Pan'Theon: Rise' of th'e Fal'Len - #1 Thread in MMO

xzi · Dec 1, 2016

The number 1 most important question: how big dick can my DPS be?

qwertyqweqwertwqert · Dec 1, 2016

Fyff said:
You putting up the money for me to do it?

You said it takes zero skill and wallet.

Brikker said:
I think only qwerty and convo should propose questions to be asked

Mine would be a good one. My question would be:

Why would I want to play Pantheon instead of Vanguard emulator? Vanguard might have had some problems but it was a big budget game with the most amazing classes I've ever played, and a huge world, tons of content, and I actually enjoyed the questing and dungeons. Can Pantheon be better?

Opimo · Dec 1, 2016

qwertyqweqwertwqert said:
This is one of the worst posts I have seen on this forum and that is really saying something.

Also if it takes zero skill and wallet and you can make anything, then go and recreate this. Go go go.

View attachment 100697

Now post yours.

That's actually looking pretty good.

Fyff · Dec 1, 2016

Right. You need a wallet plus no skill. Is that difficult to understand? You purchase the assets and combine them.

Convo · Dec 1, 2016

Fyff said:
Right. You need a wallet plus no skill. Is that difficult to understand? You purchase the assets and combine them.

I don't think you're serious but maybe you are?

DickTrickle · Dec 1, 2016

Fyff said:
Right. You need a wallet plus no skill. Is that difficult to understand? You purchase the assets and combine them.

I'm not sure how literally to take you. If you really think it's really just some plug and play thing, you really are sorely mistaken. Game engines have come a long way, but it's not like it's RPG maker.

Skanda · Dec 1, 2016

2002User said:
Hey look, its the EverQuest pre-alpha, featuring the launch environments with all placeholder models and animations!

Could Pantheon be taking a similar development route? Hmm...

Except none of those games were using their Pre-Alpha screenshots to try and sell the game for them and Brad is. Every single one of those screenshots I posted (and quite a few others I haven't posted) Brad was paid to post. Not only was he using those shots to try and build hype but he was making money for EACH screenshot he posted. Yet another way McQuaid figured out to separate money from a bunch of suckers.

xzi · Dec 1, 2016

I would actually like to know their plans for UI customization and if they're going to allow addons or not.

ZyyzYzzy · Dec 1, 2016

xzi said:
I would actually like to know their plans for UI customization and if they're going to allow addons or not.

UI is going to rock like it's 1999, meaning it'll take up 50% of your screen and not be customizable

Reht · Dec 1, 2016

xzi said:
I would actually like to know their plans for UI customization and if they're going to allow addons or not.

They have said they plan on allowing UI customization but no addons ala WoW or Rift.

Convo · Dec 1, 2016

Skanda said:
Except none of those games were using their Pre-Alpha screenshots to try and sell the game for them and Brad is. Every single one of those screenshots I posted (and quite a few others I haven't posted) Brad was paid to post. Not only was he using those shots to try and build hype but he was making money for EACH screenshot he posted. Yet another way McQuaid figured out to separate money from a bunch of suckers.

The way this started really was unfortunate but I'm happy where it landed and who it landed with. Time will tell the rest of it. Despite what you think, I don't really see you as hardcore trolling in here. But maybe I'm just used to you and kind accept your opposite hardliner opinion to my hardliner opinion lol

Convo · Dec 1, 2016

zzeris said:
This is the most valid point at this time. If Brad is making this amazing game with the amazing Unity engine, then shouldn't all of the shit he's shown so far be extremely easy to pull off? Shouldn't most of what he's shown be really quickly created? The Carnage stream should give some better ideas but someone mentioned earlier that even 4-5 hours of group-based content is fairly easy to create especially with Unity. Is the alpha still set for the end of 2017? Die-hards, is this correct? I usually only come here for lawls but have to contribute occasionally. Zyyz, that was some solid trolling earlier. Not Trump level but who can match the master?

I don't really see it as a fair point to be honest as there is just soooo much not taken into account with that statement. I think there is an assumption that you just work in unity and things just build from there, I guess if you're dicking around, maybe? But really, just having a programmer making sure everything is syncing up and talking is a hefty load in itself. Then you get into all the other things that are piled on top like tools, systems, art(which can really mess things up if not accounted for) so on and so forth but those things have an order and process to them and they need to be done correctly.

One of the cooler developmental demonstrations I have seen was the Blizzard pre-production process. It's really solid and the systematic approach they take to building a new area is so insightful to just how important it is to not just dick around and wing it. They literally know how long it will take the dev team before anyone even lifts a brush.

Reht · Dec 1, 2016

There is still no word on pre-alpha, they just keep saying it's coming but they aren't ready

pharmakos · Dec 1, 2016

Convo said:
I don't really see it as a fair point to be honest as there is just soooo much not taken into account with that statement. I think there is an assumption that you just work in unity and things just build from there, I guess if you're dicking around, maybe? But really, just having a programmer making sure everything is syncing up and talking is a hefty load in itself. Then you get into all the other things that are piled on top like tools, systems, art(which can really mess things up if not accounted for) so on and so forth but those things have an order and process to them and they need to be done correctly.

One of the cooler developmental demonstrations I have seen was the Blizzard pre-production process. It's really solid and the systematic approach they take to building a new area is so insightful to just how important it is to not just dick around and wing it. They literally know how long it will take the dev team before anyone even lifts a brush.

iirc pantheon has even built the code for online play from the ground up? might be wrong.

Convo · Dec 1, 2016

pharmakos said:
iirc pantheon has even built the code for online play from the ground up? might be wrong.

yea, I believe so.

Recent AI post by Zippyzee on official forums that gives some insight on the AI being worked on. Pantheon Forums - NPC's Just Standing Arround

Rest assured that I am sincere about doing this in a way that I think we all will like. I don't want it to be a simulation, but a game, but I'd also love to sit back over the years and watch players find new ways to approach problems and new strategies that might have been completely unexpected. I like the term "emergent gameplay" and that would be a goal. I'd also like to have the ability to "turn on" or add something to NPC behaviors from time to time that will shake up what they do. This is all taking place right now as I work on making the system as open-ended as possible.

For background I have a Master's degree in Computer Science from Indiana University, which I completed in 2012. I focused on Artificial Intelligence courses, some of which had serious gameplay AI to design and develop, often pitting my creations against classmates in daylong tournaments. I have worked extensively in the computer vision world, developing object recognition AI that has been patented and is used commercially. I'm a problem-solver and also pretty creative.

I'm also a lifelong gamer, a huge Everquest player (and Vanguard, and EQ2, and just about anything) and I want to see most of the things you want to see. There will be some obstacles and limitations, some from computing resources (but not a ton) and some from overall design. In the end this dev team is all about fun, interesting gameplay with the same social emphasis that many of us remember from back in the day when we had a second life inside an MMORPG.

There will be scripted "boss battles", and I agree that they don't need to have a bullet list of things to do in order. They might include a few decision points, or even some randomness to make each encounter a little different.

One other aspect that I did not mention is that by assigning certain dispositions to NPCs, or even a list of priorities in their lives, we don't necessarily have to hide those from the players. Some classes might be able to either learn or innately see what those NPCs are thinking about, or planning to do. So depending on the makeup of a group, you might have a warrior that can detect what the NPC's next attack priority will be, or a scout that can see that an NPC is an alarmist and will run to get help if someone gets within range. There is the possibility of studying to learn dispositions and behaviors as well. In this way NPC AI can have a second layer that influences gameplay in a different way. That is another goal of mine.