Mabinogi - Arciellia
Hi Milletians,
We are excited to share the first developer blog post, “Finding the Erinn we dream of" that has been written about the Mabinogi Eternity Project! We are planning to share more with you in the future in a space created especially for Eternity. More information on the development of Eternity, behind-the-scenes blog posts, videos, screenshots and other related information are some of the things you can expect to see in those future posts. For now, we will continue to share some blog posts with you separately, until the space is ready. Please look forward to it!
Please enjoy these four videos that we would love to share with you, showcasing what the world of Erinn could look like.
A Glimpse of Mabinogi Eternity: Tir Chonaill
A Glimpse of Mabinogi Eternity: Nighttime Milletian
A Glimpse of Mabinogi Eternity: Fishing
A Glimpse of Mabinogi Eternity: Milletian in Tir
Thank you,
- The Mabinogi Team
“Finding the Erinn We Want”
From the time we first made the decision to replace Mabinogi's Pleione engine with something newer and more modern, our list of factors that needed to be accounted for has only grown.After all, if we replace the engine, we need to upgrade the game's visuals in turn. The problem is, we quickly discovered that everyone had a different idea of what "Mabinogi with updated graphics" would look like.
Some were picturing radical improvements, on the level of what someone might expect from a full-blown sequel. Others had far more modest changes in mind, more on the level of a simple HD remaster.
It got to the point where it was difficult to reach a consensus, so in order to make progress on this issue, we took a look at the game together to see which visual elements we thought needed to be improved.
"Which visual elements were most in need of improvement?"
This was pretty clear right from the outset. In addition to the countless opinions and feedback we'd received from Milletians, the dev team had a long list of things they wished they could do but weren't able to due to the limitations of the old engine.
There were so many things we were frustrated about! Things that are considered part of the basic feature set of other engines were beyond the capabilities of ours, so it was only natural we'd have strong opinions on the matter.
"Well then, let's fix all those things in the new engine!"
The dislocated shoulders, wonky physics on outfits and hairstyles, greater freedom in customizing textures, advanced ability to handle light and reflections... There was no shortage of things we wanted to take a crack at, so we on the Engine Replacement Task Force began excitedly uploading some of our existing resources to the new engine.
That said...
"Is this still Mabinogi …?"
Due to the fundamental differences in the new engine, even our fully-realized designs appeared very different from the look we'd all grown accustomed to.
It was only to be expected, though. Our current engine uses light in a very simple way, acting as a sort of gradient between 'brightness' and 'darkness', while the new engine specializes in the realistic expression of light, lending itself to very nuanced depictions of light and shadow.
Of course, this was just a proof-of-concept--we hadn't configured the shaders or applied any other settings, so once we'd gotten those set up properly, it was possible to recreate a feel much closer to that of the Pleione engine.
Still, it was clear that even that initial configuration left a lot of room for improvement--we had our work cut out for us.
Our take-away from that experiment was clear:
"If we set about 'improving' things without establishing a clear direction for ourselves,
we might lose the heart and soul of Mabinogi."
As a Milletian who's played Mabinogi since its launch, I didn't want Mabinogi to lose its unique flavor in the pursuit of improvement, so I returned once more to Mabinogi's deep archives of art and design work.
"What IS the 'Mabinogi style'?"
It was surprisingly simple to uncover what the 'Mabinogi style' entails by revisiting the efforts our artists have made to overcome the limitations of the engine and create a richer, more abundant sense of expression within the game.
Detailed texturing and modeling help to surmount the engine's limitations
Meticulously thought-out environmental design helps to avoid a sense of monotony caused by the engine's simplistic ability to handle lighting expression.
Within the Pleione engine, nuanced lighting isn't really possible, as light calculations have to be done based not only on the source of the light, but also taking into account the data and positioning of the models.
To avoid a sense of visual monotony, Mabinogi's art team has focused on thoughtful environmental design, adding detail via textures, and placing each and every one of the background props with care.
It's those efforts to circumvent or overcome the limits of our existing engine that have contributed greatly to Mabinogi's unique style.
We felt that these values that have shaped the game are worth preserving.
"So, what direction should Eternity take?"
It may sound obvious when I put it this way, but our goal here is to keep Mabinogi's unique identity and values while improving upon those things that are currently lackluster or disappointing.A simple update to a more modern graphical standard, while good, wouldn't be enough.
But we, the Milletians, already knew what was needed.
In all the retouched screenshots you've posted online and through social channels, we can see the hopes and dreams for how Mabinogi's world might change for the better.
Upgrading to a new engine will give us the ability to depict the world of Erinn in greater detail than ever before,
but rather than creating a new art style, we should focus our efforts on finally breaking through the previous engine's technical limitations that had limited our ability to express the things we'd imagined.
"Erinn should always feel like Erinn"
This is the goal we've set for ourselves with Mabinogi Eternity.We promise to give the very best we have to give so that Mabinogi can become a tale that lasts forever.
Thank you for your continued support, Milletians.
~ Mani, a Milletian of 19 Years
and, The Mabinogi Team
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