AoC-news-Game-Director-displays-plans-for-the-future
Game Director Craig Morrison laid out the road ahead for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures in his February "Letter from the Game Director", which details the coming 1.07 update and new features that will soon be making their way into the game, most notably an offline progression system for subscribers. Morrison also explained plans to enhance the in-game travel system by adding more travel options within the various playfields.
Now when we looked at it, we felt that the travel between regions was pretty well handled now. What we wanted to address was the travel within the playfield. So in the next update you will find more travel options within the playfields themselves. New wagoner NPCs will be present in major outposts and quest hubs who will allow players to travel to notable locations within that playfield. So for example in the Eiglophian Mountains you will find the new NPC in the village of Dinog and he will offer one way transportation to a number of locations such as the Hunting Lodge, Ymir’s Pass or Yakhmar's Cave.
The lead artist Terje Lundberg said that the look and feel of Hyboria was based on the interpretation of the stories written by Robert E. Howard. "When you read Howard's work you're immediately drawn into a gritty world of dark and ancient forces, and mighty and decadent civilizations. You feel the great weight of the ages and sense the very history in the crumbling mortar and the ruins. Therefore we've been mindful from the outset to create a world which is true to Howard's writing. There is majesty in Hyboria but it's of a monolithic, brutal and primitive kind - it certainly isn't "high fairie" where everything appears as though it was built only yesterday and is devoid of context.
Lundberg said the game at launch will contain three countries, Cimmeria, a northern country with snow and highlands, Aquilonia, which contains "green hills, lush riverbeds, and the marvelous city of Tarantia", and Stygia, with mostly deserts and "some beautiful cities" — as well as the island of Tortage which "has a diverse geography ranging from jungle to harbors.
Five principal individuals have worked on the music and audio for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. The Audio Director is Morten Sørlie, who created the soundtrack for Anarchy Online - Shadowlands. Simon Poole (Lead Sound designer on "Dreamfall - The Longest Journey") took over as Audio Director in May 2007, and saw the project through to completion. The sound designers are Tord D. Nikolaisen and Fredrik Martol, and composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen wrote the musical score for the game. To create a musical score for the Hyborian universe, composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen turned to many different sources: For the music of the different ethnic groups, Haugen studied traditional music from relevant parts of the world. For the overall sound of the Hyborian Age, Haugen studied ancient and medieval music as well as the romantic orchestra repertoir and film scores, while avoiding conventions that connect too closely to specific historical periods. The female vocalist heard in the score is Norwegian singer Helene Bøksle. Norwegian punk rock artists Turbonegro contributed three bonus songs to the soundtrack CD. One of them written specifically for the album.
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