Kavadas
Fri 18 Jul 2008, 1719, Fri 18 Jul 2008
Earthrise-Portal.de: Hello Atanas! Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer this interview. Most of our regular readers will have heard who you are and what you do at Masthead Studios, but for the benefit of new visitors who may be attracted by this interview, could you please introduce yourself and give us a brief summary of what's your task at the Earthrise team?
Atanas Atanasov: Hello, my name is Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios. My job is to manage the whole development team of Earthrise, to make sure that we meet our deadlines, and to do negotiations with third parties interested in our game.
Earthrise-Portal.de: There has been some information on the project at its early state on the web, for example, we've learned that the game was formerly known as "Earth Rises Again" (ERA). Could you tell us a little bit about the reasons why you chose to rename the project and if there have been any changes in terms of plans and game design you made along with it?
AA: I am surprised that you’ve learned that. It seems like you have some spies among the game development ranks, hehe. Yes, it is true that our project was initially named Earth Rises Again (ERA), but we decided that the “ERA” acronym is too ambiguous and that many people will get confused with it, so we changed the name to Earthrise, which sounds much better in my opinion.
Earthrise-Portal.de: If you’d only have one sentence to describe Earthrise, which game features would you like to point out? In what way will Earthrise be different from its competitors?
AA: I would say a skill-based sandbox PvP game, where everything is possible. The fact that we will emphasize on such type of gameplay already makes Earthrise a different game. In addition we will add a lot of freedom in character development and customization as well as possibility to do things which are otherwise not possible in other games. Crafting will also play a very important part in Earthrise.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Earthrise strongly emphasizes PvP, especially territorial PvP, where guilds will be able to conquer other factions' territory. Will there be any possibility for player-based factions to conquer territories for their main faction (provided they chose a faction like Continoma or Noir in the first place)?
AA: Territorial conquest is so far developed as individual opportunities for guilds to develop the world economy and become powerful and influential factors in it. We will be expanding the territorial conquest role in the coming months, but we want to emphasize on the individual economic interest of each guild.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Will there be any special conditions concerning the loot a player will get from bounty hunting - in order to prevent a group of players to undergo that system by letting themselves be killed willingly and sharing the loot with each other afterwards?
AA: First off, bounty hunting will not be an exclusive task that only a single bounty hunter can take - in fact, those are open for all tasks that every registered bounty hunter can take and the scenario where only a hunted person's close friend can take and score a kill is often unlikely. Also, due to the economic cost of a death (insurance lost and all equipment has to be reinsured) too often the hunted character's loss will be much greater than the award that the victim has put on his killer's head.
In Earthrise the victim will place the bounty on the head of the attacker, which means that if two friends decide to “cheat” the system, they will exchange money between each other. No money will come or go outside.
Earthrise-Portal.de: During the last HoC it was mentioned, that enemies will sometimes drop rare or highly modified loot - in what way will this influence the value of user/player-created items?
Could an enemy drop loot, which offers the opportunity to craft more powerful weapons?
Can a crafter disassemble those rare troves?
AA: There won't be any loot-exclusive items in the game so everything that players find from monsters will be something they can craft themselves. These items might be of better quality, especially those from powerful opponents, than what players can do with stock components. Players will then be able to disassemble those rare drops to use the higher quality components for their own crafting, if they find little use for that special item drop.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Concerning loot again: What does the looting-system look like? Do you have any special ideas on it (besides the usual suspects)? Huge battles and loads of loot, how will that be managed? Will everything be collected at some place and split up later on, or does the killer get the enemy’s loot? How will the distribution question be solved concerning groups or guild fights (fraction vs. fraction)?
AA: We are still working on loot distribution systems that will emphasize faction vs. faction gameplay, but we certainly will introduce extensive group loot options. Separating trash from treasure is designed to be as easy as possible, as we're creating intelligent stacking systems that will keep your crafting quality items away from less processed materials of the same type.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Some time ago you have announced you will be using the Scaleform Middleware technology for the UI in Earthrise. Some other MMOs allow players to make changes to the UI, add new features by scripting them themselves and the like. What's your attitude towards that topic? Are Earthrise players going to be able to modify their interface and if so, to what extent?
AA: We definitely want to add this type of feature in our game. The question is not if, but when it will happen. It may be added after release with some patches, but if we have the time, we would like to do it before that.
Earthrise-Portal.de: You use Scaleform to create your UI and SpeedTree to plant some trees - but what about physics? Will Earthrise feature a physics-engine like some FPS do? Moveable boxes, which can be utilized in PvP combat as cover?
AA: Yes, we are planning to add physics although not as advanced as those in the modern FPS games.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Your website features a basic description of the offline advancement for characters. It is said there that players will be able to advance their characters' careers while they are offline. Does that mean people who spend less time ingame will advance faster as they are not logged into the game that much?
If so, could you share with us some of the reasoning behind this design concept? And furthermore, according to your expectations, what will be the consequences of this system for so called power players, who are naturally logged in for many hours each day?
AA: Characters will be paid for their offline profession on a daily basis and not for the exact number of hours they spend offline. Therefore, a player who plays constantly and someone who logs occasionally will receive the same salary, assuming their characters have the same job. We do not want to award or penalize certain players because of their playing habits. What we intend with this system is to provide a fluid monetary income that will protect players from monetary drain due to an unfortunate chain of deaths and item loss.
Earthrise-Portal.de: In the last QOTW it was mentioned that the relationship between the different fractions will change during the course of the game. To what extend will players be able to influence upon those changes? Will it be possible for members of a fraction to make an impact by the way they choose to solve a quest or is there some kind of "masterplan" that you've already got in mind?
AA: It will be a mix of both. When we want to advance or make changes to the relationships of the organizations, we will introduce global events comprising of epic goals and multiple outcomes that all players on the server can contribute to. These will be truly massive goals to strive for, requiring hundreds, if not thousands of players to contribute. Depending on the quest, the first group of players to complete them will make a permanent change to the factions’ relationship -- at least, until the next such event is introduced.
Earthrise-Portal.de: To what extent will skills benefit from armor and weapons? Does armor have any specific impact on a character's gameplay - will armor enhance a player's stats for example?
AA: Earthrise is a sci-fi game, and in sci-fi games technology and gear are paramount. Almost every skill will require a certain type of armor and weapon in order for the player to use the Abilities provided by that skill. In fact, while players will be able to advance and learn every Skill in the game, they will be limited by the technology required to operate and trigger those abilities.
Earthrise-Portal.de: You're working on a rather FPS-like game, which is set in a sci-fi universe, so there will probably be a lot of weapons for long-range combat - but what do you have up your sleeve for melee-lovers? Also, could you tell us something about the balancing between a ranged and a melee fighter - how would a typical scenario of such a fight look like? (Will there be bomb-like weapons?)
AA: Melee vs. Ranged is a tricky thing to balance. Melee fighters will certainly face a challenge from ranged weapon opponents but their weapons will use a different critical hit system that will allow them to score more powerful blows at their opponent and more frequent triggering of special effects at successful blows. Ranged shooters will use the safety of distance but be limited in the frequency of delivering powerful attacks and special conditions. Melee fighters will have a wide array of abilities allowing them to penetrate the distance to their opponent, such as sprint attacks, the ability to jam their weapons from a distance, and slow or even paralyze them in order to get in close range. Ranged fighters in return will have abilities allowing them to keep their opponents at bay. There will be explosive weaponry delivering damage in different ways, such as a ground attack that targets the surface and everyone within it to spread attacks that deliver damage to nearby opponents in range.
Earthrise-Portal.de: There's some speculation going on both on the official forums and our forums that you are aiming at hosting all Earthrise players in a single virtual world just like EVE Online does. Do you have any information on this to share? Are there any estimates as to how many players your server setup will allow to be in one world?
AA: As you already know, we are in alpha right now and there are a lot of factors that will influence our final decision of how many servers Earthrise will have. As it is of great interest to our community, we will make the announcement closer to the games release.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Do you have any plans to bring the World Wide Web and the game “together”? Things like offering character statistics or any kind of API to grab such data as XML or something along the lines to use them on websites and forums?
AA: Yes, we have had that in the plans since the very beginning of game design, but I cannot give more details for the time being.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Alright, that’s it for now. Thanks again for your precious time! Before we wrap this up for today, is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?
AA: I would like to thank you for the interview. We would like to encourage everyone interested in a skill-based, sand-box PvP sci-fi game to visit our site and register on our forums.
Original Link (http://www.earthrise-portal.de/articles/earthrise-portalde-interview-atanas-atanasov-english)
Atanas Atanasov: Hello, my name is Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios. My job is to manage the whole development team of Earthrise, to make sure that we meet our deadlines, and to do negotiations with third parties interested in our game.
Earthrise-Portal.de: There has been some information on the project at its early state on the web, for example, we've learned that the game was formerly known as "Earth Rises Again" (ERA). Could you tell us a little bit about the reasons why you chose to rename the project and if there have been any changes in terms of plans and game design you made along with it?
AA: I am surprised that you’ve learned that. It seems like you have some spies among the game development ranks, hehe. Yes, it is true that our project was initially named Earth Rises Again (ERA), but we decided that the “ERA” acronym is too ambiguous and that many people will get confused with it, so we changed the name to Earthrise, which sounds much better in my opinion.
Earthrise-Portal.de: If you’d only have one sentence to describe Earthrise, which game features would you like to point out? In what way will Earthrise be different from its competitors?
AA: I would say a skill-based sandbox PvP game, where everything is possible. The fact that we will emphasize on such type of gameplay already makes Earthrise a different game. In addition we will add a lot of freedom in character development and customization as well as possibility to do things which are otherwise not possible in other games. Crafting will also play a very important part in Earthrise.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Earthrise strongly emphasizes PvP, especially territorial PvP, where guilds will be able to conquer other factions' territory. Will there be any possibility for player-based factions to conquer territories for their main faction (provided they chose a faction like Continoma or Noir in the first place)?
AA: Territorial conquest is so far developed as individual opportunities for guilds to develop the world economy and become powerful and influential factors in it. We will be expanding the territorial conquest role in the coming months, but we want to emphasize on the individual economic interest of each guild.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Will there be any special conditions concerning the loot a player will get from bounty hunting - in order to prevent a group of players to undergo that system by letting themselves be killed willingly and sharing the loot with each other afterwards?
AA: First off, bounty hunting will not be an exclusive task that only a single bounty hunter can take - in fact, those are open for all tasks that every registered bounty hunter can take and the scenario where only a hunted person's close friend can take and score a kill is often unlikely. Also, due to the economic cost of a death (insurance lost and all equipment has to be reinsured) too often the hunted character's loss will be much greater than the award that the victim has put on his killer's head.
In Earthrise the victim will place the bounty on the head of the attacker, which means that if two friends decide to “cheat” the system, they will exchange money between each other. No money will come or go outside.
Earthrise-Portal.de: During the last HoC it was mentioned, that enemies will sometimes drop rare or highly modified loot - in what way will this influence the value of user/player-created items?
Could an enemy drop loot, which offers the opportunity to craft more powerful weapons?
Can a crafter disassemble those rare troves?
AA: There won't be any loot-exclusive items in the game so everything that players find from monsters will be something they can craft themselves. These items might be of better quality, especially those from powerful opponents, than what players can do with stock components. Players will then be able to disassemble those rare drops to use the higher quality components for their own crafting, if they find little use for that special item drop.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Concerning loot again: What does the looting-system look like? Do you have any special ideas on it (besides the usual suspects)? Huge battles and loads of loot, how will that be managed? Will everything be collected at some place and split up later on, or does the killer get the enemy’s loot? How will the distribution question be solved concerning groups or guild fights (fraction vs. fraction)?
AA: We are still working on loot distribution systems that will emphasize faction vs. faction gameplay, but we certainly will introduce extensive group loot options. Separating trash from treasure is designed to be as easy as possible, as we're creating intelligent stacking systems that will keep your crafting quality items away from less processed materials of the same type.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Some time ago you have announced you will be using the Scaleform Middleware technology for the UI in Earthrise. Some other MMOs allow players to make changes to the UI, add new features by scripting them themselves and the like. What's your attitude towards that topic? Are Earthrise players going to be able to modify their interface and if so, to what extent?
AA: We definitely want to add this type of feature in our game. The question is not if, but when it will happen. It may be added after release with some patches, but if we have the time, we would like to do it before that.
Earthrise-Portal.de: You use Scaleform to create your UI and SpeedTree to plant some trees - but what about physics? Will Earthrise feature a physics-engine like some FPS do? Moveable boxes, which can be utilized in PvP combat as cover?
AA: Yes, we are planning to add physics although not as advanced as those in the modern FPS games.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Your website features a basic description of the offline advancement for characters. It is said there that players will be able to advance their characters' careers while they are offline. Does that mean people who spend less time ingame will advance faster as they are not logged into the game that much?
If so, could you share with us some of the reasoning behind this design concept? And furthermore, according to your expectations, what will be the consequences of this system for so called power players, who are naturally logged in for many hours each day?
AA: Characters will be paid for their offline profession on a daily basis and not for the exact number of hours they spend offline. Therefore, a player who plays constantly and someone who logs occasionally will receive the same salary, assuming their characters have the same job. We do not want to award or penalize certain players because of their playing habits. What we intend with this system is to provide a fluid monetary income that will protect players from monetary drain due to an unfortunate chain of deaths and item loss.
Earthrise-Portal.de: In the last QOTW it was mentioned that the relationship between the different fractions will change during the course of the game. To what extend will players be able to influence upon those changes? Will it be possible for members of a fraction to make an impact by the way they choose to solve a quest or is there some kind of "masterplan" that you've already got in mind?
AA: It will be a mix of both. When we want to advance or make changes to the relationships of the organizations, we will introduce global events comprising of epic goals and multiple outcomes that all players on the server can contribute to. These will be truly massive goals to strive for, requiring hundreds, if not thousands of players to contribute. Depending on the quest, the first group of players to complete them will make a permanent change to the factions’ relationship -- at least, until the next such event is introduced.
Earthrise-Portal.de: To what extent will skills benefit from armor and weapons? Does armor have any specific impact on a character's gameplay - will armor enhance a player's stats for example?
AA: Earthrise is a sci-fi game, and in sci-fi games technology and gear are paramount. Almost every skill will require a certain type of armor and weapon in order for the player to use the Abilities provided by that skill. In fact, while players will be able to advance and learn every Skill in the game, they will be limited by the technology required to operate and trigger those abilities.
Earthrise-Portal.de: You're working on a rather FPS-like game, which is set in a sci-fi universe, so there will probably be a lot of weapons for long-range combat - but what do you have up your sleeve for melee-lovers? Also, could you tell us something about the balancing between a ranged and a melee fighter - how would a typical scenario of such a fight look like? (Will there be bomb-like weapons?)
AA: Melee vs. Ranged is a tricky thing to balance. Melee fighters will certainly face a challenge from ranged weapon opponents but their weapons will use a different critical hit system that will allow them to score more powerful blows at their opponent and more frequent triggering of special effects at successful blows. Ranged shooters will use the safety of distance but be limited in the frequency of delivering powerful attacks and special conditions. Melee fighters will have a wide array of abilities allowing them to penetrate the distance to their opponent, such as sprint attacks, the ability to jam their weapons from a distance, and slow or even paralyze them in order to get in close range. Ranged fighters in return will have abilities allowing them to keep their opponents at bay. There will be explosive weaponry delivering damage in different ways, such as a ground attack that targets the surface and everyone within it to spread attacks that deliver damage to nearby opponents in range.
Earthrise-Portal.de: There's some speculation going on both on the official forums and our forums that you are aiming at hosting all Earthrise players in a single virtual world just like EVE Online does. Do you have any information on this to share? Are there any estimates as to how many players your server setup will allow to be in one world?
AA: As you already know, we are in alpha right now and there are a lot of factors that will influence our final decision of how many servers Earthrise will have. As it is of great interest to our community, we will make the announcement closer to the games release.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Do you have any plans to bring the World Wide Web and the game “together”? Things like offering character statistics or any kind of API to grab such data as XML or something along the lines to use them on websites and forums?
AA: Yes, we have had that in the plans since the very beginning of game design, but I cannot give more details for the time being.
Earthrise-Portal.de: Alright, that’s it for now. Thanks again for your precious time! Before we wrap this up for today, is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?
AA: I would like to thank you for the interview. We would like to encourage everyone interested in a skill-based, sand-box PvP sci-fi game to visit our site and register on our forums.
Original Link (http://www.earthrise-portal.de/articles/earthrise-portalde-interview-atanas-atanasov-english)