Yearly Archives: 2010

Planeshift 0.5 Interview: Grinding is Pointless

Planeshift 0.5 Interview: Grinding is Pointless
Questions by Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Stefano Angeleri (weltall), PlaneShift Engine Lead 

 

Many MMORPGs like to mention that their games are “free-to-play”. However, many companies like to promote free-to-play as a way to get people interested and then push extra content as premium or cash shop services. In short: “free-to-play” doesn’t always mean “free-to-enjoy.”

 

However, the developers at Atomic Blue look to change all that with their latest title “PlaneShift”. PlaneShift is a 100% free-to-play MMORPG. Unlike other free-to-play MMOs, PlaneShift has no monthly fees, no cash shops and no optional premium content. Everything in PlaneShift is available free to players with no ifs, ands or buts.

 

I took the time to speak with the lead engineer of PlaneShift to find out more.

 

OnRPG: Hello! My name is Michael Sagoe (mikedot), newest game journalist for OnRPG.com. Before we jump into the questions, would you please introduce yourself to the readers?

Sure. I’m a student of information technology from Italy and have been working in console (mostly Playstation 2  and Playstation Portable) and computer development for more than a decade now. I’ve worked a lot in the homebrew scene and now also in the opensource scene.

 

Planeshift Library 
Library in Planeshift

 

OnRPG: Now you say that PlaneShift is a free-to-play MMORPG with no cash shops, no optional premium accounts and no strings attached. Your company is receiving funding for servers and bandwidth through sponsors. Who are these sponsors, exactly?

Right now we have three primary sponsors: the Singapore based Fragnetics, where we hosted the main roleplaying server till recently, the USA based EZ-PC usa, where we have been hosting our internal test server till last year and now is an official server with no roleplaying enforcement, and the most recent one was the Italy based Skylabhost where we have moved just last month our roleplaying server. All these sponsors provided the hardware and bandwidth at no cost for us, because they like our project and want to support our development. As you can see they are all datacenters or hosting providers.

 

OnRPG: What was the inspiration behind the creation of PlaneShift?

PlaneShift history starts long time ago, when MUDs were the only online multiplayer games. Luca Pancallo, who was playing many different MUDs and was also a dedicated table top RPG player, wished to do something new: adding a graphic interface and  a deep and consistent story and background around it. With a group of people he was able to get to a good point on it, but at that point PlaneShift was only 2D. Some years later, around 2001, Luca made up a new team of people, who allowed to bring the game to 3D and to what we see today. Because of this PlaneShift has been one of the very first free 3D MMORPGs in existence.

 

OnRPG: What sets PlaneShift apart from other MMORPGs on the market?

I think some major points are the role-playing focus in its development, the fact it’s entirely free to play without any hidden fees, and the fact we have an Open Source engine where everyone can contribute. This is essentially unique at least in the 3D MMORPG scene. The fact we are providing sources for our client and server, allows also anyone to start their own game with it, with their own content. To my knowledge PlaneShift is the only game with a good status of development where the engine was developed since the beginning as open source. Another major point is the native support for all the major platform (Linux, Windows, MacOSX), which is still quite a rarity in the whole game market not only in MMORPG.

 

OnRPG: What phase of testing is your client currently in? When do you expect PlaneShift to enter its final stages of production?

We still consider the project in a beta status as it’s still being actively developed, although with the latest release (0.5) we reached an high stability server side. It’s the first time our server stayed up and operational for over a month without any reboot. We are working on continuous improvements, adding more data (crafting, items, quests), and improving the client stability little by little. The new update system and crash report system, which have been deployed in 0.5, allows us to do more frequent updates and so increase the speed of completion of the game. As for the second question I’d say still some years will be needed but the game can already be perfectly enjoyed almost like a finished product right now.

 

OnRPG: What are some of the new features included in the latest client?

The last major version of the client was a big leap forward on the engine side on all fronts. It took a year to get there and many mayor additions where implemented since the release of the first client in the 0.5.x series.

 

Just to cite some of the most important features: we have now support for modern shaders and graphic technologies, player mounts, a new menu based questing system supporting voices, item storage, a background loader allowing to avoid loading time through maps, chat channels, guild alliance chat and an easily skinnable gui with language translation support. Then we have some features which will be deployed really soon like the monster tribe system. A system which will allow NPC to actually breed new ones and to act toward the player as a group and no more as a single entity.

 

OnRPG: The monster tribe system sounds awesome. Would you care to explain your thoughts on this?

The monster tribe system is something which has been floating around in PlaneShift, as an idea, for long. There have been some first attempts in our code for it but nothing which lead to what we are going to have active very soon. A tribe, as a group of NPCs, allows them to be dynamic, and not static entity as we usually see them. The “population” of each tribe can shrink and grow depending on the actual players’ actions, and that’s not the only thing which the players will be able to influence. Their behavior will change depending on how players interact with them. If the tribe is being attacked frequently while being in their territory, it’s possible they would actually attack the player for revenge, or, if you attack some of them, they would be able to call other tribe members for help, and perform some more coordinated and effective attacks, similarly to what happens in a hunter pack. This allows a greater level of immersion and makes the game world extremely dynamic: you won’t know how big is a group of monsters, where are they and how they will react to you… at least till you notice them on your back!

 

OnRPG: The PlaneShift website mentions that you can enjoy the game as an adventurer or as a citizen. Exactly what kind of rewards can be earned for playing as an average citizen and how?

A world with all super heroes will just flatten them all to normal persons, so in the game society there is need of all the types of citizens: crafters, miners, metallurgists, cooks, fighters, mages … All have their importance and all have different rewards and benefits. Someone who is dedicated to mining will be able to sell his ores to a metallurgist, which will furnish a crafter. They will then be able to make a sword which will help an adventurer in exploring the wide lands of Yliakum. Each type of character has quests more tailored to him. This aspect will be more visible in the future with the use of the factions system which will provide to the player different challenges, items and possibilities depending on the path they choose.

 

Planeshift Crabs

 

OnRPG: There is mention that PlaneShift’s skill system allows for unlimited professions, so I assume this allows players to create a mix and match between all kinds of professions. Would you care to explain the skill system a bit more?

Sure. PlaneShift allows a player to train any skill with no limitations at all, even though we provide a starting point in the character creation, which gives some levels in a set of skills, depending on the choices of the player, we still allow the player to find a trainer for the skill he’s interested in and have him start immediately on what he wishes to learn. So you could easily create characters like battle mages or a fighter who has a basic knowledge of metallurgy. In summary what players can do it is only limited to their willingness to train and their choices, as we don’t enforce predefined templates like it happens in games using the classes system. A character in PlaneShift can actually “wake up and decide to change job” with no penalties at all and retaining all the old skills which were learned.

 

OnRPG: PlaneShift features 12 different races. Which ones among the 12 races are your personal favorites and why?

The one I like most is the Klyros, a winged reptilian race. I’ve always liked this type of races in various games and in addition I love the setting behind them in PlaneShift: they are a proud race who doesn’t let others bend them in any way, not even a god. Earning their respect is something really difficult and is earned through notable or courageous acts. In addition they are strong willed to always reach their goal even at the cost of their life. This is what brought them from their own home world to Yliakum, the place where PlaneShift is set. Another thing I love about them is their psychology; in fact they have a great attachment for the ones of their kin, making themselves call each other brothers and sisters and also their curiosity which brings them to enjoy staying with other races. Another race I like are the Enkidukai, mainly for their tribal customs and high regard on honor they have.

 

OnRPG: While there is a server for regular play, there is also a server made just for roleplaying. How strongly and often are these rules of roleplaying enforced?

We have a group of really dedicated Game Masters, who are roleplayers themselves, and who actually dedicate time to enforce the rules we have set as much as possible. Just to give an example: all names of new players are checked for compliance to a fantasy medieval environment, and in certain cases GMs are able to rename the wrong ones before the player completes the tutorial. In the other cases, where those names slip from Game Master’s attention, experienced players tend to alert them and measures to fix the problem are taken quite fast. When a new player joins, he is guided by the tutorial on how to properly roleplay and respect the rules, and Game Masters will contact him directly in case is needed. More extreme measures are rarely put in action. The most elder members of our players’ community are eager to teach newest members how to roleplay, and not only play amongst experts. In addition the Game Master themselves prepare events for players to enjoy. Those events are checked by our background and setting team, and allows the players not only to have an opportunity to roleplay but also to learn additional aspects of the places where PlaneShift is set and so enrich their own roleplays.

 

PLaneshift Roleplaying 
Roleplaying

 

OnRPG: Personally, it’s great to see actual roleplaying is involved with PlaneShift. I believe that roleplaying with the community as a whole can really help create a sense of immersion while playing that MMORPGs lack these days, don’t you agree?

Yes, I agree. Most games are targeted to grinding: something which just brings to people boasting their own character skills and to sites which sells in game money or skill for even real money. Roleplaying is a different way of playing, it can take advantage of what the gameplay gives but also allows players to create big stories or just have a simple day in a different world without all the rushing we are pushed in our daily life. A simple chat with an old friend about what happened with his rivnak ( a horse like creature in PlaneShift ) can really be enjoyable or chatting about the bad luck of being robbed. All these elements give a great importance to roleplaying: something which I really suggest to anyone. A tip: don’t be afraid of making mistakes when roleplaying, we all do.

 

OnRPG: Now there doesn’t seem to be any mention of a player vs. player option according to the website. Does PlaneShift feature any player vs. player options?

Yes, PlaneShift has a really good amount of player vs. player options. We have 3 main types of challenges between players.

 

– The so called Guild Wars which allow the members of the guilds engaged on it to attack each other without notice.

– Then we have the recently added group challenges which provide the same type of environment of the guild wars but group sized.

– Finally we have the classic single player challenges which are available in two major flavors: “PVP areas” where upon entering you can attack any player present in the area and “challenge based” where a player asks the other if he wants to spare on a duel and only if the other agrees they can duel to the death or just to defeat: the winner will be asked if he wishes to kill his opponent or spare his life. The answer to the challenges can also be pre-defined in the client options to always deny or always allow a fight without player interaction.

 

OnRPG: How often do you receive comments and ideas from players? How much of their opinions shape the world of PlaneShift?

We get feedback very often through forums, the bugtracker, the chat and sometimes also email. In most cases the suggestions are read and taken in account by the developers, even though we don’t get many constructive ones. The best way for a player to shape PlaneShift is to help in its creation: just an example of this is the Amedneir project. Amedneir is the development of a new city for the Klyros race, which is entirely community driven and of which we will see soon the first part in game!

 

Planeshift City 

 

OnRPG: So how do you see PlaneShift expanding in the next couple of months?

Things we will for sure see in the next couple of months include wizard robes, ranged weapons with bows and arrows, the tribe system being expanded to more NPC in game and a random spawn point for them all, so they won’t just die and re-spawn in the same exact spot all the time. Other things will we see are more different songs, based also on the areas, and sounds from the environment and from the monsters making the whole world more real. Other things are being done, which could probably get in game soon: a faction system which would shape your character more even through quest and which would make choices more weighted on the future possibilities you might have, improvements to the client stability and to the background loader and joypad support. Last, but not last as importance, expansions to the in game areas: like whole new parts and improvements in some, already in game, cities, like Ojaveda, the city built by the Enkidukai on the dome, and the Dakkru’s temple, in the death realm, and a new city: Amdeneir the city built by the Klyros on the dome.  We are also working on some graphics improvements, like water reflections.

 

OnRPG: PlaneShift is made available to all as a free-to-play game and as open source coding. What made your team decide to allow open source licensing?

Open source is well known to be the best way to code. It allows finding bugs faster, it allows deploying your product in any platforms, even in those which weren’t thought off at the beginning or which aren’t accessible to developers, and allows others to reuse the code and to contribute back to it improving it and so delivering a steadily better product. Probably at the time the decision was taken this wasn’t so clear yet but still we saw the possible positive points about it, the same positive points which allowed PlaneShift to grow how it is today. Another goal of the development team was, and remains, delivering software which is reusable even for other games; being open source really allows this sort of reuse.

 

OnRPG: So is there any other comments you would like to add?

As some might know, this project has been going on for long time and more than a commercial venture it is a dream. A dream to get a complete enjoyable game tailored more to roleplaying than pointless grinding. It would be nice if more and more people would like to take part of PlaneShift as players and developers. And we are looking forward for sure to play with each of you!

 

OnRPG: Well then thank you for your time and I’ll be waiting to see what’s in store for PlaneShift in the future! 

Tales Runner: Chaos Genesis – Pick Your Side: Light Or Dark?

Tales Runner: Chaos Genesis – Pick Your Side: Light Or Dark?

 

To celebrate the launch of its most extensive chapter, Chaos Genesis, Tales Runner is hosting a raffle where players can win a slick, brand-new Play Station 3. The event will begin on June 17th after the new chapter’s final update on June 16th

 

In Chaos Genesis players will be asked to choose between two warring factions. Once the choice between Angel and Devil is made, players will be able to access new faction-themed alchemy armor sets, missions, and maps.

 

The long-awaited Chaos Battle begins on Friday, June 18th! The battle is a three week long event where players fight for control of the nine new continents in the name of the Angel or Devil faction. Citizens of the winning faction will have access to exclusive prizes. For more details and a battle schedule please visit the Chaos battle time posting on our official website.

 

The new chapter also introduces a club (guild) system where players can create their own club and invite friends to play together. Starting on June 23rd, this new system will be easily accessible to players.

 

Angel Set Tales Runner

 

Chaos Genesis: New  Features

Chaos Wars

Choose a Faction: Angel or Devil! Fight together with your Faction in order conquer the land and receive points for awesome prizes! Prizes include Pets, Shoes, Wings, & More! Will you be the one to lead your faction to glory?

 

Angel & Devil Alchemy

Two sets of Alchemy held the balance of the Tales Land for thousands of years. Recently, the Devil Alchemy Set was stolen! Fearing the unbalance of power within the Realm, King Henry ordered the unsealing of the Angel Alchemy Set as well. Thus, began what will later be known as the Chaos Genesis.

 

Devil Set Tales Runner 

 

Kai the Demon Child

The mysterious and dark adopted child of Dr. Hell will arrive to Tales Land in this Chapter! Find out about his story, history, and secrets! But beware-if his emotions get the best of him, such as in fury mode, his inner demon will appear!

 

The Guardian Dungeons

Hidden in a dark corner of the realm lies a giant secret dungeon where magical powers dwell. For thousands of years, this giant dungeon housed the powerful Angel and Demon Alchemy. Absorbing the powers of these incredible items, the dungeon itself grew powerful! Some call them Demons while others call them Guardians. Whatever they may be, they are angry at the removal of their precious source of power! Fight together in a group of 8 to tackle on this new addition to racing! Experience racing like never before in co-operative game-play to tackle on and defeat monsters! PvE in a racing game?!  Now’s your chance to experience it yourself!


Chaos Emblems

Elder Izarth realized that in order to curb the turmoil and chaos that was running amok in the land, a Chaos Master had to be found. He decided to travel to the Tales Land in search of a worthy Chaos Master, but realized they were not easy to find-a Chaos Master will have to go through many ordeals in order to prove worthy of this title. Collect the 9 regional emblems to unlock the Chaos Master Emblem! Be the first 5 to become a Chaos Master and be recognized as the ones who unleashed the power of the “Redemption of Chaos” to the world!

 

Redemption of Chaos Alchemy & Mantras

Few individuals will ever evolve into the perfect being and the ones that do are deemed God-Like. The effects are temporary and the retrieval of the Secret Remedy may prove to be difficult for many. It will take five experienced Chaos Masters for this secret to be revealed to the world.  Experience the Power of the Redeemed and hold the Mantras of Archangels & Archdemons! 

 

Experience Racing Like Never Before! The Fantasy World needs your help! Choose Your Side and begin your tale in the Chaos Genesis!

LEGO® Universe to Launch October 2010

LEGO® Universe to Launch October 2010

 

The LEGO Group today announced that LEGO Universe will launch this October in the US, UK and Western Europe. The first MMOG (massively-multiplayer online game) based on the LEGO play experience, LEGO Universe will offer early access to LEGO fans – the “Founders” – starting October 12th, and will officially launch on October 26th.

 

The Founders release makes LEGO Universe available to LEGO fans before the official launch, with the game sold exclusively through LEGO channels including LEGO Stores, LEGO Online Shop and LEGOLAND. On October 26th, the MMOG will officially launch through all retail channels via a distribution partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Planned for global release, LEGO Universe will be rolled out to additional territories after the initial launch.

 

Lego News 

 

E3 visitors are able to preview LEGO Universe in the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment booth at the Los Angeles Convention Center, South Hall #2401. The new content unveiled at E3 centers on the game’s building and behaviors features, which enable players to create anything they can imagine, and bring it to life with a basic programming language.

 

“Our vision is to provide LEGO fans of all ages with a whole new quality play experience and creative platform, and LEGO Universe will open up exciting new opportunities for fun and expression this October,” said Henrik Taudorf Lorensen, Vice President, LEGO Digital, the LEGO Group. “The dedicated LEGO fan community has contributed to the development of LEGO Universe since the start of the project, and we show our appreciation with the early Founders release.”

 

LEGO Universe will be available for PC and Mac, with the Mac version enabled by TransGaming’s (TSX-V: TNG) Cider Portability Engine.

Perfect World Entertainment Unveils Swordsman Online as Working Title at E3

Perfect World Entertainment Unveils Swordsman Online as Working Title at E3

 

Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a wholly owned US subsidiary of Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD), today unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) an all new MMORPG under the working title, Swordsman Online . With a huge following and made into countless movies and TV shows, Perfect World Entertainment aims to bring Louis Cha’s popular martial arts novel to a whole new audience.

 

 

“We are extremely excited to be announcing Swordsman Online as a working title and setting our precedence for unveiling cutting edge games at E3,” said Dr. Alan Chen, CEO of Perfect World Entertainment Inc. “Swordsman Online highlights our commitment to constantly push the industry envelope and what it means to be a free-to-play game. Players should never have to settle or compromise on game quality regardless of business model and we want players to expect more from their MMOs.”

 

Swordsman Online News

 

Perfect World Entertainment will also be showcasing Forsaken World and Heroes of Three Kingdoms, shown as playable demos for the first time in North America, along with the hit action-MMORPG, Battle of the Immortals.

Swordsman

Swordsman is a free-to-play action MMORPG, set in the rich world created by Louis Cha, one of the most famous contemporary writers in China. Players explore the grand world of Jianghu culture during an intense era of the Ming Dynasty, a world of martial arts and chivalry, honor and glory.

Features:

Dynamic Kung-Fu Experience: Swordsman presents real-time martial arts fights and offers fun action features such as throwing techniques, counter moves and dodging to create a dynamic Kung-Fu experience. Fight on land, leap across rooftops, sprint on water and best your opponents in thrilling duels!

Unique Guild-Based Gameplay: Take part in exciting and distinct group-based endgame activities, by creating or joining a guild. Work together to establish guild bases, solve murder mysteries and crimes, protect notable figures, and much more! Don’t just fight alongside your friends; make a real impact on the world around you!

Deep Character Customization: The character creation process offers a wide variety of appearance features to create a truly unique look. Earn distinct fashion items to set your character apart from other players. Bring your warrior to life and create the martial arts hero you’ve always envisioned!

Ten Dynamic Character Classes: As a member of one of the ten class-defining martial art schools, you master legendary fi ghting skills to engage in fi erce real-time combat with members of rival schools and other opposing threats. Perfect any of the three highly customizable skill-sets per class to make your fi ghting style truly unique!

A Heavenly New MMO Engine – Angelica III: Angelica III is an in-house developed MMO engine that makes use of the latest technologies to display high quality graphics, with the optimization to run on a wide variety of hardware. The engine sports a day and night cycle, weather changes, realistic armour refl ections, state of the art water effects and destructible objects.

An Immersive Jianghu Experience: Swordsman offers a vast array of content for solo, group and guild play. Explore a massive game world, delve into its many instances, craft superior weapons and take part in the versatile guild system. Test your skills in the arena or compete against others in daily PvP events!

Foundations of Hope Online

Foundations of Hope Online is one of the first Christian 3D MMORPGs to provide a Christian-acceptable*(but not preachy) virtual world for gamers. Based on the Foundations of Hope Trilogy books series, the game takes place four hundred years in the future of North America. Sun storms continuously bombard the Earth wiping away technology and setting civilizations back to medieval-like times. Dragons have returned from a time of old, and an intelligent lizard species from within the Earth now wages war upon the humans.

 

Foundations of Hope Online will provide gamers the choice of playing as a Human, Saurian, or Dragon with the choice of PvE or RvR. Most of the upper world is RvR while each realm will have its own PvE zones. For PvE, Humans have Spiritual Warfare zones, Saurians have underground SciFi zones, and Dragons have underground cave system zones.

 

Foundations of Hope Online implements an aging system that allows the players to grow and age every 10 levels. Example: Dragons start as hatchlings and age to adults. Other features includes thousand of craftable items, mounted combat(ground and air), character customization(skin tones, stature, and heights), auction system, ability to have Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary classes, and much more. The game design is to allow solo play, but more XP is given if grouped.

 

Because of the target audience(Christian teens), the technical specs have been purposely focused for low-end video card performance. Options for turning on shaders in the same client are available for higher end machines. Currently there is only a PC version, but a Mac client is planned for the future.

 

A purchasable game expansion is planned for each Earth continents to add new race/profession options to each Realm, to add new zones, skills, classes, quests, and more.

 

A fully playable Free client will be available as well as a one-time Premium version purchase. Premium players will have access to all races and items. No monthly fees.

 

*The Humans use Gifts from God instead of magic, and Saurians and Dragons use mental abilities. Humans are the only realm to have Biblical references. There also is censored/monitored chat to provide safe environment for teens.