Related topics: User Interface , Graphical Errors , Frequently Asked Questions
Articles
Graphics Engine Updates
Event
Updates
Darkness Ascendant
Colored lighting effects introduced. Many lights, including the sun and moon, will now cast colored light in both hardware and software modes.
Throne of Destiny Expansion
Updated from DirectX 7 to DirectX 9 and from 16-bit to 32-bit texture buffers.
A complete texture update (6,500 textures).
Some low-poly models (such as Gromnies and Monougas) updated.
True Z-Buffering support.
Native window mode (no more need to patch the client.)
Anisotropic Filtering and V-Sync support.
Basic lighting effects on your character.
New pop-up windows for help system and trade skill interactions.
3D models of people and creatures are now shown in the ID panel instead of an icon.
Software mode will no longer be supported.
Weather Effects including landscape fog left out of new code base due to performance issues.
Reprisals
Higher Resolution Textures activated for ToD clients. (From the Texture detail dropdown box, select Very High setting)
Toward Ancient Shores
Lightning effects disabled due to complaints (you can still see the effect without the sound, however, at the Battlefield of Ayn Tayan ).
Shifting Gears
Landscape distance fog reintroduced.
The Risen Princess
Weather effects reintroduced.
Model & Texture Updates
Click each event link to see some before & after images
Event
Models/Textures Updated
Darkness Ascendant
Drudges , Golems
Hollow Victory
Tuskers
Chains of Command
Character Underwear
The Widening Gyre
Olthoi
A Reign of Stone
Lugians
The Gathering Storm
Mosswarts , Cows
Flesh and Blood
Empyrean Stone Head
Festivus
Banderlings , Human hands updated with thumbs
Mirror, Mirror
Armored Skeletons , Armored Undead
The Madness of Men
Gelidite Acolyte , Gelidite Initiate , Gelidite Lord
Across the Vast Divide
Small Creepy Statues
A New Threat
Fern Plants, Mites
Pillars Made of Sand
Mosswart Idols
From the Darkness Born
Phyntos Wasps
Throne of Destiny Expansion
Lifestone , Gromnies , Monougas , Reedsharks , Skeletons
Friend and Foe
Tumeroks
Shifting Gears
Landscape: Grass, Ice, Desert etc
Winter's Knight
Pine Trees
Quiet Before the Storm
Aluvian Doors
Shifting Shadows
Hairstyles
Animation Updates
Event
New Animation
Thorns of the Hopeslayer
Casting portal recall spells now make you play some purple bubbly physics scripts for about two seconds before blipping you away.
Twilight's Gleaming
New logout motion and animation. Now, when a player logs out, they get purple bubbly effects and fade out.
The Widening Gyre
When you pick up something from a different height the animation is different -- arm swipe only, no bending.
The First Strike
New animation for the house recall function that more closely mirrors the duration of the recall.
Atonement
The animations and sounds from double- and triple-striking just weren't cool enough, so we tweaked them slightly. Thrill at the enhanced swinging action!
Visions in the Darkness
New animations for @lifestone, @marketplace, and @pklite commands.
A New Threat
New backflip animation for Mites .
Quiet Before the Storm
The Logout/Lifestone animation has been changed to have a smoother looking animation.
Misc Changes
??
Shadow creatures now transparent.
Before
After
Should the Stars Fall
The animation speed for equipping and un-equipping bows and crossbows has been increased.
The Gathering Storm
Nighttime visibility has been increased.
Dead of Winter
Snow texture brightness reduced.