RuneScape gets a graphical update :o

[Ellie]

Oh. My. God. The new RuneScape is finished and it's abso-fucking-awesome.

As people guessed they have put the subscription price up, by... 30p. From £3.20/mo to £3.50/mo. Not a bad increase, and with how the UK's economy is going it stands to reason.

It's members only beta, does anyone want me to take screenshots?

Btw. The old detail modes are still available, and the new "High Def" mode only needs:

    * 1.5 GHz processor or higher
    * 256MB of RAM or more
    * 64MB 3D Graphics card, such as Nvidia(R) GeForce(TM) 3 or above
    * Sun Java 1.4 or higher

 

[djzalzer]

I looked at the title screen.  My jaw pretty much dropped, especially considering that this game is in-browser and took about 20 seconds to download.

I might just start playing again... for a half-hour before I get bored.

Screenshots wouldn't be bad if you want to

 

[Ellie]

The game's currently broken

(As is anything within a few hours of release though; too many people logging on / downloading the client).

 

[Plubyblop]

I've been playing around with the new graphics update.  It's quite impressive, which just may be an understatement.

Really, since Iddison took over Runescape sometime last year, the whole game has started to turn around. 
In general new content has been better overall,  and a lot of big changes have been made, mostly for the better.  All they really need to do now is redo the free worlds so that they reflect the higher standards that have been the norm recently.  Right now, given that the free version is everyone's first impression of Runescape, I can see why everyone think Runescape sucks.

 

[Jking]

its not just that a lot of people say it because its the same thing over and over again. which yes gets boring but that is what the free players get if they pay you get around 12 or so more skills you have a house you can steal, all sorts of new things todo. free players get a  couple quests and thats really it. so if you don't pay you really wont have any fun. but as stated before its a company they need to make money they are try to get more subscribers not free players. although a new battle system should be coming and they also stated that this will be a big month for runescape and that we will be informed about this at the beginning of next week so in a 7 days we will know what it is.

 

[Ellie]

They're changing the battle system?  :huh: When did they say that? Though that would be great, I've never heard them (or anyone else) mention changing the battle system.

Oh and Iddison didn't take over RuneScape, he's just been signed up as their accountant (or whatever the higher form of an accountant is). Andrew and Paul Gower still own and run the company, and own at least 75% of the shares.

 

[Plubyblop]

Oh, I had thought that Andrew and Paul had mostly let go of Runescape's ownership; which looking again, isn't true.  Either way though, it seems Iddison has been behind all of the big decisions lately; at least from the article I was reading:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/m ... ff-iddison

Personally I like the direction he's taking with Runescape.  I fully expect to see Runescape become more of a competitor with Iddison at the helm, especially after reading all his interviews.

Also, I think I've read all the interviews, and I'm pretty sure a change of the battle system hasn't been mentioned.  Though it wouldn't surprise me; recently they seem to be going over all there weak-points and fixing them (Auto-bots and graphics for instance).

 

[bananawithjoy]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35739.html
A pretty sweet looking trailer for the game, and finally a chance to see the new graphics in action. Getting graphics like that in a browser based game would be no mean feat, and now I really can't wait to see how the game turns out.
The new website looks pretty sweet too.

 

[Ellie]

One thing you don't realise from looking at the screenshots is how awesome the lighting is. There are 255 light channels (or something like that), and when you're walking around you definately notice a difference. Things like candles on walls actually give a good atmosphere, with moving shadows on objects, and the players, and everything...