First Look: Dragon Empires
The crowded MMORPG market may be seeing an evolution in a newcomer
Tags: Dragon Empires Categories: PC Previews, Previews
Posted by Stealth52 on May 3rd, 2004
Codemasters, developer and publisher of the Indy Car, Colin McRae, and Pro Race Driver series, are trying their hand at something a little different. Dragon Empires (Codemaster’s work-in-progress MMORPG) has been in development since 2001. Obviously, their lack of experience in the MMORPG genre (or even RPG in general) is meaningless to them, as thus far Dragon Empires features a huge world, refreshing PvP play, and some of the most advanced monster AI to date. And as May – when the game will begin its beta testing – draws nearer and nearer, Dragon Empires continues to look better and better.
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In a nutshell, Dragon Empires revolves around players, grouped into clans, taking over enemy cities. And while this sounds fairly simple, it can actually become quite complicated. To take a city, a clan must not only conquer the enemy clan that resides in it, they must also prove their worth to the dragon ruling over the empire. Partly, dragons are won over through simulated battles over a city’s monuments and statues, which will pit random clan members against other random clan members. Also, I surmise (because details regarding this aspect of the game are sparse) dragons will side with the clan holding more members, a higher monetary average per member, and the clan with more experience overall. And if a city is won over, it’s bad news for the losing side; clan members can come home to a city under new rule, their homes occupied and their belongings stolen.
Once a city has been taken, though, clans won’t be able to just sit back and relax. Clan leaders will have to make important decisions (and not so important ones, like how to decorate the city) regarding a city’s taxes, crafters, transportation and, as mentioned, decorum. These leaders will have to decide taxes on everything from teleportation devices to sea travel to crafted goods, in addition to being faced with the task (or privilege, however you want to look at it) of placing statues, banners, buildings, and large monuments throughout the city. Don’t fret, though; ‘blood festivals,’ huge, gladiator-style fights held in cities should keep the busy clan leaders happy, and nothing’s more satisfying than seeing a infidel murdered for the city’s enjoyment, right?
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A world more infinite and long-lasting than your last period algebra class, Fortitude is where Dragon Empires takes place. It features 484 square miles of land, five expansive empires—which are ruled over by easily angered dragons—and fifty cities that dot the land. Fortitude is encompassed by a variety of environments, too; rain-drenched valleys, forests, arid deserts, cool, summery beaches, and even snowy mountaintops lend their atmospheric qualities to the game. A custom, fractal-based terrain engine can be thanked for the environments, while a full weather model, providing real-time sunlight, moving clouds, and realistic wind, brings them to life.
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Dragon Empire’s backstory is, for the most part, shrouded in mystery. We know that five dragons—who used to be slaves of another, unknown race—rule over their five respective empires. We also know that Piers Anthony, acclaimed fantasy novelist, thought up names for all the game’s geographical structures and empires, along with generally structuring the lore. Codemasters’ own Rob Adams is finishing where Piers left off; he’s constructing the rest of the game’s lore, backstory and even its storyline (which is to be used in the game’s quests). With both Piers Anthony and up-and-coming novelist Rob Adams working on Dragon Empires lore and backstory, we can only expect good things.
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Dragon Empires will feature three playable races. Inevitably, humans are making an appearance in the game; they’ll be very much akin to the human race in almost any other RPG, and until recently they were the only race playable in Dragon Empires. The ‘shadow,’ who rely on illusions, trickery, and the protection of magical tattoos rather than physical force are a nice change from the usual dwarf-elf-ogre routine. And lastly, the ‘dragonblood,’ descendants of a 5th empire warrior and undoubtedly the most feared and brutal of all three races, will be playable. Each race will include highly customizable body features and six character classes, in addition to a number of both primary and secondary skill sets.
Regardless of their race, though, all players will start as civilians, or ‘bystanders.’ As civilians, players are unable to engage in PvP combat, earn money, fight monsters, or… well… do much of anything. To move up in the game’s social rank, players can do a number of things depending on which rank they’re aspiring to attain.
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To become a bounty hunter, a civilian player will need to gain a permit from his city’s government. Once attained, the permit will allow players to hunt down outlaws for money. The permit changes with every outlaw killed, and an assassinated bounty hunter will, needless to say, be reborn as a civilian. Such is life.
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However, no permit is needed for players to become a shunned and self-serving outlaw. And though there are multiple ways to become a lawless outlaw, the most infamous method is by slaying a city’s ‘venerated beast.’ This creature is thought sacred by a city and usually hordes a good deal of gold and random treasures, making them prime victims for potential outlaws. Outlaws will lead the lives of real-life fugitives, running away from the law-enforcing bounty hunters and changing their living habits as paths change and civilizations grow.
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If crime and punishment isn’t your cup of tea, maybe a merchant’s life is. Merchants, who make their living by delivering contracted good from place to place for a profit, can take part in PvP combat just as outlaws and bounty hunters, partly through the use of special traps and snares which ward off both wild beasts and lurking outlaws (who won’t hesitate to loot any merchant within sight for all their goods). Other merchant-type players can set up shops in cities and sell specialized goods like weapons and protective armor. No need to cringe at repetitive action sequences, though; these ‘workshops’ will be fully automated, and continue to work even when players are offline. Crafters, which are usually lumped in the same class as merchants, can make their own armor and weapons, or, if they become skilled enough, can construct entire buildings to sell or for their clan’s use.
However cool they may be, these three roles—the merchant, outlaw, and bounty hunter—will only be additions to the game’s normal, clan-based PvP system (which the game is primarily based on). Players can opt to not participate in PvP combat, which means that—and I say this with a sigh of relief—Dragon Empires won’t be herding combating players off into specials zones or districts. “We want people to see the folks that are fighting for their friends, their city or their empire!” exclaims Codemaster’s President Peter Tyson during the middle of a Q and A session.
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Dragon Empires will also feature some superb enemy AI, which will be totally behavior-based; their actions will not only depend on the creatures themselves but also the current weather conditions and their state of aggression. For example, some creatures will only hunt when they’re hungry, meaning if they’ve just picked a merchant limb from limb then they probably won’t mind you in the least. Others, though, will just kill for the fun of it, and still other creatures will only hunt in a pack.
Just as in the real world, creatures of the same species should act similarly. “You know not to go chasing bulls around a field, but on the other hand, can expect a kitten to be fairly harmless,” says Tyson. “Thus, demons are expected to be intelligent and aggressive, rock monsters, fairly stupid.” In addition to the already integrated PvP system, this innovative and realistic enemy AI should keep the game’s combat exciting throughout the experience.
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As far as specs go, Codemasters has pretty much left the gaming public (many of which are waiting with bated breath for news of Dragon Empires) in the dark. Thus far, though, the game’s hardware demands seem fairly contradictory. On one hand, Dragon Empires promises to be free of any loading or waiting screens, even when entering dungeons and caves. On the other, Codemasters has stated that Dragon Empires should run fairly smoothly on many PC’s (even ones without high-end parts), due to an in-game engine that limits the game’s detail based on the subscriber’s hardware. Judging by the absolutely delectable screenshots of the game, though, players will need a high-end graphics card at the least. I guess we’ll just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Dragon Empires, featuring advanced enemy AI, gigantic playing fields, awesome graphics, and some extremely innovative gameplay, should be a breath of fresh air to the fairly new but already stagnant MMORPG genre. As said, beta testing for the game will occur this May, so sign up, cross your fingers and pray you get chosen to try one of the (potentially) most enjoyable and original MMORPG’s to date.
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Tags: Dragon Empires
Posted by Stealth52 on May 3rd, 2004 and is filed under PC Previews, Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
