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Introducing Conan to DirectX 10

From the moment Age of Conan was first conceived, it has always been the goal of the designers to crate a massively multiplayer online game with graphics unlike you have ever seen before in a game of this genre.

They set out to create a world where graphics were so detailed that you would want to pack your bags and move there for good. This has taken not only a huge amount of effort from the world designers, who have created some of the most realistic and detailed environments ever seen in a game. It has also kept our engine programmers busy for days upon end, creating technology that can support the visions of the designers and the creative minds of the people who build the worlds.

One of the first things you’ll notice when stepping into Age of Conan, is the incredibly rich and detailed environments. Forests looks dense, the jungle breathes of life and you will be able to spot a small, winding path going up the side of that mountain far away in the distance. Heading into the undergrowth can be an adventure in itself, as the shadows close in around you and your vision is clouded by leaves and tall grass surrounding you.

In an effort to break even newer grounds in the world of graphics, Age of Conan is one of only a few titles that will be available for Microsoft’s newest technology platform called DirectX 10. While the game runs perfectly well on Windows XP with the current DirectX 9 technology, having Windows Vista installed on your computer and the hardware that is required to run DirectX 10 will grant you a graphics experience that is unsurpassed in the genre of massively multiplayer online games. Being the only game in this genre that is being developed for this new technology, Age of Conan is taking some bold new steps.

But just what exactly will DirectX 10 do? As you can see in the new screenshots and the new video that was just released, the overall graphics quality will increase tremendously with this new technology. Even though its going to take some time before developers will be able to truly tap into all the power this technology hold, from these early DirectX 10 screenshots and video you are still able to see a clear visual difference from DirectX 9.

Find the DirectX 10 screenshots here!

From the assets recently provided, there are numerous improvements that can be pointed to. Some are easier to spot than others, but they make a world of difference in the game:

  • Better parallax mapping – In the screenshot with the slaver standing by the campfire, you can easily see how the ground looks “bumpy” and uneven. This is thanks to improved parallax mapping which makes otherwise flat textures stand out. It is amazing to see how much difference this technology can make when you are designing an in-game forest!
  • More realistic shadows – In the screenshot where our Soldier is running into the dark shadows, you can see improved shadow technology that makes shadows look softer and make them fall more realistically upon everything in the world. The visual difference is difficult to convey in screenshots, so you should take a look at the DirectX 10 video.
  • Improved lightning tech – In the screenshot with rays of light shooting through the foliage of the jungle, you see a much improved lightning technology. The shadows that are projected from the foliage above is a clear improvement. Looking at the screenshot of the Thirsty Dog Inn, you can see how realistically the light falls on the stone wall.
  • Better water and particles – While you are going to see great advancements in this area as developers become more acquainted with the DirectX 10 technology, the screenshots recently released show and obvious improvement in water technology with better physics and better reflections. Particle effects, like fire, will also improve with DirectX 10.
  • Improved draw distance – Loading and keeping graphics in memory is hard work for a computer, and rendering large scenes will give it a good challenge. With DirectX 10 it is possible for developers to extend the view distance in games, making it possible to look at things far away in the horizon instead of having a wall of fog that blocks your vision.
  • Much sharper textures – With DirectX 10, it is possible to have textures that look much sharper and more detailed than with older technology. Take a look at the screenshot with the Soldier fighting the bat demon and notice the incredible level of detail in his armor. You will be able to see the tiniest bumps and scratches in detail on every type of surface.

A lot of what DirectX 10 enables developers like those working on Age of Conan, is to make everything bigger and better. They are now able to put a lot more stuff into every scene, making forests look much denser and making epic battles have even more fighters in them. This is particularly evident in the wooded environments in Age of Conan, where you will really feel engulfed by the vegetation that the game is able to pull. This is evident in both the DirectX 9 version and DirectX 10 version of the game, but generally the “bigger and better” mantra seems to hold true for the newest DirectX technology.

As a developer we’re only in the early beginnings of working with this new technology. In the months ahead we will see great advancements as make even more use of all the power that this technology delivers, but it is very exciting for Funcom to be able to show you these new screenshots and this new video to even now show the visual difference that will come as the world’s gamers shift from DirectX 9 to DirectX 10 in the future.