Hello Sarnautians,
“Allods Online” is a game that is constantly evolving. But there can be no development without adding a lot of new content that fills and spreads through the whole game world. That is why the Allods’ Team never ceases the creation process. And now, thanks to the Developer Diary, we are able to showcase how new content is imagined and created by this amazing team!
Let us present to you the latest entry of the Developer Diary: the Astral Allod creation!
In this article I’m going to tell you how I build Astral Islands. By the way, a brand new one is set to to appear in the game pretty soon.
It all starts with a concept
I always store a few ideas of how I think new islands should look. They come into my head in the course of my everyday life: on my way to work or during my vacations with friends. While reading a book or watching a movie, I collect my greatest impressions to incorporate them into my future creations. The tiniest things may inspire me, whether it be an interesting story or a bright visual image that sets an atmosphere.
For example, the concept for one of the islands was born by mixing up two images: a June city lost in the jungle and snowy mountains with a temple. And so the allod appeared: an ancient city in a frozen jungle.
During the pre-production stage I pick my favourite idea and start developing it. This produces the Reference: a very important component, a connection between allod elements and the real experience of a player. When in the game, players meet things they have come across before, and these allusions to something already known brings positive emotions, making them believe in whatever is on the screen.
The Reference helps bring a story from real life into our game world. Our Emerald Isle is a recognizable allusion to the Wizard of Oz, that is so familiar since childhood. The game gives a wonderfull opportunity to follow in Alla’s footsteps along the Yellow Brick Road and meet Tin Woodman, Scarecrow and Lion who turn into hostile and dangerous bosses under the influence of Mysterious Astral.
After the concept of the island is decided, I begin to work it through and expand on its background. This is a very creative process that is a lot of fun. I put down detailed chronicles of the events and describe the zones on the island.
This stage involves the Scriptwriter. We strive to make a deep and fascinating storyline. The story is important, for all the details such as mobs and bosses, scripted events and NPCs, will deeply support it. We decide what places players will visit on the island and what and who they are going to see there. This will help with the further design of the monsters, bosses and topology.
Look before you leap
When the storyline is finished, we can get down to the topology. I use a special Map Editor to make a rough draft of the island. Since I am going to make a city-like island, I have to lay the main road, a big temple, a couple of city squares and a huge portal at the end of the island – its landmark.
A landmark is a unique object that serves as a reference point and is often noted by the players. There is such a mark on every island, like the Mana Station in Zone 51.
Landmark: Huge June Portal
When the draft is ready, I focus my attention on the details: I place small and medium objects (trees and buildings). In case of the Icy Isle these were mountains and hills. But all this is still a draft! It still requires a little more work.
After my draft of the island has been accepted, the time comes to switch to designing Bosses and Mobs. Here the background of the island helps a lot, for the mob hierarchy was created at that stage. I want to give unique abilities to all the mobs and bosses to bring new challenges to the island. Now players will not resort to a “button mash” strategy and will have to invent some new tactics to fight these enemies.
I assign some unusual mechanics to one of the optional bosses, such as the Cayman on a beautiful Koch-Itzmahl Island.
On my island I created a golem who throws enormous fireballs, so players have to run about all the time to avoid them. If players manage to defeat the boss quickly, it gives them bonus damage and healing for easier exploration of the island.
I invent special abilities for mob packs to stimulate the players to think harder, plan more accurately and work as a team. There is usually one of the mobs that increases the others’ damage, controls or weakens the players or casts area of effect spells upon death. It isn’t always for the best, however. My experience shows that players may sometimes misunderstand the mechanics, so they should always be crystal clear to them!
Strike while the iron is hot
After the design is completed, a new stage of production begins. This is the time for all the ideas to come to life. When my design gets the green light, I start working on the detailing of the map and the mechanics implementation. I can assign special tasks to programmers in case I need any new game mechanics introduced (e.g. mechanics for The Poison Wing).
Pretty often, when standard mobs are not enough to fill the island, I ask designers to create some brand new ones. My favorite demands are often connected with the final epic boss, like the one in Zone 51. This time is not an exception! There will be a totally unique last boss and a unique place to fight him.
During the final stage I spend a lot of time with the artists. Together we adjust the lighting and choose colour shades. The artists produce concept art of the new objects, locations and creatures. Here is the concept for the Island’s final boss:
To develop mechanics I use special editors that help tune mobs and bosses just as I wish. I set their abilities and script their behavior that can be corrected during the numerous playtests to come. Another important thing is the visual appearance of monsters’ spells and abilities. That is how it all looks in the editor:
Finaly the island is ready for the Playtest. It means that all the work of the designers, artists and scriptwriters has ended. The island is filled with decorations, scripted scenes, monsters, NPCs and even some easter eggs!
I test the island personaly a few times. Then we gather a group of people who have worked on the island and play together. We mark all the good and bad things, think of suggestions on how to improve on the bad or alter the gameplay and mechanics. But the last word always belongs to the creator of the Island’s concept. When we finish, the island goes to QA Team for bug testing.
The creation of an Astral Island is a fascinating and exciting process. It requires a great deal of inspiration and imagination because this all is in the hands of one person. This is such a good opportunity to create an adventure of your own and share it with other players. I enjoy reading the Allods Online forums; particularly threads where the players discuss Astral islands, including mine. The comments are a very valuable resource for our team. They help make Allods Online better and more enjoyable. Travel through the Astral and share your impressions, discuss your ideas and thoughts as all of them can find their future in the Astral!
Have Fun!
Tags: Allods, Allods Online, Mail.ru Games, MMO, MMORPG, official news
To go in line with the glorious Prophetic Card event going on now until May 1st, we’ll make the next 3 days a special one with Lucky Moment bonuses to help you gather as many Prophetic Cards from monsters as possible! There will be something for everyone regardless what your ingame desires are as everyone will enjoy Double Experience, Double Gold, and Increased Drops!
Tags: Allods, Allods Online, Community, event, MMORPG
The new Prophetic Card won’t only bring chaos, but many rewards for those who manage to decipher it: vanity costumes, crystal chips, gold dust, some great new shoulder accessories, other great prizes and… the set of the Doomsday Horseman! Before showing you what we’re talking about let’s get to the details of the offer first! From Thursday, April 25th until Wednesday, May 1st you will be able to loot the amazing Prophetic Card of the Infernal Treasurer, giving you a chance to win exclusive (but evil) pony mounts and a mysterious costume!
To unravel the treasures of the Prophetic Cards, Ancient Compass will be available in the Item Shop from April 25th until May 16th!
It is now time to explain how the Prophetic Cards work for our new recruits, and to provide a reminder for our veterans!
For players who joined our adventures in the recent Lords of Destiny expansion, let’s start with the basics of the system. From the 25th of April, players will see a new item dropped by monsters in-game, it is the Prophetic Card of the Infernal Treasurer. This item allows players to play a game of chance, and win some truly amazing prizes! They start dropping from mobs from the 25th of April until the 1st of May! To take part in the action, any player that wishes to use the Prophetic Card needs to obtain an item called an Ancient Compass, which is available from the Item Shop from April 25th until May 16th. This will allow them to scan the Prophetic Card and see what prizes are hiding within! You will then be given an opportunity to turn over one to four cards and winning the prizes that lie beneath, depending on how many Ancient Compasses you have in your bag! Don’t worry if you have some Prophetic Cards left over after May 1st, as you can open them after that date with your Ancient Compass until their expiration.
These can be obtained through gPotato, Gem Shards, and Premium Crystals. Be advised that any Ancient Compass obtained through Premium Crystals are bound, but if using gPotato or Gem Shards you can trade or auction them! Players should also be aware that prizes won through the Prophetic Card of the Infernal Treasurer are bound to the character, so when opening these, make sure that you are using them on the correct character! Keep reading to find out more details about this new mechanic.
Those here for the last event may remember that each time they used a prophetic card, a bar below the interface (see the screenshot above) would fill up, and every 60 points accumulated would give them a Stroke of Luck. Once this bar is full your interface will change color and you will be given a chance to win one prize from a selection of some of the very best prizes available in this event!
As for previous Prophetic Cards events, you will have the chance to tame exclusive mounts! And unlike their cousins, the evil ponies won’t be cute and fluffy, but will bring the Apocalypse to Sarnaut! Brrr….
Ancient Compasses will be added to the Item Shop in the latter morning PDT of Thursday, April 25th.
Tags: Allods, Allods Online, event, sale
Event Rules: • Design a unique Dominion ally with the following requirements: - Draw/design what the Dominion ally looks like. - Think of the Dominion ally’s name, role (i.e. DPS, tank, support, etc.), one main spell/ability, brief background story of how the ally enlisted for the Dominion Wars. • Once the Dominion Ally Design event has been posted on our Facebook Fan Page this Thursday, upload the picture of your Dominion ally through the “Photos” section. • Reply to your picture with the ally name, role, spell, and background story as a comment. • Reply to your picture with your character’s name and server. Prizes: We will choose our 10 favorite entries and award the winners with 1,000 Premium Crystals!
Tags: Allods, Allods Online, Community, event, Facebook, video game
Tags: Allods, Allods Online, event, MMO, MMORPG
Ahoy Astral Pirates! Spring is the best season to set sail in the Astral and explore the new allods brought by Lords of Destiny! Every sea, pardon, Astralwolf can hear the irresistible call to adventure! Summon your best Helmsman, your best cannoneers and (gently) grab your beloved Goblin repairmen and meet them in the Astral port of your capital to start the journey! What? You need to wait for your ship to be complete and you’re tired of slacking in the Bort Quarter? Or, maybe, you are already in the Astral, without enough emanations to find your way to the mysteries of Turtle Allod? Whether you are an experienced captain a overheated reactor in the middle of a battle with Octhulu or a rookie sailor waiting for her ship to be completed to start the journey, we have the perfect items for you!
The item is consumed after use and can be traded or auctioned unless obtained through Premium Crystals.
Your helmsman was late and you have to leave without him, and now you really regret not having his Arisen skills onboard. You don’t need to go back to Nezebgrad, if you have an Astral Teleport with you! Well, that doesn’t mean the captain can’t tell him off!
Whether you need to refine more Amalgam, get more XP, loot and prestige during your Astral adventures or cool off your reactor during a battle, get advantage of the best offer dedicated to our mighty Pirates!
Tags: Allods, Allods Online, MMO, MMORPG, sale
Lords of Destiny has brought in many changes, one of the most important being the revamped Astral and thrilling guild vs. guild battles. Even though everyone was excited about these changes, they were still players unsure of some of the mechanics… Would they be able to gain power and resources, and defeat the guild that always stood in their way to total domination? Fear not! We have a very special guide for you that will uncover many of the Dominion War’s secrets. This information will help you to plan your tactics, and prepare to bring down your enemies. See the full Dominion Wars Guide here!
Tags: 4.0, Allods, Allods Online, MMO, MMORPG
Now that I’m getting more settled in my new home (rainy land of Ireland), it’s time for a fun event that’ll show you some of the local sights while letting you have some exploration! For this event, you will need a camera (or phone with camera), two legs, and a good sense of direction with your IRL (in real life) surroundings. I thought it would be fun to show some of the local sights around the city while making a copycat event out of it. With that said, I will show 5 pictures of myself at specific locations around Dublin. You must find close locations around where you live IRL and take a picture of yourself at the same type of location for all/any of the 5 pictures. Of all the copycat entries, I will choose my favorite picture from each of the 5 types of photos that I have shown, and award the owner of the picture with 1,500 Premium Crystals! This means you don’t have to copy each of the 5 pictures since it’s understandable that some of you may have not easy access to the same IRL settings, but it will increase your chances of winning since you have more entries that could be the winning photo of that photo type. Rules: 1. Photos #1 – #5 will be posted everyday from Monday – Friday on Allods Online Twitter • Photo #1 – Monday April 15 • Photo #2 – Tuesday April 16 • Photo #3 – Wednesday April 17 • Photo #4 – Thursday April 18 • Photo #5 – Friday April 19 2. Once you see the picture tweeted, you must find a nearby location in real life that is similar to the setting shown in the photo. With a camera (it’ll help to have someone take the picture of you), have your picture taken that mimics the setting. IMPORTANT – Make sure you hold up your hand and give a “thumbs up” so we know it’s actually you in the picture or else your entry will not count. 3. Retweet the daily tweet with a link to your picture, write your character’s name & server, and include the following hash tags – #allods, #Doublinpio 4. Each photo of a particular setting will be judged against other photos of that same setting. For example, a picture of you in a park will be judged against other pictures of players in a park. This setup makes it fair for those who are not capable of taking pictures at each of the 5 locations. 5. You have throughout Sunday, April 21st to retweet any of your entries. One retweet per each / any of the 5 picture entries. Winners will be announced on Monday, April 22nd. Prizes: Of all the copycat entries, I will choose my favorite picture from each of the 5 types of photos that I have shown, and award the owner of the picture with 1,500 Premium Crystals!
Remember, you can only participate in this event if you follow our Allods Online Twitter. If you have not joined the Allods Online Twitter yet, now is the time!
Tags: Allods, Allods Online, event, gibberling, gPotato, MMO, MMORPG
Each of the Twelve Martyrs are great in their own way as they fill their chosen ones with blessings to help them on their journeys through Sarnaut. We use their protective abilities, they help us regenerate after a long, hard battle and they offer guidance to those who seek it. So let’s celebrate them individually! Each Patron should have their own designated holiday in which their worshipers can benefit of their blessing and offer up even more prayer to the great Martyrs! From April 10th until May 10th, all those born under the sign of Uar will celebrate their patron and receive their blessings for 20 days! For those of you asleep during history classes in Nezebgrad and Novograd, here’s a brief overview of the Great Martyrs: Men and women on these allods are never alone. They are protected by the blessing of a mysterious set of powers, called the Great Martyrs. Shortly after the Great Cataclysm, the Magi began to notice strange events of the original magic. Although their appearance seemed to coincide with the Astral invasion, their precise nature remained a mystery for many years. While the Astral was known to have a magical influence on Allods and all their inhabitants, 12 special magical auras were discovered, each with unique properties and characteristics. Over the centuries, experiments were conducted on these forces. It was discovered that each inhabitant of Allods could perform a ritual to seek protection from one of these magical auras, but for a long time the nature and origin remain shrouded in mystery.
Tags: Allods Online, event, MMO, MMORPG, video game
