One of the longest running MMORPG’s is getting a much needed upgrade. Runescape, which is the successor to DeviousMUD, is a popular persistant online world that has been running since 2001 and has retained a respectable player base, due in large part to it’s free to play option. For the past 7 years, the game was very bland in that it had flat colors and a very blocky look. The game is browser based and the client is pretty small and the game is java based, so when it was created the ability to have advanced graphics wasn’t there yet.
Times change, java has evolved and so has RuneScape. For the past 18 months, RuneScape artists and developers have been working hard to incorporate graphics effects which are commonplace in today’s games to keep RuneScape competitive. One of the biggest and most challenging upgrades are textures. Previously, RuneScape had very plain, flat graphics which didn’t really blend together creating a blocky feel. Through advances in technology, RuneScape developers can now send a set of instructions to clients to have the video cards produce textures on the fly, rather than download additional graphics components. This will keep the client small and load times comparable to previous versions of the game.
Additionally, RuneScape will now incorporate advanced shadow effects into their engine, adding more immersive effects to the game. Where previously no shadows existed, now dynamic shadow effects will add flavor to an otherwise bland world. Shadows will be cast based upon both where the sun is located and the slope of the terrain.
The last effect being added to the game is fog. The view distance in the game isn’t going to change, previously when a building or other object would come into view it would simply ‘pop’ into view. Now, with fog effects objects will blend into view out of the distance fog giving the game a much more natural feel. The idea behind fog, shadows and textures is to have the player not notice the effects at all. The effects are meant to blend and smooth the world to make it feel more real, so taking those effects for granted is considered a win for graphics artists, it means they did their job in creating a natural world.
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