Alganon is a new MMORPG that has been turning heads and gathering fans for the past several months with several of their press releases! We've been covering Alganon for a few months now and have written articles on Alganon Features, Alganon Closed Beta & Lore, and Alganon Exclusive Screenshots. As the game progresses we should get more and more information to show you!
We were recently able to sit down with David Allen the CEO of Quest Online, the company creating Alganon, to get a better understanding of the game and some of the processes currently being worked on to finish Alganon. Much of the discussion is about the Alganon Editor, which we've included a link to at the bottom of the interview; Enjoy!
Q. Describe briefly how the Alganon Editor works and why it is such a powerful tool for building Alganon.
A. The Alganon Editor is the global workspace for the project. Every piece of Alganon Content is managed through this system. Assets, Animations, Sounds, Triggers, World Design, Object placement, Spawns, Loot Table, Item details, Class actions, Studies, Library data… everything.
Q. What exactly can the Alganon Editor do that players would see as changes in the world?
A. Everything. If it’s in the game, it’s managed with the AE.
Q. What are some of the features that really stand out in the landscape/world of Alganon?
A. Well if you mean related to the AE, it’s not as much about features in the landscape/world as much as the ability to customize things. The core textures and objects really define the ‘detail’, and right now would could go “hi res” if we wanted, but it’s important to keep the Video RAM and render passes to the lowest amount possible for a MMOG because of the wide variety of uncontrolled rendering that can take place.
Q. What are some of the areas of Alganon you had the most fun in working with in the editor, and why?
A. Actually our world building team has built the world; I have not personally built any areas. I did create the core maps, lore, and layout; the team then took that information and ran with it, refined it, and brought it to life with a custom look and feel.
Q. In the video you suggest that multiple developers can edit the world simultaneously. Doesn't this create conflicts of editing the same location?
A. No, because we have content locking. For example, only one person can work on the loot tables at once, and only one person can work on one given segment at once. But the great part is a MMOG is so large, and there are so many different data systems, you could have 50 people all working at once on different data sets or different segments. The AE allows this.
Q. Does Alganon support player created content you can input into the editor, such as new graphical interfaces the players may want to use?
A. Yes, our UI system is 100% LUA. We have plans on supporting an extensive API base for players who want to build their own interfaces.
Q. If there was one thing you wished could be in the editor, what would it be?
A. I honestly can’t think of anything more the AE “needs” to do. Granted there’s a few feature tie-ins we’re still waiting on, but that’s all already planned. When the AE is “complete” it will be a one-stop data and design environment for Alganon. I’d say the editor is around 90% complete at this time.
Thank you Mr. Allen for spending some time with us and we look forward to taking our first steps in Alganon soon!
Here's the exclusive video of the Alganon Editor:
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