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Baby Barbarian: first steps in Age of Conan
Having enjoyed early access in Age of Conan, Orestis Bastounis has been sharpening his axe, slaying beasts, swilling beer and chatting up the wenches of Tortage.
Age of Conan has received plenty of attention from both gamers and the press so far, and for good reason. It’s arguably the prettiest MMORPG yet seen. In their current state the visuals offer advanced lighting and shadows, shimmering water effects and detailed textures. They are set to get even better once the full DirectX 10 client is launched in August. Nearly every conversation with NPCs is delivered through both text and full audio, which contributes to the double digits of disk space the game will consume. Age of Conan is certain to give your system a good workout and guaranteed to make you feel better about spending an arm and a leg on PC hardware.
The game comes in a unique setting, the only MMO set in a land of Barbarians, loosely based off the Robert E. Howard novels, not to mention the Golden Globe winning film that kick-started the film career of one California governor. It’s also a mature rated MMO, which means splashed blood, decapitated skulls, and brutal executions; and no Hello Kitty Online here. This of course does not mean the players are mature, since even we were amused by being able to belch loudly in other players’ faces. Repeatedly.
If a persistent world filled with axes, loud guttural exhalations and severed limbs is your idea of fun, you may have already joined Age of Conan, the latest MMORPG from developer Funcom, whose previous credentials includes the acclaimed Anarchy Online. If you aren’t yet convinced, or your copy is arriving shortly, our handy guide to your first few hours in the game will help you get a better understanding of what to expect.
Click on each section below for an explanation of some of the fundamental aspects of the game, and the early decisions you must make.
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Gave it a ago, but dropped the game before end of my free peroid, I really hoped it was gonna be a WOW killer, but I find the game just can't draw me in like WoW did. to me, the whole instanced areas just does not work for a MMORPG, 10-30 instances per each area means its highly unlikely you'll ever see the same person you quested with again let alone form any kind of new friendship. Other than that the loading screens (short but frequent) is also a bit of a mood killer. (I dare anyone to chase a ganker through multiple zones and still manage to catch them)
Comment by Wolfinton at 8:26am 2nd June 2008
I just dropped it to 1680x1050 and didnt touch any of my other settings (thats right, not one) and I get frame rates above yours... If it makes a difference I run on a wireless N network with an 8mb broadband line....
Comment by bscorpion at 1:13am 31st May 2008
I have a Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz (usually 3.6, currently stock clocked so I can push my RAM to its absolute limit), 4GB DDR2 Dominator @ 1000Mhz 5-4-3-8, mutiple RAID 0 arrays, Single 8800 GTS 512 (G92) @ 760 core [forgot the rest] (Games and system are on seperate ones, Data has its own as well), asus xonar d2x. Oh mobo is an XFX 780i. Liquid cooling on CPU only. I average around 29 - 30 fps, a big open area warrants a frame rate drop to about 25. This game really isnt that taxing on the hardware... If you still dont believe me I will take some screnshots of cpu-z, gpu-z etc folowed by screenies of the options menu and fps
Comment by bscorpion at 1:02am 31st May 2008
I have a Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz, 4GB DDR2 Dominator @ 1000Mhz 5-4-3-8, mutiple RAID 0 arrays, Single 8800 GTS 512 (G92) @ 760 core [forgot the rest] (Games and system are on seperate ones, Data has its own as well), asus xonar d2x. Oh mobo is an XFX 780i. Liquid cooling on CPU only. I average around 29 - 30 fps, a big open area warrants a frame rate drop to about 25. This game really isnt that taxing on the hardware... If you still dont believe me I will take some screnshots of cpu-z, gpu-z etc folowed by screenies of the options menu and fps
Comment by bscorpion at 1:02am 31st May 2008
bscorpion I would love to see what fps you are getting. As to run this game at those settings you are going to need hardware that basically isnt out yet. Esspecially if you have shadows enabled, with 8xAA which is just silly as you wont tell the difference between 8xAA or 4xAA at that resolution. I run the game at 1680x1050 at high settings with 2xAA and 16xAF and Im getting around 30 - 50fps and I have a very high-end system for you to run that at 1920x1200 with 8xAA and Bloom as well then you will be getting around 10 - 20fps.-
Comment by CPC_RedDawn at 7:31pm 30th May 2008
I have had this game pre-ordered for ages, and since I have received it I have only ever logged off for work, sleep and food (much to the dismay of the Mrs =/). It is the most fun I have ever had in a game for as long as I can remember. The game is stunning for an online game (I run it with everything maxed, 8xAA 16xAF, 1920x1200). I highly recommend this. Oh, Nice guide by the way ^_- *mumbles about having wasted good decapitation time...*
Comment by bscorpion at 2:54pm 29th May 2008
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