Yearly Archives: 2010

Path to Pelantas Interview: Opening New Paths

Path to Pelantas Interview: Opening New Paths
Questions by: Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist
Answered by: Pelle Ankersen

 

Path to Pelantas is a browser based game that’s been up and running for a while now. We’ve gone behind the scenes and talked to the people behind this game to find out what’s new with the Path to Pelantas team.

 

OnRPG: Why is Path to Pelantas still in the open beta stage when it’s been operating for around three years now?

Three years… That’s right. Time passes by. Well, there are several reasons for this. First and foremost this game has been a hobby project for us – we are all full-time employed elsewhere, so we are using our spare time to work with the game pro bono.

 

Game Layout
Game overview while playing

 

But it’s also very important for us to emphasize that we have been very meticulous about making all features work as intended and have all game metrics thoroughly balanced. This takes time and we have involved our very helpful and enthusiastic beta users in the process. Thus, when we do remove the BETA designation we are fully satisfied with the game as a whole. This has been the idea the entire time; to release something truly worthwhile and not just another flash in the pan.

 

OnRPG: How did you guys create Path to Pelantas? What were/are your inspiration/s for the game?

We are five developers around same age, who have all played computer games since the Commodore 64 age. We primarily played role-playing games as teens and browser games as adults. We are also very enthusiastic strategy board gamers and I believe this is one of our major merits; we are used to think long term strategy with regards to all the little choices. A strategic browser game like Path to Pelantas has a lot more in common with the better strategy board games out there than with other computer games. As a little curiosity I can reveal that we are actually also planning on releasing a board game version of Path to Pelantas. The game has already been made and tested by us, so only time will tell when it will be released.

 

Hero Details Pelantas
Hero Details Page
 

 

Ever since our Dungeons and Dragons days we have also been fascinated by the fantasy genre. This is why we chose to create our game in this setting. We love the un-complicated world of heroes and villains, of glory and honour and great deeds!

 

OnRPG: Where did you base the game? Did you guys get the ideas from any existent browser games ?

Yes indeed. From 2002 and approximately 5 years forth, four of us played Hattrick. Hattrick has been the primary inspiration with its simple but rewarding gameplay demanding very little time consumption. We have played many other browser games but only Hattrick has had real lasting value. We wanted to create something just as addictive, so inspired by Hattrick we put our heads together and tried to figure out how this kind of a game would work in a fantasy setting. Then we slowly started developing features and shaping the game with the intention to create what we personally thought would be the best game on the market.

 

OnRPG: What do you think sets Path to Pelantas apart from the other browser games out there? Why?

Many games boast that they only require little time, which is a direct lie. Almost all games require an almost exponential time spend for you to be able to do well. And many of these actually require for you to pay up if you would like to have a chance to excel. We have created a game where it’s perfectly possible to play only 5-10 minutes a day and still become one of the best in the long run. And this without paying a single cent! We intend never to add features to our premium packages which will directly increase your chance of winning. We believe that this is a quality which will make people like the game more and thus stick with it longer. We feel that this is quite unique in an overcrowded market of – in many cases – questionable releases.

 

Pelantas Battle Analyser 

 

OnRPG: What can you say is the game’s defining feature? Why?

The whole hero management part is the backbone of the game. We believe that we have created an almost flawless concept in terms of our heroes and the management of these. The iterative process of making your heroes progress before they retire while at the same time making sure new heroes evolve to become champions of the future is what keeps the whole game running. This is what makes our users love the game for real – you cannot help getting a very strong relationship with your favorite heroes and the urge to make them evolve and see them become better is a strong motivation factor in our game.

 

You will need to have a great share of high level heroes to be able to do well in the arena battles and on your quests and hunts, but you must also have potential champions stand ready when your most experienced heroes suddenly retire. And the talent development is very important too. It’s almost impossible to prioritize without neglecting some heroes at some point and that’s what makes the game so great. It’s all about making the right short and long term decisions.

 

In other words, it is a game which is almost impossible to master, so you will always feel that you have something new to strive for.

 

OnRPG: You guys boast that the game is “one of a kind” with the mix of sports management and role playing games. What made you say so?

Well, it’s hard to speak of all browser games on the market, how many are there? 5000? But we’ve seen our share and we haven’t found any other game combining these two genres like we do. Perhaps you have? 

 

OnRPG: What sports management elements did you include in Path to Pelantas? Why choose the features?

We decided to make the game based on a sports management engine like mentioned earlier. This meant we built the game engine with predefined weekly and daily schedules like any other sports manager games. We have the weekly arena battles where you appoint orders before start just like you would set a football match lineup, we have an advanced tournament structure with promotion and relegation from different leagues and divisions, we have weekly training and we have implemented a complete transfer system, where users are able to buy each others’ heroes. The game is also never-ending like the real world of sports; each season a new champion may arise. All our statistics and rankings are also something you would typically find in a sports game. 

 

RPG League
Sports Overview RPG League

 

OnRPG: Was it hard to combine the sports management and RPG elements? (Could you elaborate on the answer?)

Not really. The only hard thing was to make the story-telling work. It’s hard to explain how this whole organized tournament structure would work in an enigmatic fantasy world. The whole realism aspect of it is very hard; all things in the game ought to be explained but it’s not always possible to do so. The transfer system – for instance – is very illogical. How on earth would you explain how you are able to see which heroes are for sale in a complete different realm? And how would you explain how bids are made and transfers are actually carried out? But it’s really not a problem – no one complains about these explanation flaws as long as the game play works. 

 

OnRPG: How did you manage to create a game that doesn’t take much time for players to play?

That’s more of a challenge than you would normally think. It’s very hard to find the balance of keeping users interested and still not have too many defining features, which are time-consuming. Of course you can use very much time on the game – and believe me, some do! – but it’s not necessary to keep up with the leaders.

 

I guess we used ourselves as focus group and have based our decisions on what we would like in a game. We are all 30 years old and we are all busy with studying, work, family, houses, sports etc. Just like everyone else in our age. So we wanted to create a game you would be able to play while still being able to take care of all your obligations and other interests. So, while we do have a wide array of users, our core users are just like us; in the late twenties and happy with the low level of time consumption.

 

OnRPG: Where do you get the ideas for the random events that frequently occur in-game?

Well, that’s also one of the things we are proud of. The two text writers have spent thousands of hours writing events and quests for the game, so the textual content will never be monotonous. Everything is invented by our text writers themselves, who in term have been influenced by literature, games and also heavy metal- another interest some of the developers share. Many of the events and quests are actually named after great metal songs.

 

In these particular events the text writers really have the inspirational freedom to bring their influence to bear. And there are enough events, so no user will ever receive the same. This is also the only part of the game, where humor is often added to spice up the overall game atmosphere.

 

Hero Overview Pelantas
Hero Overview

 

OnRPG: Where do you get the names for the heroes, which players get to use in the game? Why use that as basis?

Back when we started developing the game we tried inventing all the names ourselves. We quickly gave up and searched for some random fantasy name generators instead. We have found many and with the suggestions from all these we have found a base of many thousand unique names for each of the four races. These are then combined with our own homemade generator to get an almost unlimited amount of unique name combinations.

 

We feel that the unique names add a lot to the relation you have to your heroes. A cool name can make your sentiments towards a mediocre hero much better.

 

OnRPG: How big is the player base of the game? Are you guys satisfied with the amount of active players? Why?

Thousands of people have signed up through the years but we keep a steady base of approximately 500 active players. This is completely intentional. Of course we would like to see our user base increase but we also like to make all aspects of the game work before expanding too wildly. We do this to keep marketing and server costs at a minimum before we start making revenue. With the current user fluctuation we can test our conversion rates and optimize the different aspects of the game to increase these rates. When we exit the beta phase we will slowly increase our marketing efforts to test our payment conversions. And when all conversions are fine then we will boost the player base for real.

 

OnRPG: What are the things you are still currently fixing in the game?

We are working with a lot of things, including design, layout and artwork. We are also very focused on making the game easily digestible for new users. This is very hard with a game that is as heavily text-based as ours. But we continuously try to add help features to gently make new users familiar with all the different options and features.

 

We are also tweaking on major existing features now and then but in general we feel that all current features are balanced and working well.

 

OnRPG: What are the factors you are looking into before the game is commercially released?

We are working on the whole micro payment system and the premium packages with some new nifty features for the newbies as well as the weathered players. We think the new opponent analyzer (shhhh, don’t tell anyone) will be very popular to say the least. We are very close to having designed all this, so Path to Pelantas will most certainly be commercially released this year.

 

Opponent Analyser 
Opponent analyser

 

OnRPG: What’s in store for Path to Pelantas players in the succeeding months?

As mentioned above we will introduce the premium packages including new exciting features and options. We will also add a lot of help features for new and current users. And then finally we will all hopefully witness a major rush-in of new players, so that the game will thrive and the community will evolve.

 

For the future we already have many new features planned, so experienced players will always have something to look forward to. We will continuously add to the game to obtain what we wanted in the very beginning; to create the best game out there J

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!

And thank you for yours! We sincerely hope that some OnRPG visitors will find our game intriguing and try it out.

Heat Waves Zodiac Online

 

Heat Waves Zodiac Online

 

Zodiac Online’s newest server – Pandora opened June 18th. In celebration of this great moment, ZO is going to hold a grand banquet containing a lot of events at the same time!

Great rewards are prepared for the winners. Most of these events will only be held on Pandora.

 

Hot Event 1: High Level Challenge
This event is only held on Pandora.

This is a high level challenge with a time limit. All you need to do to win the prize, is to gain levels as fast as you can. By the time of PDT 24:00 July 17, if your name is on the top 10 billboard, you win.

Zodiac Online - Mount

Hot Event 2: I’m the 1st president!
This event is only held on Pandora.

In the earlier phase after a new server is opened, it’s not easy to create a guild because it requires 2 million gold. That’s why we want to award the creator of the 1st guild on Pandora. Except for the glory of being the 1st president, we’ve also prepared a prize. This event doesn’t have a time limit and ends after the 1st guild is created.

Hot Event 3: I Have A Very Good Friend!
This event is only held on Pandora.

Zodiac Online is never a game for you to play alone, a lot of demons are very tough to you but never again to your team. That’s why we say a group of several good friends is very necessary. Now it is the time to show everybody about the proof of the friendship between your best friend and you, everybody has a chance to win a prize in this event. You just need to take a screenshot of the friend panel showing the friendship between your best friend and you, then post it here.

Hot event 4: Pets Got Talent
This event is held on both Luna and Pandora.

This is a competition among pets. If your pet has a lot of pet skills, take a screenshot of it and post it here to join the competition. Let’s see whose pet has the most number of skills.

Hot Event 5: Free Mounts And A Unique Title Giving to Paid Players
This event is held on both Luna and Pandora.

Any player who credits over 4000 platinum points in total during the required time period can claim for a free mount as a gift.

Besides, another unique title is prepared for the one who credits the most amount of platinum points. The title is the Loyal Fan of Zodiac with Crit skill +15, Attack Priority +20 and Debuff Resistance +5. This title is permanent and is never going to be available again in the future.

GOA Cease Operation of European Warhammer Online

GOA Cease Operation of European Warhammer Online

Last week saw the announcement that GOA will cease operating Warhammer Online in Europe and transfer the publishing rights for region back to Mythic Entertainment.

Speculations are sure to arise from this news regarding the future of WAR however GOA have assured their players that this is not a reflective decision based on the games financial results.

While no further details have been given, we have been informed that this transition will be occurring swiftly and starting soon, a full FAQ will be posted at some point today or tomorrow.

The full announcement can be found on the official GOA Warhammer website.

Here is hoping that Mythic take up the idea of that tournament GOA announced and the best of luck to all involved in the transition!
 
OnRPG will keep you updated on this story as more comes in.

Warhammer Online - RIP GOA

Divide And Enjoy: is IP Blocking And Localizing Necessary?

Divide And Enjoy: is IP Blocking And Localizing Necessary?
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

One of the biggest problems interfering in the life of MMO gamers worldwide is the games ability to block players from certain countries. In a way, the implementation of IP or region locking can be a big help to MMO players everywhere (will be discussed later). One simple reason would be the lag, as servers are most likely to lose their stability once the population exceeds its saturation point. Another thing would be to support their franchisers. Surely there would be no point in establishing local servers if players can still play on international ones, yes?

 

People Overload

In terms of games like Mabinogi, a great fantasy anime themed MMO game, its availability to tons of gamers may already be too much for the server to handle. The population isn’t exactly diminishing by the minute; in fact, it’s still hard to play during peak hours. When you think about it, adding more players may greatly affect the experience of existing players. For those who are unable to play the game (like myself), lets hope they host this somewhere near us soon. Not all games are blessed with high-end servers that can fit ten thousand players without issuing the invisible bug that is ‘lag’.

 

People Overload
People overload, lagtastic!

 

I know it’s annoying, especially when the IP banning is implemented after a player spends a gratuitous amount of cash on his/her account, but note that things are definitely for the better (at least for the others <_<). They aren’t really doing this to mess with their unfortunate users, but rather to eliminate those that hinder them from providing a more optimized experience.

 

Sales And Franchising

As for franchisers, it would be quite unfair for them if the locals were still playing on the international server. Let’s link this with current events like the Runes of Magic conspiracy. For those who are unaware, the game was recently hosted (locally) in Turkey. Now due to the establishing of this franchise, existing Turkish Players were banned from the international server and are forced to play on their local servers. It’s good for business, really. Have you ever played on a ghost town server? You wouldn’t want the Turkish server to end up like our Lineage 2 Server here (sad sad story… really). It’s really sad that they decided to ban existing players without plans for a character transfer. Believe me, I do understand the difficulty of having to transfer empty-handed, but it’s really for the best.

 

Subscription

For some games that require subscription, the idea of localizing would be a welcomed system. One good claim would be that not everyone is capable of using credit cards to pay for games, let alone PayPal. Some countries (especially the third world ones) even prefer using prepaid cards. The economic crisis isn’t really getting better by the minute, to be honest. Some players find it extremely hard to dish out 14 bucks a month for a continuous experience. To tell you the truth, the item mall here is tons cheaper than the international ones (hope you guys don’t jump into our servers in a flash LOL). Maybe it’s because of the money aspect as not all countries find stuff tagged with $$ cheap. In Allods Online’s case, some western players rebelled against the system for issuing items that are quite pricey compared to their eastern market. I guess you could say that this is how things are balanced, as the prices in the other market aren’t exactly that cheap for the locals. So how do we do this?

 

Advertising

Not that it’s that much of a problem, but advertising the said game in different countries may be quite troublesome for some companies. Once hosted locally, the franchised game can effectively capture their respective local audiences to experience the game. Unless they feature outdated content, I don’t think there’s that much of a difference between the two servers. Press conferences can also benefit from this aspect as players and local journalists can freely attend and cover the event without further delays. If you think about it, at least they wont have to supply one thousand PCs for the game testers.

 

Divide Advertising
Localizing opportunities

 

“Hi! How Are You?” “ummffhjulgrrrr” “WHAT?!”

The bright side about dividing servers is that players can finally enjoy the game with other players who speak the same language, not to mention people who share the same culture. There are times when gamers experience culture shock upon logging into a game with different nationalities. The best example would be the KSers here in my country. After our servers were populated by foreign players, I’ve seen nothing but complaints in the GM section. Yeah, KSing (Kill Stealing) is LEGAL (please don’t rub it in T_T) in our country. I, being an international player, hate this part about our local servers, but it’s not like they know it’s wrong so we can’t really blame anyone for it. This form of division works well for communities as well, having an online forum especially for the locals.

 

Divide How Are You 

 

In terms of events, not everyone can fly somewhere for a PVP tournament. It’s certain that MMO games will gather players once hosted locally, and of course hosting game-oriented events would be much easier for the company if the players didn’t have to take a 15 hr flight to participate. Though smaller than a big international community, the local community isn’t really that bad. Look at the bright side, you won’t have to encounter “ullfurglurka” when you randomly ask that Elf a question LOL.

 

Stand On IP Banning

Quite painful, if I may say so myself, but it’s really necessary for the game to improve further. Unfair as it is, it’s just business, and we definitely can’t do anything about it. I know I can’t erase the fact that some players ended up playing for nothing, but I hope I managed to state some reasons for you to continue playing on your local servers.

TLBB Preview: Looks Good Plays Even Better

TLBB Preview: Looks Good Plays Even Better
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist

 

In the span of a year of writing reviews I’ve come across a lot of martial arts themed MMOs. However, each time I’ve tried a game there seems to be something lacking. I thought at first I’d have the same experience in ChangYou.com’s martial arts themed MMO, Tian Long Ba Bu(TLBB), but I was wrong.

 

TLBB Europe 

 

Surprised

At first glance, TLBB seems to be an over the top martial arts MMO. That’s exactly what you’ll feel in the game’s first few hours, most especially when you go with the game’s starter newbie quests. However, I personally suggest you go through with the game’s newbie quests especially if you’re just starting out. Going through with the starter quests not only helps you in clearing the first ten levels, it also provides you a prelude to the various game features that you’ll be encountering as you play the game.

 

One Big Kung-Fu Show

When I was a kid I was immersed in old school martial arts shows that were being aired on Chinese cable television. The shows’ male characters looked close enough to women while the women looked so dainty and elegant that it felt out of place when you saw them in rugged terrain. However, don’t let their looks fool you, when they start fighting they literally can bring down a house. I think the best example I can tell you guys about this is the critically acclaimed martial arts movie, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’.

 

TLBB Spiders 

 

I shared this little tidbit because TLBB feels exactly like you are in one of the martial arts shows I just mentioned. The mixture of the game’s visuals and music brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘old school martial arts’. The game feels like your character is in one big online kung-fu show.

 

I’d like to emphasize the game’s authentic martial arts feel because there have been a few MMORPGs that promised this environment but failed to deliver. I think the reason why TLBB feels more authentic is due to the fact that the game switches between the beauty and ruggedness of the martial arts world which is also how it was depicted on the Kung-Fu shows I mentioned.

 

Gameplay

Admittedly, TLBB doesn’t bring anything new to the martial arts MMO genre. The game plays exactly like any other MMORPG which doesn’t really affect on my perception of the game. In fact, the game’s familiar feel is one of the reasons why you may want to keep on playing TLBB. You’d really need something to make you feel comfortable with the game because TLBB has just too many features at play that you’d practically feel overwhelmed if they also included a new gameplay system. 

 

Features

TLBB has a lot of game play features that you will find in other MMORPGs. You have the pet and mount system, there’s also crafting and cooking involved which they call life skills, you can mine the various ores scattered around the maps in TLBB, you can also fish, play bingo and participate in “chess” matches which translates to experience point and item gain.

 

TLBB Europe Map
City map

 

There’s practically always something going on in TLBB that it feels like you’re going to miss something when you don’t log in. This kind of feeling nurtured in TLBB is a good sign that the game will go far in the future. In fact, the game is still in limited open beta and seeing that everything is already lined up for the players at this early stage only cements the fact that future players will experience a lot once the game goes commercial.

 

The Pet System

Among the various game features found in TLBB, I liked the game’s pet system the most. You get your first pet pretty early in TLBB just as long as you went with the newbie quests. The pet may not be as strong as you’d like but you can be sure that they will help you a lot as you begin your journey in TLBB.

 

TLBB Pet 
Character and his pet

 

Pets in TLBB are not just mere fashion items that you can collect and use. In fact, pets also have stats that you can allocate. Pets are like your other characters in TLBB because they can also attack and damage your enemies. There’s also a variety of pets you can capture in TLBB, and although some for sure will be only available through the premium item mall there are enough pet types as of this moment to tickle your pet taming urges.

 

Life Skills

The next game feature that I liked in TLBB is the life skills. Life skills in TLBB pertain to the other non-battle skill types that can enhance your combat capabilities or provide you with items, armors or weapons that will be useful in your TLBB experience.

 

Enhancing and using your life skills has a two -fold effect in your TLBB game, the first is that it provides a refreshing alternative to the usual PVE or PVP activities in the game. This gives you at least something else to do whenever killing monsters or beating other players to a pulp is getting way too boring. Investing time cultivating your life skills is somewhat similar to grinding because the more you invest your time on it the more you’ll be rewarded with better items and tools that strengthen your character even more.

 

TLBB Skill 

 

Experience

Experience points in TLBB are not just for leveling your character. You also need to use your experience points to upgrade your character’s skills. This is practically the only TLBB exclusive game feature that you’d find a hard time adjusting to.

 

I personally liked this game system because it provides a new viewpoint in PVE or questing. This gives you the choice of being a low-level character with higher skills sets or becoming a high-leveled character with a low skill set. This gives you a different way of character growth which is rarely found in MMORPGs these days.

 

Thoughts

As far as I’ve played TLBB I’ve liked everything the game has to offer. Seeing that the game is still in open beta I must say that ChangYou has done a good enough job that a lot of players will definitely like to try the game out. I liked the fact that leveling isn’t such a chore in TLBB because the quests provide enough experience for you to get to the mid-level ranges in just one day.

 

It’s still too early to say anything definite about TLBB, but I am looking forward to seeing the game once it goes commercial; the game has enough in it to make me stay and keep on playing.

Football Superstars Review: For World Cup Fans

Football Superstars Review: For World Cup Fans
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

Football (soccer) is a very famous sport, and has spawned numerous games on all platforms from consoles to the PC. Whether it’s FIFA, Pro Evolution, or other soccer games, much like basketball ports, virtual sports games have a certain linearity when it comes to game play. Maybe it’s because the game has to follow a certain amount of rules that make them similar to one another, with only their graphic interfaces that provide the minor difference.

 

Yes, Football Superstars is one of many MMO games dedicated to the breathtaking sport that is football. In this game, players take the role of their own created player as they play hard to be the best player on the field. Although the game has everything a soccer port can offer, it also has a few features that make the game surprisingly better than its predecessors.

 

Alright Team! Let’s Get Started!

One of the best parts about this game is its character creation interface which features tons of options for you to create your digital doppelganger. After picking your gender, you’ll be opted to choose between a large variety of facial customizations and different types of clothing to go with it. In my opinion, the character interface is so awesome, I’m actually wishing they would implement the system in other non-sporty MMOs.

 

Football Superstars Shot

 

I’m Out Of The Field! Amazing!

What adds to the realism factor is the game’s ability to let you take a few breaths of fresh air outside the arena rather than the usual “click-join game” interface sported by other games. There you can interact with other players, NPCs or simply just take your time strolling around the various locations. The off-court world is pretty big, which adds a whole lot of diversity to the game, allowing players to enjoy non-football activities like barhopping, visit cafes, do virtual shopping-sprees, or just train for the heck of it.

 

Football Superstars Fashion
Off the field

 

We Owe It All To The Fans!

In order to become a superstar, you’ll need a lot of fans. Fame is not only acquired through your performance but also through your exposure and interactions around the city. Your fame can easily be accessed through your virtual mobile phone, which also allows you to keep track of your messages, character profile, inventory, and of course find matches. No one wants to be the ‘other guy’ so do your best to please the fans.

 

Something You Should Not Miss

One thing I most regret is not passing through the tutorial phase, which is a mandatory feature for those who are new to the game. The controls and movement may be a bit tricky at times, especially for players who are too excited to go through the tutorial stage. The controls are similar to PC FPS’s, with the WSAD keys for movements and the mouse for camera controls. It’s a nice touch and greatly complements your skills as it offers awesome mobility.

 

Football Superstars Goal
Score!

 

Don’t skip this feature! Just because the game revolves around kicking does not mean its control scheme is that easy. Adjusting to the PC’s mouse and keyboard maybe tricky for players who are used to playing on their consoles; however, this shouldn’t be much of a problem as the controls are well placed and easy to get used to, provided that you didn’t wing it and viewed the tutorials. It’s not that long, and essential if you want to be good at this game.

 

Team Spirit

One of the biggest problems I’ve encountered so far is the whereabouts of good ol’ fashioned team play. Unlike FIFA where you can just pass the ball with a touch of a button, simple commands such as passing requires fine timing and precision. Perhaps they were really trying to exercise individuality and skill factor among players, but why make basic things so hard? Despite this common problem, the precision involved makes the game quite immersive, encouraging players to concentrate on the match, which separates this title for other no-brainer sports games.

 

Bling Bling!

Perhaps one of the things that make this game good is the graphics, and it doesn’t stop there. Despite the game’s outstanding graphic capability, the system requirements are not that high for the nice set of visuals. The characters are properly rendered, though it’s extremely hard to create a character that would technically look good in real life. The cities look brilliant, especially at the expense of a cheap video card. The in game interface isn’t that bad either, with a fine mock phone for a menu that’s user friendly. The in-game sounds are pretty amazing, with crowd noises, and other rackets mostly heard on a soccer stadium. Sound plays a huge role in the immersion-factor of video games, and might I say that this one did pretty well.

 

Football Superstars
Some bling

 

The Verdict

As far as soccer or football goes, Football Superstars did a stupendous job at presenting us with a not so linear version of a game that has been revamped and remade for decades. It does have its weak points regarding the control and precision issue, but it’s something that makes players more attentive and concentrated as they go on with their online career. It does get frustrating when your teammates act like morons in the middle of the field, but you’ll feel absolutely glorious after nailing a perfect play.

 

The high learning curve may be an issue to some, but it’s also through this system where we see how awesome a hard-earned play is. The graphics greatly complement this game, making it look up-to-date compared to other games.  If there’s one thing that’s depressing about this game, it’s the playerbase, which could definitely use some support. It’s a great game… Just wish people would pay more attention to it. It’s free to play, so what are you waiting for?

 

Pros:
– Good presentation
– Immersive gameplay
– Tactics are involved
– Not a no-brainer soccer game.

 

Cons:
– May not be too casual for some gamers
– Precision and high learning curve may be an issue to some
– Player base.

Battleswarm Field of Honor Interview for OnRPG

Battleswarm Field of Honor Interview for OnRPG
Questions by Jonathan (Ardua) Doyle OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Mark Hood, COO and Co-founder of Reality Gap

 

OnRPG: Could you introduce yourself please, and tell us a little about what you do for Battleswarm?

I’m Mark Hood and I’m COO and Co-founder of Reality Gap. I signed Battleswarm over a year ago now and ran the production team that localized the game, made enhancement for the English speaking market and set up the store and website.

 

OnRPG: Battleswarm: Field of Honor launched November 2009. I remember helping beta test the game back before the launch. How has the eight months or so since treated you?

We have seen continuing growth in our user accounts and interest remains strong – a lot has changed and we encourage anyone, like yourself, who participated in our Beta program to come back and see where things stand now. We are confident that returning users won’t be disappointed.

 

 Battleswarm Field of Honor

 

OnRPG: Given the recent evolutions in RTS games (C&C4’s walker, Dawn of War II’s RPG elements, Achrons time travel) do you feel you took full advantage of a (then) coming shift in the genre?

After being in games for the last 20 years or so, it’s hard to feel that many game play models haven’t been “done to death” which is why we are seeing these emerging categories of game hybrids.  If someone were to release “yet another” RTS or MMORPG, they would now be competing against the likes of StarCraft II or World of Warcraft – which have taken these gameplay styles to the nth degree and spent truckloads of money to make sure they have the number-one entry in those categories. 

 

OnRPG: As I played through the human section, it reminded me quite a lot of Gears of War. How heavily did other FPS games influence your FPS styling versus the influence of Gears of War?

We all play FPS games, both at RGI and at Gameworld, and as a game developer you can’t make a game without the games you’ve played influencing your design decisions. That said, you try to do something different and unique or there’s just no point.

 

OnRPG: Your virtual currency partner Meta-Tix serves two games at the moment. Have they been an aid in the RMT trade for yourselves?

It’s a great Microtransaction system and there are a lot of games that will be using it soon. It’s easy to integrate, efficient, and there hasn’t been a single failure.

 

OnRPG: Currently, as I recall, up to 6 Human FPS players can go up against up to 2-4 Bug RTS players. Have there been many game balance issues with the difference in team size?

Generally speaking the team-sizes don’t tend to throw things out of balance -it’s the richness of the game economy and item / unit selection that are the hardest to keep fair. Both Humans and Bugs have their own abilities, weapons and armor that all needs to be priced and balanced properly.

 

The other balance issue revolves around the fact that team play nearly always trumps individual play, and experienced players generally beat noobs, so if you’re having problems winning when just joining as a random player, try teaming up or getting into a guild.  Two bugs on headsets communicating can be particularly lethal, but we try to keep it balanced so that six teamed humans can beat them if they do everything right. The bugs sort of control the “show” in a sense though, so playing against really good bugs at a slight disadvantage as a human is way more fun that playing again bugs that are easy prey. Different maps also give different challenges. Capture the flag for instance seems to be preferred by humans, and yet bugs really can have an advantage on those maps once they figure out the tricks.

 

OnRPG: Given the different play styles involved have you found that people tend to stick to a particular side or are players branching out?

Anyone who signs up for Battleswarm automatically gets a Human Commando and a Bug Commander unit  – whether or not they choose to mainly play as a Human or a Bug is totally up to them. Most players favor the First-Person Shooter aspects of the game, but this was expected and built into the design of the game e.g. most maps have a higher ratio of humans than bug players.  We feel strongly that there is something for everyone in this game –  the twitch people get their explosions and tactical combat while strategic people get to have all their different bugs and hives to manage.  The beauty of Battleswarm is that it gives you the power to choose how you want to play on a given day.

 

Battleswarm Field of Honor

 

OnRPG: With the popularity of games like StarCraft and Dawn of War II, what influences in popular games and culture did you consider when creating the Bug swarm side?

Gameworld are some pretty smart, savvy developers and they watch western pop culture and games as much as most American teams, so the influences are pretty much as you’d expect. I’ve talked to their CEO about tactics in Medal of Honor 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Starcraft II and even MMORPGs and he’s very familiar with them all. He’s a good RTS player but an incredible FPS player.

 

OnRPG: What else do you think the hybrid game style genre holds? Do you think you will ever meld two differing styles like that again?

Melding genres has been something I’ve talked about with developers since the early days at Sierra. It’s just an obvious idea, but very difficult to execute on. Many games do meld play styles now, although not many do it blatantly as Battleswarm does.  I remember the same questions being discussed when The Coles did Quest for Glory, and it worked extremely well as was one of my favorite adventure games ever. So absolutely…

 

OnRPG: Have you any plans to move past the, admittedly gorgeous, instances you currently use into a more open world format or would that be a nightmare?

Well, we have thought about it, but in my opinion one of the really nice things about Battleswarm is the “Medium session” nature of the game. I can equip my avatar, enter a maps lobby, and alt tab out and finish emails or surf the web or whatever else and wait til I here the “click click click” and then I know I have 6 minutes of mayhem and fun. It would substantially change the game, and I think we’d need to add other elements to the gameplay.

 

OnRPG: What does the future hold now going forward for Battleswarm: Field of Honor?

We recently signed a partnership with a group called Sleepy Giant out of California that has effectively more than doubled our man power devoted to running Battleswarm. They have been involved in a number of Free-To-Play games including Crimecraft and have deep expertise in the production and management of this type of game.  We feel strongly that this partnership is going to yield a number of benefits to the game and community and encourage everyone who hasn’t yet had a chance to play or users who played in the past to come back for a second look.

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!