It's beautiful - always has been. I have logged online and I am infatuated with the detail in the graphics! sorry to say, my only critique is the amount of images on the server and the amount of time it takes to load especially the bigger images such as the houses. I'm not sure if this will help but on Rudora for any large image we divided them in to four separate images so it did not take as long to download.

Keep up the great work and no doubt it'll be on the Classic tab before long - please don't lose motivation and continue to work to standard and not rush on the project. Extraordinary work :)!

Thank you very much :).

Yeah, my apologies. We were having downloading bugs before where most of the images wouldn't load for people. So my scripter decided to make a script where all the images on our server would be downloaded upon login. We also had(or still have) this issue where the tileset wouldn't download or show up. The only way to fix this would be restarting your Graal client, not just reconnect.

We still haven't found the cause of these issues yet, when Stefan visited a few weeks back he was clueless to the problem aswell.

And yeah, I'm doing my best to take my time and be consistent. Hopefully once I've found a suiting manager things will go alot smoother. :)

For those who haven't seem them yet, here's some small concept art of the three classes. Hopefully soon I'll explain the role of each one of them, and the class branches associated with them.

Vinka, I must say that this is one of the few projects that I've seen that REALLY has some potential. The art style is fresh (to Graal), your dedication to the project is insane, and you seem to have a good idea of how to implement things to keep players interested beyond just the pretty graphics.

Keep up the good work and remember to not let yourself get burned out. It's okay to take breaks here and there, even if it slows down development just a tad. I'm really looking forward to see where this thing goes.

I do have a question though! In the original hiring thread, it seemed to me that the Western Kingdom would be a more feudal, medieval type structure with well trained soldiers (Soldiers) and that the Eastern Kingdom would be the more one-with-nature, stalk from the trees people (Assassins). However, now it seems that there are going to be 3 classes accessible to each Kingdom. I'm just wondering how, if at all, it affects the story-line/lore of the Kingdoms or if simply the three classes in each Kingdom will vary slightly when compared to one another (WK Solider vs EK Soldier) to accommodate for the Kingdom's ideology differences.

Sorry if that question is ridiculous or you haven't thought about it, but I'm a little nerdy and love lore and following storylines. Haha.

I thought the assassins hats were black/white O: But still, very cute!

Having matching uniforms would make assassin's jobs really complicated.


"nah bro I swear I'm not here to stab you in the back"

"you're wearing an ASSASSIN'S GUILD nametag"

"it's just a costume I swear"

"those knives are bigger than my forearm"

this might just be me, but I don't like how the soldier holds their sword straight up and down. I think they should have it resting on their shoulder a little bit, ala FFVII Cloud.

D: Agreed Pojo, perhaps it's just my feminine side kicking in with that comment. :)

Had a 5 day break from developing.. Just started again :)

Some updates:

I couldn't halfway visualize the assasin in my head, let alone draw a sketch of it, let alone do a decent job, let alone make an amazing graphic of it.

Nice :D!

Say goodbye to Europa lol

Why the sudden change? I'm shocked...

Seems really bipolar. Throughout this servers development its been:
> Working hard
> Discouraged
> Working hard
> Quit
> Back and working hard
> Discouraged
> Working hard
> Quit

One of the only servers that have potential, and its going to waste. Such a shame.

It's 6:52 AM right now so I can't really reflect with a clear mind.

I'd like to apologize though, I suppose I don't have the greatest of discipline.

I just hope I've contributed to the Graal community in any way. If anyone would like to use any of my graphics please let me know(through a forum PM). I'll read them tomorrow.

There is a reason I kept my project under wraps until I either finished it or gave up(I gave up). The drama and obligation you feel towards a project once you get people who support it can drive you ****ing nuts, and in the end doesn't help get anything done at all. Seeing people love the work you do can give you a boost of motivation, but in the end that will never be enough to see things through to the end because it takes A LOT of work and effort to get something done around here, and reality says chance are it won't be finished. Not that this is directed towards you specifically, but more how I felt while working on my own stuff.

I feel kinda sorry for the staff who put time and effort into helping Vinka :/

Well thats how it goes when the server is dependent on one guy doing everything (like all the graphics or all the scripts) especially if you also don't have tons of experience as you will run into bumps where you have to struggle to figure stuffs out.

Too much pressure basically I think.

I'm confused... Did he say why he is quitting?

I think this may be one of many cases where as you delve further into something the greater the size of the task at hand becomes apparent.

I'd say the same applies with my own experience with Classic. Admittedly while not having estimated any dates or encouraged false hope among people I didn't expect it to take nearing on 2 years at first. As more and more has been done, even though I feel I've worked hard and tried to get things done reasonably quickly the time scale has increased, I'm sure Vinka feels the same with Europa.
I too found this discouraging at first, you definitely have to have confidence in your own ability to do what needs to be done, while knowing you'll be able to see it through over a large period of time.

Continuity in a team is also a necessity and maybe something that would keep Vinka going. However it's somewhat of an unfortunate reality with Graal that you'd be very fortunate if you have the same handful of people, that share a common goal, working exclusively on the same project for the necessary time period to build a new Graal server.

Vinka, I think you're just working too much and burning yourself out. You don't owe it to anyone to just keep working on the server. If you enjoy drawing (for a server), then do it. Just ease off a bit. Work on your own pace. Like Dusty said, don't go forward with it as a released and hiring server until your comfortable with the amount of work done on your end.

Agreed ^ . Maybe you should privatize the server again to "staff only", and once a month open it up to people to check out the progress. You tend to be a lot more focused and less influenced by others when the server was locked.

:asleep:

How many people saw this coming?
*Pays out the bets*

Ya.

wtf i dont even play anymore and i was excited for this ****..keep it up vinka dont burn yourself out man theres so much potential here

Please forgive me :(

I partially lied, I decided to continue working with Ninja and Jay without anyone knowing. To experience how it felt working with zero expectations or pressure, and I'm loving it. :)

So just continue expecting nothing but failure from me and I'll be fine :D



Guess I should leave this though, it's a WIP of our wallpaper:
http://www.vividleo.com/europa/europa-wallpaper.png

Stop! !pissed! I told you, stop telling people you quit. If you really do quit, just do it. Don't tell people. So if you want to come back, you can do so without looking ridiculous.

I don't mind looking rediculous for the sake of my progress. Players come and go. :)

VINKA YOU MOTHER****ER STOP PLAYING WITH MY HEARTa

Just so you all know, I'm lvl 9 on Vinka's server. Baddest man in the land :cool:

Edit: I'm also the "chosen one" on Shaded Legend, jus sayin.

It says staff only :(

Like your phys on GK. How 2 conquer when ban?

I'm sorry sir, but I believe you have me confused with someone else.


Anyways, good stuff Vinka, loving that wall paper! Keep at it! Don't feel pressured by any means :).

woah i count 1 2 3 nERDS

hohoohohhheeeeeeeeeeeeeee

woah sson

orly, cause all i c is jealousy!!!!

Trade tables in the Auction House:
http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/...-update1-1.png

Seems like a mirror from GK. Why not make it more... Europa-ish? Put an emblem on it :) As long as it doesn't distract, it should be pretty cool. Wooden engraving on the bottom or something.