2 new Exclusive Before/After screens for Meridian 59!

Feast on this eye-candy, people. The latest and greatest from Meridian 59. As always, the folks at NDS want to remind us that these are still early renders, and things are liable to change before they go live with the upgrade.

Note the special announcement from Psychochild at the end of the descriptions!

[small]Before[/small]	[small]After[/small]

The first set shows a fight in the Tos arena. This is a place where players can to fight without penalties. When a fight starts, wall segments rise into position and form a "maze" which players can run through and fight. Players fight, cast spells, etc. until one person (or group, if you choose that option) defeats the other. In the new screenshot, the most obvious improvement is the way the textures are more crisp and clear, since the rendering engine doesn't leave out some pixels in its approximation of the scene. The banners in particular are much nicer looking. Also, you can actually see the faces of the combatants! In addition, you can see the red glow of the firewall that was cast in the background. The arena is one of the cooler things in Meridian 59, allowing players to practice their PvP in a "safe" environment.

[small]Before[/small]	[small]After[/small]

The second screenshot, in my opinion, is simply amazing. It's a screenshot from one of Meridian 59's guild halls called "The Friends of the Forest". It's a wonderful guild hall in a natural setting. It really reminds you of a cool Renaissance Faire setting with benches and firepits. The new shot shows how much the old rendering engine really muddled the otherwise cool artwork. Obviously the two players are clearer, as usual. You can also see the glow of the firepit against the trees. The new skybox shows the variety of stars we have at night, compared to the rather boring old night sky which was just a repeating texture. However, I think the most amazing thing is the texture in the foreground. In the old engine, you could see the tree image there, but the banner looks weird. But, looking at the new engine you suddenly see what the texture is *supposed* to be; you can see the weave of the banner there! The new renderer makes even the near textures clearer.

We're hoping to start testing of the new client soon. We'll be selecting players from our existing accounts for the first round. Anyone that's interested in getting a shot at seeing the new client during the compatibility testing phase is encouraged to sign up for a Meridian 59 account at http://billing.neardeathstudios.com/ soon.