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Around the World of Dawn By Danciy Dynae If you have not heard of it, I am not sure where you have been hiding. Dawn is going to be more addicting and realistic than any other MMORPG we have yet to experience. I promised myself before I began writing this preview that I would not compare it to other MMORPGs. So, I spent the last couple of weeks, almost constantly [I slept and ate little], inside some aspect of Dawn. Message Boards, Chats, and probing the minds of Jeff and graphic artist, Axehandler until we grew weary. Instead of trying to compare or contrast issues between games I decided to focus on what you, the gamer, and developers had to say about Dawn. The only comparison worth mentioning is Jeff's thoughts on competition. "Those who want to embark in a meaningful adventure where every stat, every move, every ally and every enemy can be the difference between life and death (real death) will play Dawn. The people who are just 'playing for fun' and have the 'it's just a game' mentality will choose to play the other games. We'll accumulate a population of true role players making the game more enjoyable for everyone who plays. There are lots of glorified EQ's on their way to the market, but there is only one Dawn." [Jeff Friedman, Lead Game Design] All around me is a fuzzy, confusing cloud; however, scents and my awareness feel innate. The sounds and emotions seem real, but confusion settles -- overwhelming me. A mystical voice fills the air; and I flinch. Well this is how I think I shall be born into the World of Dawn. The world will be a seamless sphere (i.e. No "zones") and take, at the very least, 72 hours to circumnavigate. Recognizing the fact you likely could not travel the distance alone anyhow. Okay, so lets begin with the guts of the game. There are no set minimum PC requirements to date. However, you can be certain that you will need a 3D card and an OS compatible with DirectX 7.0. Dawn developers state PCs that will run Quake 3 should not have any problems with Dawn. Preferably there will only be one "server"(A system of servers). Glitchless plans to house up to as many as 100k players at a time. If overpopulation becomes a problem, Glitchless will simply open an additional server or better yet allow teleportation to a neighboring planet. Now, with that out of the way lets look at some basics about gameplay. Dawn will be in first-person view. Although, this has been a very heated discussion, Glitchless has shown many positive reasons for choosing exclusively first person. Gamers agree it is at first a difficult view to grow accustomed to. I, however, have found it to be much more enjoyable and realistic than 3rd person views. The game will allow for total customization of controls. Action/command/inventor, slot/item/etc all will bind to any input devices you choose. Players may choose to assign buttons to custom commands or choose from several default control setups. As well, you will be able to choose from several different resolutions and Dawn's world will be the largest MMORPG to date with "65,000 square miles" and taking several days to circle. At first the world is barren of buildings and homes; even the NPCs will start from scratch. "Players will be able to construct structures from houses to castles to prisons to boats to ballistae - all fully functional and destructible." Lumbering, mining, etc will be skills that will allow you to collect raw materials used for the creation of such structures and items. Resources will be limited and with time could diminish all together. The majority of the world will most likely be covered in water. Your character will most definitely be able to swim and explore a complete underwater existence. Similarly, simple terrain manipulations will allow you to dig moats and channels in the ground. Moreover, Glitchless has implemented impressive water physics, which enable the oceans to have real waves, and by "dropping pebbles into the water you will cause rippling and possibly a splash." With water and land being so vast, the need for transportation becomes indispensable. Mountable horses, wagons, boats, and magical spells will help players in their quest to discover Dawn. Developers state, "If teleportation exists in the game it will be limited to areas you have already explored for example a bind/gate combination or a line of sight teleportation." Dawn will be a realistic star system in which you can determine your position on its spherical planet. With the world being computer generated and use of "recursive [changing] genetics," developers have the ability to make the world as large and diverse as fathomable. With this degree of exploration, there is a likely chance that many areas could go unexplored for a very long time. Time will actually be a great deal longer than we are commonly used to experiencing. One Dawn day will span two earth days. Hence for every 24 hours in Dawn, you will have spent 48 hours of real-life. Back to the basics of life; Dawn "creatures procreate via sexual reproduction." There is no "Spawning" in Dawn thus eliminating camping (the act of waiting for a monster to spawn repeatedly.) Both Player Characters (PC) and Non-Player Characters (NPCs) will be born unto parents. Notably, this is unique and should promote families and social interaction with complete success and within the limits of anything you might encounter on normal television (e.g. No sexual animations will occur.) Moreover, players will be allowed the option of choosing their parents. If you have friends that are expecting a child, you can ask them to agree to be your parents. Therefore, enabling you to start the game near your friends or some kind of family network. Pregnancy should last one week and you can go through the process at any point during this timeframe. Hopefully your parents will be supportive and assist with items and guidance you need to help you get started; otherwise, maturing and gaining experience at first may prove "rough." Also, when deciding on your character's destiny, you will have a choice from many diverse and unique races. Another distinctive facet of Dawn; No classes exist. You are free to develop in the areas you choose. If you wish to be a loner-human Bard that travels the world reciting poems, so be it -- or perhaps take your chance at running an entire Dwarven Kingdom. Many folks have questioned whether or not a race can become extinct. Naturally, the answer is yes. NPC species "attempt to breed when their population is low." Given the vastness of Dawn, this may prove to be difficult at times. Glitchless will make exceptions if there "remains no one to bear you as child." Otherwise, the game is built-around realism and therefore "survival of the fittest" will apply. Likewise, there will be certain race variations and distinct differences. For example, 4 special types of vision are planned. Races will be more adept with different skills based on their base stats. Without doubt, stats play an enormously fundamental role in Dawn. Experience will be gained from all completed tasks, which means kills will not be necessary in order to gain level. Stats, Skills, and Items will improve your character. Each time you level stats are raised proportionally dependant upon your base stats. You will need to practice to raise Skills (and this does not include macroing). Items can be weapons, rings, wands, etc.; things which might add or subtract to your stats. Furthermore, all actions occurring to your character while in Dawn, you will have agreed to. Except death, that is. Death in Dawn is permanent. This feature alone makes Dawn the most unique MMORPG expected for release. Upon death, you will lose your character and all items she may have been carrying will remain on her loot-able corpse. In the instances of homes, spare keys may be used by additional characters you might have or people learning of your death may try and destroy your house. Also, friends are capable of protecting your belongings until you are able to retrieve them with your new character. Many folks have been intrigued by the thought of permanent death. Even though, death will not be near as recurrent as you may predict. To lose a fight with a creature or player will not necessarily result in death. I perceive this approach as very realistic. Glitchless will allow its players the ability to create a society that punishes criminals. "With the ability to knockout and drag fellow players into player constructed prisons and torture devices, punishment will definitely be a viable option." There are no restrictions on PvP. Similarly, to minimize the threat of accidental killing and to add the possibility of non-lethal duels expect to see a fatal blow mechanism. "This option will be toggle-able" avoiding the wasted time of executing special moves or commands in order to kill each creature individually. Moreover, all players have the skill to feign death - taking on the same characteristics associated with permanent death, including your body being loot-able. As well, "Resurrection spells will exist, but the casting cost will be extremely high - another life of greater or equal value." The too often "connection lost" will be dealt with by fully customizable AI, which results in the game trying to "log" you. This feature will require that your character not be in a heated battle. Keeping in mind that Dawn utilizes perm death, you most likely will not be engaging in life-threatening battles regularly. Likewise, Glitchless has stated that if a player dies due to an in-game bug or by fault of Glitchless, they will resurrect that character. In another effort to apply realism to its game, developers have distinguished between sleeping and logging. Logged characters are fully visible to other players and appear as though they are asleep. Sleeping will require that you be in a calm normal frame of mind. It will take time after battles or tragic occurrence before you will actually fall asleep. When a player sleeps in Dawn they are invulnerable and will lose consciousness. At this time players should expect to see a black screen while sleeping. Glitchless has mentioned implementing dreams. On the other hand, "Logging is the act of forfeiting control of your character and can be done at anytime." You will not be required to sleep in order to log. Choosing to log without first going to sleep will cause a customizable AI will take control of your character. At this point your character will be able to defend herself or attempt to sleep. Also, there will be homes and Inns where players can log and sleep safely. Folks question whether or not players will be willing to risk their lives to protect items for a cause. With everything I understand about human nature, the risks will only prove more enticing and addicting. People surely fight and defend with fever for items in their real-lives, even at times with fatal results. Likewise, when in character, your family and friends will be the most important thing to you in your life. Otherwise, I would assume you are not making a very valid attempt to role-play the aforementioned character. OOC is not welcome in Dawn. You will encounter evil characters expected to do evil things and you will find characters wishing to only be friendly and helpful. As long as you stay in character you pretty much do as you wish; free will is a strongly stressed aspect of Dawn. Murder will not be taken lightly, and therefore should be an uncommon occurrence. Many people have expressed their concern for how Pk's will be controlled and how abusive problems will be prevented. Knowing you do not want to hear this, more than ever the players will be able to "police" themselves. It is not only having power and friends to assist in your journeys, there is the formidable thought for every PC that death is real and lasting in Dawn. Not to mention that most acts of abuse would take some type of planning. And with no way to recognize player stats by sight, it might prove thorny attacking "nameless" and "level-less" players. Significantly, your actions will affect your life in Dawn, both with other PCs and NPCs. "Factions will be sight based and spread by word of mouth." In addition, they will be both individual and race based. "Keep in mind, however, just because an NPC dislikes you doesn't mean he is going to kill you. He may tell you to piss off, he may smack you around, he may imprison you, but an NPC will have to REALLY hate you in order to end your life." Because factions will affect your life the need of additional identification measures become practical. In Dawn players are able to customize the appearance of many different objects. Being a bit of a smart-ass, I asked Jeff if it would be possible to make a bow resembling the Texas Flag. His response was as follows: "During item creation you can alter the shade and color of the object. Then via carving/drawing/painting skills you can add template patterns to objects sort of in the way you would add bumper stickers to a car. You'll first have to design (or have someone else design) the symbol you want created with the user interface provided in the game, then you'll be able to position the symbol on the object." He mentioned that there would most likely be a limit on the number of symbols you can put on each object. Additionally, there are rumors of powerful goddesses [i.e. gods] that shall receive prayers from the populace of Dawn. With little to no information on Deity -- I presume it will be sensible. Go ahead and fantasize. Hmm...So, I would think there might be evil and good goddesses: some of brilliance and those of sheer laziness and thoughtlessness. With a struggle between good and evil on every level of our existence, I also find it necessary to have "The Goddess" to watch over ALL the goddesses. Alas, my world would have these. Truthfully, with as much as I expect Dawn to parallel life, I doubt we will be seeing many goddesses or gods. I will be able to pray my ass off to her. She may even hear me; but I am not certain how often I will see her or be aware of any acknowledgements. However, do not mistake, I do believe they will exist and be the most powerful constant in the game. Besides the celestial protection of your goddess, you will also be able to command certain creatures' total loyalty with the combined ability to control them using "psionics." Psionics allows the player to enter the "pets" bodies and acquire complete control. There will be both "followers" and "pets" in Dawn. Followers are permanently bound to you. Psionics will only apply to infant followers and you must equip and level them. A pet is a summoned, completely loyal creature dependant on its caster's strength and spell type. Pets can not wield equipment nor will they advance in level. You may summon multiple pets granted you have the magical power to do so. Magic in the world of Dawn will be item based. Where a ranger may
get a better bow or skill with her bow, mages will receive new wands
or rings. You can equip up to ten rings at a time. "The idea is
to give both melee and casters the same fun in loot." Allowing you
a larger variety of magic and preventing 'super" beings, Dawn's
magic will be divided into differing disciplines. Diversity will
make it very difficult to specialize in certain combinations of
magic. Currently these disciplines exist:
As well, you will be allowed resists for piercing, crushing, slashing, heat, cold, magic, and poison. Magic and combat both will operate in an improved and seemingly realistic fashion for a MMORPG. Targeting is expected to resemble the "sniping" method used by FPSs. However, Glitchless has adamantly stated that latency will not be problem due to their "excellent client side prediction." Instead of selecting a target and auto-attacking you must aim and fire with your target in site. Implementing the need for aiming allows players more imagination during battle. For instance, by hiding behind structures or walls you are actually making yourself a smaller target. Also, shields will have a realistic effect by not just adding to your armor bonus but also actually absorbing most of the effect. You can expect to see visually striking magic as well as unique combat moves. You character will as unsurprisingly perform different maneuvers each with their own animations and sounds. With the included ability of using your weight and most objects being usable during a fight you can attempt to push and move opponents. Glitchless appreciates the importance of good communication and will therefore utilize several ways of contact. All players will be able to use a universal communication. There will be a small delay with this system. However, built-in skill based methods (psionics) will have no delay when sending messages. I think we have covered most of what is most pertinent. There are many other aspects concerning the game which you can read about at Dawn's website. Dawn is expected to release early 2002 and Glitchless plans to begin its beta testing Spring 2001. I can assure you that on my Christmas list for 2001 will be the wish for a new "Dawn." In conclusion, with every concern publicized by critics or those who doubt Dawn, the players that have been truly following Dawn since the earliest stages have, in my opinion, given much detailed thought to almost any scenario that might occur. They have hashed and bashed subjects and each other until what needed to make sense made sense. And when those things did not make sense, Glitchless helps fill in the gap. Hence, an appropriately eloquent ending for Dawn's preview . . . "[In Dawn] you will be part of an immense world filled with both friend and foe, all cooperating and competing to stay alive and advance themselves physically, mentally, and socially. Some will become rulers, some will take trades, and others will be adventurers and conquerors. Once the game begins it will never end, once you log on you will never want to log off. After all, 'reality' is merely what you perceive through your 5 senses, without them all you have is the ability to think. Dawn will flood two of those senses with such unbelievable sensation and genuine emotion that you may very well forget the other three, and believe me, you'll be thinking. So bid your friends and family farewell and start up the I.V., your destiny awaits you. " -Jeff Friedman Lead Game Design Company & Staff Info: Glitchless was formed about one year ago. They spent some time researching publishers and have since focused their efforts and resources toward the creation of Dawn. Glitchless' headquarters are located in Florida. For additional staff or company information you can contact support@glitchless.com. This article was posted first @ Stratics.
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