Jump to content

Home

Latest Uru preview: the skinny on the gamplay


Recommended Posts

Well, it's a little more awkward when you have to press a button to talk, CB-style (I dunno how NetMeeting works, though). That said, I think you're dead on about having something to say. Ideally, though, halls will fill with the chatter of people extolling their discoveries, and leading their friends into these unexplored territories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

emma: "Hey, Trep! Come over here! I found something."

 

Trep: "Hold on, I'm grabbing a souvenir. Okay, what is it?"

 

emma: "I don't know. It looks like it's been fossilized for the last 10,000 years. I can't make it out."

 

Trep: "Let's see what bigjko thinks."

 

bigjko: "Hmmm....based on my superior emipirical knowledge, it looks....simian? Let me look closer......that mouth looks large, the eyes seem wider open than any species I've seen before, hands seem like they're built for hitting 'Submit Reply' buttons repeatedly...."

 

emma: "Omigod, no!"

 

Trep: "It's......Moos!!"

 

emma: "But that's impossible! He's on an older system! How could he have ended up...?"

 

Trep: "twif, what's your theory on this?

 

twifkak: "Either he was f@#king around with the connection settings on his system and received an unexpected boost in bandwidth, or he somehow successfully logged on but suffered a sudden disruption during the upload process. Oh, this mushroom is delicious! You should try it. I found it in the next Age after Selenitic."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Homoludens

emma: "Hey, Trep! Come over here! I found something."

 

Trep: "Hold on, I'm grabbing a souvenir. Okay, what is it?"

 

emma: "I don't know. It looks like it's been fossilized for the last 10,000 years. I can't make it out."

 

Trep: "Let's see what bigjko thinks."

 

bigjko: "Hmmm....based on my superior emipirical knowledge, it looks....simian? Let me look closer......that mouth looks large, the eyes seem wider open than any species I've seen before, hands seem like they're built for hitting 'Submit Reply' buttons repeatedly...."

 

emma: "Omigod, no!"

 

Trep: "It's......Moos!!"

 

emma: "But that's impossible! He's on an older system! How could he have ended up...?"

 

Trep: "twif, what's your theory on this?

 

twifkak: "Either he was f@#king around with the connection settings on his system and received an unexpected boost in bandwidth, or he somehow successfully logged on but suffered a sudden disruption during the upload process. Oh, this mushroom is delicious! You should try it. I found it in the next Age after Selenitic."

 

Wow, you made me the smart, scientist guy! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I like about instant messaging is that you can send something, do something else for 10 minutes, and then come back and continue the conversation. Or I can just multitask and chat with a number of people at the same time.

 

With voicechat I have to dedicate 100% of my attention to one person. I'd rather meet that person face to face or speak on the phone, for some reason. I just get too easily distracted by other things on my screen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Somehow I completely managed to overlook this... It's VOICE chat? I guess texting would be possible too. *I hope* I think I'd be going nuts, hearing several voices at the same time, however texting allowes me to read them one at the time even if they are posted simultaneously.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

uru_thumb001.jpg uru_thumb002.jpg uru_thumb004.jpg

Click us! L to R: Archeology, Uru style; 'Look, ma, no weeds!';

Your own cabin - and island - in the sky.

 

.....the cursor you use to interact with the world is uncomplicated; it's a simple circle. If you mouse-over something that can be pushed, pulled, or otherwise disturbed, the circle intuitively fills in with a dot to indicate a hotspot. Moving around the environments can be done with just the mouse, but those who have played an action game or two may find it easier to map the movement controls to the keyboard along with the jump button.

 

While Real Myst was technically the first game in the series with a real-time 3D engine, it's safe to say that Uru's implementation promises to be a lot cleaner, as the game is designed from the ground up with 3D exploration in mind, including running, jumping, and climbing. Of course, fans shouldn't worry that Cyan has turned Uru into an action game--the bulk of the gameplay will still focus on exploration and puzzle solving, and you will never have to worry about taking damage from a fall or plummeting into a bottomless chasm.

 

....Cyan has noted that the company's own user research indicates that the Myst games do lend themselves to multiplayer play; specifically, many Myst players often played the games with a friend or two watching over their shoulder, or they discussed the game's puzzles with other players while not playing the game. By including multiplayer, friends can share the game experience in a more-direct way.

 

Uru is not, however, a massively multiplayer game in the traditional sense. While it will be possible to get online and meet up with strangers to take on certain adventures, the online spaces will be broken up into "neighborhoods," which are small subdomains of a larger online space. From time to time, you'll run into game moderators and listen to announcements about the reconstruction of D'ni from game officials, so in this way, Uru will resemble other massively multiplayer games. However, you will be able to create your own neighborhoods and even protect them with passwords so that the meeting areas are restricted to friends. From there, you can take your friends back to your own "island in the clouds" and jump into different ages together. In that sense, Uru will be a more-private multiplayer experience.

 

The purpose of the game's subscription model is actually to allow Cyan to continue producing new downloadable content in the form of new ages, puzzles, and adventures for players to solve together. Other content in the form of features may also be introduced. For example, we were shown a special item for the online component called the ki. Completing an early puzzle will give you access to the ki, which is a tool carried by your avatar that lets you keep buddy lists and contact friends who may be online but in a separate neighborhood or age (normally your dialogue can be heard only in the immediate vicinity). The ki will also allow you to take screenshots, which can be shown to other players in-game by loading them into special projector units scattered around the neighborhoods.

 

Josh Staub, Cyan's art director, noted, much of the focus in Uru's graphics was placed in level geometry and creating clean, crisp textures. The obvious benefit of this straightforward approach to the game's graphics is that Uru will look great on a much wider variety of computers than if the art direction relied more upon the latest DirectX 9 effects.

 

It's worth noting that the online subscription is purely optional--with nine different ages included in the box, there will be plenty of content for players to enjoy without paying anything above the price of the software. To entice people to try out the online aspects of the game, there are tentative plans in place to allow Uru customers free access to the online worlds for "a few months," instead of the traditional single month that most massively multiplayer games allow.

 

(underline highlights mine)

 

Full preview

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by AGemma

I think I'd be going nuts, hearing several voices at the same time....

 

[emma stands confused in front of a massive mechanical door puzzle in a huge cavern in some Uru Age, while twif, bigjko, and Marek bombard her with suggestions in real time voice chat]

 

twifkak: "It's the red button, emma. *sigh*, You've been playing adventures for years, you should know by now the red button is the answer."

 

bigjko: "Not so fast! Based on my obscenely huge cranial capacity to formulate scientifically accurate truths, the green button is your friend, emma. You must trust me."

 

Marek: "Psssst. emma, the blue button. The blue one. It's at least worth my upping your post counts by ten thousand over Moos's in the new upcoming AG forums. That's a promise."

 

emma: "Oh, GAWDAMMIT!! Leave me alone, all three of you!!! Get out of my ears! Shayt, I knew I shouldn't have bought this stupid headset. That's it! You three fight it out, I'm gonna be over there sipping a glass of Chianti."

 

[suddenly a loud echoing clang is heard, and the massive rusted doors open slowly....]

 

Trep: "emma!! You've solved the puzzle! It wasn't any of the buttons, after all. It was just the mention of wine...." [picks up his glass and toasts emma for her genius]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Homoludens

Marek: "Psssst. emma, the blue button. The blue one. It's at least worth my upping your post counts by ten thousand over Moos's in the new upcoming AG forums. That's a promise."

 

I have decided that I will no longer quest to be number 1. I will concede to Intrepid (or who ever else), and with draw from the race.

 

You ask why? Well, there are several reasons. One of them being that I have a website that I am supposed to be working on, but I am having a hard time getting away from KotOR. Another is KotOR. :D Finally, and most shockingly, I am working on getting a girl friend (and no she isn't a cat). :eek: Yes, it is true. Well, there has got to be a first time for everything. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...