Age of Conan

Age of Conan: Unchained (formerly known as Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures ) is a fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Developed byFuncom and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows . [2]


Age of Conan is the first installment in the planned Age of Conan series. Age of Conan takes place within the continent of the Hyborian kingdoms , a year after the events depicted in Robert E. Howard ‘s Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon . [6] Hyborian Adventures’ release celebrated the 76th anniversary of the Conan franchise .

Characters

Characters in Age of Conan are registered to a unique user account. Players are reliable to create characters qui Their function as virtual avatars in the online world of Hyboria . During character creation, the player may choose from four playable races. The character is one of four archetypes (in bold) and one of three class selections for each archetype. The Rise of the Godslayer Expansion brought on a new breed, the Khitan . Earlier only some classes were free to play but on December 13, 2012 all classes were made available in the free model. [7]

Aquilonian Cimmerian Stygian Khitan
arrogant

  • Assassin
  • Tidy
  • Barbarian
 arrogant

  • Tidy
  • Barbarian
 arrogant

  • Assassin
  • Tidy
 arrogant

  • Assassin
  • Tidy
priest

  • Priest of Mitra
 priest

  • Bear Shaman
 priest

  • Tempest of Set
 priest

  • Bear Shaman
magus

  • Necromancer
  • Herald of Xotli
  • Demonologist
 magus

  • Necromancer
  • Herald of Xotli
  • Demonologist
Soldier

  • Guardian
  • Dark Templar
  • Conqueror
 Soldier

  • Guardian
  • Dark Templar
  • Conqueror
 Soldier

  • Guardian
  • Dark Templar

Combat

Combat included striking a target from different angles, such as hacking down against the head, slashing diagonally down from the left or right, and slashing diagonally up from the left or right. These directions are designed to be combined in a combination during combat. Difficult-to-perform combinations cause additional damage and faster strikes. [8]

Funcom has said that their “Real Combat” system, a combat system designed to offer more real-time options than traditional Dungeons & Dragons- inspired “turn-based” combat systems that are more commonly used, will be a prime attraction of age. Conan: Unchained. This “Real Combat” is a first-person melee approach in which every enemy has three different areas that players can target. Combinations can be performed by stringing together consecutive attacks in particular directions. Feedback from players has pointed out that this system requires a certain degree of dexterity. Character statistics and item bonuses also play a role in this system, but item bonuses have a similar effect on the playing field. their analysis of the scenario. The idea of ​​”Real Combat” is to eliminate the dullness of the typical MMO fighting, which is an auto-attack feature. [9]

The “Real Combat” system is used in one-on-one weapon battles, as well as during spell-casting, ranged combat and mounted combat. In some situations, however, players will choose to band together and unite their skills to face other bands of players or non-player armies. Players can then work together and build on each other’s strengths, for example a character standing in line with a ‘Conqueror’ when he is going to have a greater resistance to knockback effects. [10]

Players are able to take part in large scale siege operations. Adventurers can cooperate with one another to build cities with walls, towers and catapults that can protect player-owned taverns and merchant facilities.

The dance moves Were made using motion capture is the dancer Hallgrim Hansegård , who is a backing dancer for the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 : ” Fairytale ” by Alexander Rybak . [11]

In July 2011, a Hardcore PvP server was launched for the US and US servers. This hardcore PvP server removes the guards from the various cities and playfields and re-opened PvP on the instances around the city of Tortage. This hardcore server brings back the basics of MMO PvP combat in that players will have a chance to drop their inventory when they are killed in player vs. player combat. Also, players are only able to have one character on these servers. This was a fresh start, which does not allow any character transfer to it, does not allow the use of offline levels, or free level 50 characters.

Setting

Age of Conan is set in a low fantasy pseudo-historical ancient world called the Hyborian Age , created by Robert E. Howard . The warlord Conan has seized the throne of Aquilonia , but ancient evils seek to overthrow him.

The Hyborian is a dark, decadent, twisted and corrupt version of Euro-Asian history. Mix a bit of the Roman Empire, Mongolian culture and Babylonian mysticism with ’30s-era myths of undiscovered Africa … [12]

The lead artist Terje Lundberg says that the look and feel of Hyboria was based on the interpretation of the stories written by Robert E. Howard :

“When you read Howard’s work you’re immediately drawn into a gritty world of dark and ancient forces, and mighty and decadent civilizations.” Why is it so majestic in Hyboria but it’s a monolithic, brutal and primitive kind – it certainly is not “high fairy” built only yesterday and is devoid of context. ” [13]

Lundberg said, “Cimmeria, a northern country with snow and highlands, Aquilonia, which contains” green hills, lush riverbeds, and the marvelous city of Tarantia “, and Stygia, which consists mostly of deserts and” some beautiful cities “- the tortoise which” has different geography from jungle to harbors “. [13]

Music and sound

Five principal members worked on the music and audio for Age of Conan . The Audio Director is Morten Sørlie, who created the soundtrack for Anarchy Online – Shadowlands . Simon Poole (Lead Sound Designer on “Dreamfall – The Longest Journey”) took over as Audio Director in May 2007, and saw the project through completion. The sound designers are Tord D. Nikolaisen and Fredrik Martol. Compose Knut Avenstroup Haugen wrote the musical score for the game. [14] To create a musical score for the Hyborian universe, Haugen turned to many different sources: For the music of the different ethnic groups, Haugen studied traditional music from the world. For the overall sound of the Hyborian Age, Haugen, et al. [15]

The female vocalist is Norwegian singer Helene Bøksle . [16] The lyrics of the music is in the Old Norwegian language and comes from the Völuspá , the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda . [17]

Norwegian punk rock artists Turbonegro contributed three bonus songs to the soundtrack CD, one of which was written specifically for the album. [18]

Knut Avenstrup Haugen won the IFMCA award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for his score. [19]

Over 40 actors voiced the large cast of characters. [20] The recording was done at Side UK [21] in London, Side LA in California, and at Funcom in Norway . [22]

Music used by Breivik

The music video qui Accompanying the propaganda the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks , Anders Behring Breivik uploaded to video sharing site YouTube Including Sami at the Time That he published His manifesto, comes from the Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures soundtrack. Breivik writes of Bøksle’s voice that it is the perfect sound to listen to when one commits acts of martyrdom . During his trialhe also testified that he uses this music, especially the song “Ere the World Crumbles” when he meditates, as he was in preparation for his terrorist acts on 22 July 2011. Bøksle distance from herself from Breivik’s use of the music. The music composer, Knut Avenstrup Haugen, has done the same. [17] [23]

Technology

The game makes use of following technologies:

  • ‘Cheetah’. Shader -oriented proprietary render engine re-written by Funcom featuring a Phong per pixel lighting system. This engine allows for improved graphics and ambience. This is combined with a trapezoidal shadow system, an in-house system developed by Funcom that allows all objects to be cast shadows onto everything. [24]
  • ‘Perlin noise-based cloud generating system’. Five-layered procedural system that allows multiple layers of dynamic clouds; thus, visually realistic cloud behavior. [24]
  • ‘ SpeedTree ‘. Programming package that aims to produce high-quality virtual foliage in real time. [25]
  • ‘DreamWorld. Funcom circa 2000. When Funcom began developing the Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, the company reviewed its existing technology base and decided to focus on further development of their proprietary DreamWorld engine as opposed to third party licensing RPG companies do. As such, Funcom began to retool their engine with the overall design. Pipeline and implementation process was taken into account. In light of these changes, the Dreamworld engine has been rebuilt for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures with new features, special effects, and optimizations.
  • ‘DirectX 10’. A major update of DirectX API. Well advertised on the gamebox, the game did not include support for DirectX 10 at the time of launch. The DX10 client was finally released for all live servers late March 2009. [26]
  • Umbra. Umbra is GPU-accelerated occlusion culling software developed by Umbra software Ltd. Umbra’s love is to speed up the rendering of large worlds with a lot of overdraw. [ quote needed ]

Development

Funcom delayed Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures on January 21, 2008[27] and again on March 24, 2008.[28] The delays were widely reported by online game magazines such as IGN.[29]Once released, the game sold over 500,000 copies worldwide by June 1, 2008.[30] Six days later one million copies had been shipped in total.[31]

Between March 2005 and January 2006, Funcom periodically revealed concept art and screenshots from Age of Conan. The Art Director for the Conan project is Didrik Tollefsen, known for such classics as The Longest Journey and Anarchy Online – Shadowlands, which won the Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction award in 2003.[32]

On January 24, 2006, Funcom unveiled the community portal for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. By this time, much of the pre-launch community had gathered around the forums and IRC chat of the official Age of Conan website. There were informal events such as IRC chats with the developers and, in summer 2006, community contests.

In April 2006, Funcom created a forum for guild recruitment entitled the Guild Hall for its pre-launch community, allowing forum members began organizing their player guilds.[33]

In January 2007, several important updates were announced regarding the expected launch window for the game. Also on January 12, 2007, Funcom announced the original twenty-three classes had been merged down to fourteen classes to avoid the lack of diversity between them. [34]

On February 7, 2008, Funcom and Eidos announced that over 500,000 people had signed up for the Beta Testing of Age of Conan . [35]

On May 19, 2008, GameZone.com presents a series of original fictional stories by Michael Lafferty, stemming from the massively multiplayer online world of Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures . The stories were written with the permission and cooperation of Funcom. The tales explores the world, the characters and the lore involved in Hyboria . [36]

In September 2008, Gaute Godager , the Producer and Game Director resigned from his role in the Age of Conan and Funcom, has been involved for over 16 years. [37] In his press release, he revealed that he was not happy with the elements in the game’s development since release. He was succeeded by Craig Morrison, formerly Live Game Director of Anarchy Online, and community manager for various Funcom community forums.

On August 18, 2009, Funcom launched a website showcasing the upcoming expansion, Rise of the Godslayer . Set in the mythical land of Khitai, it features a new Eastern theme. The expansion was released on May 11, 2010.

On June 30, 2011, Funcom began marketing the game with the new title, Age of Conan: Unchained ( Hyborian Adventures ), and a hybrid model. A hybrid model incorporates free-to-play (no monthly fee is charged) and premium plans. Premium players may choose from 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month recurring payment, while free-to-play players have limited access to characters, features, and areas. Some of the limitations can be removed with the help of the new “Item Shop”, where items can be purchased with the help of Funcom Points. Funcom Points can be earned by subscribing or by buying them with real cash.

On August 31, 2011, Funcom released the Savage Coast of Turan’s adventure pack as a promotion for the upcoming 2011 Conan movie Conan the Barbarian .

In his monthly letter for August 2013, Joel Byos reveals a new major PvP event titled The Great Hyborian Race. A new server called the Blood and Glory rules and server which will be started specifically for this event. The players will have to create a new character on this server in order to participate in this event. The objective is to reach level 80 in all classes by joining a guild or by going it alone. Those will be awarded special prizes. Those who reach a certain threshold of PvP experience within a given timeframe will be given bonus rewards. For the duration of the event, participants will be unable to use offline levels and restrictions will be placed on XP potions. PvE and PvP fights. The developers are interested in the event after the server, which is delayed by Funcom. [38]

The game is AMD Eyefinity validated. [39]

Additional content

Expansions

Rise of the Godslayer 

Main article: Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer

The first expansion titled Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer was released on May 11, 2010 and can be bought for Funcom Points from the item shop by all players. It provides new areas for medium-level characters in the form of a zone for the new playable race, the Khitans; and additional areas for high-level characters. The new content also includes new companions that can be used for fighting pets, or as mounts. A faction system was introduced in order to add variety and re-playability to the new areas. Through new quests, group instances, and raids, players are able to gather tokens to buy new armor sets. An additional incentive is the Alternative Advancementsystem; a new tree of character feats or perks that are acquired by means of a dedicated point system. It also expanded the raiding in the game to add Tier 4. [40]

Adventure Packs

The Savage Coast Of Turan 

On August 31, 2011, Funcom released “The Savage Coast of Turan” adventure pack, which can be bought for Funcom. The pack includes a new playfield known as “Coast of Ardashir”, two new solo instances, a group instance, a new 24-man raid instance called “Temple of Erlik” and a new fight pet. The Conan the Barbarian , so that players had the chance to see you, the armor, and weapons from the movie. [41]

Secrets of Dragon’s Spine 

On September 3, 2012 Funcom announced that it is planning a new adventure pack called “Secrets of Dragon’s Spine” which will be released in a series of updates. The pack introduces a new area called Dragon’s Spine, a row of small peaks in the southern wastes of Stygia. It will be new quests, dungeons, challenges, a new mount type, a new raid instance and a new PvP area. [42] The first update was released on live servers on January 10, 2013. [43] On August 13, 2013 a new dungeon which also contains a city of the Serpent Men was added to the Dragon’s Spine. [44]

Reception

The game received “generally favorable reviews” according to Metacritic . [46] The game was “very inviting and plays well” according to VariableGHz. [56] Player reactions were overwhelmingly negative in the following months, as the game was plagued by a large number of bugs, missing areas, broken encounters and total lack of end-game content. [ citation needed ] Since release, Funcom has made improvements to performance and changes to the game that have not been ready for launch. Additions include new adventuring zones, and revamps of existing dungeons.

Seth Schiesel, writing for the New York Times , stated that the development of the game would have benefited from a few extra months of production. [57]

See also

  • List of games based on Conan the Barbarian

References

  1. Jump up^ Funcom and Eidos Sign Publishing Agreement for Age of Conan ArchivedJanuary 3, 2007, at theWayback Machine. – July 24, 2006 – retrieved on July 24, 2006
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b Conan Confirmed for Xbox 360 Archived December 14, 2006 at the Wayback Machine . – December 10, 2006 – Retrieved on December 12, 2006
  3. Jump up^ Funcom sets new release date for Age of Conan – retrieved on March 28, 2008
  4. Jump up^ Pharamond Posts a Clarification About the Release Date of Age of Conan- retrieved the 28th of April, 2008. Statement also mentioned in fanletters.
  5. Jump up^ Olivetti, Justin (February 22, 2013). “Age of Conan Steam Looting” . Massively . Retrieved May 25, 2016 .
  6. Jump up^ The Age of Conan is set after The Hour of the Dragon. ArchivedSeptember 27, 2007, at theWayback Machine. – September 16, 2006 – retrieved on January 25, 2007
  7. Jump up^ “Age of Conan tweaks F2P offerings, all classes and classic dungeons freely available” . Massively . December 13, 2012 . Retrieved January 14, 2013 .
  8. Jump up^ “Pre-E3 2005: Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures (Page 2 of 4)” . May 10, 2005 . Retrieved July 24, 2006 .
  9. Jump up^ News – ‘Dissatisfied’ With Age Of Conan, Funcom Co-Founder Quits. Gamasutra. Retrieved on 11 April 2012.
  10. Jump up^ Gaute’s State of the Game – February. Forums.ageofconan.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2012.
  11. Jump up^ Alexander Rybak – Fairytale (Norway), YouTube
  12. Jump up^ OGaming Interview with Gaute Godager (Page 1 of 3) ArchivedSeptember 9, 2006, at theWayback Machine. – January 20, 2006 – retrieved on July 25, 2006
  13. ^ Jump up to:a b “Interview with Terje Lundberg by MMOG Welten”. onlinewelten.com. Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  14. Jump up^ “Sound and music in Age of Conan ” . ageofconan.com . Archived from the original on 2007-10-12 . Retrieved April 17, 2012 .
  15. Jump up^ Music in Age of Conan – November 22, 2005 – Retrieved on July 22, 2006ArchivedAugust 18, 2006, at theWayback Machine.
  16. Jump up^ Taldren, Alex (April 7, 2008). “Helene Bøksle: The Voice Behind Age of Conan” . wordpress.com . Archived from the original on 2007-10-12 . Retrieved April 17, 2012 .
  17. ^ Jump up to:a b Kristensen, Eivind (19 April 2012). ” Breivik krenker både meg og musikken “[Breivik violates both me and the music]. Fædrelandsvennen (in Norwegian) . Retrieved 26 April 2012 .
  18. Jump up^ Age of Conan: Age of Conan Gets Scandinavian Rock Punk Soundtrack. Kotaku.com (12 June 2008). Retrieved on 11 April 2012.
  19. Jump up^ IFMCA announces its 2008 winners for scoring excellence. Filmmusiccritics.org. Retrieved on 11 April 2012.
  20. Jump up^ Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Video Game 2008) – IMDb
  21. Jump up^ Side news and work UK Side ArchivedJuly 16, 2011, at theWayback Machine.. Side.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2012.
  22. Jump up^ Age of Conan: ArchivedHyborian AdventuresSeptember 16, 2008, at theWayback Machine.
  23. Jump up^ Hansen, Camilla Berg (27 July 2011). “Helene Bøksle misbrukt i Breivik-video”[Helene Bøksle abused in Breivik video]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian) . Retrieved 25 April2012 .
  24. ^ Jump up to:a b Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Peek No. 3 (Page 2 of 3) Archived 2011-03-17 at the Wayback Machine . – November 24, 2005 – Retrieved on July 22, 2006
  25. Jump up^ Funcom Brings SpeedTreeRT into Age of Conan – retrieved on July 22, 2006
  26. Jump up^ Patch 1.04.5 update NotesMarch 25, 2009 – Retrieved on March 29, 2009
  27. Jump up^ Funcom sets new release date for Age of Conan- January 21, 2008 – retrieved on May 24, 2008
  28. Jump up^ Funcom announce new release date for Age of Conan- August 10, 2007 – retrieved on May 24, 2008
  29. Jump up^ Age of Conan Delays: Age of Conan Pushed Back- January 21, 2008 – retrieved on May 24, 2008
  30. Jump up^ Thang, Jimmy (2008-06-02). “Age of Conan Rules Sales Charts” . Yahoo! Games. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19 . Retrieved 2008-06-06 .
  31. Jump up^ “Age of Conan reaches one million milestone” . Funcom . Archived from the original on 7 June 2008 . Retrieved 2008-06-08 .
  32. Jump up^ RPG Vault [ dead link ]
  33. Jump up^ Guild Hall – Age of Conan Forums. Forums.ageofconan.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2012.
  34. Jump up^ Funcom annonce class merges. – January 12, 2007 – Retrieved on January 25, 2007ArchivedSeptember 27, 2007, at theWayback Machine.
  35. Jump up^ Taldren, Alex (7 February 2008). “More Than 500,000 Gamers Join the Age of Conan Community” . zergwatch.com . Archived from the original on 2009-01-23 . Retrieved 17 April 2012 .
  36. Jump up^ Lafferty, Michael. “Age of Conan – Fictional Story Series” . GameZone.com . Archived from the original on 2008-07-02 . Retrieved 17 April 2012 .
  37. Jump up^ http://www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&func_id=1321&table=CONTENT&item=1004
  38. Jump up^ “Game Director Letter – August 2013” . Funcom. September 5, 2013 . Retrieved 29 September 2013 .
  39. Jump up^ “AMD Eyefinity Validated and Ready Software” .
  40. Jump up^ VanOrd, Kevin (2010-07-07). “Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer Review” . Gamespot. Archived from the original on 2012-01-15 . Retrieved 2010-07-07 .
  41. Jump up^ “Details on the Launch of The Savage Coast of Turan” . Age of Conan . Retrieved 2012-12-15 .
  42. Jump up^ Olivetti, Justin (3 September 2012). “Age of Conan Heralds Secrets of Dragon’s Spine update series” . Massively . Retrieved 2012-12-15 .
  43. Jump up^ Guthrie, MJ (10 January 2013). “Age of Dragon Conan launches Spine update today” . Massively . Retrieved 2013-01-14 .
  44. Jump up^ “Age of Conan Gets a New Dungeon” . TentonHammer.com. August 13, 2013 . Retrieved 2013-08-15 .
  45. Jump up^ “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Reviews (PC)” . GameRankings . Archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2008 . Retrieved 2008-05-31 .
  46. ^ Jump up to:a b “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC: 2008): Reviews” . Metacritic . Archived from the original on 31 May 2008 . Retrieved 2008-05-29 .
  47. Jump up^ “Edge”. 191 . Future Publishing. August 2008: 95.
  48. Jump up^ Balistrieri, Emily. “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” . G4TV.com . Retrieved 2008-06-13 .
  49. Jump up^ Biessener, Adam. “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Review” . GameInformer . Archived from the original on 12 July 2008 . Retrieved 2008-07-13 .
  50. Jump up^ VanOrd, Kevin (2008-06-02). “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” . GameSpot . Retrieved 2008-06-13 .
  51. Jump up^ Rausch, Allen (2008-05-30). “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Review” . GameSpy . Archived from the original on 3 June 2008 . Retrieved 2008-06-13 .
  52. Jump up^ Lafferty, Michael (2008-05-23). “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures Review” . GameZone . Archived from the original on 11 June 2008 . Retrieved 2008-06-13 .
  53. Jump up^ Onyett, Vharles (27 June 2008). “Age of Conan Collector’s Edition Review” . IGN . j2 Global . Retrieved 23 June 2014 .
  54. Jump up^ Brunsveld, Michiel (2008-05-20). “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures review” (in Dutch). Gamersnet. Archived from the original on 12 July 2008 . Retrieved 2008-08-06. Conclusie: 9.0
  55. Jump up^ Ellingsen, Berit (2008-05-13). “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” (in Norwegian). Gamereactor . Retrieved 2008-08-06 . Vår karakter: 9/10
  56. Jump up^ Trip Report: Age of Conan (Part 1). (7 June 2010). Retrieved on 11 April 2012.
  57. Jump up^ Schiesel, Seth (2008-06-04). “At Play in a World of Savagery, But Not This One” . New York Times . Archived from the original on 28 February 2016 . Retrieved 2008-06-04 .

Leave a Comment