As I've been using the SA Client exclusively since several weeks, I was curious how the new client would perform during a lagfest like last night's invasion. In the middle of the event, I switched back to 2D for 20 minutes to see the difference. Here's my objective feedback:
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Conclusion:
I am always open for changes and new technology, when I see improvements. I had tried the KR Client half a year ago, wanted to give it a chance. After 3 weeks I had given up, mostly because of functionality issues. I had serious disadvantages mostly in battle situations, compared to the 2D Client. This has changed with the SA Client! Today with SA, I see technical disadvantages when using 2D.
The graphics of SA are not bad, but could really need some improvements. The graphics need to be more crisp. The resolution should be better, especially when zoomed in. And a lot of bugs still need to be fixed. However, SA is Beta, and under these circumstances I am astonished that the client is that stable and functional.
There always will be people who will not like the new graphics, or people who hate the new paperdoll, or people who do not like change on principle, or people who have a 10 year old computer. But to my opinion, the SA Client will be an improvement for most players, and the client has great potential. You just have to give it a try, spend some time to properly set up the client and your macros, and tweak them thoroughly.
Screenshots of the invasion will be available on this site tomorrow afternoon:
Ultima Online Travelogues
The new travelogues now just contain SA Client screenshots.
The whole event was laggy (figures, cause Luna already is laggy even without monsters). The SA Client "compensated" the lag extremely well, most of the time I could move rather smoothly, although the reaction of spellcasting sometimes was a little delayed. When I logged in with the 2D Client, the screen was so choppy I could hardly move, the macro delays were similar.
I had a hard time finding corpses (both monster corpses and my own) with the SA Client. The object bars that come up with Ctrl+Shift are much bigger in SA and sometimes cannot be clicked away. This worked better in 2D. Same for bringing up health bars of monsters for targeting. However, after 2 hours of fighting I got used to it and managed to handle those object bars in SA most of the time. But there's room for improvement! (It really sucks if you manage to get looting rights on a boss monster and cannot find the corpse!)
It is more difficult in SA to determine players/monsters than in 2D. That's mostly because the 2D creatures and objects are more crisp and outlined. I hope this will improve in SA before the release.
The overall graphical experience in SA is WAY BETTER than in 2D. When you got used to SA graphics and then switch back to 2D, you will not like what you see anymore. SA has better environment graphics, great particle effects, great weather effects, nice lighting effects, and the monster graphics are better as well. The new paperdoll is very nice (although the male faces could need some improvements).
The functionality of the SA Client is very improved and outmatches the 2D Client. This is one of the main reasons why I doubt that I'll play 2D ever again. The macros in SA are very powerful. Changing weapons is fast and easy. You can get dressed within 1 second with a single mouse-click. Complex macros like poisoning a blade can be made. Great targeting functionality. Big zoomable screen. And so on. You just have to spend a little time and get used to it.
I crashed with both the 2D and the SA Client. The SA Client still has lots of crashing issues. During the 3 hours of the event, I crashed maybe 4 times. This needs to be solved.
The SA Client still has a long list of minor bugs. However, they do not render the client unplayable. Those are mostly small annoying issues, and I assume (and hope) that those will be resolved before the SA Client will be released.
With the SA Client, I have less performance issues than in 2D. And I don't have a high-end gaming computer. My 3D graphics card cost only $50. When you switch back to 2D after playing SA, you will be shocked how choppy the screen in 2D is, in comparison.
I had a hard time finding corpses (both monster corpses and my own) with the SA Client. The object bars that come up with Ctrl+Shift are much bigger in SA and sometimes cannot be clicked away. This worked better in 2D. Same for bringing up health bars of monsters for targeting. However, after 2 hours of fighting I got used to it and managed to handle those object bars in SA most of the time. But there's room for improvement! (It really sucks if you manage to get looting rights on a boss monster and cannot find the corpse!)
It is more difficult in SA to determine players/monsters than in 2D. That's mostly because the 2D creatures and objects are more crisp and outlined. I hope this will improve in SA before the release.
The overall graphical experience in SA is WAY BETTER than in 2D. When you got used to SA graphics and then switch back to 2D, you will not like what you see anymore. SA has better environment graphics, great particle effects, great weather effects, nice lighting effects, and the monster graphics are better as well. The new paperdoll is very nice (although the male faces could need some improvements).
The functionality of the SA Client is very improved and outmatches the 2D Client. This is one of the main reasons why I doubt that I'll play 2D ever again. The macros in SA are very powerful. Changing weapons is fast and easy. You can get dressed within 1 second with a single mouse-click. Complex macros like poisoning a blade can be made. Great targeting functionality. Big zoomable screen. And so on. You just have to spend a little time and get used to it.
I crashed with both the 2D and the SA Client. The SA Client still has lots of crashing issues. During the 3 hours of the event, I crashed maybe 4 times. This needs to be solved.
The SA Client still has a long list of minor bugs. However, they do not render the client unplayable. Those are mostly small annoying issues, and I assume (and hope) that those will be resolved before the SA Client will be released.
With the SA Client, I have less performance issues than in 2D. And I don't have a high-end gaming computer. My 3D graphics card cost only $50. When you switch back to 2D after playing SA, you will be shocked how choppy the screen in 2D is, in comparison.
--------------------
Conclusion:
I am always open for changes and new technology, when I see improvements. I had tried the KR Client half a year ago, wanted to give it a chance. After 3 weeks I had given up, mostly because of functionality issues. I had serious disadvantages mostly in battle situations, compared to the 2D Client. This has changed with the SA Client! Today with SA, I see technical disadvantages when using 2D.
The graphics of SA are not bad, but could really need some improvements. The graphics need to be more crisp. The resolution should be better, especially when zoomed in. And a lot of bugs still need to be fixed. However, SA is Beta, and under these circumstances I am astonished that the client is that stable and functional.
There always will be people who will not like the new graphics, or people who hate the new paperdoll, or people who do not like change on principle, or people who have a 10 year old computer. But to my opinion, the SA Client will be an improvement for most players, and the client has great potential. You just have to give it a try, spend some time to properly set up the client and your macros, and tweak them thoroughly.
Screenshots of the invasion will be available on this site tomorrow afternoon:
Ultima Online Travelogues
The new travelogues now just contain SA Client screenshots.
