maybe you folks could fix that omission? That and wizards need to have some pointy hats. EQ, at least, has a notorious shortage of pointy wizard hats.
Danth