Legendary Champions is a free to play MMO that has recently been put out by Aeria games, the same company who is behind Last Chaos, Shailya, and the new browser game DDTank, they normally stick to free to play games with optional paid features, but unlike most games where you have to pay for these items to really get anyplace, with Legendary Champions you can do quite well without even dropping a dime in. I was first introduced to the company’s games due to a random internet search back when Last Chaos was still new, though I strayed from the game after about six months of playing, so when I saw advertisements for Legendary Champions, needless to say the improvement in graphics alone grabbed my attention, so I decided to check it out, and here’s what I thought.
Character customization:
Most free to play MMOs lack much of anything in ways of character creation, it’s just a fact of gaming life, though I must say that Legendary champions did offer a decent amount of customization in regards to character appearance. All classes are able to be either gender, though the amount of hairstyles to choose from is lacking, it’s not as lacking as most free MMOs and it does allow you a wide choice when it comes to coloration of the hair. They have a few face types to choose from so not everyone looks the same, sadly there is no skin tone choice, but it’s a free game, it’s kind of expected to not have full customization.
Though the character creation section could be improved, it’s enough to give you some selection, and lets face it, if you’re playing a free to play MMO then sometimes you get what you pay for, in legendary Champions you get a bit more, so all and all I would give it a 7 out of 10 when it comes to character customization. It’s a bit above what you’d expect of a free game, but not enough to completely floor you.
Graphics:
Being that the last game I played by the company was Last Chaos, I must say they have improved in the graphics section quite a bit. The terrain is pretty good, you can still tell the leaves on the trees are just graphics on a surface, but that’s to be expected, every game does it, otherwise most home computers wouldn’t be able to do the real-time rendering client side. The character models are rather good, in my opinion the character models here are better than the ones in WoW, they’re rounded pretty properly for a game, proportionate, the animations fit the models and, overall, the graphics are not what you would expect from a free game, they are much better.
The creature models look a little flat texture wise but you aren’t paying a lot of attention to that when you’re beating the snot out of something. For a free to play game, they put some work into the graphics, it’s not top of the line but it is very good when compared to the normally, sort of blocky graphics of many free games. They certainly did well in capturing the mood of the game, the graphics and locations fit well in a surreal sort of way. Overall, the graphics are a 7 out of 10, sure, companies are capable of much more impressive graphics, but for a free to play game, the graphics are certainly above average.
Soundtrack:
The soundtrack of the game surprised me quite a bit, when you’re fighting, the music gets heavier, and it is definitely rock, rock in an MMO based on the stuff of legend, you would think it wouldn’t fit, but surprisingly it does, and very well at that. They use individual situations to cue the music, going from calm when out of combat and merging near seamlessly into heavier, more rock styled music when in combat. I think I had to pick my jaw up off the ground when I heard that. Yes, I have seem games use such soundtrack tricks before, but they normally weren’t games based on legends. The music contrasts the setting, but it contrasts in a way that compliments the game, very, very well done on that aspect.
Overall, I have to give the soundtrack a 9 out of 10, it doesn’t quite hit epic, but it does do very, very well, both contrasting the scene and oddly setting it at the same time.
Game play:
The game play is where it fell short a little. While they do have the champion game mechanic, where you can turn into the champion of your choice for a short time to really plow through enemies, it didn’t really bring any other new mechanics to the table. There are the instance quests where you take control of someone like Lancelot, or Jean de Arc and you are able to temporarily transform into a stronger champion of your choice for a short time, but besides that the game play is really the same as any other MMO. This being said, however, the game play is also rather solo-player friendly. The enemy designs are good, the mix of some agro enemies among passive enemies keeps you on your toes, it’s about on par with more retail MMOs. I would give game play a 6 out of 10, as it is pretty much the same stuff we’ve seen before in other games, even though they did add one game dynamic. It does hold potential though, if they decide to expand on it.
Overall:
Legendary Champions is, overall, a pretty good game. If you don’t have the money or don’t want the headache needed for a monthly subscription fee, then it is certainly something worth looking into, overall the game ranks at 7.25 out of 10, at least in my opinion, which is higher than I’d rank some paid MMOs, so if you’re looking for a free game to mess around with, Legendary Champions is certainly worth glancing over.
If you’re curious about it, look it up, it’s not too hard to find via a Google search.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
3D. . .yeeea my computer hates me. . .but good time to share my 3D beginner tips!
So then, I got the bright idea to do a custom 3D render for the background of this blog, it still isn't finished yet. It's been 24 hours and it's at 60%, I think I underestimated the load of this scene on the system. Anyways, for any curious of what I have rendered so far, here's a sneak preview of what is rendered so far:
Yea, it's a small preview but you'll see the main image, completed, once it finishes rendering, which by the looks of it, seems like it may be some time this week, hopefully within the next 48 hours. Anyways, I have an older post that was on a now inactive blog I wanna share for any just getting into 3D, which I'll copy/paste in the next section below:
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Now that was written a few months ago, but it still does apply, just a few tips I learned early on, I've been doing 3D for a few years now but those points were the first ones I found via the 'school of hard knocks' so to speak.
Yea, it's a small preview but you'll see the main image, completed, once it finishes rendering, which by the looks of it, seems like it may be some time this week, hopefully within the next 48 hours. Anyways, I have an older post that was on a now inactive blog I wanna share for any just getting into 3D, which I'll copy/paste in the next section below:
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Why 3D art requires patience. . .
I love 3D art, but lately I have come to realize something, that if you want something to look good you have to be patient. I can well handle waiting an hour for a large render to finish, however I have been getting into 3D animation as of late and, well, if it takes an hour for a large render with ray traced shadows to complete, just imagine waiting for 80 plus frames to render. Normally I would say it's the computer being slow, not the case this time I'm afraid, I run a pretty decent setup due to how hard I work my systems, this computer's processors are overclocked with 4 gigs of ram and a decent graphics card as well as cooling system in place, it's just the detail of the 3D work is taking it some time to work through.
I know 3D art grabs some people's attention, let me tell you now, if you want to get into the hobby here are a few things you need to be prepared for:
1: Depending on your setup, even single image renders can take quite a while to complete, so be ready for a wait, it is best if you can set it to render before going off to do something else because sitting there watching a render complete is like watching a pot waiting for the water to boil.
2: Be ready for models to do some weird things, you NEED a sense of humor to deal with 3D, because sometimes that simple animation you think will transition smoothly doesn't and you end up with limbs going every which way and ending up flipped on their heads, enjoy the goof ups and move on, getting frustrated over the time taken for a messed up result will get you nowhere fast.
3: People will ask how you do it, be ready to either explain or tell them to look up tutorials, it can be very aggravating to walk someone through 3D rendering, as most do not know the effort 3D art actually takes, which brings me to my next point. . .
4: Don't expect people to realize the effort and hours that go into a render, many who will be looking at your work will be looking at it from a 'pretty picture' point of view, not from an artist's point of view. Unless they've tried to work with 3D, they likely won't get the time and trouble that went into this one picture. A render can take hours, yet people will rarely look at the end result for more than 30 seconds. Be ready for it.
5: People will ask "Can you do ----- for me?", it's a common thing, those who have skills in a certain area will get asked to do favors by those who don't. Be ready to politely (or not so politely) decline or do favors for others, which you do is up to you.
6: I cannot stress this enough: BACK UP YOUR FILES! Spending time on something for it to come out wrong is one thing, but spending time on it to lose your work is another all together, even older files, you would be surprised how many times I've revisited an old file and found a new use for it.
7: Dedicated folders for texture edits are a must, keep all your custom textures for your models in one place, this will save you so much time when modifying textures that it's not even funny.
8: Don't expect instant gratification, yes, it would be nice to go in and know exactly what you want to do and exactly how to get it done the first attempt, but that rarely happens. Often I will go through 7 or more test renders before I get it just right, that's seven times waiting for the render to finish, review it and correct the model before rendering again, it's not as point and click as some think.
9: Learn at least basic modeling, if you don't then editing models to your liking will not go over too well. I do not call myself a modeler because I am more of a 3D artist than a modeler, but I even know basic modeling because it is needed. Also, a side note, have respect for modelers, without the wonderful models they spend weeks on 3D artists wouldn't have anything to work with.
10: If you get serious with your 3D art, be ready to drop a bit of cash, yes, there ARE free programs and resources out there, but most of the better programs and resources cost money, my own 'collection' totals over $2,000 in worth, and 3D art is more of a hobby to me.
11: Learn photoshop or another photo editing program. A render often needs post-processing in an external program, while it is not always needed, sometimes it's the only way to get it exactly how you want the rendered image to look.
12: Be ready to read, a lot, as well as learn through trail and error, this is not a 'pick up and do' hobby, this is a 'pick up, learn, test, goof, see what you did wrong, read up more, ask for help if needed, try again, repeat process." hobby.
13: Finally, be ready to pick each piece you do apart, we are our own worst critics, you will see flaws others don't because you've been staring at the models for hours and rendered the images over and over and over, you WILL notice issues others don't, and if someone does notice them, don't be close minded to constructive critique. Being bashed is one thing but there is a community among 3D artists who will give well meaning suggestions to help you improve, it is in your best interests as an artist to not ignore them.
These are just a few tips and things to consider before ever trying your hand at 3D art, it takes work, time, determination and being able to laugh at your own goof ups. But don't let this discourage you, it is a highly enjoyable hobby and one you can get a degree of pride from, it is also a bit addicting at times. It has many uses, both for fun and business, so if you want to try it then go for it! Who knows, you may find it to be natural to you like some, or you may find it an enjoyable challenge. I hope these tips are helpful to someone, if not, well, hey, I just wanted to type it all out anyways.
Til next time ya'll!.
I know 3D art grabs some people's attention, let me tell you now, if you want to get into the hobby here are a few things you need to be prepared for:
1: Depending on your setup, even single image renders can take quite a while to complete, so be ready for a wait, it is best if you can set it to render before going off to do something else because sitting there watching a render complete is like watching a pot waiting for the water to boil.
2: Be ready for models to do some weird things, you NEED a sense of humor to deal with 3D, because sometimes that simple animation you think will transition smoothly doesn't and you end up with limbs going every which way and ending up flipped on their heads, enjoy the goof ups and move on, getting frustrated over the time taken for a messed up result will get you nowhere fast.
3: People will ask how you do it, be ready to either explain or tell them to look up tutorials, it can be very aggravating to walk someone through 3D rendering, as most do not know the effort 3D art actually takes, which brings me to my next point. . .
4: Don't expect people to realize the effort and hours that go into a render, many who will be looking at your work will be looking at it from a 'pretty picture' point of view, not from an artist's point of view. Unless they've tried to work with 3D, they likely won't get the time and trouble that went into this one picture. A render can take hours, yet people will rarely look at the end result for more than 30 seconds. Be ready for it.
5: People will ask "Can you do ----- for me?", it's a common thing, those who have skills in a certain area will get asked to do favors by those who don't. Be ready to politely (or not so politely) decline or do favors for others, which you do is up to you.
6: I cannot stress this enough: BACK UP YOUR FILES! Spending time on something for it to come out wrong is one thing, but spending time on it to lose your work is another all together, even older files, you would be surprised how many times I've revisited an old file and found a new use for it.
7: Dedicated folders for texture edits are a must, keep all your custom textures for your models in one place, this will save you so much time when modifying textures that it's not even funny.
8: Don't expect instant gratification, yes, it would be nice to go in and know exactly what you want to do and exactly how to get it done the first attempt, but that rarely happens. Often I will go through 7 or more test renders before I get it just right, that's seven times waiting for the render to finish, review it and correct the model before rendering again, it's not as point and click as some think.
9: Learn at least basic modeling, if you don't then editing models to your liking will not go over too well. I do not call myself a modeler because I am more of a 3D artist than a modeler, but I even know basic modeling because it is needed. Also, a side note, have respect for modelers, without the wonderful models they spend weeks on 3D artists wouldn't have anything to work with.
10: If you get serious with your 3D art, be ready to drop a bit of cash, yes, there ARE free programs and resources out there, but most of the better programs and resources cost money, my own 'collection' totals over $2,000 in worth, and 3D art is more of a hobby to me.
11: Learn photoshop or another photo editing program. A render often needs post-processing in an external program, while it is not always needed, sometimes it's the only way to get it exactly how you want the rendered image to look.
12: Be ready to read, a lot, as well as learn through trail and error, this is not a 'pick up and do' hobby, this is a 'pick up, learn, test, goof, see what you did wrong, read up more, ask for help if needed, try again, repeat process." hobby.
13: Finally, be ready to pick each piece you do apart, we are our own worst critics, you will see flaws others don't because you've been staring at the models for hours and rendered the images over and over and over, you WILL notice issues others don't, and if someone does notice them, don't be close minded to constructive critique. Being bashed is one thing but there is a community among 3D artists who will give well meaning suggestions to help you improve, it is in your best interests as an artist to not ignore them.
These are just a few tips and things to consider before ever trying your hand at 3D art, it takes work, time, determination and being able to laugh at your own goof ups. But don't let this discourage you, it is a highly enjoyable hobby and one you can get a degree of pride from, it is also a bit addicting at times. It has many uses, both for fun and business, so if you want to try it then go for it! Who knows, you may find it to be natural to you like some, or you may find it an enjoyable challenge. I hope these tips are helpful to someone, if not, well, hey, I just wanted to type it all out anyways.
Til next time ya'll!.
.................................................................
Now that was written a few months ago, but it still does apply, just a few tips I learned early on, I've been doing 3D for a few years now but those points were the first ones I found via the 'school of hard knocks' so to speak.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Photobucket downgrade
So then, it seems Photobucket has made a few changes and they are not for the better. They've added a chaotic, glitchy, inefficient, laggy java layout, oh but that's not the kicker. A good many users have requested a classic mode to let them use the old version of photobucket which actually worked and, get this, the dumbasses over at photobucket claim, and I quote ". . . without detailed topics, it’s difficult to see what users really want. . ." yea, they said that. How hard is it to understand what a 'classic mode' is? It's not rocket science and obviously the 412 people who were supporting that suggestion topic understood what the topic was referring to rather easily, but you mean to tell me that the people at photobucket, who receive income for their site, are too stupid to understand what the users mean? Well then, they wanted specific, they wanted to play dumb, so they got specific. The next section is the topic I made when they tried to sweep the last one under the rug.
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Topic Title:
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So then, do you think I was specific enough for the dumbasses, or do you think they're going to try to play stupid again? I will be updating this post with their reaction to that topic once they finally pay mind to it, and, well, if they don't then that's just going to prove they don't give a damn about their users , which will also mean a bit of public shaming for them because this post is going to sit up here for the world to see, they can delete the one on their suggestion forum, they can't touch this one. Others are already adding support to the hella detailed post I made, lets see if photobucket listens or if they're really that stupid.
The actual suggestion topic can be found here: A detailed request for classic mode on Photobucket
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Topic Title:
Suggested changes to fix what you screwed up last downgrade. (And yes, it WAS a downgrade!)
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The first thing I would suggest is allowing users to be able to use a ‘classic mode’ on their photobucket accounts, now you said that you needed us to be more specific, so either you’re too fricking stupid to know what a classic mode is or you’re playing ignorance, I think it’s the second factor honestly, due to how ‘business spin’ works. None the less, let me break it down for you:
Allow your users to, in their settings, select what version to use for their accounts, preferably the version that was active about a month or so ago. The version/build/programming set that actually worked. Now, if you’re having trouble understanding that, or plan on acting like you don’t understand what I mean, allow me to break it down for you even farther.
Allow people to choose to use the version of Photobucket that:
* Had the upload forum on every album page
*Allowed users to jump to the last page of their albums
*Allowed users to display over 24 images per page (40 per page I think it was before)
*Allowed users to do a manual copy and paste via right clicking when it is needed (the auto copy doesn’t always work)
*Doesn’t have all those stupid mouse over and pop up things, they are unnecessary.
*Shows file names under the thumbnails
*Has the previous format that was used a month ago, the view/format that was intuitive and easy/fast to use
*Doesn’t slow/crash people with lower end computers, while I don’t have this problem, some have said they do.
*Has the previous bulk uploader, it actually worked and was pretty fast, this new one is clunky.
*WASN’T a scripting hell with errors, failures, bugs, slow script time and other issues all over!
-------If I missed any key points, I hope the users feel free to add them in the comments section.
Was that specific enough for you? Or do you need it spelled out in kindergartener terms so you understand it? I’m not saying to fully trash the POS new format, just give us a damned option to use the older version! Considering that photobucket once had the option of using a ‘classic uploader’ on their pages, I’m pretty fricking sure you know what ‘classic mode’ means, so don’t play stupid, the customers are not sheep whole eat any BS you feed out of your hands like you seem to think we are. If this post sounds condescending to you then tough, because it’s rather condescending of you to mark high profile, active, highly supported threads/complaints/suggestions as completed and move them when you only tap a few points, ignore the main issue addressed and think that it’ll fool people. Bad business tactic Photobucket, you didn’t expect not to be called out on it, did you?
You said on one topic, and I quote: “Thanks to everyone for your feedback. We’ve already made some changes based on your suggestions, however, without detailed topics, it’s difficult to see what users really want. After reading all the comments in this topic, we are closing it (the status will be completed) in favor of more specific requests.” well, I hope this is specific enough for you, if not then you need a course in common sense.
Try to delete this thread and it’ll be right back, this isn’t a problem you can ignore and wait for it to go away, if you try to silence me, you’ll just have others willing to take up the charge, just like a few seem to already be trying to do.
Thank you, and have a nice day.
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So then, do you think I was specific enough for the dumbasses, or do you think they're going to try to play stupid again? I will be updating this post with their reaction to that topic once they finally pay mind to it, and, well, if they don't then that's just going to prove they don't give a damn about their users , which will also mean a bit of public shaming for them because this post is going to sit up here for the world to see, they can delete the one on their suggestion forum, they can't touch this one. Others are already adding support to the hella detailed post I made, lets see if photobucket listens or if they're really that stupid.
The actual suggestion topic can be found here: A detailed request for classic mode on Photobucket
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