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Darkfall

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Newsmare (talk | contribs) at 02:35, 5 December 2006 (rv - "speculative information" != information about speculation.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the novel by Dean Kootz see Darkfall (novel)

Template:Future game

Darkfall
File:Df-sized.jpg
Developer(s)Aventurine S.A.
Publisher(s)N/A
Self Published
Designer(s)Claus Grovdal, Game Design/Producer
Henning Ludvigsen, Art Director
Ricki Sickenger, Lead Tools/Game Logic Programmer
Kjetil Helland, Lead 3D/Client Programmer
Erik Sperling Johansen, Lead Server Programmer
EngineDarkfall Proprietary Engine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseN/A
Genre(s)MMORPG, Online RPG
Mode(s)Open PvP Multiplayer

Darkfall (sometimes referred to as Darkfall Online due to the URL of the official website) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in development by Aventurine SA that combines real-time action and strategy in a fantasy setting. Darkfall is highly anticipated by the player versus player (PvP) community. The game is currently in private beta testing, but an official release date has not been announced.

History

In early August 2001, Razorwax announced the development of Darkfall and launched its official website.[1] The Razorwax development team consisted of five members:

  • Claus Grovdal (Lead Design and Producer)
  • Ricki Sickenger (Lead Tools and Game Logic Programmer)
  • Henning Ludvigsen (Art Director)
  • Kjetil Helland (Lead 3D/Client Programmer)
  • Erik Sperling Johansen (Lead Server Programmer)

In October 2002, Aventurine S.A. was founded in Greece. The Razorwax team was integrated into Aventurine, and five other developers from Norway were hired into the company.[2] When the Razorwax team and the Aventurine team had their first meeting in Athens, a member of one of the teams joked that Razorwax should relocate from Norway to Greece due to the lower taxes and cost of living in Greece. Eventually, the two teams realized that this idea actually made very good business sense,[3] and by December 2002,[4] the relocation of Razorwax was finalized.

Tasos Flambouras (Associate Producer of Darkfall) stated in his July 9, 2004 status report that "Darkfall is still in internal beta" due to delays in development.[5]

In September 2005 the signup for the closed clan beta began. But the planned beta of Q4 2005 was cancelled. Developers have stated that before the beta, they would release a gameplay video, which they did in February 2006.

Aventurine did not have a playable version of Darkfall available at E³ 2006. In June 2006, just after E³, the Darkfall team started releasing weekly Questions and Answers through Warcry, in order to help newcommers to the community.

An announcement on July 11, 2006 stated that preparations are still being made to begin beta.[6]

An interview with the developers on August 25, 2006 indicates that Aventurine does not have a publisher for Darkfall, and has considered the possibility of self-publishing the game.[7]

Beta currently has been slated to begin in Dec 2006 or possibly Q1 of 2007. The weekly updates given by Aventurine have ended to focus on the release of beta.

Vaporware speculation

The lack of definite information and publicity, along with the significant time the game has spent in development, has lead many long-time followers of Darkfall to speculate over whether or not Darkfall is actually vaporware [8]. Fans of Darkfall respond that the community must be patient. Aventurine has stated that "The Darkfall community has demonstrated that it doesn't need constant handholding and reassurances" [9], which may explain the company's "information blackout". Associate Producer Tasos Flambouras has stated that the company "had to pass up many publicity opportunities," and supports this position by stating that "our game can compete a lot better than our publicity can"[10]. However, given the speed at which technology changes, the cancellation of several MMORPG projects (e.g., Dragon Empires and Mythica), and the possibility that the market may be flooded with MMORPGs, the question of the survivability of the Darkfall project is reasonable.

Of late there has been a surge of updates, sometimes as many as three per week, featured on both the Warcry and IGN Networks that have allayed many fears and vaporware speculations.

Features

Darkfall is expected to have several features that set it apart from the majority of MMORPGs:

  • Unrestricted PvP, with no safe zones
  • Inter-character and projectile-character collision detection
  • Manual aiming & blocking
  • Naval warfare
  • Dynamic, physical weather
  • No radar or floating names(Player made clan banners worn for identification.)

References

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