Goblinworks Blog: Making Movies

[Enyria]

I'm not a frequent poster, but I definitely want to give (mostly positive) feedback about this ^^.

As I said in my YT comment, the scale of the map looks absolutely AWESOME. What I'm curious about though is how the forest is designed to look & feel like. Many games I know which go for the realistic art style usually have very long line of sight in the forests as there is not much of a geometry and most of the trees look too much alike, and I actually hope that I will see something different here (although I know it's a difficult task).

The look & feel of the characters seems good from an art perspective, however I really hope for some shiny high resolution stuff that can give my new gaming rig something to chew on. Especially when talking polygon budget.

The sample animations all look good and fit the heavy fighter theme well. But the real trick is how these animations will blend into each other in combat. Right now it looks a bit "stop & go", but I like the way it is going (after all, blending should be done after getting the core animations right).

The settlement placement works (didn't expect anything less) however some improvement should be done on the wall tiling. Having just 1 tile stacked on and on is a good baseline to start but will probably look incredibly dull in the final game. I would suggest adding 1 or 2 "secondary" tiles (e.g. a slightly broken down piece, one where's some mud on it or one with some utility themed decoration) and chaining the tiles pseudo-randomly with the restriction that placing the same secondary tiles next to each other is not permitted.

[Xeen]

Is anyone able to download the movie and put it into something not normally blocked?

Maybe even email it to me, send me a message and I will give you my email if you can.

Thanks

[Eldurian Darkrender]

Anyone else notice how the end clip seemed to be a first person view of the player getting knocked down? Hint at a viable first person perspective?

[Drewber]

Love this video! Watched it about 5 times now :P I was really surprised by how well the animations were! Great job Goblinworks! Also, is the character shown at 3:01 a druid?

[Darth_Panic]

Eldurian Darkrender wrote:

Anyone else notice how the end clip seemed to be a first person view of the player getting knocked down? Hint at a viable first person perspective?

hehe, actually I had exactly the same thought! Too many TESO videos I guess... However, first-person in a pvp game - that would be slaughter.

Anyway, may I remind to all that it would be nice to "Like" the video to YouTube? Let's show our support!

[Gedichtewicht]

@Xeen: the vid is 90mb, don`t know if i can email that, but pm me your adress anyway, meanwhile i think about another solution

[Moridian]

Hm... Without much of a refrence I can't tell if the world is bigger or smaller than I expected. None the less it looks good. Hardly ground breaking graphics but certainly sufficent!

Any news on early enrollment for the none kickstarters yet, by the way? Just making sure.

[Nihimon]

I think it's really rather huge.

Mentally overlay this hex map over this image to get an idea of how big each hex is.

[Wurner]

Nihimon wrote:

I think it's really rather huge.

Mentally overlay this hex map over this image to get an idea of how big each hex is.

Is it just me or is it possible a meteor at some point struck the land right where the river flows in the southwest quadrant?

[Moridian]

Yeah but compared to other MMO's it looks like it might be about the same size as a normal sized zone. While a game with one mega server would need a continent

Less of this More like this.
To keep the game from feeling to small

[Bringslite]

Moridian wrote:

Yeah but compared to other MMO's it looks like it might be about the same size as a normal sized zone. While a game with one mega server would need a continent

Less of this More like this.
To keep the game from feeling to small

Give it time and dedication. It will grow. I would rather have less space and more great content than huge, empty spaces that are visited only for a short term gain, and then never bothered with again.

[BraxtheSage]

Remember, the starting EE area is smaller, but as the game goes to OE, it will grow, and as it continues, will grow even bigger. I wouldnt worry about not enough space.

[Nihimon]

Moridian wrote:

Yeah but compared to other MMO's...

Other MMOs tried to start out with support for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of players.

PFO will start out with around 10,000 players, and will constrain growth after that. Eighteen months after Early Enrollment, the map might be significantly bigger.

[Moridian]

Nihimon wrote:

Moridian wrote:

Yeah but compared to other MMO's...

Other MMOs tried to start out with support for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of players.

PFO will start out with around 10,000 players, and will constrain growth after that. Eighteen months after Early Enrollment, the map might be significantly bigger.

Yes but they also only had one server. And they estimated they wanted around 100 people online for most of the time. Which equal a very populated zone. It dosen't look to minimalistik. And I am sure I can find myself alone at some points. None the less. I feel the world needs to feel vast for those of us who will want to explore and not build.

[Nihimon]

I think the world will feel much larger when it's populated with trees and buildings.

I think it's kind of like walking through a house that's been framed but doesn't have any dry wall up yet - it always feels much smaller than it does once the walls go up and there's furniture in the rooms.

[Moridian]

Hence why I said I wasn't sure. As it is the world lacked enough refrence. I couldn't tell if some things were hills or mauntains.

[George Velez]

Lisa Stevens wrote:

Nihimon wrote:

Samboah wrote:

I'm going to put my "Goblin Squad" t-shirt on right now!!!

I wish I could! My wife stole mine before I even ordered it, demanding that I get it in her size :)

No worries! The Goblinsquad store will allow you to buy more once it is up and running.

Lisa

Lisa, please make sure to include a matching hat. It is sorely needed to compliment the shirt! :)

[Xeen]

Finally got to watch the video. Awesome!!

[Ryan Dancey]

In the beginning the world will be crowded. Especially at peak times. As we add more territory that crowding will slowly ease, but as we begin its more important that people are clustered and interacting often rather than walking for hours through empty spaces.

[Vic Wertz]

Summersnow wrote:

As far as the armor, It's a good start but right now its kind of bland. Hopefully we can dye it or add patterns or decorative designs, especially to the plate and chain, to spice it up a bit. Also I am assuming this is tier one and better, rarer armor will also look more "epic"

Take a look at the concept drawings at around 3:05 and 3:08. In the "exaggerated color" drawings, note the red, green, and blue areas. You'll choose two colors for your character—a main color and a highlight color; the green areas in the drawing will use your main color, and the blue areas will use your secondary color. (You may also have a pair of guild colors you can apply, so when you're out adventuring with your guild, you can have a coherent group appearance.) The red areas vary depending on the material—leather, steel, etc. And yes, most, if not all, of the clothing in the video is tier 1 gear.

[Deianira]

Vic Wertz wrote:

Summersnow wrote:

As far as the armor, It's a good start but right now its kind of bland. Hopefully we can dye it or add patterns or decorative designs, especially to the plate and chain, to spice it up a bit. Also I am assuming this is tier one and better, rarer armor will also look more "epic"

Take a look at the concept drawings at around 3:05 and 3:08. In the "exaggerated color" drawings, note the red, green, and blue areas. You'll choose two colors for your character—a main color and a highlight color; the green areas in the drawing will use your main color, and the blue areas will use your secondary color. (You may also have a pair of guild colors you can apply, so when you're out adventuring with your guild, you can have a coherent group appearance.) The red areas vary depending on the material—leather, steel, etc. And yes, most, if not all, of the clothing in the video is tier 1 gear.

Oh, excellent! So the color scheme I've got in mind for Deianira actually can be easily achieved in game. Question, though: there are dark grey areas on the model in addition to the green, blue and red; in the "finished" shot these dark grey areas (shoes and pants on the woman at 3:00) appear to be a neutral dark brown, the same color as the leg armor (the leg armor is red in the false-color sketch). Is this another color selection we can make, or is it a fixed shade? If the latter, are these intended to be neutral shades only, so as not to clash with our color selections?

[Elken Krimm]

Finally - a new video to sink my teeth into! Delightfully exciting!
Thank you and well done. My new world is coming along very well ;)

Did someone mention forests?

If there is one area in which I'm truly expecting greatness it is . . . well . . . character customization.

But if there was a Second area in which I truly expect greatness, it is forest diversity. I'm an avid backpacker here in Appalachia, and the eldritch magesty of an old oak forest is nothing like the cathedral-like reverence of a forest of red pines. Some of my favorite forests can be completely sinister and forbidding. Aspens, elms, hemlocks and sequioas all have their magic too. And in a fantasy game you can invent completely new trees!

I'm just looking forward to seeing many different kinds of trees, mixed forests and pure, with the occasional magical surprise every once in a while. In a game full of magic, forests are the most magical of places.

[DeciusBrutus]

I love the idea of guild colors; is there any chance that there will be a large enough palette for each guild to have a suitably unique color scheme? I don't think the math works out that way without having colors that are too close to be easily distinct.

[Myrathi]

Loved the video and, especially, the music. Great stuff and I hope it's in-game BGM. :)

Now, I don't know if it's been covered elsewhere (and please do link me to the discussion if it has) but the one thing that drives me insane in other games is (lack of) "freedom of movement" when running around an open world. Is PFO going to let me climb up steeper hills or am I going to be pointlessly restricted from climbing slopes that a 4-year old could waddle up with little issue? What about the ability to vault low walls or climb over higher ones?

Again: if this is covered elsewhere, a link will satisfy me. :)

[Nihimon]

@Myrathi, I don't recall a thread discussing that topic, but I have to say that Guild Wars is the only game that struck me as really bad about giving you a single path through a zone that you had to follow. Most of the MMOs I've played have allowed you to jump over fences and go pretty much anywhere it seemed I should reasonably be able to go.

[Ryan Dancey]

There are slopes you can't climb. I think Skyrim allows too steep climbs so my intuition is that it will be not that steep.

[HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise]

Perhaps 'steep' climbs may require specialized gear?

Pitons, rope, shoes with spikes, in cold terrain, cold-weather gear to prevent frostbite?

It would certainly make things interesting if there's a hidden valley with only one entrance, that a group of Raider-type Players has turned into their fortress, making a theoretically unbeatable 'kill zone' in that entrance, so the players wanting to drive the Raider-types out have to climb their way up the cliff-side to bypass that kill-zone.

Climb too fast, you'll run out of Stamina and fall.

Don't take enough rope ... you're stuck halfway up the mountain, and then have to turn back.

Can only take a few people up at a time, meaning it'll possibly be a suicide mission if stealth isn't used ... so no Fullplate Palalalaladins or Screaming Barbarians.

[Areks]

Then you have to deal with the physics of rappel combat... rope durablity... A targeting system for rope... someone camping the summit.

I love the idea HalfOrc, I just think it's too far removed from what they are trying to do with Pathfinder Online. I do think that the climb skill should be used in built up areas, but it I could see speed modifiers in rough terrain being mitigated with the climb skill.

[AvenaOats]

Best of all: knocking foes off a cliff, in dangerous terrain.

[Elken Krimm]

Ooh, that gets me a thinkin' . . .

How 'bout making certain trees climbable?

Would be great for hiding to avoiding combat.
Would be great for ambushing!
Give you a reprive from wolves and other non-climbing opponents.
Give players a reason to 'look up' occassionally.
Very immersive.
Could eventually add the ability to add tree forts and villages!

Might not be feasible for OE, (or for a very long time actually) but would greatly enhance depth, realism, fun.

[avari3]

AvenaOats wrote:

Best of all: knocking foes off a cliff, in dangerous terrain.

Never gets old. Ever.

[DeciusBrutus]

"This cliff sure is narrow. It would be a shame if -Fus-ro-da!"

[Pinosaur]

Ryan Dancey wrote:

There are slopes you can't climb. I think Skyrim allows too steep climbs so my intuition is that it will be not that steep.

Can't climb as in you can't just walk up it, you need training in climb ? or can't climb as in 'invisible walls'?

I expect to climb city walls, so I'd hope a mere slope is in some way passable... before fly spells are extant.

This is a current trope in MMO's, to use a visual 'slope' to excuse invisible walls. my hope for PFO is that we can climb, jump or otherwise make characters that are less bound by these things than a starting character.

[Stephen Cheney]

Unlike most theme park MMOs, it's unlikely we'll put in a lot of invisible walls at the top of steep slopes. They tend to do it because they want to maintain limited egress from heavily sculpted zones, so they can know which way you're approaching the content and to hide unfinished art on the other side of the slope.

We don't particularly need that, since we're not heavily sculpting areas to assume certain ways in and out. However, the terrain does have a slope to it, and we'll prevent you from walking past a certain steepness just so it doesn't look weird (see old SWG and the ability to slowly climb up anything short of a 90 degree incline, your character apparently just floating in the air walking forward).

Almost all of the time, you'll be able to find a way up, either by going down and choosing a lesser slope or by jumping and switchbacking. There's nothing on the other side we're trying to hide from you.

A climbing system would be neat, but it's potentially a decent amount of tech and animations (to determine what's an unwalkable slope and switch you into the properly oriented climb position). Climbing up placed walls is a slightly different consideration (since that at least doesn't have to tilt your animations toward the slope, since we know it's 90 degrees, and it might be easier for tech to mark it to put you in a climbing state). But it needs to hit the sweet spot of "valid but not overpowering tactic in PvP." Make it too good and too easy to come by, and defending settlements begin to wonder why they even bothered to build walls, since all their enemies attack them like spider people. Make it too weak, and nobody bothers ever using it except to roleplay being a traceur.

So while we definitely have climbing as something we'd like to explore, it has a lot of tech, animation, and balance concerns that may push it down the list. But, to reiterate, there shouldn't be too many situations where you can't follow up "man, I can't get up this stupid slope, wish I could climb..." with "...but I guess I can just take five seconds to go up another way."

[Blaeringr]

Kwizzy wrote:

So... Where's my male paladin with an accentuated, phallic codpiece? After all, I need to know he takes pride in his manhood. And what about beards? While we're talking idealized secondary sex characteristics, there needs to be much more beards.

... I think breasts are low on the list of things that make me feel awesome as a female...

The irony of the situation made me giggle a bit. Not mocking you, Kwizzy; I'm just imagining women complaining about their characters' armor showing breast shape and men boasting about who has the biggest cod piece.

[Harad Navar]

New map based on topology shown in the video here.

[HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise]

A random 2:00 am thought based upon the last few posts:

Krackerwurst's Codpiece.

This ornate bronze codpiece has been burnished to an eye-searingly bright finish, and the thick leather straps to hold it in place have many symbols of male virility carved into them. Judging from the proportions, however, it seems that Krackerwurst was either the size of an Ogre or had some rather deep-seated issues.

No body slot. Minor Enchantment.

When worn by a male, the codpiece grants the wearer a +2 diplomacy against females and a +2 bluff against males.

I don't think anyone would mind a bit of beefcake armor to balance out the glorious cheesecake.

I know I'd certainly get a giggle of having my big, burly Half-Orc don a pink tutu on the odd occasion, especially if I could organize the entire 'raid' to do so, purely for the hilarity of seeing the defenders standing there emoting /wat as an army of big, burly men in pink frilly tutus charge them.

This idea may or may not be funny, depending upon how much sleep and/or alcohol and/or pain medication you may or may not have had/not had.

[Akanaaz]

Fiore (a Italian swordsman) once had a codpiece made with the likeness of a man he was to duel engraved on it. He then pointed it out to him and described the ways the man's face cradled him....some people were really into their codpieces.

[Bluddwolf]

Stephen Cheney wrote:

Almost all of the time, you'll be able to find a way up, either by going down and choosing a lesser slope or by jumping and switchbacking. There's nothing on the other side we're trying to hide from you.

Lies!! It is the forbidden zone, and on the other side is the demolished Statue of Liberty!!!

[MrJones]

Moridian wrote:

Yeah but compared to other MMO's it looks like it might be about the same size as a normal sized zone. While a game with one mega server would need a continent

Less of this More like this.
To keep the game from feeling to small

Remember Ryan and the team are going to start the game with only a handful of players and slowly build from there. I think the initial size they are showing is actually quite large.

Edit: Just remembered the Early Enrollment players will start with a 12x12 hex area.

[Maccabee]

My impression:

Looks like things are off to a great start, and I'm surprised by how much work has been done already.

As some of my biggest concerns are character appearance and animation, I only have two big observations: The armor looks great, and I'm glad it looks like armor and not a bodysuit with massive NFL shoulders. Secondly, I couldnt see the dwarf avatar very well, and am concerned the dwarves will be relegated to fat little men that run like they have a rash.

Please, no little fat men with rashes...

[Urman]

Vic Wertz wrote:

You'll choose two colors for your character—a main color and a highlight color; the green areas in the drawing will use your main color, and the blue areas will use your secondary color. (You may also have a pair of guild colors you can apply, so when you're out adventuring with your guild, you can have a coherent group appearance.)

This makes me think of painted figures in TT. In a comforting, stick to the game's roots sort of way.

[Bringslite]

Bluddwolf wrote:

Stephen Cheney wrote:

Almost all of the time, you'll be able to find a way up, either by going down and choosing a lesser slope or by jumping and switchbacking. There's nothing on the other side we're trying to hide from you.

Lies!! It is the forbidden zone, and on the other side is the demolished Statue of Liberty!!!

Hehe. With a little makeup, that avatar might pass as Charlton Heston. :)

[Diella]

Just got back from Holiday and so I am catching up on my reading so I going to pull a quote from Lisa from a couple of pages back..

Sorshen
Lisa Stevens wrote:

Nihimon wrote:

Samboah wrote:

I'm going to put my "Goblin Squad" t-shirt on right now!!!

I wish I could! My wife stole mine before I even ordered it, demanding that I get it in her size :)

No worries! The Goblinsquad store will allow you to buy more once it is up and running.

Lisa

If I can place a request I would love my goblin tee shirt to have the goblin doing the slap rump taunt. I may be crazy but I think the pathfinder goblin are just too adorable for word. In one of the pathfinder modules you have to escort a group of goblins.

Most of the group was like ewwww Me I wanted to keep mine as a pet. Of course I couldn't.

[Oberyn Corvus]

Jumping in a bit late, but just wanted to add my voice to the support for the excellent work shown. I especially like the character animation and 'realistic' armor (where realistic means it looks like it actually could stop a sword swing and wouldnt keep getting caught on stuff :P ). Keep up the great work!

[Eldurian Darkrender]

Blaeringr wrote:

Kwizzy wrote:

So... Where's my male paladin with an accentuated, phallic codpiece? After all, I need to know he takes pride in his manhood. And what about beards? While we're talking idealized secondary sex characteristics, there needs to be much more beards.

... I think breasts are low on the list of things that make me feel awesome as a female...

The irony of the situation made me giggle a bit. Not mocking you, Kwizzy; I'm just imagining women complaining about their characters' armor showing breast shape and men boasting about who has the biggest cod piece.

That's not a codpiece. Some of us have no need to accentuate what's already there.

[avari3]

Eldurian Darkrender wrote:

That's not a codpiece. Some of us have no need to accentuate what's already there.

Yup, definitely a codpiece!

[Bringslite]

@Eldurian

Once your bluff check gets them where you want, what is your next move? Dazzle or charm person to keep them there? ;P

[avari3]

Bringslite wrote:

@Eldurian

Once your bluff check gets them where you want, what is your next move? Dazzle or charm person to keep them there? ;P

Hallucinary terrain!

[Andric]

The armor models were probably my favorite. You just don't see armor in a functional style like that these days in MMOs. I mean it actually feels like the armor has been in the world for a while, rather than just something that makes you look cool.

And of course: Dat ogre!