My Thoughs on 2002 --
2002 incorporates features that actualy make it a marketable product, and a fun gaming environment. First things first... Thank you whoever made 2002 possible! (Yes, this includes the players.)
The Gameplay for 2002 is coming along very nicely. The new bodies, graphics, and levels in general look great, Graal finaly has it's own unique look (so now my friends can stop calling it a zelda rip off.) Things I think make Graal
The lighting effects -- Nothing new, but beautiful anyway, I like that 2002 is using them sparingly, I find that 2001 overused the lighting effects.
Footprints -- These look fantastic, and make the sprites, and gameplay look alot more professionaly done. Kudos to whoever though/created this system. I love 'em.
Gravity -- The gravity effect on NPC's is a very, very, nice touch, especialy for arrows, snowballs etc... from what I've seen it makes the game look alot less cheasy!
Gmap/3D Terraine -- Very, Very, nicely done, however you did this Stefan, it really works, I don't know if it's just me, but the new gmaping actualy feels less laggy than the old .graal levels... It also looks very cool.
Stamina -- Nice system, I like it-- One sugestion that comes to my mind, make it build slower at night or not at all, so players need to sleep for a few min or something-- Alot would think it's lame at first, but new people to the game might be like "Woah! this rocks!"
New gani (animations) -- The bag is very cute, and adds a touch of "completeness" or a hint that this game has thought behind it-- after all, it's the little things that make a difference! The weapons; bow, swords, etc... look fantastic, I love how it's actualy animated nicely now!
Music -- I downloaded the 5 mp3s in the 2 music packs today and all I have to say is-- WOW! The music is VERY, VERY, VERY, good; It fits the game very well, has depth, and is somethign I could eaisly listen to alot (I actualy burned the mp3's on an audio cd so I can listen to it in my car haha!) Very nice work, whoever is doing the music is most likely a pro-- from what I hear in the mp3's he/she's probably done some work for other soundtracks before. Once again, Very Nice!!!
2002 -- We really need a new name... Did we ever come up with one on the forums? I'd be happy with "Graal : The Adventure" myself, anything but a number
The other little tings -- I always notice something else thats cool, even though it's just a simple thing (maybe 1-2 lines of npc script) it really makes all the differnece, I can't name all the cool things in 2002 because I dont know about all of them (yet)! Even though I can't name them, they definately add to the game!
Things I think would help Graal (2002):
Make a new website just for the new 2002 server. Make mystical eye candy thats from the game for graphics, and make it look really pretty. For content, Information on each of the kingdoms, skills, and generaly more documentation on playing Graal. Get someone who's good with words to word all the content on the site, and write up a cool intro story about the world (so people new to graal get mystified and want to play even more!) Presentation is key, Graal 2002 needs a "showman" to present it and make it desireable. Every time I send friends to Graal2001.com they just tell me "Looks lame dude." It'd be nice to see a site that looks more like a gaming site
Keep cranking out the music! I love it, keep adding things to do as part as RP!
Seeing as Graal is getting pretty big (almost 40mb now) It'd be nice if people had the option to buy a Graal Box Set with there subscription (include a t-shirt or something, with a Graal CD, account info, and short manual!) for and extra 19$ or something -- this isn't really needed YET, but as the game nears 100mb it might be cool to have (hey, maybe retail stores will start carrying it! heh -- for that I would include an account activation code, or product key that you can insert instead of paying online [e.g. you've pre-paid, so you enter a product key online to create your account instead of dealign with paypal])
The gameplay itself, I'm confident Stefan and the 2002 team can make a very good product, I'd like to see Graal grow, Marketing is important, and with Graal 2002 arround the corner, nows the time to start marketing Graal!
*drool*
Cool magic NPC's that creat little lights (white or blue or something) that float arroun the person casting the spell would be very cool, It'd also look fantastic for a screenshot to use as promotional graphics!
It'd be neet to see tropical fish NPC's in the water
I think Graal's new look is really nice, One thing I might add to it though would be speach bubbles when players chat to make it look more professional and complete-- Probably an easy thing to do, but will make a big diference in the overall feel of the game
Graal is really looking like it will go somewhere with 2002, I wish I could get an un-payed internship or something to work for Cyberjourer on Graal with Stefan and the gang! --but that's not gonna happen ha!
Anyway, those are my thoughts, if your spent your time reading all of this, I can only say one thing... WHATS WRONG WITH YOU! YOU SHOULD BE PLAYING 2002!!! haha
Cheers!
Urizen
(Very happy Graal Player)