Massively

Some Assembly Required: Can Darkfall and The Repopulation end the sandbox drought?

Jef Reahard — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Darkfall, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox

It's not often that we use this space for news recaps. Generally MJ and I have a particular topic (or game) in mind for Some Assembly Required's biweekly rotation. This time, though, I figured we should highlight some of the recent goings-on with a couple of pertinent sandbox titles simply because Massively news posts don't offer enough space to expound on anything other than the basics.

Join me after the break, then, for a rundown on what's new with Darkfall and The Repopulation.

Continue reading Some Assembly Required: Can Darkfall and The Repopulation end the sandbox drought?

Some Assembly Required: Can Darkfall and The Repopulation end the sandbox drought? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Repopulation broadcasts its first public gameplay footage

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, Previews, Sandbox, Crafting

Drips and drabs of information about the sci-fi sandbox The Repopulation have been coming in, but as with any title in early development, it's never enough to satiate the masses who want the whole scoop. So consider today's bounty of the first gameplay footage and a lore piece as an appetizer to tide you over until the main course.

The gameplay video demonstrates one of the core features of The Repopulation: its city-building system. During the 12-and-a-half minutes the video runs, fans can check out how cities are put together piece by piece using a wide variety of tools and fellow player cooperation. The devs also take this opportunity to discuss the UI, controls, and how alliances work in the game.

The team also posted a lore piece called Leesa's Story on the site. The vignette introduces the titular character, a cook who also happens to be a cook, and her misguided adventures going duck hunting.

The Repopulation is currently accepting signups for its alpha testing, which begins in June. You can watch the full video after the break.

[Thanks to J.C. for the tip!]

Continue reading The Repopulation broadcasts its first public gameplay footage

The Repopulation broadcasts its first public gameplay footage originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

GDC 2012: The Repopulation demonstrates world-building elements

MJ Guthrie — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Interviews, Previews, News items, Opinion, Roleplaying, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, Sandbox, Crafting

GDC literally has a little of everything, from indie developers to major studios, from free-to-play games to shooters to arena battles to retro to family... there really is something for everyone. As a massive fan of sandboxes myself, I was pleased to get to spend so much time with Above and Beyond Technologies' lead dev and co-owner Josh Halls and artist Kevin Grove as they demonstrated some of the features in their upcoming title, The Repopulation. (And I would have even spent longer if I could have!)

While I had a monopoly on the team's attention, I had the chance to see some of the customization available to characters, both in appearance and gear, as well as get the lowdown on the world building element. We actually walked through the building of a nation, a feature that will make many a sandbox fan giddy! Although Josh was quick to point out that only a few items were available at this point in development, there was certainly enough to get a feel for the system. And I am looking forward to it!

Continue reading GDC 2012: The Repopulation demonstrates world-building elements

GDC 2012: The Repopulation demonstrates world-building elements originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Some Assembly Required: SWG housing extravaganza

MJ Guthrie — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox

The sunsetting of Star Wars Galaxies. Beyond the obvious, that statement holds more meaning for me, something deeper and more personal. See, throughout my years in SWG, I would often stop whatever I was doing just to sit and watch the Tatooine suns set. Honestly. Just a simple act of sitting upon the plateau -- sometimes alone, sometimes with friends -- quietly watching one of the universe's greatest pleasures inside an MMO. It was amazing to me how vibrant this galaxy was, filled with so many little details that breathed life into it in a way that I think is still unmatched. Details such as sunsets made the world real, but what really made it "home" was the housing.

Few, if any, games can claim the mastery of housing that Galaxies attained. Quite frankly, it is still the standard by which I measure housing. And there is almost no way to sum it up and do it justice in one short article. Despite this challenge, Some Assembly Required dedicates this 12th issue to immortalizing (and hopefully prodding future developers to emulate) one of the greatest housing systems ever and highlighting the very thing that made this great feature phenomenal: incredible player ingenuity and creativity.

But don't just take my word for it. A number of readers joined in and sent in screenshots of and waypoints to these expressions of creativity. So step on over the threshold for our tribute in word and image to SWG housing and the player creativity it engendered.

Continue reading Some Assembly Required: SWG housing extravaganza

Some Assembly Required: SWG housing extravaganza originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

New Hero Engine sandbox to feature 3-faction PvP, deep crafting

Jef Reahard — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Sandbox, Crafting

Hey sandbox fans, here's another indie title to keep your eye on as we look toward the new year. Above & Beyond Technologies is working on a sci-fi game called The Repopulation, and the company has just released a new trailer filled with pre-alpha footage.

The project is built on the Hero Engine (and if that doesn't mean anything to you, you'll surely recognize the tech's most famous implementation to date) and is described as a three-faction PvP game that allows players to join existing nations or create their own. Gameplay is purportedly skill-based, and there is a toggle between traditional MMORPG button-mashing combat and some sort of action mode. There are also "many non-combat activities" including an "advanced" crafting system.

The video shows quite a bit of footage given its sub-two-minute running time, and you can get a glimpse of city building, combat, and the user interface after the break.

Continue reading New Hero Engine sandbox to feature 3-faction PvP, deep crafting

New Hero Engine sandbox to feature 3-faction PvP, deep crafting originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Uncharted Waters Online releases new Aztec-themed update

Jef Reahard — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Patches, News items, Free-to-play

The team at Tecmo Koei is wasting no time getting a jump on the new year, as it's already released a brand-new update to Uncharted Waters Online. The new content, titled Aztec Update: The City of Golden Culture Revealed, is centered around Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec empire. The patch adds a new city-building mechanic and allows enterprising architects to experience the new player-driven economy and construct a city from scratch after choosing from five categories (frontier city, city of culture, commerce city, armed city, or central city).

The update also features a new level quest, a docking system that allows player ships to be anchored, and new player recipes, all of which look to add quite a bit of depth to the empire-building MMO. Learn more at the official Uncharted Waters Online website.

Uncharted Waters Online releases new Aztec-themed update originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Anvil of Crom: We built this city

Jef Reahard — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Opinion, The Anvil of Crom

While we didn't quite built our guild city on rock and roll, we did use the blood, sweat, and tears (not to mention curses) that resulted from several weeks of dedicated resource gathering and guild-bank raiding. Come to think of it, we did use a metric butt-ton of rock to build it, so the fact that you're now singing Starship's 1980s anthem isn't all for naught. You're welcome.

Anyhow, building a city in Age of Conan isn't for the faint of heart. I've been promising to talk about it for nearly a month now and continually pushing it back because that's about how long it takes for a tiny guild (currently four active members) to build anything worth talking about. Happily, tier two is nothing to sneeze at, and we've now got a satisfying sprawl covering a sizable portion of the southern Purple Lotus Swamp. Our city, resting behind some rather enormous sandstone walls, features everything from a well-fortified keep, to all the crafting facilities and a trader, to a large contingent of NPC guards, nobles, and (because it's Funcom) hookers.

Read on to discover the pai... er, fun that is Hyborian city-building, and don't forget to check out the gallery below.

Gallery: Age of Conan guild city building

Continue reading The Anvil of Crom: We built this city

The Anvil of Crom: We built this city originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

City building in Earthrise to allow autonomy for guilds

James Egan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Economy, Game mechanics, Guilds, New titles, Player Housing, Politics, Earthrise

One of the games we're looking forward to playing next year is Earthrise, a post-apocalyptic MMO currently in development at Masthead Studios. At launch, Earthrise will offer guilds a wide selection of buildings and facilities that can be built within their controlled territory. Masthead Studios has bigger plans for city building and Territorial Conquest game mechanics post-launch, though. Long term goals for this aspect of guild-level gameplay include expanding options for guilds to become less beholden to the major NPC factions (and the cities of Continoma and Noir).

Specifically, Masthead Studios would like for players to establish administrative buildings, which will provide some of the conveniences and features generally found only in NPC-held cities. According to the Earthrise devs, "Administrative buildings will remove the requirement to visit cities even further by providing access to Market, Warehouses and more from inside the Guild owned territories."

Continue reading City building in Earthrise to allow autonomy for guilds

City building in Earthrise to allow autonomy for guilds originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cities XL trailer offers glimpse of empires to build

Krystalle Voecks — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Trailers, Video, News items, Casual, Cities XL

As the days of fall tick by, many people who just can't wait to get their massive city-building sim on are looking for more details on Monte Cristo's upcoming game, Cities XL. This ambitious project will offer players the ability to build their very own detailed cities (or slap together cities, if you're more interested in seeing what kind of havoc you can wreak by doing it wrong on purpose) and attract residents. With a variety of tools and some interesting twists, this title is raising the bar by adding MMO elements and making city building on persistent worlds an option.

While it's cool to see the cities build up, some of the avatars in this video look like they got hit in the face with a toaster. But to be fair, if you're playing a city building sim, avatar looks really shouldn't matter that much anyway. At the end of the day it's all about making the toaster-faceries drop some of that hard-earned sim cash so you can build more cool buildings. (Perhaps a plastic surgeon's office would kill two birds with one stone?)

If lording over your own online sim-pire is right up there on your list of fun game ideas, be sure to check out the Cities XL "Build your dream cities" trailer behind the break for a quick nibble of things to come.

Continue reading Cities XL trailer offers glimpse of empires to build

Cities XL trailer offers glimpse of empires to build originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cities XL announces delay, new October 8 and 9 European launches

James Egan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Launches, MMO industry, News items, Cities XL

It looks like our European readers are going to have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on Cities XL, a new title that will bring MMO elements to a city-building game. Cities XL developer Monte Cristo Multimedia announced today that they're pushing back that September launch date to early October.

The game will release on October 8th for these European countries: France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria. The French and German language versions of the game will be distributed by Focus and Flashpoint. October 8th will mark the Australian and New Zealand launches as well, with Namco Bandai Partners distributing the English language version of Cities XL. The English version will also launch the following day, October 9th, in the UK, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Italy.

Continue reading Cities XL announces delay, new October 8 and 9 European launches

Cities XL announces delay, new October 8 and 9 European launches originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cities XL feature set and subscription pricing for European release announced

James Egan — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Launches, MMO industry, New titles

Paris-based game developer Monte Cristo Multimedia is only a few months away from releasing Cities XL which will potentially bring something fresh to the MMO scene: persistent world city-building. We've reported that some of Europe's French and German-speaking countries will get their hands on Cities XL first as of September 3rd.

Monte Cristo has dropped more details today about the online play they'll deliver with Cities XL with their online/persistent world "Planet Offer". We suspect the feature set will remain much the same when the title releases for North America, however subscription pricing has only been announced for Europe:

Continue reading Cities XL feature set and subscription pricing for European release announced

Cities XL feature set and subscription pricing for European release announced originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 26 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cities XL dev blog explains integration of gameplay with social networking

James Egan — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, New titles

Cities XL is a game in development at Monte Cristo Multimedia that's ... well, it's a little hard to explain, as it's quite different from the titles we typically cover at Massively. Essentially, Cities XL is an MMO variant of popular 'builder' games where players can create urban landscapes with all that entails, plus businesses and industries, even determining the makeup of city populations (age, education, wealth). The cities designed and established by players can become part of a global, interconnected system, giving rise to all sorts of interactions in this persistent world. (It should be noted that Cities XL can be played in single-player mode as well.)

There's a Cities XL dev blog at IGN that's taken a look at some of the features that will be in place with the Planet Offer (fully interactive), namely how a user's profile page will integrate social networking into Cities XL play. The blog entry states: "You will be informed in real time of everything that is happening around your game."

Continue reading Cities XL dev blog explains integration of gameplay with social networking

Cities XL dev blog explains integration of gameplay with social networking originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 17 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Darkfall city construction guide at MMORPG

Joe Blancato — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, PvP, Player Housing

Paragus put together a comprehensive guide to Darkfall's city construction on MMORPG.com. Darkfall seems to be following the Shadowbane school of urban planning: Every city exists in the open world, and each building demands a substantial monetary investment from the city's future inhabitants.

Just to get up and running, the average Hamlet-sized city, which Paragus owns, will run about 38,000 gold, not including the wood and stone players need to harvest. The majority of the cost goes toward modules, which act as building blocks for new structures.

Here's a cost rundown for a basic Hamlet:

A Clanstone, which allows you to claim land: 10,000 gold.
The Construction skill, which one person in the guild must have in order to build cities: 5,000 gold.
Ten modules for the Bank,which must be erected before anything else can be built: 2,500 gold.
Thirteen modules for walls, which Paragus claims don't actually protect the city from invaders: 3,250 gold.
Twenty modules for two buildings of your choice, which increase the member limit on guild rosters: 5,000 gold.
Fifty modules for your first resource unit, like a farm: 12,500 gold.

What's more, the modules weigh quite a bit; most player's can't carry more than two at a time. Paragus goes deeper into the entire process at MMORPG.com, but Darkfall is keeping its hardcore promise when it comes to putting down stakes.

Darkfall city construction guide at MMORPG originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Anti-Aliased: The Darkfall prophecies

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Darkfall, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

Darkfall. Everyone talks about it. Our mailboxes get flooded with requests about it. Comments regarding the game are both frothingly energetic and intensely angry. Just writing a piece about it can get a writer wacked.

So, let me paint a giant target on my back, cover myself in delicious meat, and walk right into the lion's den of MMOs. This column is dedicated to Darkfall's gameplay mechanics; presenting an analysis of what we know so far from released beta tester announcements and gameplay footage. This is, by no means, a comprehensive analysis of everything Darkfall has to offer. This is just one man's opinion column at work, looking at the ups and downs of what Darkfall might bring to the table.

I'm doing all of this to answer one eerily simple yet dastardly complex question: Can Darkfall live up to the hype around it?

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: The Darkfall prophecies

Anti-Aliased: The Darkfall prophecies originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Eskil Steenberg interviewed about his one-man MMO project "Love"

James Egan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Love

Have you ever wondered what it would take for a single person to create an MMO? Is a task this monumental even possible? Apparently it is, given what we've seen and read of Love, an MMO being developed by a single man -- Eskil Steenberg.

Love isn't being created by a team of devs, nor does it have a multi-million dollar development and marketing budget. It's just one man with a vision, building the best game he can and showing it off on his laptop. Rock, Paper, Shotgun recently got an exclusive first look at the Love trailer and Jim Rossignol from RPS followed that up with an interview with Eskil Steenberg. They discuss how Love's unique visual style evolved into what we see today and talk about the game's trinity of activities -- exploration, combat, and building -- namely the system of city building. It's a very interesting talk with Steenberg, and really is a must-read if you're enthusiastic about Love and the ambition of its creator.

Eskil Steenberg interviewed about his one-man MMO project "Love" originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Another blogger flees Age of Conan...

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, PvP, Endgame, Opinion

...and this time it's Peter Smith of the Dragonchasers blog.

Citing a waning ability to have fun with the game, item statistics that really don't help with anything, and a lack of variance in armor and items, Smith is calling it quits with Age of Conan. His comments seem to mirror the comments of many others, but one particular subject stands out in his blog from the others: the much touted and praised player vs. player endgame.

Smith brings up the point that he feels like "another cog in the wheel" of his large guild. In order to see the content of the endgame cities and city sieges, he joined a very large guild and is expected to provide materials to help with the construction of the guild city. But, without player housing, any type of city mini-games, and lack of bonuses offered by the city itself, he just feels like another faceless voice instead of a heroic city builder.

His article touches on the ability to stand out inside of a game where a person may not be able to stand out in the world itself and how it links back to his decision to cancel the game. If you're interested, be sure to drop over by to the Dragonchasers blog and check it out for yourself.

Another blogger flees Age of Conan... originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Pirates need homes too

James Egan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, News items, Voyage Century Online

Pirates of the Burning Sea gets a lot of love from Massively, but that doesn't mean we haven't noticed some of the other games in the pirate MMO genre. One such title is Voyage Century Online, a free-to-play game published by IGG, already popular in China, South Korea, and Germany. The game is set in the 17th century, and players can choose characters from among European Monarch, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or Pirate classes.

Voyage Century Online's game mechanics don't lock characters into a specific profession and, in time, a player can explore a number of different careers with a single character. Although Voyage Century Online already allows for exploration on the high seas and the seizing of ports, this freedom to choose your own career path runs counter to the ability to truly control your own destiny -- the most prosperous port cities have long since been under the control of the strongest guilds.

To balance this, major changes in territorial control are coming to the game through the new city-building system. Voyage Century Online is set to expand the game's horizons by allowing all guilds to build their own port cities, provided that they meet the new requirements.

[Via TenTonHammer]

Pirates need homes too originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Age of Conan hits exclusively open beta on May 1st

Akela Talamasca — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Age of Conan, Events, real-world, Launches, News items

This is it! Funcom, in partnership with Eidos and IGN have announced the Age of Conan open beta, available at FilePlanet.com and other IGN partner sites. Now, being available on FilePlanet means it's more of an 'exclusively open beta' -- you will have to be a member to receive the download.

Additionally, from the press release: 'Funcom would like to point out that the primary function of the Open Beta is to stress test Age of Conan prior to launch. This means that Funcom will not make the entire game available to the Open Beta testers, and a level 13 cap will be applied.' So no matter how quickly you progress through the content, you're not going to be able to see any of the higher-level stuff; this might mean no siege warfare, or city building, or ridable mounts. But you've waited this long for decapitation-related joy, and here it is!

Age of Conan hits exclusively open beta on May 1st originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments