In Part 2 of the MMOHub interview Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard revealed that MechScape will have particle effects (think fire, smoke and explosions) and specular lighting ("produces the shiney highlights and helps us to distinguish between flat, dull surfaces such as plaster and shiney surfaces like polished plastics and metals").

Care to define what that actually means?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_effects

It means MS will have snazzy, hi-tech graphics.

Consequently, the system reqs will be higher, unless Jagex are magic.

uh, i'm thinking particle effects as in you hit something and it falls and it breaks into pieces rather then just a solid piece falling over ???

lighting...uh better lighting ???? lol

im more interested in this



Thirdscape changed into a skill for runescape? OMG

Think more like fire, explosions and smoke. I talked about it seeming like something they were working on back in 2008, but this is the confirmation.

Certainly some interesting stuff revealed from the RuneScape-based article. Here's to hoping the one looking specifically at MechScape/future Jagex products on Friday will be even more revealing.

(Btw, the link in your first post is currently broken).

This game sounds like it's going to have awesome graphics.

Just by reading this little info on wiki, it seems that MS is going to look pretty sick. I wonder if they will use this on explosions if they have them(as seen in a pic on wiki file).

Makes me want to play it more :D

Interesting, by the looks of it, particle effects will improve future and existing content. I'd love to see some of RuneScape's magic spells with a little particle effect :).

I just hope they don't hire Michael Bay to handle the explosions.

hahahahaha....that was great.

could you imagine trying to battle a monster with the camera moving so much...haha

I'd rather not lag when I'm casting barrage in exchange for a few particles.

yea, i'm most interested in part 3 of this interview, although I'm not holding my breath for ground-breaking news. they will prob announce release on their own site, not from an interview on a gaming site. but who knows?

See every single console game for how particle effects work.
I look forward to seeing how Mechscape looks now, with more realistic looking effects. It would need more graphics to run, which is a bit scary, especially with my graphics card, but should overall look awesome.

This only confirms what kind of specs I need on my computer. Because of the particle effects that it'll use, I'm sure my computer will be good enough to handle such a game. Can't wait for it!

Yay! The days of wondering if things are shiny has finally become part of the past!

Pretty much it means MS will have nice pretty flashing lights and all that sparkly jazz found in games with higher end graphics ;)

hmmm even tho its a browser based game sounds like your gonna have to download it but id play it ether way i wouldn't mind if i did

Actually, you would have to download it anyways. Every time you may log on to FunOrb or RuneScape, you are still downloading the game's data on to your computer, but the client (Java app) itself stays on the FunOrb/RuneScape website. From there, the Java applet (which is all text compiled into Java classes; which is also packaged into a JAR file most of the time) loads the game's data files that are already on your computer and "paints" it onto the screen (specifically the designated area of the applet).

Basically, my point is that you don't need to download the entire game onto your computer just because it has "good graphics" or a complicated engine. You underestimate the power of Java my friend.

Jagex have confirmed that it will be browser-based. Like Dizzy says it is already the case with RuneScape and FunOrb that files are stored on your computer so it doesn't have to re-download things every time.

Must fix my laptop, otherwise no Mechscape for me. Can't wait to see the graphics of this.

Everyone who doutbs Java:

-JaGEx
-Java Gaming Experts

I think they know what they are doing when they say this stuff. When RSHD started, it was just a joke when someone rendered a new quest in OpenGL. I have to wonder, however, is MechScape going to have a low detail at all? Remember that RSHD was an improvement on RS's graphics. Would JaGeX really make an SD for an already HD game? Seems like backwards progress. Sure, you can turn certain effects on and off, but I really don't see the whole "play on any computer" thing working out so well with MS.

Yea sounds like Mechscape will have some great graphics and looks like Runecape will be getting better ones its self

Sounds good. But Im not sure I understand what it is. I'll just wait and see

Will the animations require directx?

I think they are intending for it to work on both DirectX and OpenGL.

Hey guys! Since 3D art is my expertise I would take liberty in explaining what particles work and how they are used ^_^. So as Ren said it can be used to make Fire smoke and explosions but not only that it can be used to make things like swarms of bees and such using objects that can be controlled by the particles (whether or not this will be used in Mechscape is questionable). It can also be used to make grass and fur using what are called "static particles." Static Particles are particles that branch out in a straight line and which later can be controlled by forces such as gravity and wind. If you wish to have some examples of these particles I can make some with the 3D program I use... Thanks for reading this I am new to the forums! EDIT: I ALMOST FORGOT TO EXPLAIN SPECULAR LIGHTING!! Anyways specular lighting is a technique in which it calculates how light would bounce off an object and shimmer depending on settings that are predetermined by the user and not all objects would have this either usually only metals, glass, plastics, etc. things such as dirt (unless wet) will not use this.

That was a very helpful explanation, thanks.

And welcome to MSW.

that means mechscape will have guns and bombs

THANKS!! I am going to start posting my 3D art on the forums (in their appropriate place of course) so you can see what kind of stuff I can do and tell me what you think!

What software do you use?
I use blender3d(open source) for things like buildings and polygonal objects but I use Zbrush for more natural things like characters or creatures.

On topic: Specularity will definitely be an improvement on graphics, metal things would actually look like metal and aliens will actually look like aliens.

Wow COINICIDENCE!!! Lol I use Blender 3D awesome. Here is a sample of my work :D Click to view attachment

Nice work there, just hope Mechscape can handle grass.

I agree. Runescape can handle some grass in some areas like south of the falador castle there is a LOT of grass. Or here is some good speculation.. Maybe Mechscape won't have grass on certain areas!! Like depending on you're race there may be vegetation in the area such as the pliglii's may live in a forest area or even a jungle like area while the Mortiga may live in a rocky area with no plant life what so ever.. Just speculation.

I mean make the blades of grass closer together and more numerous without taking up too much memory.
Hmm... I also hope the trees look better than runescape's but that should not be a problem with the specularity.

Oh ok I understand now! That would be a good if they did that. And I too hope trees look better than runescape's trees. they have had the same tree model for about 8 years. Time for change guys!

Yay, particle explosions are FTW. And how high could the reqs for a browser game be? I'm sure not too high.

I am not sure why everyone thinks just because something is run in the browser makes it less of a high end game. It's Java and can be the same quality as if you were making a Java client for the desktop. It is the same exact quality, and looks exactly the same, everything for graphics is done on your computer not the server.

Jagex has a awesome way of handling things, it's all done server side except for the graphics. The only thing you have on the clients side is obviously the client with models and music and stuff like that. Everything else is streamed through internet to you (when a door opens it tells the clients, when a tree is cut it tells the clients, player locations, etc).

So I want everyone to stop thinking just because something is in the browser that it makes the game have less quality graphics. That is untrue and ignorant.

Its not because of the technology, its because a browser game has to be lower quality to keep server costs down, and let people without awesome internet be able to play it. It would nearly impossible to stream Crysis over the internet, and it would cost a lot, and people with anything short of cable or a T1 line would not be able to play it. They could make a very cpu/graphics intensive game, but they wouldn't because it is impractical.

I find it interesting you mention Crysis, because as we all should be aware, the company responsible for Onlive claims that their service will be able to do just that.

Stream Crysis and better over the internet to you and all your computer has to do is be able to handle HD video.

And there is no way that onlive will be able to provide their service for free. Also, onLive is specfically working on being the first streaming video game service, unlike Jagex.

sounds very great and seems like it would b a positive addition, i just hope they implement it correctly...and knowing Jagex, they will.

Sounds very good!
Very nice that there will be better graphics than Runescape ^^.