Earthrise: Sci-Fi PVP MMO

[waylander]

Link to Warcry Article

Skill based advancement, and another PVP MMO.  Lets hope this one turns out better than Auran's did.

[Slayerik]

Hopefully we wont be calling in vaporware in 3 years. Either way, skill based and PVP sounds good to me.

[schild]

Bulgaria.

That is all.

[Thrawn]

Some day someone will hit the PvP/SciFI/MMO formula just right and we will never leave our computers.

[waylander]

Bulgaria.

That is all.

I know, I thought the same thing. But at least someone's got the balls to attempt another PVP MMO.

[schild]

Bulgaria.

That is all.

I know, I thought the same thing. But at least someone's got the balls to attempt another PVP MMO.

By balls, you mean stupid.

Someone is stupid enough to do such a thing.

[Slyfeind]

Lots of emphasis on the story, no color to the textures except shades of grey, and it looks like they're in a Tabula Rasa instance. Gosh, anybody can say they're innovating the MMO field. When is someone actually gonna do it?

[schild]

I know of a company that you would THINK would.

But they won't.

Not even a little bit.

Unless some sort of miracle happens.

[Mrbloodworth]

God dam why is warcry so dam laggy all the time?

[Draegan]

This game has potential.

[Mrbloodworth]

Bulgaria.

That is all.

Disclosure: Masthead Studios is a client of TAP Interactive, who is owned by the same parent company as WarCry.

[Reg]

Will they be offering lifetime subscriptions?

[Slayerik]

""This will change the way we play sci-fi MMOs," said Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios. "Our team is creating a game that will introduce the next innovative approach to the genre, and we feel to MMOs themselves. We based the game in a vision of society's future, where the technology and economics of today have ensured an unavoidable cataclysm. Earthrise won't be just an MMO, but an experience in a new, never-before-imagined post-apocalyptic world."

See guys, it will take the genre to the next level. Prepare yourselves.

[schild]

Convincing.

[Nija]

A little note to everyone developing a "skill based PVP MMO":

I don't want to hear about your game until the day before the free trial is available.

Shut the fuck off, in the meantime.

[Ratman_tf]

This game has potential.

STAB!

[Simond]

This game has potential.

At least it won't be brown.

[UnSub]

It's nice to see the narrative of Citizen Zero recycled:

In the aftermath of a catastrophic third world war, Earth lies in ruin, and mankind is all but extinct. In a small corner of the world a new society has risen in the years following, populated mostly by the clones of those stored in a massive DNA database compiled at the end of the war. A corporate government has created a seemingly Utopian civilization, but its heavy-handed control over society, its resources, and even life itself has forced a substantial opposition. These rival factions accuse the government of crimes against humanity in its rampant willingness to abuse the cloning process to its own gain. It is at this crossroads that players will find themselves: fight as a champion of the new world order, or take up arms with Noir, the shadow government sworn to overthrow the totalitarian rule.

I'm not saying they are aware that this was the narrative to Citizen Zero (which wasn't on Earth, but on a prison planet), but it's pretty close.

I'll come back when they release more info - my vapour MMO quota is full right now (Fallen Earth and The Secret World).

[Venkman]

We need a method here to either postdate threads, or have them time-released. Like, I'd love it if this one into a glass cube we could all look at but not touch until they actually had a playable client in some late-Alpha/beta thing.

[Nevermore]

When I first glanced at the name of the developer, I thought it said "Meathead Studios".

[SnakeCharmer]

I'll come back when they release more info - my vapour MMO quota is full right now (Fallen Earth and The Secret World).

DON'T YOU DARE SAY SUCH THINGS ABOUT THE PRECIOUS!!!!  HERETIC!!!  I'LL CUT JOO!!

[UnSub]

I'll come back when they release more info - my vapour MMO quota is full right now (Fallen Earth and The Secret World).

DON'T YOU DARE SAY SUCH THINGS ABOUT THE PRECIOUS!!!!  HERETIC!!!  I'LL CUT JOO!!

WOAH! Woah! No, TSW isn't vapour, nor a lot of vaguely defined ideas that players have spent more time pouring over than the devs (e.g. the Xmas postcard) nor highly dependent on AoC not bombing. Woah, hey, I was obviously wrong there. Put the knife away, sport.

[tmp]

But will it have twitch?

Re: the colour palette thing, they have some colours on the official gallery page. Overall it looks like Half-Life 2 and such graphics style wise (HDR, toned palette for more realistic look) and no one is crying HL is 'too grey' really.

[Falconeer]

Necro!

Future is uncertain for MMOs and I am tired of levels so here's a discussion about sandbox and Earthrise.

http://mmozin.pl/zin/numery/EZinNr1/earthriseinterview.html

SniperX: First of all I would like to ask you about the idea of Earthrise, why post-nuclear Sci-Fi?

Atanas Atanasov: The Sci-fi MMO genre is clearly underdeveloped. There is a lot of room for innovation and expansion and we wanted to be part of that process. We wanted to make a game which is both fictional and holds the possibility of happening. Cloning, nanobotics and lasers are already a reality – we upgraded those concepts and connected them with the lives of the future human.

SniperX: Can you tell us about the storyline behind the Earthrise? We all know that it is after the Third World War, could you bring us more details?

Atanas Atanasov: The story of Earthrise takes place several hundred years from now on the island of Enterra. It is just after the end of the Third World War and among the only fortunate survivors were those who were part of the Continoma project, a new technology developed by a corporation bearing the same name, which provided a way to preserve the human consciousness and clone an exact replica of a person. With immortality at their fingertips, confidence of a bright future grew but there is always room for error. The leaders of Continoma used their control of the cloning process, playing God on Earth, and introduce a dictatorship on the paradise island. After growing tired of Continoma’s unyielding control, a resistance called Noir formed on the island in an effort to fight to overthrow the government and change the political regime.

Players will enter the game shortly after these events and will be tasked with deciding who will rule the island – the order in the face of Continoma or the chaos in the face of Noir. If unable to decide, there are always the neutrals and criminals who are fighting for their own interest which players can choose to side with.

SniperX: The screenshots of the game look really awesome, have you created the engine from the beginning? What requirements will Earthrise have?

Atanas Atanasov: We are developing our own engine from scratch and the screenshots are the result of three years hard work. There is much more to be done and the final game will look even better.

The minimum requirements are 2 GHz CPU, 1024 MB RAM and 256 MB VRAM video card supporting shader model v3.0.

Concept art

SniperX: The game will be released on PC, but plenty new MMO games will be also released on Playstation 3 or Xbox360; do you have any plans of releasing Earthrise on other platforms?

Atanas Atanasov: We are developing Earthrise for PC and don’t have plans for the time being to release on Playstation or Xbox. The game design is made under consideration that Earthrise will be developed for PC only. If we want to expand the platforms, we will need some time and resources to do that, but our current focus is to deliver the game on time with the promised features.

SniperX: The samples of music from Earthrise are very nice, Shifts and Tides is my favorite – will we hear something similar to those samples in Earthrise? It’s definitely different from common MMO game soundtracks.

Atanas Atanasov: Thank you! From the very beginning of the Earthrise development we wanted to have a soundtrack that reflects the futuristic, post-apocalyptic feeling. Most of the music will be similar to what you have heard and we will release some new tracks for listening in the near future.


SniperX: Let us talk now more about game mechanics, what kind of PvP do you plan to implant in Earthrise? Will it be more like Free-For-All, Faction PvP or Guild-Based PvP?

Atanas Atanasov: Of all options listed above all three describe best the PvP gameplay in Earthrise. Players will be able to find Free-For-All PvP action in every low or non-secure zone on the Enterra island, with the possibility of fully or partially looting their opponent's inventory and equipment. If they decide to bring the action in highly secure zones however, it becomes a Faction PvP where the only way to get away with murder is to take on characters of opposing Factions. Finally, a sizable portion of the game world is dedicated to Guild-Based PvP (or GvG as we call it) where Guilds will strive to conquer land to build their own bases and extract valuable resources from them, while other Guilds scheme to take over their opponents. None of these mechanics are secondary to the others; they all come up together as an integral hole.

SniperX: Guys from Blizzard implanted in their title modes from FPS Games, Capture the Flag, Domination and Assault. What do you think of this move? Do you plan do same those modes to Earthrise? Or add new modes based on other FPS Games like Counter-Strike?


Atanas Atanasov: Bringing new modes of gameplay based on popular games is a great idea, but before we reach out and start implementing ideas and gameplay modes from other games and genres, we ask ourselves what would that feature do to integrity. Earthrise has a serious, realistic atmosphere and all gameplay features are designed to contribute to a cutthroat military and economic competition in a post-apocalyptic environment. Many gameplay modes from other genres are very well suited for closed environments, such as instanced locations, but would not add much in a persistent world environment. We are implementing gameplay that benefits a persistent world first, that is our priority.

SniperX: How does advancement work?

Atanas Atanasov: Players will advance through fighting whatever dangers the post-apocalyptic island poses against them, manufacturing goods to benefit themselves, their guild or the whole economy, and by diligently pursuing their offline career. Of course, one of those cannot complement the others - in fact, Earthrise will have three different pools of experience that the players can accumulate to develop their characters. Each of them will allow them to become a better fighter, a better manufacturer or attain an influential position in the corporate ladder.

SniperX: Plenty of players started RP in MMO games, what tools will you give players who want to create RP Events?

Atanas Atanasov: Probably the best motivation for roleplaying in Earthrise is the sandbox environment where players are free to choose their character's destiny and direction - whether it is military, economic or political - with their own actions, not just follow a carrot-on-a-stick promise of heroism through straighforward PvE questing. When facing real decisions and real consequences, players tend to immerse deeper with their virtual identity. That is not to say we won't offer RP events after launch, but it means that the best RP is where players can define themselves with their actions and gain influence and power above others, and our PvP and GvG gameplay is all about that.

SniperX: Most MMO games force players to increase the level of their character; will Earthrise also demand that players increase their level to become great craftsman? Or will it allow players to skip the fight and do crafting only if he prefers it that way?

Atanas Atanasov: Crafting skills are different from fighting skills and there are no player levels in Earthrise. Players will not feel the necessity to fight if they don’t want to fight. Those who like crafting can do that in the secure areas where they can trade with resources, craft and sell their finished product on the market.

SniperX: Are you planning to create Instance Raids? Or maybe something new for the end-game content?

Atanas Atanasov: We have some great ideas for our end-game content, but it is too early to give away most of that. We would like to address an issue with Instancing and note that Earthrise is a persistent world and our priority is to offer players more world-shattering opponents to face and overcome in a group, rather than multiple closed environments where only a couple of players are allowed at once.


Concept art

SniperX: How big will the world be?

Atanas Atanasov: The world will be bigger than most popular MMOs, but not as big as to feel empty. We want to create a lively environment with numerous exciting locations to visit. I also think that the world size isn’t nearly as important as what you can do there.

SniperX: I know you hate that question, but I promise this will be last question for now, when will we be able to play in Earthrise?

Atanas Atanasov: I don’t hate the question because it is the most important question of all and needs to be answered. We plan to enter beta in Autumn this year. The more we advance into development the more players will be able to beta test Earthrise. The game should be completed some time next year, but it will not be Q1. Please, be patient, we are all players and know how it feels to wait for a game that has caught your attention, but we don’t want to deliver an unfinished product.

About the skill based system, let me link you this from the FAQ:

» How does Earthrise’s offline advancement work?
In addition to their skills and abilities gained from adventuring, battling, and crafting, characters can take a "career" that will provide them with cash and other perks. Characters will advance in their career whenever they are offline. You can think of your character's career as their "day job": It's how they make money when they aren't killing mutants or battling in the Outer Territories or experimenting with lost technology. Some of the careers in the game include Holo Artist, Electro Sampler and Zero-T operator

What's not to like in eve-like offline advancement in a skill based game?

[Bzalthek]

Oddly enough, my 'PR translator' has been reading text that is similar to "revolutionary" as "we really don't know what the fuck we're doing."

Revolutionary seems to be the buzzword used to conceal the fact that game-play isn't past conceptual ideas, and all their "wouldn't it be cool if..." ideas will be chopped when they find out that the implementation is "hard."

[NiX]

From now on every interview should be done with SniperX.

[Mrbloodworth]

I like how it reads.

[HaemishM]

I want a new rule. No interview about an MMOG can ever begin with a question about WHAT THE FUCKING STORY IS IN YOUR MMOG.

No one will fucking care 10 minutes after they start playing.

Story. Lulz.

[schild]

SniperX is a gag interviewer that covers games no one cares about? Right? RIGHT?

Fuck, tell me I'm right.

SniperX: The screenshots of the game look really awesome, have you created the engine from the beginning? What requirements will Earthrise have?

Surely he's either 8 years of or the interview was translated or he's not a native english-speaker.

Ok, I was right, not English.

Hey, Falconeer. Don't fucking link to Massively when they aren't the ones who did the interview. I'm fixing your link.

[schild]

OH

THIS IS FROM DAN RUBENFELD

You folks have fun with this.

[lac]

DON'T BE A RETARD.

JESUS.

[schild]

Seriously, what the fuck was that man, WHAT THE FUCK?

[UnSub]

Earthrise beta sign-ups have started.

Protip: YOU DON'T NEED MY HOME ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER FOR A BETA TEST. You aren't going to be sending me a thank you card or call me to ask how I'm going. OR I'm happy to give this information provided the devs give out their phone numbers too. I've got some great ideas and love to chat.

[Arthur_Parker]

Signed up, looks interesting.

[IainC]

Not going to comment on the game but to address the 'lol Bulgaria' stuff at the beginning of the thread, Eastern Europe is the new cool for software development.