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Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (commonly abbreviated as AoC) is a low fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Funcom for PC and the Xbox 360. With Funcom developers estimating the release date to be October 30, 2007, Age of Conan began internal beta testing in Summer 2006, and opened the beta registration process on April 3, 2007.

Hyborian Adventures is the first installment in the planned Age of Conan series that will include expansion packs and possible sequels. The Age of Conan series is set in the Hyborian Age, a fantasy setting created by Robert E. Howard in 1932. Age of Conan itself takes place within the continent of the Hyborian kingdoms, a year after the events depicted in Howard's sole Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon. Hyborian Adventures' release will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Conan franchise.

There is also a slated Age of Conan Fantasy Battle Game in development by Mongoose Publishing and an Age of Conan Strategy Board Game published by Nexus Editrice.

Overview

In development since 2003, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is an upcoming online action role-playing game based on the Conan the Cimmerian stories written by Robert E. Howard in the early 1930s. The game is being developed for the PC and the Xbox 360 by Funcom, the creators of the science fiction MMORPG Anarchy Online and the critically-acclaimed adventure game The Longest Journey. While the game appears to be a traditional MMORPG, Funcom prefers using the term "online action RPG" instead.

The game is divided into two sections: The first section is a single-player experience that is played while connected to online servers hosted by Funcom, but without interacting with other players. As such, the player creates a character and then guides that character through a traditional single-player, role-playing adventure. Funcom has predicted that some customers will purchase the game solely for the single-player experience. The second section takes the character created during the single-player portion to a multiplayer environment. The online world promises to be dynamic, as players may form guilds (player organizations), conquer territories and erect cities which are vulnerable to attacks by both humanoid NPCs and players.

Aside from the single-player campaign, one of the primary attractions of Age of Conan is the "Real Combat" system, which promises greater player interaction during combat than previously seen in online role-playing games. The player is able to direct the swings of their character's weapon during combat to attack six separate target zones. Funcom has stated that this system will be easy to learn even for veteran MMORPG players who are used to "click and wait" combat; however, the specific details of this system have yet to be unveiled. Other features will include battle formations, which impart bonuses to the group using them, and mounted combat, which will also use the "Real Combat" engine.

Funcom is focusing on developing content for the "end game," the time at which characters have reached maximum advancement, rather than the "grind" and promises a fast leveling process. Funcom has also promised the graphic nature of Robert E. Howard's short stories will not be toned down for the game and that they expect Age of Conan to receive an ESRB rating of Mature due to its content.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is slated for release on October 30, 2007.

Characters

Characters in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures are created via a user account on an online server. Characters created on one server are not usable on another; however, Funcom is planning to have a server transfer process for characters after the game is launched. Players create characters which function as their virtual avatars in the online world of Hyboria. When creating a character in Age of Conan, the player may choose from three different races, four archetypes and fourteen different character classes.

For the first five levels the player is a "commoner," without a class, but of Cimmerian, Aquilonian or Stygian origin. Then at level five, the player chooses from four archetypes: Mage, Priest, Rogue or Soldier. At level twenty, the player selects from four to seven class selections for each archetype.

Additionally at level five, the player may choose from one of four professions which provide an additional, parallel, path of development. The player can be a Craftsman (making things), a Master (earning you a full-time servant), a Commander (adept at multiplayer gameplay) or a Lord (an expert on siege gameplay).

The three races are split into three culturally distinct nations: Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia.

• The Aquilonians are depicted as stylized Greco-Romans with medieval overtones, a controversial portrayal as the Aquilonian society is culturally diverse in the written Conan lore of Howard. The country of Aquilonia consists of green hills, lush riverbeds and the spired city of Tarantia.
• The Cimmerians are proto-Celts descended from the Atlantean survivors of the Great Cataclysm and are the barbaric race from which Conan descends. The country of Cimmeria is the most northern nation of the featured three and consists of snowy, mountainous highlands.
• The Stygians are a swarthy race of snake worshippers dabbling in vile magic and evil religions. The country of Stygia resembles a dark, twisted Egypto-Babylonian culture and mostly features deserts dotted by beautiful, ancient cities.

• Additionally, there are many NPC races such as degenerate Picts, hawk-nosed Shemites, red-haired Vanir and blonde-haired Aesir.

See also: Races and Nations of the Hyborian Age.

Combat

From an IGN interview with game director Gaute Godager of Funcom:

We call the engine Real Combat, and it is based on six directions, or ways, of attacking an opponent with a sword. First, you can hack down against the head. Second, you can slash diagonally down from the right, while the third is slashing the same way from the left. Fourth, you can thrust against the torso. Fifth, you can slash diagonally up from the left, and sixth, you can slash diagonally up from the right. The point here is that these directions lend themselves naturally to being strung together in combinations. These combos unlock additional damage and faster combat, if done well.

More than any other feature, combat is the prime attraction of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Funcom is determined to make the traditional Dungeons & Dragons-inspired "round-based" system of combat that is the current standard in MMOs obsolete. Instead Age of Conan will feature what Funcom has termed the "Real Combat" system. This system is basically a point-and-click melee approach in which every enemy is divided into six different areas that players can swing at. Players choose where they wish to swing along with which weapons, spells, or techniques they wish to use, and then watch as their avatar completes the action. As players become better at using the system, they will find combinations of abilities, swing styles and target points that string together to make more devastating attack combos. While player stats and items bonuses will play a role in this system, the idea of "Real Combat" is to bring more player skill into MMO fighting.

Players will also have more fighting options than they may be used to in older MMOs. While the "Real Combat" system is the basis for one-on-one weapon battle, players will also use the system for spell-casting, ranged combat and even battling on horseback (mounted combat). In some situations, however, players will choose to band together and unite their skills to face other bands of players or AI controlled armies or uber-mobs; in essence, "formations." Player bands using formations can temporarily choose to surrender some control over their character's movement to a commander who will direct their unit in battle. In return, the members of the formation will gain special attack and defensive bonuses as well as tactics that they can use against other formations.

Players will also take part in massive siege operations. Adventurers can cooperate with one another to build massive cities with walls, towers and catapults that can protect player-owned taverns and merchant facilities. The world will respond appropriately to the rise of player cities, though, as enemy players and even AI controlled enemies will build their own cities, ensuring a constant stream of brutal city-vs.-city combat as players try to knock down enemy walls or defend their homes.

Community

Due to the game being in rumored development since 2003, an online virtual community had steadily clustered around various fan websites regarding Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. By February 2005, this informal community was still going strong despite no true public announcement concerning the rumored game. Finally, Funcom and Conan Properties LLC jointly confirmed the in-development status of Age of Conan in an official press release on April 20, 2005. Shortly thereafter, a primitive game website debuted and thousands of Conan enthusiasts migrated from their fan sites to the new official forums hosted by Funcom. Many Anarchy Online fans also followed the development of the product due to the involvement of Funcom, who created the Anarchy Online PC series.

Between March 2005 and January 2006, Funcom periodically revealed concept art and screenshots from Age of Conan. The Art Director for the Conan project is Didrik Tollefsen, known for such classics as The Longest Journey and Anarchy Online - Shadowlands, which won the Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction award at RPG Vault in 2003.

On January 24, 2006, Funcom unveiled the community portal for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. By this time, much of the pre-launch community had gathered around the forums and IRC chat of the official Age of Conan website. There were informal events such as IRC chats with the developers and, in summer 2006, community contests.

Throughout the development of Age of Conan, Funcom heavily emphasized community relations to encourage the fan sites that support Age of Conan. The fan sites are frequently sent exclusive content to display on their pages as well as exclusive interviews with development staff. Three fan websites, in particular, "Conan Online," the "Temple of Crom" and "By Mitra!" became a permanent and popular fixture of the pre-launch community for Age of Conan in the months prior to E3 2006.

In April 2006, Funcom created a Guild Hall for its pre-launch community and, within hours, forum members began organizing their "player guilds." These guilds consist of individuals who typically share the same playing styles and gameplay opinions. Some guilds, like The Snowhawk Clan, were drawn together because of a mutual interest in the Conan lore of Robert E. Howard; while others, such as The Free City of Lochlainn, were formed to give solo players a place to go without the typical guild/clan bureaucracy and still receive guild-only benefits built into the game. Some of these guilds have constructed their own websites where players may gather to discuss their upcoming role in the Age of Conan gaming world. Prior to July 2006, the five most prominent and race/lore-specific guilds in the pre-launch community were:

• "The Snowhawk Clan" (Cimmerians)
• "The Hand of Set" (since relocated) (Stygians)
• "The Legion of Steel" (Siege Guild/ARAC)
• "The Skullsplitters" (Mercenary/ARAC)
• "The Acolytes" (Siege Guild/ARAC)

In January 2007, several important updates were announced regarding class merges and the expected launch window for the game. On January 12th, Funcom announced the original twenty-three classes had been merged down to fourteen classes due to beta feedback. On January 25th, Funcom and Eidos Interactive jointly announced a new official release date for Age of Conan as October 30, 2007. The official reason given for this launch delay was to "spend even more time and effort into polishing and enhancing the game we will ensure that the game reaches its full potential in terms of quality and subscriber base."

On April 3, 2007, Funcom began its Beta Sign-Up program which attracted more than 100,000 gamers over the Easter holiday. Shortly thereafter, the "technical beta" phase began on April 27, 2007, and several hundred individuals from the Age of Conan online community began formal testing.

Setting

From an OGaming interview with game director Gaute Godager of Funcom:

The is like a dark, decadent, twisted and corrupt version of Euro-Asian history. Mix a bit of the Roman Empire, Mongolian culture and Babylonian mysticism with '30s-era myths of undiscovered Africa...

Age of Conan is set in a low fantasy, pseudo-historical ancient world called the Hyborian Age created by Robert E. Howard. In this world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty warlord Conan has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia. Yet King Conan's grip on the Aquilonian throne has become tenuous, with ancient evils threatening to throw the realm into chaos. In this twisted fantasy world, dark magic and brutal combat lurks around every corner, and each man and woman must carve their own unique destiny under Conan's reign. In the true vision of Robert E. Howard's dark universe, the time is ripe for those with the strength and will to carve out their own destinies.

The primitive brutality and decadent bacchanalia of the Hyborian Age is one of the unique attractions of Age of Conan due to its stark contrast to the high fantasy settings that typify the majority of contemporary MMOs such as EverQuest II, The Lord of the Rings Online and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. In Age of Conan, there are few of the elements that are common in high fantasy, such as elves, hobbits, orcs, fire-breathing dragons or Arthurian courtliness. Instead, Hyboria is a land of neither good nor evil, but "moral shades of gray" in which Conan, himself, is a barbaric anti-hero and his enemies are, upon occasion, rightful princes or altruistic minstrels revolting against his militaristic autocracy. As such, this moral ambiguity and bloodthirsty atavism of R.E. Howard's Hyborian Age sometimes disconcerts newcomers to the lore who are accustomed to the classicist fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis.

See also: Absence of stereotypical good-versus-evil conflict in the Hyborian Age.

Music

There are three principal individuals overseeing the music and audio for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. The Audio Director is Morten Sørlie, who created the widely hailed soundtrack for Anarchy Online - Shadowlands. Sørlie is accompanied by sound designer Tord D. Nikolaisen, and composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen who is writing the musical score for the game. To create a fitting musical score for the Hyborian universe, composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen turned to many different sources. For the music of the different ethnic groups, Haugen studied traditional music from relevant parts of the world. For the overall theme of the Hyborian Age, Haugen researched its musical history, primarily Basil Poledouris' orchestral soundtrack to the Conan the Barbarian (1982) film, while avoiding conventions that connect too closely to specific historical periods.

Technology

DreamWorld Engine™

The DreamWorld graphics engine was developed by Funcom circa 2000. Other computer games powered by DreamWorld technology include Anarchy Online and its various expansion packs. When Funcom began developing Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures,the company reviewed its existing technology base and decided to focus on the further evolution of their proprietary DreamWorld engine as opposed to licensing a third-party engine like many online RPG companies do. As such, Funcom began to retool their engine with the overall design, pipeline and implementation process was taken into account. In light of these changes, the DreamWorld engine has been rebuilt for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures with new features, special effects and optimizations.

Real Combat

"Real Combat" is being touted by Funcom as a revolutionary approach to combat in online RPGs where the player is in direct control of the character's weapon strikes in real time. This multi-point melee and ranged combat system is purportedly easy-to-learn and is one of the prime attractions of the title. Allegedly, the "Real Combat" system will take the ritualized combat experience previously found in online RPGs in a new direction. For this system, Funcom has also added aspects such as formation combat, mounted combat, siege combat and hive combat.

Cheetah

Cheetah is a shader-oriented proprietary render engine re-written from scratch by Funcom featuring a phong per pixel lighting system. This engine allows for improved graphics and ambience. This is coupled with a trapezoidal shadow system, an in-house system developed by Funcom that allows all objects to cast shadows onto everything.

Perlin noise-based cloud generating system

Perlin noise-based cloud generating system is a five-layered procedural system that enables multiple layers of dynamic clouds; thus, visually-realistic cloud behavior.

SpeedTree©RT

SpeedTree is a programming package produced by Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. (IDV) that aims to produce high-quality virtual foliage in real time, suitable especially for video games but also aimed to a lesser extent at some other kinds of simulations. It has so far been licensed to a substantial number of video game developers, including developers of the Unreal engine series. SpeedTree is currently being used in several games, one of which is a MMO action game World War II Online, and the renowned RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

DirectX 10

"Funcom is proud to be one of the few developers who is tapping into this technology, and we look forward to showing you even more of DirectX 10. Some of the improvements visible in the videos and the screenshots are improved parallax mapping, better lighting and more advanced shadows technology. DirectX 10 will also make it possible to have sharper textures, more details in every scene, longer view distances and much more."

Features

Currently the following features have been confirmed by the games developers

• Age of Conan will emphasize PvP (Player versus Player) combat and storyline adventures.
• Age of Conan will be one of the first games to use Direct3D 10 framework of Windows Vista.
• Age of Conan will feature mounted combat such as horse archery, dual wielding and jousting.
• Age of Conan will feature both PvE (Player versus Environment) and PvP siege battles.
• Age of Conan will feature various siege engines such as trebuchets, battering rams, etc.
• Age of Conan will feature more realistic Collision Detection between players and NPCs.
• Age of Conan will feature camera angles for both first-person and third-person viewpoints.
• Age of Conan will feature a day and night cycle. NPCs and quests may change accordingly.
• Age of Conan will feature meteorological effects such as blizzards, dust storms and rain.
• Age of Conan will be based on the Conan the Cimmerian stories by Robert E. Howard.
• Age of Conan is NOT based on the 1980s Conan films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Critical Acclaim

During the past several years, Funcom has twice previewed Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, more commonly known as E3, and the product has received various critic awards for these demonstrations. The following information is a partial listing of those awards.

See also

References

External links

• Official Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures website
• Age of Conan wiki information repository
• Age of Conan developer quotes at Conan.ch

• Xbox 360 games
• Robert E. Howard
• Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
• Windows games
• 2007 video games
• Funcom games
• Conan the Barbarian games
• Games for Windows certified games