Ahem.... New thing for next year is summoning...

[Goldenjkered]

Look on the main page articles.....

 

 

 

All I have to say...

 

 

 

Discuss.

 

 

 

Edit: Looks like you'll be able to summon dogs, rabiits etc to follow you around and help you fight and possible to help you train skills. I can imagine the lag now...

[Chippy_PK]

SPAM? u need to have a topic on the thread you cant just tell them to go and look at something then post!

[SwreeTak]

 

That speck on the horizon we first mentioned in this month's Behind the Scenes is now a little closer. It's just about big enough to make out some writing on its side... What could it be? What does it say? And just what on RuneScape have wolpertingers got to do with it? All these questions and more are answered in today's brand new Development Diary (well, okay, maybe not the wolpertinger one just yet).

 

 

 

There's no more news here. Just click here and read our new Development Diary!

 

 

 

 

Summoning: Part 1 - Concept

 

Yes, you read that right ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ Summoning is coming! It's a big deal for everyone, so to whet your appetites, we're releasing four, count 'em, four mini Development Diaries in the run up to its January 2008 release. We'll be focusing on the work that goes into developing a new skill for RuneScape, so there won't be too many spoilers about the actual skill itself. Everything in these diaries is only scratching the surface ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ we don't want to give it all away before it comes out! There will, however, be some interesting titbits of information, which should give everyone plenty to discuss on the Forums...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, on Behind the Scenes

 

 

 

Summoning was first mentioned in the Behind the Scenes (BTS) of March 31st 2004. "We wrote that BTS to suggest some of the things we wanted to do, which we now could with the new RuneScape engine (RS2), to encourage players to move over from RuneScape Classic," says Paul, Senior Game Designer. A lot of those projects have since been released ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ Construction, Treasure Trails, boardgames, quest journals ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ but of the rest, Paul continues, "They're big projects and, previously, we couldn't work on many at the same time...some were a little on the optimistic side! (laughs) Summoning was being talked about by players even before that BTS, though, and we agreed it was a cool idea, so we had to do it." Players have been talking about and expecting it ever since.

 

 

 

For those that are wondering, the main ones left to do are a 'frozen lands' area, randomly-generated scenarios, lizardmen and player-owned shops. Senior Creative Designer, Mod Mark says, "Player-owned shops are the only thing that isn't currently possible, but we've made the Grand Exchange, which is close in concept and awesome in its own right. We're making advances in technology all the time, so player-owned shops might be possible in the future. The other things are still on the cards in the distant future." We did say in that BTS we'd do them 'within the year', and Mod Mark jokes, "The thing is, no one knows how long a RuneScape year is ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ we're still in year 169 of the 5th Age. If anything, we're making good progress. (laughs)" Paul finishes with, "Yeah, 169 is taking a while, isn't it? (laughs)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proof of life (runes)

 

 

 

"We actually made the life rune for Classic, but didn't release it. Some players discovered its existence, but there was no way to actually get it."

 

 

 

Paul

 

RuneScape Content Team

 

 

 

 

 

"Initially, we were considering Summoning as an addition to Magic. We actually made the life rune for Classic, but didn't release it. Some players discovered its existence, but there was no way to actually get it," says Paul. Developing the RS2 engine held up things for a while and, by the time we got back to Summoning, there'd been some changes. "At that point, Magic was already filling out and we were also concepting Desert Treasure and alternate spellbooks, so decided it would be better as a new skill rather than an addition to an older one," says Mod Mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The life rune, from RuneScape Classic, was never actually released

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mod Bennett had recently finished the Slayer skill (January 2005), so started on the design brief for Summoning as a skill, laying out how it would work," says Mod Mark. The concept was good, but it didn't fit in with what we were doing with the rest of the game. Considering the other content we were working on and that the game was growing, we decided that first concept for Summoning wouldn't have a broad enough appeal. So, after another few months break and a move to larger offices, we approached it from a different angle ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ widening the scope of the skill to make it as good as it could be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dedicated follower

 

 

 

"That's when ideas like the beasts of burden came in. It was at this point that the skill name changed to Animal Lore," says Mod Mark. The core idea being that these summoned animals would do more than just fight for you. "We were also thinking Animal Lore would be to Hunter, what Smithing is to Mining," he continues - you'd either catch and train up animals or call them out of the wild to aid you. Mod Bennett had since moved to another of our development teams, so Mod Wilson was given the task of writing a new design brief from scratch, taking this more follower-based approach.

 

 

 

First, we were thinking these animals would work like cat followers, in that to level the Summoning skill you'd need an animal out following you 100% of the time. "We were, however, keen on not wanting to turn the game into PetScape," says Mod Mark. Also, prototyping and testing made it obvious that creating the entire skill this way wouldn't have worked for technical reasons - every player with a pet out all the time would cause too much slowdown. It works on a small scale with cats, and might as a future Summoning update, but the completely follower-based approach was ruled out and, again, the skill was put on hold to await better technology and a fresh approach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bulldog follower, previously released as a teaser linked from a banner advert for the Knowledge Base

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summoning Animal Lore Summoning

 

 

 

"Summoning is the skill our players are expecting - they'd be disappointed if we released a 'summoning' skill but didn't call it that."

 

 

 

Paul

 

RuneScape Content Team

 

 

 

 

 

Mod Wilson was asked to refine the brief, incorporating more from Mod Bennett's original concept, but keeping the focus on all skills, not just combat. A few more months of concepting and prototyping later and everyone was finally happy with the idea for the skill and confident that it would work technically. The design brief was signed off (September 2006) and we started gearing up for development. Paul says, "It had returned to something that allowed us to rename the skill as Summoning. Besides, Summoning is the skill our players are expecting ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ they'd be pretty disappointed if we released a 'summoning' skill but didn't call it that." Mod Mark chips in, "Plus, there'd be those still asking when we are going to release Summoning, even though we just had! (laughs)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A timeline of important dates in Summoning's concepting (marked A-F; explained below). The development times for Slayer, Farming, Construction, Hunter and Summoning are below the timeline for comparison.

 

 

 

A) RuneScape 2 launched/Behind the Scenes article mentions Summoning; B) Mod Bennett writes the initial brief for Summoning; C) Jagex moves to a new office; D) Mod Wilson writes Animal Lore brief; E) Mod Wilson rewrites brief again, back to Summoning; F) Summoning development begins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The (very nearly finished) skill has ended up very close to that final brief. The animals you summon will be able to help you in a variety of combat and non-combat ways, and there are a lot of different types of animals that can be summoned - there's definitely something for everyone. Next week, we'll be releasing the first of three Summoning wallpapers. A week after that, we'll start to look at how the skill was actually developed in part 2 of this Development Diary.

 

 

 

Coming soon...Summoning: Part 2 - Development

 

 

 

 

And who said that summoning was never going to come? Well, almost everyone is the correct answer. I did myself too, I think.

 

But now it's great to see that it will come, and I can't wait until it comes out!

[Goldenjkered]

Thanks swedish boy :)

[SwreeTak]

Thanks swedish boy :)

 

 

 

No problem. And all moderators, this thread was the first on this subject. So don't lock, please. I can't wait until the disscussion starts. This might become this week's hot topic...

[The_Gabe]

I don't want mine to get locked :cry:

[llamster]

[hide]

 

That speck on the horizon we first mentioned in this month's Behind the Scenes is now a little closer. It's just about big enough to make out some writing on its side... What could it be? What does it say? And just what on RuneScape have wolpertingers got to do with it? All these questions and more are answered in today's brand new Development Diary (well, okay, maybe not the wolpertinger one just yet).

 

 

 

There's no more news here. Just click here and read our new Development Diary!

 

 

 

 

Summoning: Part 1 - Concept

 

Yes, you read that right ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ Summoning is coming! It's a big deal for everyone, so to whet your appetites, we're releasing four, count 'em, four mini Development Diaries in the run up to its January 2008 release. We'll be focusing on the work that goes into developing a new skill for RuneScape, so there won't be too many spoilers about the actual skill itself. Everything in these diaries is only scratching the surface ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ we don't want to give it all away before it comes out! There will, however, be some interesting titbits of information, which should give everyone plenty to discuss on the Forums...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, on Behind the Scenes

 

 

 

Summoning was first mentioned in the Behind the Scenes (BTS) of March 31st 2004. "We wrote that BTS to suggest some of the things we wanted to do, which we now could with the new RuneScape engine (RS2), to encourage players to move over from RuneScape Classic," says Paul, Senior Game Designer. A lot of those projects have since been released ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ Construction, Treasure Trails, boardgames, quest journals ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ but of the rest, Paul continues, "They're big projects and, previously, we couldn't work on many at the same time...some were a little on the optimistic side! (laughs) Summoning was being talked about by players even before that BTS, though, and we agreed it was a cool idea, so we had to do it." Players have been talking about and expecting it ever since.

 

 

 

For those that are wondering, the main ones left to do are a 'frozen lands' area, randomly-generated scenarios, lizardmen and player-owned shops. Senior Creative Designer, Mod Mark says, "Player-owned shops are the only thing that isn't currently possible, but we've made the Grand Exchange, which is close in concept and awesome in its own right. We're making advances in technology all the time, so player-owned shops might be possible in the future. The other things are still on the cards in the distant future." We did say in that BTS we'd do them 'within the year', and Mod Mark jokes, "The thing is, no one knows how long a RuneScape year is ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ we're still in year 169 of the 5th Age. If anything, we're making good progress. (laughs)" Paul finishes with, "Yeah, 169 is taking a while, isn't it? (laughs)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proof of life (runes)

 

 

 

"We actually made the life rune for Classic, but didn't release it. Some players discovered its existence, but there was no way to actually get it."

 

 

 

Paul

 

RuneScape Content Team

 

 

 

 

 

"Initially, we were considering Summoning as an addition to Magic. We actually made the life rune for Classic, but didn't release it. Some players discovered its existence, but there was no way to actually get it," says Paul. Developing the RS2 engine held up things for a while and, by the time we got back to Summoning, there'd been some changes. "At that point, Magic was already filling out and we were also concepting Desert Treasure and alternate spellbooks, so decided it would be better as a new skill rather than an addition to an older one," says Mod Mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The life rune, from RuneScape Classic, was never actually released

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mod Bennett had recently finished the Slayer skill (January 2005), so started on the design brief for Summoning as a skill, laying out how it would work," says Mod Mark. The concept was good, but it didn't fit in with what we were doing with the rest of the game. Considering the other content we were working on and that the game was growing, we decided that first concept for Summoning wouldn't have a broad enough appeal. So, after another few months break and a move to larger offices, we approached it from a different angle ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ widening the scope of the skill to make it as good as it could be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dedicated follower

 

 

 

"That's when ideas like the beasts of burden came in. It was at this point that the skill name changed to Animal Lore," says Mod Mark. The core idea being that these summoned animals would do more than just fight for you. "We were also thinking Animal Lore would be to Hunter, what Smithing is to Mining," he continues - you'd either catch and train up animals or call them out of the wild to aid you. Mod Bennett had since moved to another of our development teams, so Mod Wilson was given the task of writing a new design brief from scratch, taking this more follower-based approach.

 

 

 

First, we were thinking these animals would work like cat followers, in that to level the Summoning skill you'd need an animal out following you 100% of the time. "We were, however, keen on not wanting to turn the game into PetScape," says Mod Mark. Also, prototyping and testing made it obvious that creating the entire skill this way wouldn't have worked for technical reasons - every player with a pet out all the time would cause too much slowdown. It works on a small scale with cats, and might as a future Summoning update, but the completely follower-based approach was ruled out and, again, the skill was put on hold to await better technology and a fresh approach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bulldog follower, previously released as a teaser linked from a banner advert for the Knowledge Base

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summoning Animal Lore Summoning

 

 

 

"Summoning is the skill our players are expecting - they'd be disappointed if we released a 'summoning' skill but didn't call it that."

 

 

 

Paul

 

RuneScape Content Team

 

 

 

 

 

Mod Wilson was asked to refine the brief, incorporating more from Mod Bennett's original concept, but keeping the focus on all skills, not just combat. A few more months of concepting and prototyping later and everyone was finally happy with the idea for the skill and confident that it would work technically. The design brief was signed off (September 2006) and we started gearing up for development. Paul says, "It had returned to something that allowed us to rename the skill as Summoning. Besides, Summoning is the skill our players are expecting ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Ãâ they'd be pretty disappointed if we released a 'summoning' skill but didn't call it that." Mod Mark chips in, "Plus, there'd be those still asking when we are going to release Summoning, even though we just had! (laughs)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A timeline of important dates in Summoning's concepting (marked A-F; explained below). The development times for Slayer, Farming, Construction, Hunter and Summoning are below the timeline for comparison.

 

 

 

A) RuneScape 2 launched/Behind the Scenes article mentions Summoning; B) Mod Bennett writes the initial brief for Summoning; C) Jagex moves to a new office; D) Mod Wilson writes Animal Lore brief; E) Mod Wilson rewrites brief again, back to Summoning; F) Summoning development begins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The (very nearly finished) skill has ended up very close to that final brief. The animals you summon will be able to help you in a variety of combat and non-combat ways, and there are a lot of different types of animals that can be summoned - there's definitely something for everyone. Next week, we'll be releasing the first of three Summoning wallpapers. A week after that, we'll start to look at how the skill was actually developed in part 2 of this Development Diary.

 

 

 

Coming soon...Summoning: Part 2 - Development

 

 

 

 

And who said that summoning was never going to come? Well, almost everyone is the correct answer. I did myself too, I think.

 

But now it's great to see that it will come, and I can't wait until it comes out!

[/hide]

 

 

 

When I read that, the first thought I had was that it was fake.

 

 

 

To my delight, it wasn't.

[fakeitormakeit]

When I clicked on the update on the main site and read the article first thing in mind "yay!", then I was fearful of it being a boring skill but we gotta be optimistic!!!!

 

 

 

To people too lazy to read article: The bulldog in the k base was a hint of the summoning skill.

[Winner5555]

I was amazed when I read this, I feel stupid now, I've been telling people summoning will never be coming out :oops: .

[jonni]

Who cares about staking, i'm in love with jagex again.

[B_Ryan20]

wow, i bit disapointed by the "big" update but meh i just hope they update the servers to cope with this new lag

[Behind_you0]

Wolpertinger, Spiritwolf..

 

 

 

Looks fun to me!

[qeltar]

This is awful! I'm so mad I could scream. Summoning is going to suck, just SUCK!

 

 

 

I hate you jadex! Me and all my friends are canceling our membership now so this will cost you money!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/sarcasm

 

 

 

(Hey, I wanted to be the first at *something*. :D)

[Nom]

So this is how they plan to keep players while they destroy the rest of the game. . . :| .

[Adicolorz]

Wow, glad its finally here, i posted about summoning and i got flamed the hell out of lol.

 

 

 

Dunno about how good it will be as a skill though. Hopefuly it wont come into the combat triangle, actualy i'm not really looking foward to it i can only see it being whack tbh.

 

 

 

+1 to everyone who flamed me, lucky guess ftw :lol:

[Kragg3802]

Yay, new skill \

 

 

 

I hope it will be cool, and not boooring :-w

[Behind_you0]

In fact, they're so smart.

 

 

 

Lot of riots, protests and then they release a development diary to draw attention away from the Dueling update, and they make sure people keep playing.

 

 

 

Kudos!

[ninja_biff]

I would like to be hopeful that this isn't going to be a totally combat related skill, and it will be possible to train without gaining combat expierience I will easy get 1900 total lol can't wait

[aznmidget448]

Woot, Summoning, finally!

 

 

 

But i bet it's p2p only -.- ARGH!...

[Atroxide]

Since we all know it was supposed to be a big secret and they would of released hints untill the update... Well, I think I know why they didn't go along with their original plan.

 

 

 

As we all know, Duel Arena 3k max = epic fail. So I think jagex released the dairy early to get it off our minds and will hopefully make most of the ranters stop. and start ranting about how summoning will crash the economy like every other big update. [/sarcasm]

[PastyGangsta]

Woot! Summoning! I wonder how they will keep all of RS from falling into an abyss of lag... :-k

[Winner5555]

In fact, they're so smart.

 

 

 

Lot of riots, protests and then they release a development diary to draw attention away from the Dueling update, and they make sure people keep playing.

 

 

 

Kudos!

 

 

 

Yeah, I thought about that too, they posted the "big update" 2 months in advance so that they could let the hints slip out, and keep people playing even with the duel arena stuff.

[VjuliusT]

Hopes for it only being pvm or for skills/travel as pvp is overpowered to the max already.

[meili]

I am guessing a lot of players quit members on their stakers, even though they probably kep their mains. This is just Jagex's way of getting more subscribers as they have previously stated that they have an upsurge in signups whenever a new skill is released.

[Peronix]

Sounds... interesting.

 

 

 

I'm just hoping this summoning thing doesn't make combat even easier than it already is. Some boss monsters are already solo-able, but if you can call up level 100+ monsters to distract the bosses and fight with you that will be kind of cheap.