Earlier today, NCsoft held a media conference to officially announce the full details for its upcoming mobile MMORPG, Lineage 2M. Based on the classic PC version Lineage 2 which launched in 2003, NCsoft is aiming to push the technological limits of Korean MMORPGs with Lineage 2M. There are 4 technology foundations for this title, and we will explain further below. Just a note, we will just be highlighting some of the key features, since there is too much fluff spoken during the event. A 4th quarter launch is targeted for Lineage 2M.
● One of the four tech foundations, “Full 3D Graphics” here refers to the 4K UHD resolution which Lineage 2M is capable to run in. This is mostly for the PC version, which we will talk about later in the article.
● One of the four tech foundations, “Collision Detection” basically means players can feel more realistic impact when interacting with objects in-game, such as fights. This system will also improve how monsters react to attacks, especially for boss raids.
● One of the four tech foundations, “Seamless Loading” is one huge deal as NCsoft claims players will never have to load into any area on the open world. There will be transport options such as teleport and Wyvern rides to facilitate traveling.
● One of the four tech foundations, “One Channel Open World” is the continuation of the seamless loading concept. Each channel will reportedly hold over 10,000 players at any time, enabling massive PVE and PVP conflicts.
● NCsoft founder and CEO Kim Taek-jin (below) boasted on stage that “in the next few years, there will be no game that can technically follow Lineage 2M.”
● While Lineage 2M is using Lineage 2 as a design basis, there will be new characters appearing, possibly along with new areas exclusive to Lineage 2M.
● There are “a dozen” world bosses, and guilds will have to fight each other for them, sort of like a PVPVE scenario.
● I am not really sure about this, but it was claimed that other than the classic classes, there will be original ones as well. Lineage 2M will launch with around 100 class types. This is not far-fetched as the PC version, including advancements, had way over that number.
● Addressing a concern for mobile devices, NCsoft claimed that the game itself will adjust graphics and how many players are shown on the screen according to the mobile device specifications. The aim is to maintain the the full experience no matter the mobile device.
● Next up, we are introduced to Purple, the new PC emulator from NCsoft to play mobile games. Players on mobile and players using Purple on PC share the same server, making Lineage M a cross-platform game. Purple also has native support for keyboard and mouse.
● Lineage 2M will be the first title on Purple, which will be optimized through this emulator. Purple will also have live-streaming functions, along with watching other streams. For now, Purple uses mobile payment channels instead of traditional PC top-up options.
