The latest word on The Secret World
Screenshots have ‘leaked’ (as part of Funcom’s quarterly report, so not so much ‘leaked’ as ’sneakily released’) and you’re getting a look-see at the very latest pre-pre-pre-Alpha (or whatever we’re calling it this week) of The Secret World.
Specifically the juicy-tender combat action-y bits of The Secret World; not so much the conspiracies and politics and adventures and stories and all that funky jazz. We’ll get there. The band’s warming up.
Snorre Bryne from Dagbladet wrote up a story based on the screenshots (and little else: unfortunately, I didn’t have time to provide any context or sound bites), and there’s a thread on the forums – right here – debating, in detail, what it all means.
So what does it all mean? I can’t say much (although that day is rapidly approaching) but I’ll say this: It definitely means something. The shots are real and undoctored – I captured them myself from the latest build of the game last Thursday. Yes, that’s a real location in the game, not a proof-of-concept or a demo level. And no, of course it’s not done. I think the game looks absolutely fantastic, but it’s going to look even more absolutely fantastic when it’s released.
And what do you actually see in those screenshots? Like I said, I can’t say too much (and I fear the wrath of the Erling)1, but in the spirit of things, here are three clues:
Herd ringers
Four, three, seven
NIOSH Mining Safety and Health Topic
And remember, kids: Don’t D2D – it’s dangerous.
- He’s actually a sweetheart. I just don’t want to complicate things any further for the PR and marketing guys, seeing as a) I have a blog and I’m not afraid to use it, and b) I’m an opinionated loud-mouth. ↩
Great to know that this is in-game ragnar
Oh, that’s looking nice. No chanse in the world I could have run that game on my computer :p
Looks attractive! Uh, I hope I’ll get some time before it’s released, so that I can buy some new “equipment”, ’cause there’s no way in hell I’ll manage to play that on my… TRASH!
Is it known when we should be waiting for this?
Oooo. Intriguing.
The game is coming to the 360 too, like AoC. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the PC version came out first.
I’m pleased that the monsters aren’t scaring me at all. If they did scare me, I’m sure I’d be put off. “the conspiracies and politics and adventures and stories and all that funky jazz” – that’s what I’m interested in, and I know you and your team will do a good job of those aspects. But I get the impression that we are a long way off from revelations about funky jazz.
Looks nice! I can’t wait to find out more about it.
Baryon, of course I don’t know how long way off they are, and still I also get the impression that it’s a long way. So it was very confusing when I accidently found some Russian web-server of gamers that is claiming that working process on this game is PRACTICALY OVER. And I think these news were not even new O_o Not very new at least…
Looks good. I just wish i knew more about the story. A good story, for me, can make or break a game.
Hmmm… Zombies? :-/
For a moment there I thought Kipper was Ol’ Yeller, who didn’t have a happy ending. My guess is Kipper is herding 437 sheep, and he falls down a disused mine shaft. Am I close?
PS It’s Nyte’s birthday.
Can’t really comment on much other than the art, which is looking like it’s probably quite nice. I say “probably”, because the screens are small and poorly compressed, so it’s hard to see a lot of the finer detail. Looking forward to hearing more about the story.
Art is really nice, but I still hope that most of the work will be on the story, legends, mysteries. We have enough MMo where we can bash monsters for hours, let’s have one where you could succeed with something else than button-mashing speed…
Spiffy!
Haha,
Reminds me of Murakami’s “A wild sheep chase”. Run, the Sheep Man cometh…
Happy to see things are on a move. Cant wait for more info.
Don’t “Direct2Drive”…?
Well, the game is looking pretty cool, Ragnar. I like that it’s avoiding graphical effect abuse and maintains proper artistic quality without having to be esoteric about the art style. Of course, I’ve come to expect that from the games you direct, but it’s still an accomplishment each time.
From that screenshot I get the impression that the envirements will be very good looking, but that the character models won’t be quite as fine / realistic.
Won’t they? I think it looks quite normal on this screenshot, and won’t there be a lot of changes until we get the final results? I mean there’s still time to improve it, right?… Right?… O_o
Actually, I wouldn’t mind if the environments looked like this in the final game. As long as the environments are varied and not as generic as in the typical mmo.
It’s very (read: extremely) likely that the textures for the characters are drafts only, and that higher-resolution ones will be introduced closer to release. (Which part of “pre-pre-pre-Alpha” didn’t you understand? Hello! It may not be a mock-up or tech demo of the game, but it’s nowhere near the finished deal either, in the Alpha stage
)
I’m not saying anything about that, and I know it’s pre-pre-pre alpha shot. It’s just a feeling I have.
Hey check this out, Ragnar is on Slashdot:
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/20/1954237
@Jason: I was just about to point that out too. Zomg Ragnar on Slashdot!!11
Anyway, it strikes me how few people seem to have heard of him. I mean, for me Ragnar has become a reference in the game development business and it seems weird how most people seem to be posting comments along the lines of “lol Ragnar Tornquist is a funny name”…
Anyway, good job getting on /.!
I just read the three-part interview they linked to on Slashdot (I’ll repeat the link for those of you who still need to read it: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/08/18/ragnar-t%C3%B8rnquist-on-storytelling/) and it’s hugely interesting. I’d like to comment on the following part:
I am pleased to hear that I’m not the only one!
I always play as a girl in MMOs, and even in most single player RPG games. This has nothing to do with sexual orientation or fetishes or whatever. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because in real life I feel guys are often noisy and lame, while girls are deeper and much more interesting. This is obviously a generalization, but it’s just the way life works for me. I’ve never been able relate too well to other males, while I’ve always had very close female friends (I’ve been stuck in the Friend Zone a few times, too, I might add).
(Females in packs, though, are quite possibly a billion times worse than males, so I try to avoid being in the presence of more than 4 females per male.)
Anyway, I think this guys == loud and boisterous generalization is made even more blatant in games. Male characters are often tough and powerful, heavy armor and big muscles and/or powerful spells all he way, leaving little room for subtlety. I don’t like that, so I don’t choose male characters.
Another important point is that in MMOs, you get treated very differently if you’re “a girl”, even when the other person knows you’re really a guy. I don’t play MMORPG games to kill stuff and level up, I want to be a part of the world and roleplay my way through it. Somehow, this is much easier as a female character. Why exactly this is I’m not sure. Maybe because those pesky 11-year-old males that seem to plague most MMOs don’t dare to approach characters of the opposite sex?
So thank you Ragnar for making me feel less alone in this world of virtual gender-bending. If you ever want to have a girls’ night out in the MMO of your choice, just leave me a note…
Really interesting. And you definitly not alone. I have a friend who once told me that he (yup, it’s HIM) likes to play female characters and he explained it like this: “When I play a game, I usually identify myself as a character himself. And when it’s HER, I can’t do that, so in gaming process, there are two of us playing it:) It makes the game more interesting!”
I also relate best with female characters. However it is not quite as with Quna’s friend, cause while playing I’m so drawn into the story I almost am the main character. There’s not really any feeling of companionship, yet I would discribe the mental relationship that builds up between myself and a nicly constructed main character as ‘close’ (though it never seems openly returned…).
With males, though, I mostly don’t relate at all, or very little. I might relate in a single, isolated point in the story, but whatever they say or do next, or did before allways ruins that feeling.
In WoW, my only MMO (so far, atleat) I played only female characters. Sure, I could have made some of my alts men, but when you’ve got 5 females already, you kinda have to make a ‘joke’ about it and limit yourself to them. I had to, atleast. But the only ones of my characters there I felt any real relationship too was my main. But then again, that feeling could almoust be described as ‘kinship’.
And if any of you are still / once again wondering: I am male.
Although, an acquaintance of mine, a girl, once said
‘I’m convinced that you’re gay.’ (Hehe, really? Why?) ‘You just seem so unbelievably feminine.’
He-he! you know, when I was new at the TLJ forum, I really thought you were a girl. (No offence):)
I just began doubting when I read your post where you were complaining (not seriously of course) about how you would be interested in a game where there wouldn’t be a girl in undies:D (I think that was you, right? Or am I mistaking?)
That was me, yes
And thrust me, you’re not the only one. Several others there thought the same, and several on a wow-server-forum I attended while playing also. :p
So my memory serves me well:D It was not even because you were too girl-ish, or whatever… It just didn’t seem that your character had features that would point out clearly that you were a guy, or girl:)
umm.. Is my mumbling understandable?O_o