| Developer Diaries |
| By: Magi, Posted at: Fri, Jan 26th 7:24 PM 2007, Last Edited: Tue, Oct 27th 1:22 PM 2009
Rated 0.00 by 0 people |
Learn more about the Turbine LotRO Team involved in putting together this highly anticipated game. Follow links to diaries they have written to provide more insight into the development process. Cardell "Annuvin" Kerr & Jesse "Vastin" King Greetings, Annuvin here. So, it's come to my attention that a lot of people are interested in "where ideas come from" especially in regards to the Accomplishment system for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (LOTRO). Scenario (Matt Elliot) Most MMOs are rife with numerous content and game systems that help bring their particular world together, making it feel more immersive and alive. Some of these systems may not be noticeable on the surface at first, but after a bit of digging and exploring, a player can discover a fortune in gameplay. The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ is no different. Our goal is to not only provide an epic story spanning across the lands of Eriador, but also support that story – and our world as a whole – with fun and interesting World Content Systems. Mithril_Miser (Nik Davidson) Gundo's wounds were serious. The dwarves had beaten the poor hobbit soundly with maces and axes. He'd lost a lot of blood. The corpses of his friends littered the field, but he was almost in the clear. His heart was beating fast; he had sent several dwarves to their bloody end, and he could hear their angry yells behind him. He ran - ran as fast as his stubby little hobbit legs could take him, his hands white-knuckled, gripping the flag. At last, he crested the hill, and the great horn sounded. Victory! Victory, but at what cost? Yeah, so that's what we're NOT doing. Mithril_Miser (Nik Davidson) I was rather pleased with the response to my first crafting dev diary. It's a subject near and dear to me, and it clearly means a lot to the LOTRO community too. I've always felt that a strong crafting system that allows for dedicated crafters to visibly ply their trades and thus garner a reputation for themselves will be a strong asset to community building in an MMO. Judging by the responses to the system, I see we all basically agree on that, at least. Splendid! Amlug (Jared Hall-Dugas) We've done it! We've discovered the formula for fun: [(x * 2.342) + (y * 2) + z4] / 24 = FUN! Um, what? (See? You should have paid more attention in algebra class...I'll come back to this in a moment.) Raids... Yes, we mean raids. The same raids that weren't originally planned for our game (see "Friends Don't Let Friends Tank Balrogs"). This isn't so much a philosophical change in our game, but rather an additional gameplay dynamic we have decided to include. For some members of our community, this means much rejoicing, but for others, there's a bit more concern, even fear. I'm here to give you a little more information about our raid plans to help alleviate some of those fears. October (Rick Schmitz) Hello there! Rick "October" Schmitz here! I'm the Lead Content Support Artist on The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO). You may be wondering, "What the heck kind of title is that?" Well, it's the sort of title you get when you're crazy enough to work with Content folks and Artists. Mithril_Miser (Nik Davidson) You've probably heard the joke about how games are like sausage: Best to just enjoy them and not think too hard about how they're made. For those like me, there is no sparing us the greasy intestinal details of design and production. We live it and love it. And like it or not, I'm going to share a bit of it with you. I'm going to tell you a story. A story about a boy, a coffee machine, and a dream. A story about the crafting system in The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™. hsinclair (Heather Sinclair) Since we began releasing information on the current seven classes in the game, there have been many questions as to why we made certain decisions, and what our thought processes were when designing them. I've attempted to respond where I could in the forums, but some questions can't be explained in a single forum post and deserve a more in-depth answer. Following are answers to some of the questions I've seen asked most frequently. Orion (Allan Maki) So you want to know something about The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™. Excellent! If only I could deliver all of the juicy information which you seek! How wondrous would the outpouring of gratitude be, and how greater still the rancor that followed, as shortcomings and disagreements were debated until the coming of the Last Battle! Hakai (Chris Clay) Did Aragorn have hit points? How much damage did Boromir take before he fell on Amon Hen? Did Gimli have to wait around to heal up after the battle at Helm's Deep? How much mana did Gandalf have, how much did using his powers drain him, and how long did it take him to recover from his exertions? Dwynna (Jill Harrington) You may have noticed an eerie Ringwraith or two lurking in some of our screenshots. While our talented modelers, texture artists and animators truly bring these creatures to life, I thought it might be interesting to give you a peek behind the scenes – or, rather, behind his robes – to talk about another important step in bringing characters to life: the character setup process. Chris Pierson As an example of what goes into world-building, let's take an area I'm working in right now, and which I'm growing very proud of: the Old Forest. Building a forest isn't an easy thing. You can't just scatter trees around and expect it to work, particularly in an MMO. There are many things you have to consider – performance, game flow, navigability, and aesthetics. All that while not forgetting that Bombadil's home is on an outcropping by the Withywindle River, not far from where the forest gives way to Tyrn Gorthad. Go, lore monkey. NobOrBob (Chris Foster) "We have been given a great opportunity in the form of more time and more creative freedom... things we felt had room for improvement will improve..." – Teos "They do not and did not understand or like machines more complicated than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a hand-loom, though they were skilful with tools." – J. R. R. Tolkien, "Concerning Hobbits" Some months back we had a great opportunity to take stock of design ideas and implementation techniques, and make changes that improve both of them. This dev diary is about one of the more important changes we've made. catfisch (John Lindemuth) Animation, in its simplest form, is a series of poses strung together to give an illusion of movement. When you watch a game, each major movement you see is a separate animation. Walk forward, walk back, strafe, jump, attacking, defending, waving, standing etc. are all created individually and then linked together in-game. Floon Beetle (Harry Teasley) For some, "RP" means a great deal: they take the roles seriously, and want the escapism of truly acting out another persona. For others, "RPG" may as well be Ruthless Power-Gamer: they drive their avatar around accomplishing the goals in the game in a mechanical fashion, speaking in their "real" voice and associating with other players as players, not as characters. There is a strong tension between these two factions, as each has different motives and goals within the game. What is a developer to do? What is Role-Playing? And what should the game do about it? |
| LOTR: General: Developer Diaries, by Magi |
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