Cavadus
Fri, 03 Oct 2008, 16:30
Andrzej "Klecha" Klimczuk (Gry.o2.pl): Let's start with general question - please introduce yourself and tell us about your involvement with the development of Earthrise.
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): My name is Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios. I am responsible for the overall company operations and the Earthrise project as a whole.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How would you describe the gameplay of Earthrise?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise is a sandbox skill-based MMORPG with emphasis on PvP, player driven economy and sophisticated crafting. The game will offer a lot of freedom and character customization. Players will be able to influence the world by conquering territories and setting their own rules there.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What is the storyline of the game?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): The exhaustion of Earth's resources and the continuous struggle for economic dominance, led to a Third World War. During that time, a powerful mega-corporation, was able to invent and build a human consciousness data storage. It was located in an underground bunker, on a small pacific island. The technology in this facility allowed for cloning the exact replica of the individual along with his consciousness. The few lucky souls who had the chance to store their DNA and mind in the centre along with several scientists, who were responsible for keeping the facility up and running, turned out to be the only survivors after the Third World War was over. When they emerged back on the surface, they started to rebuild the human civilization. The city of Sal Vitas was build and a new government named after the mega-corporation - Continoma was formed. The recovery process wasn't an easy task. People had to fight with mutated species and to terraform their new home, the island of Enterra.
Several decades after people emerged on the surface, the first signs of unrest started to appear. The government of Sal Vitas formed a totalitarian state and started to exercise a very strict resurrection control, keeping the opposition in a dormant state. It wasn't long before a revolution broke out, but it was unsuccessful. However, those events led to the formation of an opposition called Noir. The rebels began to attract a lot of followers and soon became a significant force with an underground base of operations, located on the far side of the island.
This will be the time when the Earthrise players will enter the world and decide the faith of mankind.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How big will be the gameworld in Earthrise and how much there will be to see and explore?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): The game world is big enough to satisfy those players who like to explore and visit different locations all the time. At the same time it is not as big as to feel empty. It will be an open world and players will be able to go almost anywhere on the island of Enterra, that is the main island on the map.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What sort of skills will be available in the game?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): The skills will be divided into three basic categories - combat skills, crafting skills and social skills. By learning more combat skills, players will open new abilities and tactics that they can use while fighting. Crafting skills will provide for more recipes and designs, while social skills will open some actions, will offer social advancement and better income for the players.
Players will advance those skills online and will need to do certain actions in order to advance them.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What kinds of weapons and items are you currently thinking about putting into Earthrise?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): There will be two categories of weapons - close combat and ranged. Those categories will be divided into a lot of sub-categories such as laser pistols, plasma guns, snipers, katanas, clubs and hammers. The design of all weapons will be futuristic. Even the close combat weapons will have some additional powers and energies on them.
Other than weapons, characters will be able to craft and mix their own drugs and medicines that have special effects and may serve as ailment as much as toxic poison. Players will also be able to craft devices and accessories that modify to a limited extent the effect of items crafted by other players. Vehicles and mechanized exoskeletons will be available to those who are able to invest a lot of time and resources, or a large sum of money to speed up their transportation or take part in the most decisive parts of PvP experience. Players will also be able to build structures in guild-owned territories being the only source of many rare resources needed for building many unique, futuristic and powerful items in the game.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What enemies will be a part of the single player game and how are you developing the AI for the enemies?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Players will encounter numerous opponents such as robots, mutants and human bandits. The largest group will be the mutants which are made up by our writers and concept artists and are unique for the game setting. Their AI will depend on their role in the world - there will be some very aggressive creatures that will attack on sight as well as some with more temperate character that will attack only if they are provoked. Some creatures will fight to the very end while others will run if they feel too weak compared to the player.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How will regular combat and player vs. player combat be handled in the game?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): There will be different security zones on the island. Players who don't want to engage in PvP will find peace and comfort in the high security zones, while those who are looking for human opponents or more challenge will be visiting the low security zones.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How are quests handled in the game and what kinds of quests can we expect to see?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise will offer its players several distinctive quest systems that will be integrated in a single interface. The standard scenario will allow players to experience the mystery of the island through the viewpoint of the two forces locked in open conflict - Continoma and Noir. Along with the main and side quests abundant in the game world, a system of randomly designed quests will introduce the players to the game's many organizations - some of them legal, others - criminals, who will award those who serve them with access to monopolized technology and special favors. Finally, players will be able to serve their own side in the conflict, their individual interests or the lawless chaos that poses threat to consume the island through joining guilds who receive guild-specific quests of much grandeur scale, requiring dozens of players to cooperate to complete them. While Earthrise is advertised as a PvP game where conflict among players will be paramount, there will be a lot of choices available to players to enjoy quests and tasks anytime they wish to.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What other elements of gameplay you are planning to put into Earthrise that you think are unique and important?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise will offer many small unique mechanics that will make their first time in the genre in one way or another, but we prefer to hold them in our underground think tank for safe storage and experimenting. We'll certainly let you know when they are ready!
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What are the system requirements likely to be?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): We have listed the system requirements on our webpage: Minimum Requirements: 2 GHz CPU, 1024 MB RAM and 256 MB VRAM video card supporting shader model v3.0.
The real beauty of the game however will be seen with a higher spec PC.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Earthrise will have public beta tests? If so, how many people?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Number of people is not decided yet. Before open beta, there will be several rounds of closed beta, where we will be inviting more and more players into the game.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Approximately how long has the game been in development?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise has been in development for two and a half years. We were patient enough to wait for the public announcement for so long because we didn't want to make our fans wait for years and years till the game is released. We also wanted to have a finished concept and an engine which is ready to show the true potential of the game.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): At the moment, what is the current status of the game's development and when will it be released?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Right now we are very close to launching an alpha version. Our plans are to launch the game sometime in 2009.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Any final thoughts before we end this?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Our team is really excited about Earthrise and the opportunity to offer something different than the typical fantasy clone. We will stick to our promises and deliver a true MMO sandbox experience with real PvP, crafting and gameplay that has impact on the world.
Original Link (http://gry.o2.pl/publicystyka/?co=pokaz&id=257)
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): My name is Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios. I am responsible for the overall company operations and the Earthrise project as a whole.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How would you describe the gameplay of Earthrise?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise is a sandbox skill-based MMORPG with emphasis on PvP, player driven economy and sophisticated crafting. The game will offer a lot of freedom and character customization. Players will be able to influence the world by conquering territories and setting their own rules there.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What is the storyline of the game?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): The exhaustion of Earth's resources and the continuous struggle for economic dominance, led to a Third World War. During that time, a powerful mega-corporation, was able to invent and build a human consciousness data storage. It was located in an underground bunker, on a small pacific island. The technology in this facility allowed for cloning the exact replica of the individual along with his consciousness. The few lucky souls who had the chance to store their DNA and mind in the centre along with several scientists, who were responsible for keeping the facility up and running, turned out to be the only survivors after the Third World War was over. When they emerged back on the surface, they started to rebuild the human civilization. The city of Sal Vitas was build and a new government named after the mega-corporation - Continoma was formed. The recovery process wasn't an easy task. People had to fight with mutated species and to terraform their new home, the island of Enterra.
Several decades after people emerged on the surface, the first signs of unrest started to appear. The government of Sal Vitas formed a totalitarian state and started to exercise a very strict resurrection control, keeping the opposition in a dormant state. It wasn't long before a revolution broke out, but it was unsuccessful. However, those events led to the formation of an opposition called Noir. The rebels began to attract a lot of followers and soon became a significant force with an underground base of operations, located on the far side of the island.
This will be the time when the Earthrise players will enter the world and decide the faith of mankind.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How big will be the gameworld in Earthrise and how much there will be to see and explore?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): The game world is big enough to satisfy those players who like to explore and visit different locations all the time. At the same time it is not as big as to feel empty. It will be an open world and players will be able to go almost anywhere on the island of Enterra, that is the main island on the map.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What sort of skills will be available in the game?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): The skills will be divided into three basic categories - combat skills, crafting skills and social skills. By learning more combat skills, players will open new abilities and tactics that they can use while fighting. Crafting skills will provide for more recipes and designs, while social skills will open some actions, will offer social advancement and better income for the players.
Players will advance those skills online and will need to do certain actions in order to advance them.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What kinds of weapons and items are you currently thinking about putting into Earthrise?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): There will be two categories of weapons - close combat and ranged. Those categories will be divided into a lot of sub-categories such as laser pistols, plasma guns, snipers, katanas, clubs and hammers. The design of all weapons will be futuristic. Even the close combat weapons will have some additional powers and energies on them.
Other than weapons, characters will be able to craft and mix their own drugs and medicines that have special effects and may serve as ailment as much as toxic poison. Players will also be able to craft devices and accessories that modify to a limited extent the effect of items crafted by other players. Vehicles and mechanized exoskeletons will be available to those who are able to invest a lot of time and resources, or a large sum of money to speed up their transportation or take part in the most decisive parts of PvP experience. Players will also be able to build structures in guild-owned territories being the only source of many rare resources needed for building many unique, futuristic and powerful items in the game.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What enemies will be a part of the single player game and how are you developing the AI for the enemies?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Players will encounter numerous opponents such as robots, mutants and human bandits. The largest group will be the mutants which are made up by our writers and concept artists and are unique for the game setting. Their AI will depend on their role in the world - there will be some very aggressive creatures that will attack on sight as well as some with more temperate character that will attack only if they are provoked. Some creatures will fight to the very end while others will run if they feel too weak compared to the player.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How will regular combat and player vs. player combat be handled in the game?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): There will be different security zones on the island. Players who don't want to engage in PvP will find peace and comfort in the high security zones, while those who are looking for human opponents or more challenge will be visiting the low security zones.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): How are quests handled in the game and what kinds of quests can we expect to see?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise will offer its players several distinctive quest systems that will be integrated in a single interface. The standard scenario will allow players to experience the mystery of the island through the viewpoint of the two forces locked in open conflict - Continoma and Noir. Along with the main and side quests abundant in the game world, a system of randomly designed quests will introduce the players to the game's many organizations - some of them legal, others - criminals, who will award those who serve them with access to monopolized technology and special favors. Finally, players will be able to serve their own side in the conflict, their individual interests or the lawless chaos that poses threat to consume the island through joining guilds who receive guild-specific quests of much grandeur scale, requiring dozens of players to cooperate to complete them. While Earthrise is advertised as a PvP game where conflict among players will be paramount, there will be a lot of choices available to players to enjoy quests and tasks anytime they wish to.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What other elements of gameplay you are planning to put into Earthrise that you think are unique and important?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise will offer many small unique mechanics that will make their first time in the genre in one way or another, but we prefer to hold them in our underground think tank for safe storage and experimenting. We'll certainly let you know when they are ready!
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): What are the system requirements likely to be?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): We have listed the system requirements on our webpage: Minimum Requirements: 2 GHz CPU, 1024 MB RAM and 256 MB VRAM video card supporting shader model v3.0.
The real beauty of the game however will be seen with a higher spec PC.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Earthrise will have public beta tests? If so, how many people?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Number of people is not decided yet. Before open beta, there will be several rounds of closed beta, where we will be inviting more and more players into the game.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Approximately how long has the game been in development?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Earthrise has been in development for two and a half years. We were patient enough to wait for the public announcement for so long because we didn't want to make our fans wait for years and years till the game is released. We also wanted to have a finished concept and an engine which is ready to show the true potential of the game.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): At the moment, what is the current status of the game's development and when will it be released?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Right now we are very close to launching an alpha version. Our plans are to launch the game sometime in 2009.
Klecha (Gry.o2.pl): Any final thoughts before we end this?
Atanas Atanasov (Masthead Studios): Our team is really excited about Earthrise and the opportunity to offer something different than the typical fantasy clone. We will stick to our promises and deliver a true MMO sandbox experience with real PvP, crafting and gameplay that has impact on the world.
Original Link (http://gry.o2.pl/publicystyka/?co=pokaz&id=257)