Re: AdventureQuest 3D

by V Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:47 pm

It's interesting that you guys see overexposed female characters as a product of chauvinist male culture, since in the past exposing outfits have been a symbol of empowerment.

AdventureQuest 3D - Page 4 YAYw5

Either way though, I agree with Leb in that's in surprising the details that the models have. I was expecting simply AQW flash vectors in 3D, not something as realistic as what's being shown. Also consider that most of AE's current team doesn't have a lot of 3D experience, so there will probably be new modelers with a different aesthetic.

by **DigDog** Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:36 pm

It's not the overexposure that makes it chauvinist, it's the clothing that defies the laws of physics and puts clear emphasis on certain parts of the female anatomy.

by Leb Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:32 am

I oppose the way females tend to get portrayed in video games, because it makes people who don't play video games look down on gamers as nerds who play the games because it has those sexy females. I just want to play my god damn games without someone thinking I play because a particular female has "those hindquarters", so to speak.

Then there are games which crank that up to 11/10 like Bayonetta, but that's just over-the-top crazy so I'm not sure if it applies that much. Granted that the main character is quite the specimen, but like I said, over-the-top crazy.

by **Tom Gaskarth** Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:00 am

Leb wrote:I oppose the way females tend to get portrayed in video games, because it makes people who don't play video games look down on gamers as nerds who play the games because it has those sexy females. I just want to play my god damn games without someone thinking I play because a particular female has "those hindquarters", so to speak.

Then there are games which crank that up to 11/10 like Bayonetta, but that's just over-the-top crazy so I'm not sure if it applies that much. Granted that the main character is quite the specimen, but like I said, over-the-top crazy.

tl;dr Leb doesn't wanna look like a perv whilst playing his games, this isn't the worst he's seen though.

by **Tim Hortans** Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:05 am

I just want to play my god damn games without someone thinking I play because a particular female has "those hindquarters", so to speak.

by V Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:06 am

I level with what you're saying Leb, although I think the current female model has more realistic proportions in comparison to AE's other games (see: herosmash) and major titles. The clothes are pretty tight on the current preview, but I have a feeling the final versions will be more covered since its male counterpart is shirtless.

it's the clothing that defies the laws of physics and puts clear emphasis on certain parts of the female anatomy.

Is the solution really that simple? If they covered up the female characters too much it would be sexist as well. They could definitely be not quite so polar on the exposed side, but I think it's fairly challenging to find a balance for AE, especially considering the peer pressure they have from other games.

by **Altera** Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:11 am

At the end of the day, it's just pixels on a screen. Can't get too fussed about it.

by V Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:13 am

I know (and I'm pretty partial to the argument), I just think it makes an interesting discussion.

by Leb Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:46 am

It is an amusing note though that AQ's limitations on armor and their gender portraying(or lack of it) actually makes perfect sense. Creating armor that clearly indicates its wearer as female(obvious breast curves on plate armor for example) is apparently a structural weakness, and that's a really bad thing for armor.

Then again I think I already saw a pic of a female warrior-type doing an action leap, and that armor had that particular "I AM A WOMAN" thing going on. What with the stupid armor shape and so on. I guess some things will never change in MMO's.

by Leb Tue Jul 17, 2012 2:55 pm

So, word on the street is that they're trying to get the game up and running on alpha stage on August. That and moving the game from Unity to Flash broke everything. Or most of everything.

Of course that's all we have for now. So I guess you people can just read this quote now which is basically just a longer version of what I just said.

We started our 3D game project on January 1st with the ambitious goal of making a 3D MMO in Flash, we knew there were going to be no end of challenges. Of course, here at Artix Entertainment, we are used to doing insane and impossible things and somehow magically getting the release out on time. So, when I say our goal is to release a Flash version of AQ3D prior to August 1st... the word impossible does come to mind. We expected to be in beta by the beginning of summer, but the development tools we were counting on to make it with did not physically exist until just two weeks ago. The port to Flash has not been a pretty one. All of our pixel shaders broke. Those were the things that made the game look pretty. The game ran at a blazing 60fps in Unity, but dropped down to under 9fps in Flash. We discovered the secret was reducing the number of "Draw Calls." Minimal brilliantly reduced the draw calls to under 200 for our massive forest scene... but to do this he wrote a mesh combiner that takes the entire Ravenspire zone and merges the mesh into a giant single one at runtime. While the game is now running at ~60fps in flash, it takes about 45 seconds for the game to merge the meshes. Which means, you wait for the 10 megabyte 3D map to download from the server, then you wait another 45 seconds for it to combine everything in the background. It could be worse. Here is how it gets worse. We still need to get weapon, helm, armor, and hair loading working in flash. Most of the things that were working in Unity no longer work. But we have a little over 2 weeks. Oh, and we need NPCs, a simple shop, and some basic combat would be nice. Maybe we can release both Unity and Flash versions of the game. Minimal got the multiplayer server supporting both... which means you could log in from Unity or Flash and play on the same server. Which is pretty cool. Imagine if we could get a mobile version working too. Playing the 3D MMO from iPhone, Android, IPad, or Web would be.... ok, we totally have to do this. Not in 2.5 weeks though. How about we get "most" of Flash working in 2.5 weeks? ... and if you have any magic. CAST IT OUR WAY!

I wish they did that "insane and impossible things and somehow magically getting the release out on time" thing on AQ too(which by the way is AdventureQuest Classic these days, what did I miss this time?). RHUBARB WHERE IS MY MUSEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM?

by **DigDog** Tue Jul 17, 2012 6:52 pm

In before ''the staff member responsible for the Museum code has left the team so don't expect any updates''.

by Mrsebi Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:03 pm

I'm looking foward to it.
Oh, and all the feminists here? It's a WEB BASED GAME, no matter how much of a gender rights person you are, whining about pixels and vectors in a game not that many people know about is just sorta wasting time.

by Peregrine Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:33 pm

Yeah, it would be more productive to make a kickstarter about it and make $158,922.

by Leb Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:43 pm

Maybe we should make a game and fund it with a Kickstarter too.
I call dibs on storyboard.

by **DigDog** Tue Jul 17, 2012 8:19 pm

Peregrine wrote:Yeah, it would be more productive to make a kickstarter about it and make $158,922.

by Mrsebi Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:23 pm

My point is skimpy in games though, it's skimpy in THIS game, you might as well be complaining about a flash game on Newgrounds.

by V Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:27 am

One does not simply

Use Flash for 3D

Seriously though, is there an outstanding reason for the Unity switch? Besides a few racing games, any 3D I've played on Flash before has let me fry eggs on the back of my laptop.

by Mrsebi Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:28 am

Well, from the DN's, you would think it's just so AE stays a flash game company. So kinda stupid. Hopefully, there's so business reason for it, because otherwise, they are being idiots.

by **Cial** Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:30 am

They could be switching to unity to be able to possibly branch out to new consoles later.

by **Tom Gaskarth** Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:57 am

They're switching FROM unity genius.

by **Cial** Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:24 am

From unity?

Wat. That makes negative sense.

by V Wed Jul 18, 2012 6:07 am

They're switching from the Unity engine to Flash Cial.

by Snukems Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:33 am

Unity is basically slowing down your game and then requiring a plugin unnecessarily.

They should be switching to HTML5.

by Leb Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:55 am

They truly could learn a thing or two from you about getting your product out in time.

by **Cial** Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:15 am

Nuke if they use Unity it would be not only easier but more efficient than using HTML5 for a 3D game since it's meant to do that. Not to mention the Unity Plugin is used in tons of games now that downloading it is worth it.

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