Dawntide

[Morreion]

Dawntide official site

Dawntide FAQ

Dawntide official forums

The game world in which Dawntide takes place functions much like a real, living world – and there’s only one world/server. It’s an island world based on rules, rather than a collection of scenes. It’s also a world that changes according to the players’ actions, because the players will be responsible for a large part of what exists and happens in the world, from exploring and settling new territories to mass warfare on sea and land.

Massively gets the low down on Dawntide

So introduce Dawntide to us and our readers. What's your main goal with creating this game?

We want that "real world" feeling that Ultima Online had back. The great thing about UO was all the different kinds of players playing in the same game, but in practice playing widely different games. Who wants to become a master blacksmith in a single player game? Some people probably, but it won't keep their attention very long. On the other hand, killing virtual avatars is quite fun, but if there's nothing at risk for the target (for instance: if they aren't a person), it also won't keep anyone's attention for that long.

But being a master blacksmith in a world where real people were dependent on the goods you made? That was somehow a game worth playing. And by creating a fun game where people interested in creating more than they were in killing could have fun, the game was made infinitely playable for the people who did like killing - and the killing in turn fed the crafters' game by creating demand for equipment and real risk.

That doesn't happen anymore, and we want it back while keeping the good developments in the genre from the years since. We completely understand that combat needs to be fun and engaging – but if all there is to the game is combat and combat-minded people, even the best game mechanics get stale eventually.

Keen and Graev's Blog: Dawntide- the Fantasy SWG?

Bringing back that ‘Ultima Online feel’ is a growing trend. In an interview with Massively, Christian Hummeluhr (Producer) said, “We want that “real world” feeling that Ultima Online had back. The great thing about UO was all the different kinds of players playing in the same game…” Yup. I needn’t say more because I trust anyone reading this already knows what I would say.

Alright, so the sentiment is there but we all know that’s never enough. What are they doing that would make me even remotely interested? Since I can’t see what they (Working as Intended, the devs) are doing, I have to rely on what they are saying. They’re telling us that you can be a master blacksmith and have your goods be relied upon. They’re saying the economy is entirely player driven. Players can have their own structures, cities, societies, government, ships, armadas, and so on. The world, an island, is spacious and designed so that players populate it with the aforementioned things. Then it’s all about living in this “real world” and fighting for territory against other factions or supporting your faction with your crafted goods.

There will be 50 skills and each will come with associated benefits/perks. Skill gains come from use. This sytem works when it’s implemented properly. For example, it works in a game like EQ where you swing your sword and increase your sword skill. It doesn’t work in a game like Darkfall where you shoot your spell in the air and increase your spell skill.

Gamesource Dawntide Interview

GS: What are the main features that differentiate your game from a sandbox like Darkfall online, for example?

WAI: The majority of sandbox games coming out lately all suffer from the same problem: they are far too heavily invested in combat to create environments that encourage players to alternately compete and cooperate, as opposed to just compete 24/7. A true sandbox MMOG is not about fighting or crafting or any single thing in particular, it’s about the possibility of doing all the individual things.

The entire sandbox concept revolves around all options being relatively equal, both in terms of depth and variety. A crafter should have as deep and involved a gaming experience as a fighter or an explorer, otherwise crafters and explorers won’t play the game, and that’s a killing blow to a sandbox game, because the killers need the more peaceful types both for supply and prey, and the peaceful types need the killers to provide an unpredictable element of excitement.

This interview discusses the combat system and player-created buildings.

YouTube Dawntide Beta Vid- The Vynnland

The video of this zone reminds me of Vanguard in looks. Not bad!

[Morreion]

Exploration

Exploration is at the core of our vision for Dawntide – the idea of exploring an uncharted world and claiming its wealth is something that appeals to a wide audience and successful implementation of an exploration mechanic in a MMOG game has so far remained an elusive goal. To make exploration in Dawntide meaningful, we use two core functions: Storyline and Resources. Dawntide will have an evolving storyline that explores the nature of its world and the histories of the races, revealed to the players through a series of clues and puzzles scattered about the world to be found and solved.

Resource exploration consists of the continual quest for vital resources such as metal, timber and gems, all necessary to building and maintaining Dawntide’s player-built societies. In Dawntide, when a region’s resources are used up a new resource is generated in its place, and as such, the location of rare resources like gold and silver is continually shifted around and require explorers to find their new locations – a most perilous task thanks to Dawntide’s monsters who are drawn to rare resources just as surely as its players.

I like the resources moving to other locations when harvested- SWG had that system, it made things more interesting and less 'look it up on the internet to see where exactly to go'.

I've got my eye on this game, there's some good things that the devs are trying to do IMHO.

[Rakul]

This game has possibilities. I will be mad if I'm Vanguarded. hehe

[Loendal]

Bastards have been reading my Neuhnee site

Sounds like they're doing what I wanted with mine

[Regolyth]

Sept 9, 2009 7:01:58 GMT -5 Morreion said:

Is it just me or does that look like Aerus to anyone else?

[Rakul]

Now that you mention it, it does. Although nicer, but same setting!

[Morreion]

Dawntide Open Beta Begins Monday (MMORPG.com)

Open beta starts Memorial Day, Monday May 31st.

A number of additions will be added to Dawntide (or have been already) on the path to Open Beta, find the details below:

* A significantly revamped UI with better communication tools, tooltips and an in-game help section to guide new players.
* North Vynn and the Free Waters, a collection of uninhabitated islands free for players to build on and claim for themselves.
* Unconsciousness and bleeding mechanics that promotes safety in numbers when hunting.
* Endurance-based skill gain system that rewards you for pacing yourself instead of macroing and grinding.
* Cevanti as a selectable race.
* Many skills such as cooking, hiding and stealth made fully functional.
* Player markets where players can put up items for sale to fellow players.
* Boat routes connecting the continents.

Jaema and I took a look at the closed beta, and they had some work to do. I like the philosophy that the devs are following for this game- a return to the UO sandbox with many things to do in a world- so I'm hoping this independent game will improve over time. I'll be checking it out

Edit: as the comments on the linked thread say, 'open beta' is probably raising unfortunate levels of expectations. The game has a way to go from a polished quality standpoint. But I still have hopes for Dawntide because it is aiming to be a virtual world with lots of things to do. That is very hard to find these days.

[Morreion]

Some Assembly Required: An early look at Dawntide (Massively)

Taking a look at the skills topic, for example, will tell you that Dawntide skills are divided into four categories (basic, profession, combat, and sorcery) and that each skill is capped at a value of 100.0. There's also a character skill cap (700) that prevents a single avatar from mastering everything in the game (cough Darkfall cough). It's worth noting here that basic skills don't count against your total, so feel free to experiment with all of them if you don't have a clear idea of your desired character build.

Skill gain happens each time you use a particular skill (even when you fail), and each use fills up that skill's experience bar. Over time, the stored XP converts to skill gain, and your bar can hold a maximum of 16 hours' worth of skill gain. The help interface says that "when your experience bar is full it will take 16 hours for it to become empty. Experience will convert to skill gain even if your character is offline."

Dawntide devs focus on open beta tweaks (Massively)

Dawntide's open beta period is in full swing, and Working as Intended has a lengthy list of bug fixes, updates, and general tweaks scheduled to go under the development microscope over the next few weeks.

Dawntide launch delayed, new date undetermined (Massively)

Sandbox fans hoping to explore the world of Dawntide on October 1st are going to have to wait a little bit longer. Working as Intended has announced its plan to delay the game's official release "to a later date."

No time table is forthcoming as of yet, but we suspect the delay is likely for the best, given the consensus among the game's devoted community that the fantasy title was not ready for launch. There is a silver lining, though, as you can help test Dawntide and get a preview of the game for free by signing up for the ongoing open beta.

Dawntide development officially on hiatus (Massively)

Last December we told you about Dawntide's impending beta server closure and temporary hiatus. Working as Intended was getting ready to go to work on a large-scale world revamp for the fantasy sandbox, and the firm said the open beta server would be down for a couple of months.

According to an update on Dawntide's official website, that hiatus is now going to last quite a bit longer because the dev team has run out of funding. "We're still working on finding new investors, but this will take time. In the meanwhile, we have officially stopped all development," the announcement says. "We hope to be able to resume it in the not too distant future, but as of right now we cannot say when that will be or whether it indeed happen at all."

The Dawntide site has been taken down

Dawntide Postmortem (The World is Square)

As exciting as the premise was on paper, it floundered in execution. Dawntide’s shortcomings can’t be forgiven as the charming foibles of an indie game – it was just plain bad. The graphics were crude, the combat clunky, and the world sterile and haphazardly constructed. It felt like an MMO released 10 years ago. There was nothing in the beta that compelled me to continue playing, and none of Working As Intended’s promises for major game overhauls ever came to fruition.

Dawntide’s failure is an example of a developer not living within its means. Developing and sustaining an MMO is not cheap, and Dawntide’s proposed features would make even a mainstream developer wince. Working As Intended – eyes clouded by daydream ambition – never evaluated the scope of their project realistically. The result was a game encumbered by dozens of half-realized mechanics and endemic instability. Corners were cut to compensate for the skeleton budget, and it bled through in every element of the game.

There are a number of questions an indie developer needs to ask itself before foraying into the MMO market. Can we afford reliable servers? Do we have a robust enough art team? Can we release updates and bug fixes at a satisfying pace? And, perhaps the most important question of all, is it even a good a idea for us to make an MMO? If Working As Intended had shelved Dawntide and instead focused on developing several smaller titles, in time they may have garnered the fanbase, investors, and industry clout necessary to make their MMO pipe dream a reality. Instead they learned the hard way that the answer to all the aforementioned questions is “no.”