Source: http://www.eqhammer.com/preview/tal...koff-harvesting-crafting-and-building-preview
Tales from the Landmark Alpha Kickoff - Harvesting, Crafting and Building Preview
Submitted by Sardu on Friday January 31, 2014 - 13:19
Ever since SOE officially unveiled the fact that Landmark – a full MMO in its own rights – would precede the launch of EverQuest Next last summer, we’ve been itching to get our hands on the game. As it turns out, we finally had our chance this week at the SOE offices for the Landmark Alpha kickoff event.
Did we mention that the alpha officially begins today? It does.
In fact, I got to spend the afternoon playing the alpha client, and can share some details on what’s currently available to Founder’s Pack purchasers of the appropriate level when the alpha doors officially open later today. According to Dave Georgeson, the game as it stands today is roughly 60 percent complete. So a sizable chunk of gameplay is up and running, with new systems or refinements slated to hit the client over the coming weeks.
The target is to get the game to around 95 percent completion at which point the closed beta will begin. For those of you wondering how long this might take, the folks at SOE noted that this phase will be measured in a period of weeks or months, so it sounds as though they’re on track for the “on or before March 31st goal.
Interestingly enough, when I asked Dave about the launch for Landmark, he confirmed my suspicions that the game will see more of a soft launch. The idea is that, by retaining the open beta tag for a longer period, it allows the team to continue dropping in new features that will ultimately help pave the way for the EverQuest Next MMO.
We’ll have more details from our interviews with Dave and Terry Michaels, along with my detailed hands-on impressions coming up over the next few days. In the meantime, I wanted to share some of the specifics that players can expect to see in the initial alpha client.
Landmark Alpha – A Bird’s Eye View
The core chat systems are currently in place, so players will be able to set up channels to chat more directly with friends, or otherwise /shout to all players on the island. The more complex systems, such as full guild support, are still being worked on, but players can expect to see them come online in the near future.
Since there are no character levels in Landmark, advancement boils down to a number of parallel progression paths, many of which are in the initial alpha launch. You’ll start out with basic tools and crafting stations, with your first forays out into the great wide open aimed at advancing to higher tiers in each.
Hitting a new tier with your pickaxe, for example, is what will allow you to harvest new types of resources. Currently, the risk vs. reward components aren’t in, but eventually you’ll hit a point in the progression where you’ll have to go to increasingly dangerous places to harvest rare materials.
For now, most common needs such as copper and wood are somewhat plentiful and can easily be harvested as you scamper around the world. The final graphics in some cases aren’t yet fully implemented but you’ll be able to recognize copper nodes from a fair distance.
In terms of the currently available biomes, there are two up and running, with more coming online over time. For now, these include a desert region, and a somewhat dense forest area. The forest in particular is incredibly well done, and presented some unique opportunities to build in a more secluded environment for those players who prefer at least a certain amount of privacy.
While our demo characters had basically everything unlocked, and were loaded up with piles of common resources so that we could build pretty much anywhere we wanted, I still wanted to explore how the actual claims system works.
Right clicking the flag in my inventory panned the camera out far enough for me to get a good sense of exactly where I wanted my plot to exist. This is represented by a giant cube, with a “buffer zone” also displayed that represents the area around my claim where other players couldn’t build once I locked my claim in.
In this view you’ll also be able to decide how far above or below ground you want the overall volume of your claim to exist. Glancing around the room, most people seemed to be building giant towers, or massive structures above ground. I took an altogether different approach, and wanted to hollow out and build within the side of a mountain instead. The claim size and adjustable height allowed me to do exactly that, and from there it was fairly easy to begin building out what could have easily become my own personal dungeon (or more specifically, a mini-Neriak of sorts) if I had kept at it.
The tools ended up being a heck of a lot more intuitive than I expected. If you’ve been following any of the development videos, the tools really are as easy to use as they appear to be in most cases. One thing worth noting when it comes to the tools is that they’re also tied into that parallel progression path system.
To start out with, you’ll normally only have a couple of building tools available, so you’ll have to work a bit to craft the fancier things like the smoothing tool. In that sense, character advancement in Landmark will go something like this:
Another thing that will be added in the coming weeks of alpha is a journal that will make it much easier to track your progress, or to pinpoint exactly what you need to create something or advance. For example, you’ll be able to pull up a list of weapons in the game, and it will show you exactly what you need to create them.
In many ways, your character’s interactions with the world is more of an evolutionary process than what we’ve ever really seen in an MMO before.
Be on the lookout for a more complete drilldown into my hands-on experiences, and our exclusive interviews with Dave Georgeson and Terry Michaels throughout the next week. In the meantime, I’m about to head out to the EverQuest 15th Anniversary fan event, so I’ll be documenting the heck out of that as well for the folks at home who aren’t able to attend.
Tales from the Landmark Alpha Kickoff - Harvesting, Crafting and Building Preview
Submitted by Sardu on Friday January 31, 2014 - 13:19
Ever since SOE officially unveiled the fact that Landmark – a full MMO in its own rights – would precede the launch of EverQuest Next last summer, we’ve been itching to get our hands on the game. As it turns out, we finally had our chance this week at the SOE offices for the Landmark Alpha kickoff event.
Did we mention that the alpha officially begins today? It does.
In fact, I got to spend the afternoon playing the alpha client, and can share some details on what’s currently available to Founder’s Pack purchasers of the appropriate level when the alpha doors officially open later today. According to Dave Georgeson, the game as it stands today is roughly 60 percent complete. So a sizable chunk of gameplay is up and running, with new systems or refinements slated to hit the client over the coming weeks.
The target is to get the game to around 95 percent completion at which point the closed beta will begin. For those of you wondering how long this might take, the folks at SOE noted that this phase will be measured in a period of weeks or months, so it sounds as though they’re on track for the “on or before March 31st goal.
Interestingly enough, when I asked Dave about the launch for Landmark, he confirmed my suspicions that the game will see more of a soft launch. The idea is that, by retaining the open beta tag for a longer period, it allows the team to continue dropping in new features that will ultimately help pave the way for the EverQuest Next MMO.
We’ll have more details from our interviews with Dave and Terry Michaels, along with my detailed hands-on impressions coming up over the next few days. In the meantime, I wanted to share some of the specifics that players can expect to see in the initial alpha client.
Landmark Alpha – A Bird’s Eye View
The core chat systems are currently in place, so players will be able to set up channels to chat more directly with friends, or otherwise /shout to all players on the island. The more complex systems, such as full guild support, are still being worked on, but players can expect to see them come online in the near future.
Since there are no character levels in Landmark, advancement boils down to a number of parallel progression paths, many of which are in the initial alpha launch. You’ll start out with basic tools and crafting stations, with your first forays out into the great wide open aimed at advancing to higher tiers in each.
Hitting a new tier with your pickaxe, for example, is what will allow you to harvest new types of resources. Currently, the risk vs. reward components aren’t in, but eventually you’ll hit a point in the progression where you’ll have to go to increasingly dangerous places to harvest rare materials.
For now, most common needs such as copper and wood are somewhat plentiful and can easily be harvested as you scamper around the world. The final graphics in some cases aren’t yet fully implemented but you’ll be able to recognize copper nodes from a fair distance.
In terms of the currently available biomes, there are two up and running, with more coming online over time. For now, these include a desert region, and a somewhat dense forest area. The forest in particular is incredibly well done, and presented some unique opportunities to build in a more secluded environment for those players who prefer at least a certain amount of privacy.
While our demo characters had basically everything unlocked, and were loaded up with piles of common resources so that we could build pretty much anywhere we wanted, I still wanted to explore how the actual claims system works.
Right clicking the flag in my inventory panned the camera out far enough for me to get a good sense of exactly where I wanted my plot to exist. This is represented by a giant cube, with a “buffer zone” also displayed that represents the area around my claim where other players couldn’t build once I locked my claim in.
In this view you’ll also be able to decide how far above or below ground you want the overall volume of your claim to exist. Glancing around the room, most people seemed to be building giant towers, or massive structures above ground. I took an altogether different approach, and wanted to hollow out and build within the side of a mountain instead. The claim size and adjustable height allowed me to do exactly that, and from there it was fairly easy to begin building out what could have easily become my own personal dungeon (or more specifically, a mini-Neriak of sorts) if I had kept at it.
The tools ended up being a heck of a lot more intuitive than I expected. If you’ve been following any of the development videos, the tools really are as easy to use as they appear to be in most cases. One thing worth noting when it comes to the tools is that they’re also tied into that parallel progression path system.
To start out with, you’ll normally only have a couple of building tools available, so you’ll have to work a bit to craft the fancier things like the smoothing tool. In that sense, character advancement in Landmark will go something like this:
- You’ll harvest materials to craft better gathering tools, and crafting stations
- These improved items and stations will allow you to create new building tools which are essentially skills that can be dragged onto your hotbar just like more traditional combat skills
- While the dangerous aspects of the world aren’t currently in, eventually they’ll make it necessary to also create or obtain armor and weapon sets to help you survive in harsher conditions
- As your survivability increases, you’ll also continue advancing your ability to gather better materials
- These materials then allow you to create even better crafting stations, harvesting or building tools, armors, and other items that continue to open up more gameplay as you progress.
Another thing that will be added in the coming weeks of alpha is a journal that will make it much easier to track your progress, or to pinpoint exactly what you need to create something or advance. For example, you’ll be able to pull up a list of weapons in the game, and it will show you exactly what you need to create them.
In many ways, your character’s interactions with the world is more of an evolutionary process than what we’ve ever really seen in an MMO before.
Be on the lookout for a more complete drilldown into my hands-on experiences, and our exclusive interviews with Dave Georgeson and Terry Michaels throughout the next week. In the meantime, I’m about to head out to the EverQuest 15th Anniversary fan event, so I’ll be documenting the heck out of that as well for the folks at home who aren’t able to attend.
