Community-Built COH Style MMORPG

[Aviticus Gladius]

Everyone that asked to jump into the architecture test, please check your PMs, you have a build running live on the server. Please read the full PM so you understand how can and can't be shared and how to present it. I want people to be aware of the genuine nature of what I'm trying to offer here. Next week we will start actively recruiting. We already have 2 concept artist we'll be trying to bring on 2 more. Here is what we'll be looking for next week:

2 Concept Artists
2 Environment Artists
2 Character Artists
2 Writers
4 Coders (2 Network Coder, 1 Client Coder, 1 Hybrid [Cli-Net] Coder)
2 Designer
1 Composer


Our emphasis will be on artist and coders initially. We need to start moving placeholder art and inputting the new art. After that we need to start to update the Character Generator to properly use the new character art.


To those who received the framework builds to test, thanks for volunteering to jump in and test the server/client. If you have a moment please come back and let people know that we are very serious and that we already have a fully operational MMO engine that just needs minimum updates to be super hero ready.

We're also going to be pushing better community management on the Valiance Online site. As I told the new tester in the PM I sent them, I'm an owner of 2 really demanding business, I have a family, so I'm doing the best I can to get the city back up in all the spare time I have. If anyone wants to help with recruiting, or community management, please reach out to me. You can contact me at beatsbyav@gmail.com. More to come soon.

[downix]

Had some time to putter around. It's a start. Lots to do still. I was impressed with the LOD handling of the terrain, most games ignore this critical piece until the end.

[Perfidus]

I went in and had a look around. It certainly is a good base, a nice jump off point. I did have a problem creating a character, I went to the world and it sent me back to the login screen, only for it to tell me I was already logged in. I'm impressed though, it seems you're onto something here.

[Thunder Glove]

I had completely forgotten about this after you went silent a month or so back.

... I'm excited again.  Are there any screenshots or videos?

Is there a Mac version? ... can I test out the Mac version?

ETA: Can I test out a non-Mac version in an attempt to get it running on a Mac?

[Aviticus Gladius]

Thanks very much Downix and Perfidus, glad the framework performed as designed. Thunder Glove, I just got in from work for the night, so I'm about to sit back and watch some movies with the family and get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'll be rebuilding the server to include some mobs and power abilities. I'll build a Mac version for you. I've tested the original build with people on both Windows, Mac, and Linux simultaneously and it ran fine. Hopefully we don't run into any obstacles in our new run with Valiance. Look for the PM tomorrow.

[Styrj]

Just DL'd the client, logged in and created a character and ran around a bit.  I must say, now I'm really confused.  I thought this was supposed to be a Superhero MMO, not a Fantasy MMO.  Wasn't expecting that. If this is what Valiance Online is about, then, sorry, but I'm not interested.  I'll wait for HaV and TPP.

[downix]

Just DL'd the client, logged in and created a character and ran around a bit.  I must say, now I'm really confused.  I thought this was supposed to be a Superhero MMO, not a Fantasy MMO.  Wasn't expecting that. If this is what Valiance Online is about, then, sorry, but I'm not interested.  I'll wait for HaV and TPP.

This is a technical demo of the technology, turning an engine currently set up as a fantasy MMO into one for superheroes. You are seeing an early step in this process.

TPP is using an engine originally set up for a sci-fi FPS, for instance. Our earliest tests were like this as well, only witha robot main character. Shoot, we still are using the robot for the time being, because we are not rushing the model design.

[Triplash]

Well I logged in to check it out, and so far so good. It's in the early stages still, but he's been clear on that part all along. I'd love to test it out further but it seems my system's onboard video is a little too ghetto to run it effectively; I couldn't even get the camera to turn reliably. From what I did see though, Avi and his team have a good solid start here. I'll definitely be watching its progress. (Although until I get a proper video card I probably won't make a very good tester, sadly... If I can fit one into the budget I'd be happy to jump back in for a deeper look. I'll let you know if I pick one up)

Overall, what I've seen so far is a good beginning. If you're not sure what to think yet, I'd recommend giving it a fair chance.

[Heroette]

I logged in and it has so much promise to it.  I was able to move around and see the buildings and landscapes.  Its a great start and I am really looking forward to seeing the development of it.

[damienray]

Unfortunately I did not have as much luck as the others. Logged in and all I could see is what appeared to be some type of "landscape" but all blue & red, and everything was transparent and able to be passed through.  Odd.

[downix]

Unfortunately I did not have as much luck as the others. Logged in and all I could see is what appeared to be some type of "landscape" but all blue & red, and everything was transparent and able to be passed through.  Odd.

Which video card were you using?

And yes, you can run through solid objects at the moment, no bounding boxes have been set up yet I noticed.

[damienray]

Nvidia GeForce GTX550. Everything up to date.

[downix]

Very odd then.

[UrielLocke]

 I am willing to help with the story and writing that. I am also willing to do what ever else I can. My coding ability isn't amazing "basic" stuff no pun intended

[hillmm09]

I'd be interested in testing this - a gamer of many sorts so I will go in with an objective viewpoint

[WildFire15]

I'd be willing to give you a hand testing, I've done beta testing in a fair few MMOs (Champs, STO, CoH etc). Could also give you a few story ideas if you need them

[Lucretia MacEvil]

One of the things I loved so much about CoX was it's casual-friendly atmosphere and UI.  I'm not a gamer by any stretch of the word, and yet I was able to pick it up quite easily and quickly. 
Short version:  I'd like to help you test Valiance, and if you want to see how friendly your game is to the non-gamers I believe I can give you some useful feedback.
Even shorter version:  I've got too much free time since CoX closed.  I'd love to help.

[Aviticus Gladius]

@TDGeorge, Sorry for the confusion. In the message I sent to all the initial testers, I wrote a full 5-7 paragraph description of what exactly was feature and explained that the existing art was only placeholder art from my existing project which will share technology with Valiance Online; nothing in that build (aside from the MMO architecture) will be present in VO. I also shared a link to a 3D asset package I purchased that is being used right now to develop the city of Pendulum. For those that weren't invited to the test, you can view the package here:

https://www.videocopilot.net/products/3d/metropolitan/

This gives us a nice starting point to build the first zone. Once we have the first zone finished, we'll start generating concept art for the other areas. As you can see it already has a nice mega-city look to it. With a few more lights, some metallic surfaces, and some mesh upgrades it can easily fit our futuristic design.


@Downix, Thanks for stepping in and clearing that up. Much appreciation for that.


@Triplash, Thanks for joining the server and testing the current build out. I'm glad you feel it's worth giving a chance.


@Scalebeast, Thanks as well for jumping into the pre-alpha architecture test to give some feedback. Very soon you'll receive a much more updated build with a lot of new features.


@Damienray, I'm not sure what is going on there. Did you extract the entire contents to a folder and run it? Or did you attempt to run the .exe file from within the confines of the .zip file? If so, that could have greatly affected the dynamic asset loading function of the architecture. Let me know either way, so we can see what's causing the issue.


@UrielLocke, Thanks for offering your hand in development. I'll be contacting you this weekend to get you up-to-speed on the current concepts and ideas.


@Hillmm09, Thanks, I added you to the list of future testers.


@WildFire15, Sounds good, I'll give you shout during the next build test.


@Lucretia MacEvil, I have you down for testing of the next build as well. Keep in mind that our game will only be different from CoH in regards to aesthetics. We aren't going to directly clone elements of the game, but the gameplay features, handling, and the game from a design aspect will be closely replicated. So, if you liked the original, it seems only right to assume that you'll enjoy Valiance Online.



In other news, we've started building a team for VO. We now have a few concept artists, a community manager, and a writer. We have a few more applicants to speak with, but of those a few are 3D artists, writers, and designers. We also updated our Facebook and added new concept art for our 2 new artists. Here is a link for those interested:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.510104205715744.1073741825.475904379135727&type=1&notif_t=like

As more development takes place, more information will be shared. Thanks everyone for your ongoing support, very soon we hope to have more in-game screens to share with everyone!

[ShadowMokadara]

Spent a lot of my days writing Architect Entertainment arcs for my friends and I. I'd love to be a writer if possible : ). Also about to get my English degree.

[Siluna]

I would also like to be considered for testing.