by Moorgard on 2001-11-27
Frequenty Asked ScrewupsAbsor responds to a question about whether the Luclin alternative advancement system is open only to level 60 players, or if younger folks can join in:
It's 51 and over. Silly FAQ...
I'll ask about having that changed. Thanks for pointing it out.
Alan
Which means you get to decide whether you want to gain levels or some nifty skills. The solution, of course, is to play more hours and do both. Funny how that works, ain't it?
Direct and to the Point
On the 23rd, Verant provided the following message pleading with us to test the new DirectX 8 graphics engine:
As we announced previously, we are beginning testing of the new DirectX 8 graphics engine that will become a central component of EverQuest. This new graphics engine will go live mid-next week, and will require that all EverQuest players have DirectX 8 or better installed, along with suitable drivers from your video and sound card manufacturers.
The new engine will include many features including a new visibility solution which will dramatically increase framerate in some areas of the game, and in addition will eventually support cards featuring Hardware Transform and Lighting (GeForce/Radeon or better cards).
We would like your assistance in testing this engine with the multitude of system specifications employed by EverQuest users before it goes live. To do this, please launch TestEverquest.exe from your EverQuest directory, and edit the line in your EQClient.ini in your EQ directory from "GraphicsDLL=EQGfx_Dx7.DLL" to "GraphicsDLL=EQGfx_Dx8.DLL".
But tonight Abashi popped on and added the following nugget:
Just a follow-up, you no longer have to worry about modifying your EQClient.ini to try out the DX8 engine on Test. It will automatically load it when you log into test.
-Gordon
Users are reporting increased frame rates as promised, so it sounds like it's worth checking out. Then again, you only have about a week until it goes live anyway. Try to be patient--some things are worth waiting for.
Come and Whine to Verant in Person
If you're too cheap to attend a FanFaire--and you happen to live in the San Diego area--you have another chance to stalk Verant employees and ask them why your warrior is so unbalanced. With the release of Luclin, Verant will be out pimping their product at some local software stores. Thus spake Absor:
Well, as has become sort of a tradition, we'll be at the two local EBs here in SD to chat about Shadows of Luclin and other stuff. This is always a nice way for the team to relax after the non-stop effort needed to put out an expansion, and it's a chance for players to meet and talk to the team. So if you're in the area of the UTC on Tuesday come by and visit. Here are the details:
WHEN:
Tuesday, December 4, 2001
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
WHERE:
Electronics Boutique
UTC - Westfield Shopping Town
San Diego, California
and
Electronics Boutique
North County Fair
San Diego, California
Hey, I'll be there. Waitaminute, no I won't, because I live in Minnesota and THERE'S A FREAKING BLIZZARD UP HERE. You guys have fun, though.
Graphic Violence
Confused about how those new character models will work? You're not alone. First Verant said it was an all-or-nothing proposition, but now they're saying you can specify which races and genders should use the new models. Thinking about it makes my head hurt, so I'll let Absor and Abashi team up to reveal the lengthy truth:
You will be able to turn the graphics on or off separately for each of your computers.
You will also be able to change your choices. You won't be locked into any graphics restrictions you make now because of your current system. So if, for example, you turn off a few of the new race models because your system doesn't have enough RAM to run them all, you can turn them back on later. This will all be available through .ini file settings as well as through a setup option. But you'll only be able to make these changes out of game.
...
In order to see your character riding a horse, you will have to have both horses and your new character models turned on. If you decide to not display some of the new models you will not see any player characters of that race type on horseback. The old models just can't ride horses.
...
You'll have to turn off models until your system runs at an acceptable framerate (and load time). What acceptable is will really be up to you. But with only 128 megs of RAM, I can tell you that you most likely will not find your performance to be at all acceptable with all the models turned on. Though, as always, all systems are different and personal preferences vary. So you can turn the models on regardless of your RAM, but without the minimum requirements we really don't think you'll find the performance acceptable.
...
If you get the latest drivers for you card, the card should be able to run Shadows of Luclin. However, with some of the older Voodoo cards you will probably find the performance less than satisfactory. Again, that's really up to the preferences of the user.
...
We won't officially be supporting Windows 95 anymore. Heck, Microsoft isn't even supporting it anymore...
The main reason for this is because Windows 95 won't support our efforts to localize the game. Once we complete our localization work, people using Windows 95 won't have the code needed to translate the text. This will probably lead to all sorts of badness, not the least of which would be that Win 95 users might not even be able to see any chat at all.
This is another case where it might indeed work, but we can't promise it will.
...
Oh, and I've been hearing some concern about the 4x CDRom drive requirement.
No, you're not going to be running any part of the game off the CD, except maybe the movie...
...
We're considering a T&L card a required feature for anyone who doesn't have a P3 or Athlon processor (or better). If you have a 16mb non-T&L card, you can get away with it as long as you have a P3 or Athlon.
That said, we're listing T&L as a requirement for framerate concerns more than anything else. Luclin features some pretty beefy poly-counts and the more processing you can offload to the card the better. However there's nothing that will kick you out of the game and say "You must have a T&L card to play EverQuest".
Got all that? It's quite a bit to handle, especially so close to release. The bottom line is that Luclin is going to be a demanding game--particularly for your video card.
If their goal with this engine is to make the game advanced enough to be played for years to come, one has to wonder how this affects the plans for EQ2. Migrating users from one game to another within the same company is pretty tricky--so much so that Origin gave up on the notion altogether with UO2 (yeah yeah, there were lots of factors, but the result is that they pooped out on us).
Patch, Adams
Oh, and another thing...
On Tuesday November 27th, at 3AM PST, (11AM GMT), all servers will be brought down for scheduled maintenance. The estimated downtime is 6 hours.
-The EverQuest Operations Team
FYI: This is to process the Antonius Bayle moves as well as perform some Database maintenance. At this time, there is nothing being patched.
So we get a patch snuck in on us, though it won't introduce any new content. At least those pesky Euroserver moves will be done with at last.
Al'Kabor Returns
It appears that the goofy wizard Al'Kabor--last known to have transported himself to the Nexus on Luclin--has returned via a GM event that is being held across some/most/all servers. He handed out the title "of the Nexus" to those players who helped him, so it's worth hanging out at the abandoned Combine city in Dreadlands for your shot at a new name and a handy item.
Finally, let us gently remind you that Luclin is ONE WEEK AWAY. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, you'd best get cracking, because your local store is likely to sell out fast. Feel free to help Mobhunter earn a dollar or so by placing an order with Amazon by clicking on the image on the home page.