Brain of Savior! Research Survey Report

Particle Effect Optimization

Hello everyone, this is Tree of Savior Dev. team.   This posting is about particle effect optimization.     The performance of the client has improved a lot through 64-bit migration, DirectX 11 update&optimization, but the multi-core performance was not fully utilized.   One of the most crowded tasks to the single-core was particle effects. Tree of Savior, where many monsters appear and multiple hit-type skills exist, improving the performance of particle effects was the biggest task. In addition, since the particle effect engine only allowed up to 8,192 particle effects, there was a problem that the effect could not fully appear when many effects occurred.   We have increased the maximum effects to 32,768 by improving the engine, but as the number of effects increased, the frame dropped.    To solve this problem, improvements were made to make full use of multi-cores for updating and expressing particles. With this improvement, we have verified that the frame remained similar even when the particle count limit was increased by 4 times.       <Screenshot for comparison> ▲ Frame dropped - limit by 8,192 in the previous engine ▲ Frame dropped - limit by 32,768 in the previous engine ▲ Frames maintained - limit by 32,768 in the new engine   We expect that a stable frame will be maintained even when playing 4 times more effects than before, and all particles that have been omitted in the past will be displayed normally. Additionally, with the improved particle output capability, particle scene can be richer which leads us to expect that the quality of various skills and effects will be improved.       This particle optimization patch was applied during the scheduled maintenance on November 9. We will continue to work on creating interesting game scenes by continuously improving the engine and low-quality effects.       Thank you.

[TOS] "Pied Piper" / Artist Experience Project Trailer#1

Greetings, Saviors!   Introducing our new Artist Experience Project Trailer#1 for Pied Piper! Have a listen below, and stay tuned for more news!           * Kevin.M - He Shall Come : Artist Experience Project    - Kevin.M / Celléstial (Composer)     - Vocal : Anastasia Charakidou    - English lyrics : SungHa Hong   - Arranged by Kevin M./ Hong Sung Kyu     - Video by Athanasios Lazarou   - Film & Edited by Athanasios Lazarou IMCGames is inviting talented and passionate artists.   You can play an important role in making upcoming trailers.  The door is open to everyone so please do not hesitate to participate (sound@imc.co.kr)   [Credit] *Title : Pied Piper - He Shall Come Music Produced by INITIUM Sound Lab  Recording Engineer : Matthew Kim Recording A. Engineer : Isaac Chan Video Assistant by Peter Xiong Guitar : Jo Sung Jun Keys & Programming : Kevin M. Synth Programming :  Hong Sung Kyu  Drum : Ki Woong Choi Drum Recorded by Ampia Studio    - Studio Director : Jay Wj Choi Mixing & Mastering : LoudBell Studio    - MoonSoo Park(CTO) A&R Coordinator : SungHa Hong Original edit by Athanasios Lazarou  Video Producer : sevin Music Published by IMCGAMES Co., Ltd.

Questions and Answers about TOS #3

I am syKim.  For those of you still don’t know me, please check out our Questions and Answers for Tree of Savior #2.  This week, we will answer more of your questions that we have gathered from our Facebook page and some other sources.  Of course, since Tree of Savior is still under development, the answers that are given below can be changed in the future. Q) Is there message feature in the game?  For example, is it possible to send a message to a user who is offline? A) Yes it’s possible.  The chatting system in TOS is very similar to smartphone messenger.   When you log in to the game, all the messages that you have received when you were offline will be displayed.  All the previous messages and dialogues will also be saved in our servers so unless you delete them, you will be able to view all of them.   there were varieties of emoticons that can used in chatting and messaging, and these emoticons can also be displayed above the characters when you are chatting with other friends.   Q) If there are only 8 directions for keyboard, then does it mean you can only attack the monsters which are nearby on non-target basis?  What if I want to cast some buffs on specific monsters or players? A) That’s a very detailed question.  Many people are asking this question so I think I need to clarify on this question.   For the characters such as swordsman or cleric which mainly use short range physical attacks, their attacks will be directed towards the monsters nearby.  However, for some other kinds of skills such as healing, so-called buff zones will be created on the ground and by stepping on those buff zones, the effects will be activated.  These buff zones can be also used on the monsters for inflicting damages or to debuff some effects on the monsters.  By using these skills cleverly, more strategic battles are possible. For the characters that mainly use long range attacks such as wizard or archer, their basic attacks will be targeted automatically towards the monsters that are closest to them from their eye points.   This automatic target feature will be also available when you are talking with NPCs or when you want to view other players’ information.   Even when you are engaged in a battle filled with lots of other players or monsters, most of time, you will be able to attack the monster that you want to attack when you change the direction to that monster.  If you want to target a monster that is further away, then you can manually target the monster using SHIFT and cursor key. Archer can move while attacking an enemy, but the damages that will be inflicted on the enemy depend on the distance from the enemy.  So you need to maintain appropriate distances from the enemies in the game. For a few other skills, while pressing onto hotkey, you can move to any location you want by pressing cursor keys.   Q) Can we play the game on Mac? A) Yes. It’s possible if you install boot camp.   Q) Are there Assassin or Thief classes? A) No. We don’t have any criminal classes at the moment.  However, we do have Rogue and Corsair classes that are specialized in hiding and sudden attacks.  We also have Wugushi class which is specialized in using poison.   Thank you.

Thank You for Your Participation in ICBT2

  Greetings, This is the Tree of Savior Dev Team. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have participated in the tests as well as those who, unfortunately, did not get the chance to be with us yet. We were able to gather valuable feedback and suggestions from all of you and we will make use of these for our future development of TOS. Thank you so much for your participation and support during the second ICBT and we hope to meet all of you again soon.   Thank you!   I would like to say "Thank you" to all of you who participated for the test and as well as those who, unfortunately, did not get the chance to be with us for the test. We were very pleasant to see you playing the game and we were also able to gather some meaningful data and reports throughout the test. We will meet you again with more improvements in the game next time. From Producer and Director, Seyong Kim From Art Director, Maggi From Art Designer, Mina Kim From Content Designer, Orange Smith From UI Designer, Jooyeon Seo From Effect/SFX Designer, Mayoking From Art Designer, Heajin Sung From Art Designer, Minkyong Kang From UX/UI Manager, Gilyong Lee From Animator, Sookyung Kim From Animator, Minwoo Park From Animator, Seunghyeon Myeong From Character Designer, Dami Kim From Content Designer, Ginyi Lee From Character Designer, Jiae Park From Our Content Designers From Our Background Designers holeheartedly thank you! emphasize while (true). From Senior Programmer, Sanghyup Shin   We LOVE this man!          

Questions and Answers about TOS #6

Hello.  I am syKim. I will answer the questions that we received during the last week from Facebook and Developers’ blog. Please note that the answers that are given below can be changed in the future. Q) Can Companions grow in terms of their appearances? Such as Pocket***ster’s evolution. A) We don’t have any evolution system as of yet. Instead, you will be able to level up your companions, increase their stats or attributes and equip items onto them.   Q) If there are not enough spaces in barrack, do we have to delete a companion in order to add one more character? A) No. You don’t have to. You can move to bigger barrack. ▲ Bigger barrack. You will want to invite your friends. Of course, bigger = more expensive Q) How do you get rid of the acquired items? Do we sell them to NPCs? Or Do monsters drop only in-game currency? A) No. They will also drop other items besides in-game currency. These items can be sold to NPCs or they can also be used as ingredients for crafting or cooking and they can also be used as level up for Gem items. I will tell you more about Gems, Card items and their level ups in the future. Q) Is there Monk Class? A) Yes. There is. Monk class belongs to Cleric type classes. Fist is used in skills, but separate knuckle item does not exist. Instead, it will apply the equipped item’s stats on its skills. ▲For your reference, female monk looks like this. Q) Are there any special classes that we haven’t seen from the other games before? A) Since we have about 80 classes, we do have special, diverse classes that you haven’t expected before. In TOS, there are master NPCs who help the growth of each class, to put it in other word, there are various types of classes as there are various types of NPCs. For example, if you met an Appraiser NPC in the game, there may be an Appraiser class. Or if you met a Shepherd NPC, you may be able to change your character’s class to Shepherd class.    ▲ Rodelero, Sorcerer, Dievdirbys - the image which was named Necromancer on the last post is actuallly Sorcerer. Sorry. Q) Do we have to buy arrows or bullets when we play with an Archer? A) No. You don’t have to buy arrows. However, for certain skills, you need specific arrows for those skills. There is a separate class which is specialized in crafting and using these specific arrows or items.   I will tell you more about various classes in the game from the next week. I want to say thank you to ya all who cheer us and support us all the time.  

Weekly Question and Answer – August 12th, 2016

1. I’m curious to know how auto-matching works in Team Battle League. Can you let us in on how the teams are matched together? The process of matching teams together for the Battle League involves two major steps. First, teams applying for the Battle League are sorted by the average level of their members. Then, the system compares the MMR of the sorted teams and searches for the best match within a limited MMR range. If the matching process is delayed, this MMR range is automatically adjusted to allow for a bigger difference between both teams and reduce waiting time. Along with these methods, our plan is to gradually improve the system so as to include Elo ratings in the matching process as well. 2. Having the guild master as the sole administrator of a guild can be a little inconvenient. Any plans to create a sort of sub-master for guilds? Having a single leader in a guild can in fact be less than ideal for the other members when the guild master isn’t around, especially in larger guilds. Because of this, we are planning to develop a new role of sub-master for guilds that want to assign one. This sub-master will have the authority to perform some of the same actions as the guild master, allowing members to participate in guild activities even when the guild master is not available. Nothing concrete has been settled about this feature yet, but we’ll keep you updated with more details in the future. 3. Will Rank 8 increase the current maximum level? Indeed, it will. As you know, level 280 corresponds to the current maximum of Rank 7. Applying the Rank 8 patch, then, will not only unlock the new classes we already introduced in our blog, but also expand the maximum level to 330 for characters and companions. And, of course, the maximum team level will also increase accordingly. 4. Sometimes the boss monster in “Guild Boss Hunting” doesn’t appear when it should. Is this being fixed? We are aware that this problem tends to occur at times during guild events, so to solve it, we’ve decided to adjust the conditions of the event. We’re in the process of developing a solution to this error and expect to apply the fix in a future patch. 5. We’ve waited long enough for the bunny costumes now, and the new swimwear costumes you released in Korea look really cute too. When can we expect them on Steam? If you’ve been waiting for the bunny series costumes and the new swimwear line, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’re planning on introducing them both on the TP Shop on Steam very soon. We’re very thankful for the interest the community has shown in our costume sets and will continue to develop new cosmetic items for those who enjoy personalizing their characters.

Class Introductions on Squire and Centurion

I am syKim from TOS Dev Team. I want to say “Thank you” to all of you who sent us various feedbacks on our last blog post, “Alchemist Class Introduction”. Among the classes that will make their first appearances in CBT2, we think that it will help our fans to understand better if we introduce some of those classes that have unique controls on our blog. So today, I will introduce Squire and Centurion in details. ▲ Male Squire, Female Squire Squire is a Swordsman-based 5th ranked class which mainly supports other classes. It ties up big-sized monsters and makes them immobile, but it doesn’t have any other skills that are usable in battles. As Blacksmith fixes items, Squire can also fix items that have low durability.  In this case, the items fixed by Squire last longer with sturdier durability compared to the items fixed by Blacksmith. ▲ Durability is 58/38.  You can see that the item is over-fixed. Squire can also touch up items to increase their stats temporarily and set up a stall to touch up other players’ items after receiving some payments from them. ▲ This sword will have ATK +14 for 200 times in the next 4 hours. Let’s go meet Squire again when the effect fully diminishes. Squire can set up a base camp for its party members on the fields.  Party members can return to the base camp from anywhere in the game and the camp also serves as a Storage. ▲ When you are hungry, you should eat even if it’s raining. Also, buffs that can be casted on party members at the camp increase the duration time maximum twice compared to buffs casted on other fields so make appointments and meet your party members here.     ▲ Female Centurion Centurion, which was briefly explained at one of the previous posts on Dev Blog, is 6th ranked Swordsman-based class and it will make its first appearance in CBT2. Centurion opens so-called Formation by ordering “Call-Up”.  The people who want to participate Formation pass their controls to Centurion. When you want to go out of Formation, just press one of directional keys to go out of Formation. We used to have an exclusive Formation UI at the last year’s version of TOS to change each member’s location, but we deleted this UI after we found an easier way. Now, the commander, Centurion can type in the numbers that are displayed on Formation to change locations of party members.   Centurion can also strategically change Formation and go out of Formation any time. “Phalanx” concentrates Blocking rate to the 3 members in the first row. “Testudo” increases all members’ Blocking and Defense rates.  All members will move slowly and unable to attack, but it will be useful in penetrating crowded battle fields. “Crane Wing” decreases Defense rates of all enemies that enter into the field so it is useful when concentrating attacks to a herd of enemies.  Players can move while in this Formation so it will be more effective when there are more long-range attacking characters. “Schiltron” is useful when defending against rushing enemies, and “Wedge” concentrates all attacking power to the person at the front. Other Formations such as “Skirmish” is a 3rd circle skill which won’t be included in CBT2 so I omitted it from this post.   We are working hard for CBT2 and we will announce the detailed schedules for CBT2 within a short period. After we announce the schedules, we will also explain the changes that will occur in CBT2. Thank you.

Questions and Answers about TOS #5

Hello.  I am syKim. I will answer the questions that we have received this week. Q) What are other transportation methods besides Companions?  Portal using NPC? or Warp using an item? A) You can transport between the statues of goddess that are scattered across the villages and the fields in the game.  If there are no statue of goddess on particular field, then you can transport to the last place that you were warped using an warp item or the place near the statue that you already know. ▲You can trasport to the other statues of goddess using the statue of "Vakarine , the goddess of evening star". Q) Can we move when we use a skill from wizard?  I watched a video clip and it seems that wizard was casting a skill on monsters by moving blue circle using keyboard.  I guess we can't move when we do that right?  I want to know more about that. A) Not all skills are using that interface, but it is usually used when we use certain skills that need to select certain spots on the ground.  For example, summoning flame spots on the ground.  While holding onto a hotkey for any one of those kind of skills, use directional keys to move blue circle to the spot that you want to cast a skill on, and then release the hotkey to use the skill.  When you quickly press and release a hotkey, then the skill will be casted in front of the direction which your character is looking at. ▲ We have several input interfaces depending on the type of skills.  For example, for skills that need to press keyboard keys repetitively, we use this interface Q) For the videos that have been released so far, we haven't  seen any effects that are related to abnormal status on characters.  Are there de-buffs as well? A) Actually we have many of them.  But, since we are releasing video clips for the game which we are developing at the moment, we have a lot to show you besides abnormal status or de-buffs. ▲ Stunned status.  You can see yellow stars even when you close your eyes in stunned status. Q) How many Companions can I own?  Are they with the characters at barrack as well?  Can they equip any items? A) Companions stay with the characters at barrack.  If the maximum number of characters that is allowed for a particular barrack is four and you have a companion, then you can only have three characters in the barrack. When you start the game, you select both your character and your companion at barrack and go to the field.  This means, for one companion you can share it with various characters.  Of course, the level of closeness between your companion and each of your characters will be different.  We have a plan to have equipment for companions. Q) I don't like characters' voices and the effect sounds.  Could you please change them? A) Characters' voices and the effect sounds are all prototype at the moment.  They will be re-worked before we launch the commercial service. Q) When there are two wizards, I heard that there is a skill which spreads to wider area.  Can two different characters combine or merge together to have special skills? A) Well, I think combining or merging is not the right words in our game.  However, we have some skills which can be collaborated with different classes of characters in the game. ▲Attack the monsters using the fragments you can get from hitting Ice Wall ▲"Sadhu" can give it's vitality to the other classes.  But by doing so it won't be able to move...   Q) I know there are elements in the game.  Are there also attribute system as well? A) Basically, depending on monsters' species/size/defense type, attribute of attacks and de-buff status, there will be some synergies on attacks.  There will be also some synergy effects depending on the various types of combinations of  skill + skill and attribute + skill. For example, "Bleeding De-Buff" + "Stab" attack will create "Greater Bleeding De-Buff". Q)  I really want dual long swords. A) There was an opinion inside our development team to allow certain classes to equip a weapon on left hand.  This has not been confirmed yet, so if we decide to allow it, then we will introduce this to you in the future. We always check your opinions, cheers, and diverse messages that you send us via Facebook and the other sources and they really help us a lot.  We really want to say thank you to ya all.