Funcom attended the Games Convention in Leipzig Germany recently and unveiled their DirectX 10 move!  Although many expected Age of Conan to have been shipped with these DX10 features already present, the unexpectedly long wait is almost over. 

Now Age of Conan is arguably one of if not the best looking game graphically as it stands.  Could those development hours not have been better spent in fixing real game issues rather than simply prettying up the game even further?  I am all for aeshthetics and making the game world look rich and somewhat realistic even, BUT I wonder where the priorities are with the developers if they chose to work on this rather than enhancing pvp, sieges, etc. Whether you agree or not, prepare to be bombarded by prettier hyboria soon!

You can see a whole mess of DX10 screenshots for Age of Conan at this location

Below is the official announcement that funcom put out regarding the DirectX 10 news!

"Durham, USA – August 15th, 2008 – Conan is invading this year’s Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. Funcom and Eidos invites everyone to come join the festivities at his majesty’s outpost located at stand B10 in Hall 5. Behind the tall walls of the King’s fortress press and gamers alike can play the game, meet and chat with the developers, collect amazing give-aways and observe live stage shows where Funcom will reveal and demonstrate brand new and never-before-seen locations, content and features that will be put into the recently launched massively multiplayer online game ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ in the months ahead.

“We are very pleased with the tremendously successful launch that we had,” says Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Funcom, Morten Larssen. “But this is where the real journey starts for ‘Age of Conan’. In the months ahead we will be putting a lot of effort into expanding and improving on the game, and we look forward to using the Games Convention to unveil some of the locations, content and features we have in the pipeline.”

During the live stage shows Funcom will present new locations, content and features coming to ‘Age of Conan’. Blue Orb Inc. will also be present to demonstrate how you can use their software to play ‘Age of Conan’ with a gamepad, while the guys behind ‘TripleHead2Go’ have prepared a machine with a three screen setup so that gamers can come and play ‘Age of Conan’ in all its unprecedented visual glory using cutting-edge technology. Funcom will also be giving away exciting loot such as the legendary inflatable swords and free trial accounts together with limited edition DVDs containing the entire game. This is the first time Funcom hands out free trials and the supply is limited, so we encourage you to make your way to Conan’s outpost as soon as possible!

Behind closed doors members of the press will also be treated to a presentation of exclusive DirectX10 features, technology that will add even more power to the spectacular graphics featured in the game. Press interested in attending these presentations should contact Funcom, but please note that seating is very limited at this point.

‘Age of Conan’ launched in May this year and immediately topped sales charts around the world. It has received more than thirty magazine covers and more than fifteen major awards, including numerous "Best MMO of E3" awards and the "Best Online Game of Show" award at GC 2007. The game has received numerous glowing reviews, including a 9.4 score from US website GameZone. ‘Age of Conan’ is a key title in Microsoft's Games for Windows line-up, as well as a showcase title for nVidia thanks to its jaw-dropping graphics."

Original post can be found here.

Another article about the DirectX 10 enhancements with more technical info can be found here .