[Meliagan]

Dans la série des "House of Commons chat" de Stratics Central, la prochaine rencontre avec les développeurs de Earthrise est fixée au :

Mercredi 13 août - à 21h GMT/ 22h CET

Vous pourrez poser vos questions.

Comment rejoindre ce chat
Avec un client chat, se connecter à irc.stratics.com port 6668 ou choisir un serveur listé dans la page du lien ci-dessus.
-> à la suite de votre connexion, rejoignez le channel : #earthrise

[Meliagan]

Si vous êtes dispos ce soir, ce serait bien de faire au moins 'acte de présence' pour montrer qu'il y a une communauté fr pour Earthrise.

Pour se reconnaître, on peut ajouter 'fr' à son nom, du style : Meliagan-fr

Si vous ne comprenez rien à l'anglais et que vous avez des questions nous les enverrons pour vous

Nous avons un très bon contact avec les devs et comme vous le savez peut-être déjà, des 'projets' vont voir le jour dès la rentrée entre JOL et l'équipe...

[Jariis]

C'est note.

Je passerais si j'en ai l'occasion !

[Kullweet]

Si ma femme ne me passe pas la corde au cou, j'essaierais également de passer faire acte de présence !

[SanMarko]

Arf, ça va être juste juste pour être présente à cette heure là, mais sait on jamais.
Bon, les TcM, j'espère que vous me ferez un topo de tout ça si je suis po là

[Philz]

Bon ça vient de finir, c'était pas bien long.

[Meliagan]

Citation :

Publié par Philz

c'était pas bien long.

1 heure de questions/réponses comme à l'habitude...

Une trentaine de connectés et apparemment beaucoup de questions envoyées (2 questions sur 5 ont pu être traitées pour ma part...)

La transcription devrait être en ligne bientôt...

[Philz]

Moi il n'a pas voulu de mes questions. Tant pis.
Par contre il me semble qu'on était dans les 55 connectés à un moment.

[Jariis]

arf je savais bien que j'oubliais quelques chose.

des nouvelles de la transcription alors ?

[Philz]

Citation :

[16:01] <[MS]Ostiak> Hello, everyone, my name is Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios
[16:01] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Hello everyone and thanks for coming! My name is Apostol Apostolov, I am Lead Game Designer of Earthrise at Masthead Studios.
[16:01] <Moll> (And the customary Hi, Moll the Community Manager, reminding everyone to use those search buttons!)
[16:02] <Maria_My_Star> Hi there! I'm Emily, Media Coordinator for Earthrise. Don't forget about our Fan Art Contest!

[16:02] <Destinova> *Tyleritus* What makes your game different from other MMO's such as WOW?
[16:04] <[MS]Ostiak> First and most important is the skill-based system, the sophisticated crafting and player run economics, the fact that the best items will be player made rather than raid boss drops, the lack of instances, the numerous possibilities to influence the world.

[16:04] <Destinova> *Zardock* Any new information on what the combat system is/will be? Will there be a gameplay video to demonstrate it in the near future?
[16:04] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Earthrise will feature dynamic, real-time combat system reminiscent to shooters.
[16:04] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Players will have full control of their character, and free targetting of their opponents where lack of target results in a miss for an attack, however there will be systems in place that will ease targetting thanks to availability of high-tech equipment.
[16:06] <[MS]Ostiak> about the video: there will be gameplay video of course, we plan to release some by the end of this year.

[16:07] <Destinova> *Joker* Has there been a decision yet on either multiple servers or a single server?
[16:07] <[MS]Ostiak> not yet, we will make the final decision just before launch.

[16:07] <Destinova> *Kavadas* Will killing factioned players in PvP influence the factional reputation of the killer to any degree? For an example, if a neutral player kills a Continoman player will that neutral player lose faction reputation with Continoma?
[16:08] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Yes, if a Neutral player kills a Continomian player within the influence of Continoma guards, we will be severely penalized. In fact, Neutral players have the most limitations on attacking other players compared to Continoma and Neutral - they at least get no penalties for attacking players of the opposite Faction.

[16:09] <Destinova> *speCta* By what seems to be mmo standards these days, the games are barely half finished when they reach beta stage, and some are even released half finished. What are your expectations/plans for both beta and release?
[16:10] <[MS]Ostiak> We don't want to give false promises to everyone expecting Earthrise, that's why we don't mention all cool ideas that we have about the game, but just the core features. Our expectations are that Earthrise will have the promised features at launch.

[16:10] <Destinova> *TMT* Will it be possible to shoot your gun if you aren't locked on target. And if someone gets into crossfire between you and your target will he take damage?
[16:11] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Yes, he will take the damage and you will have a period of time in which to score another attack at your locked target if you want to keep the lock. Locks do not make impossible to attack other targets (unless they are frieldly), they just make attacking locked targets much easier with no requirement for perfect targetting.

[16:12] <Destinova> *speCta* Could you tell a bit about the combat, more specifically with regards to soft or hardlocking on targets and how big an effect you assume something like playing across the atlantic would have on the playability?
[16:13] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Locking is implemented in Earthrise to simplify targetting in combat. When you lock on a target, you are given an opportunity to score successful attacks even if you were aiming not exactly on the target but close enough. It has also technical ramifications with bandwidth delay and lag in mind.

[16:14] <Destinova> *Balthazar* Will being a trader, that does not belong to a faction, be a viable career in Earthrise, and will such a character develop skills, abilities and tactics?
[16:16] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Absolutely! Players that do not belong to a Faction will not have direct access to some restricted technologies offered to members of Continoma and Noir but it doesn't mean they cannot buy them from other players, given they avoid the complications of the contraband system.
[16:16] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> As for developing characters, all characters get access to all skills, all abilities and all tactics no matter if they belong to a Faction or not.

[16:16] <Destinova> *Xyleya* will there be a log-off-timer and if so, how long will the timer be, before you vanish from the game?
[16:17] <[MS]Ostiak> we have not decided yet, it will most probably be decided during the tests.

[16:17] <Destinova> *speCta* The currency in Earthrise, what does it represent and who controls it? What is it actually worth?
[16:19] <[MS]Ostiak> The currency on the island is one and all factions use it, noone controls it.

[16:20] <Destinova> *Balthazar* To what extent will mutants or "monsters" roam?
[16:20] <[MS]Ostiak> all mutants and monsters live in their habitat and they will not roam a lot. Players can expect to meet similar monsters in specific areas on the island.

[16:21] <Destinova> *acidbaron* question regarding factions, is it possible to completely stay neutral or will you always have to pick between either Noir or Continoma? Or are you first 'sided' and can you then slowly work your way towards a neutral standing?
[16:21] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Yes, it is possible to stay completely neutral all the game, though it will require players to mind their actions as everything they do that could be considered criminal or friendly towards one Faction will change their standings and they will have to balance it out. Players can change their Faction affiliation multiple times but there will be a system that does limit "Faction-hopping".

[16:22] <Destinova> *Balthazar* Will players that have more than one character be allowed to let them be members of different factions?
[16:23] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Yes, players can have multiple characters that can be of different Factions. It is not different from any other MMORPGs in that aspect. Still, players will have only one main character that will be allowed to have Offline Profession and receive money for his main character's offline career.

[16:24] <Destinova> *Joker* Could you give us an example of how a typical territorial seige?
[16:29] <[MS]Ostiak> sorry for the delay, Rayner is writing quite a long answer Smiley
[16:30] <Moll> Heh Smiley
[16:30] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> It's 2pm Siege Time, and the Jockers United Guild are all ganged up in their own territory. They have their soldiers in two fronts, one to take on the enemy strategy and possibly die first, the second ready to re-equip and change their abilities and tactics to meet whatever the enemy is up to.
[16:30] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Small group of engineers with Mechas are prepared to dismantle buildings or self-destruct them if needed. Mechas are fueled up and ready to blast the enemy to hell. The enemy invades, his presence visible on the map to all defenders.
[16:32] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Chaos ensures as battle starts, the enemy trying to destroy key locations on the map before getting access inside the base. He succeeds and they come in blasting. Several powerstations explode as they come near, wiping half the enemy forces out and half the map also.
[16:32] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> The factories were built afar from the stations and take only moderate damage. The defenders continue to resurrect at their base control point, reequip and defend the point.
[16:32] <[MS]Ostiak> We will let you finish the story Smiley

[16:33] <Destinova> *Meliagan-fr* Can you tell us more about offline skills with an example?
[16:33] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Ostiak, you ARE evil.
[16:34] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> One type of Offline skills are Educations, passive Abilities that serve as requirements for getting higher-paid Professions that characters initially do not have access to. For example, an Education would be Basic Accounting, Advanced Virtual Reality Acting Skills, etc.

[16:35] <Destinova> *[ERHQ]Plumpy* Whats about the Interface? Will it have some special or news things? Or will it be a normal Interface like you can see in the most MMOS? Can we create Makros?
[16:37] <[MS]Ostiak> We licensed Scaleform middleware for the interface, which gives us a lot of opportunities to add some great art and a lot of possibilities for customization. In other words, expect some great interface. About the makros - we are still working on the subject and will give you more detail later on.

[16:38] <Destinova> *Craized* Will we be able to advance skills through PvP or will it be done through PvE like most MMOs?
[16:40] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Like in most MMOs, Earthrise will not allow players to advance skills in PvP. PvP has a totally different meaning in Earthrise with full loot opportunities and other monetary and item rewards. PvP in Earthrise is a lot more about acquiring property from other players than acquiring skills and levels and points by killing them.

[16:41] <Destinova> *TMT* Approximately how long it would take to cross Enterra on foot? 3 hours? 10 hours?
[16:41] <[MS]Ostiak> It will take approximately 2 hours, but it will be faster with a vehicle.

[16:42] <Destinova> *[ERHQ]Plumpy* how much does the movement meant in the gameplay? can i evasion if somebody shoot me?
[16:43] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Movement is integrated deep in the combat system of Earthrise. Players that move and jump (with costs associated with jumping, so no bunny-hopping) will have passive Dodge that allows them to evade attacks even if the targeting was legal. Yet players that move and jump will have difficulties associated with targeting other players and locking targets will be a lot less effective.

[16:43] <Destinova> *Meliagan-fr* Can you tell us what sort of items will be possible to craft? only weapons and armors or others such as food, clothes, etc..
[16:45] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Players will be able to craft consumables such as medikits and boosting drugs and medicines, devices and gadgets that unlock the use of abilities on the battlefield, blueprints that incorporate enhancements over manufactured technologies (i.e. recipes), and other stuff we want to keep the lid on.

[16:47] <Destinova> *[ERHQ]Plumpy* Once you've told us that there will be some big quests with more than 1000 players. Can you give an example for one of those quests?
[16:48] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Events that involve such massive number of players will be used in the future for changing Organization standings towards each other. As we have previously announced, we will be using such in the future and we do not plan to have them at launch.

[16:49] <Destinova> *Xyleya* regarding territorial warfare: what are you aiming for? long sieges or swift take-over. and what about undefended bases, if the players are asleep?
[16:50] <Destinova> *Kavadas* How much time investment have you planned for forces attacking a guild base? Obviously the defenders themselves and the defense upgrades factor in but how long do you estimate it would take an attacking force to capture a base?

[16:50] <[MS]Ostiak> Both questions are very similar, so we will answer them at once
[16:53] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> We are aiming towards short and explosive siege battles given that in a very short time both sides will exhaust a sizable amount of resource - either through ammunition loss, personal insurance, or being looted by opponents. Still, given that at a time guilds will become powerful enough, siege could take longer.
[16:53] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> However, siege combat will be time-limited to certain duration which will allow defenders to succeed based on how well they fortify and protect their base, not if they have more to burn resource-wise than the attacker.
[16:53] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Also, sieges will be limited to certain periods of time so outside them there will be no danger of invasion on your territory, allowing players to sleep tight at night.
[16:54] <[MS]Ostiak> The time limit will be hours, so don't worry, there will be plenty of time for the territorial capture.

[16:55] <Destinova> *TMT* About how complex will game be compared to EvE?
[16:55] <[MS]Ostiak> Earthrise is less complex than EVE and it will be more friendly.

[16:55] <Destinova> *[ERHQ]Plumpy* Are Guilds are able to update there Headquarter to a real working town?
[16:58] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Guilds do not have their own Headquarter by default, instead every Territory they have control over can serve as their Headquarter if they develop it to include administrative buildings that allow them easy access to various services offered in the Sal Vitas or Noir base but without the logistic requirement to actually visit them.
[16:58] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> As for the term "real working town", Guilds will be able to build Miners or Laboratories that give them rare resources, and they will also be able to build Factories where they can turn resources into items, and administrative buildings to give them access to a market, so if that can describe a working town, then they do.
[16:58] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> You won't be able to raise Sal Vitas 2, though.

[16:58] <Destinova> *Batmobile* so am i to understand that there will be statics spawns? Ex: go to coordinates 24,36 to find <monster a>? this monster will always spawn at this exact location?
[16:59] <[MS]Ostiak> Monsters will spawn in a specific zone, not a specific location, in other words, you can expect to find a certain monster in a given area, but they will not always spawn under the same tree or next to the same rock

[16:59] <Destinova> *Balthazar* Will there be a functioning market/auction system from the beginning? (from launch I mean)
[17:00] <[MS]Ostiak> Yes, there will be. As you already know, Earthrise's economy will be player-driven and crafting will be very important in the game, we will make everything possible to encourage traders and crafters.

[17:01] <Destinova> *acidbaron* Will it be possible to create a neutral guild and take control of territories? Or is that only reserved for the 'sided' guilds? If it is not possible for neutrals why not?
[17:02] <[MS]RaynerTheApe> Yes. Control over territories is an individual opportunity to Guilds - they do not need to be sides with Continoma or Noir to be able to enter someone else's territory and throw him out. We are working on incentives for Continoma or Noir sided guilds to find their place in the Territory Conquest system, but we want to keep them a secret for now.

[17:02] <Destinova> Thanks for joining us on another great Stratics house of commons with the developers of Earthrise! The full chat logs will be up shortly on http://www.stratics.com.
[17:02] <Destinova> On behalf of Stratics and the people that took part in the chat I'd like to thank the developers for taking time to be here and answer questions. Thank you.
[17:03] <[MS]Ostiak> Thank you for coming to the Stratics HoC chat today, and we hope to see you next time.

[Jariis]

Merci beaucoup Philz !

Interessant tout ça autrement ! Pas mal de détails sur les mécaniques de jeu.

Juste un point qui me gène un peu:

Citation :

[16:07] <Destinova> *Joker* Has there been a decision yet on either multiple servers or a single server?
[16:07] <[MS]Ostiak> not yet, we will make the final decision just before launch.

Décider de la structure (software) des serveurs de jeu juste avant le lancement ? C'est plus une décision de design qui devrait être faite en amont, j'aurais dit. Ça me parait vraiment surprenant comme réponse

[Shadowsword8]

Ca sent le "ça sera sur plusieurs serveurs, mais comme on sait que ça ne plaira pas on le ne dira pas tout de suite"...



Ceci dit, si ça permet d'éviter les lag-party à la Eve online quand il y a des milliers de joueurs dans chaque power-bloc, c'est pas frocement plus mal. Surtout qu'un jeu de type FPS est beaucoup plus sensible au lag qu'un jeu où on cible en prenant un nom dans une liste...

[Meliagan]

Ce que je note dans ce chat, c'est à nouveau un discours qui n'essaie pas de mettre de la poudre aux yeux, mais des réponses parfois bien détaillées.

J'ai pu lire sur ce forum que beaucoup attendent de voir avant de s'engager et là-dessus je crois que c'est normal, mais je pense que Earthrise pourrait bien tenir ses promesses car elles restent toujours bien cadrées et ne partent pas dans tous les sens...

Citation :

We don't want to give false promises to everyone expecting Earthrise, that's why we don't mention all cool ideas that we have about the game, but just the core features. Our expectations are that Earthrise will have the promised features at launch.

Vous allez me dire que c'est facile d'écrire cela, mais quand ce sont les développeurs bulgares de Earthrise qui disent cela, j'ai plutôt tendance à le croire...

A vrai dire, les features qu'annoncent ce jeu me font penser (dans un autre style) aux développeurs de Sigil avec Vanguard, un MMO comme on en fait plus, avec du contenu de part et d'autre (combat, craft, harvesting, commerce,...). Earthrise nous parle en détail de tous ces domaines et ne se contient pas uniquement au combat (qui reste quand même le centre du jeu). Et comme pour Vanguard, je crains fort que le problème ne vienne au niveau des graphiques et de l'optimisation. Le choix du photoréalisme est un choix difficile, donc espèrons que leur moteur permette un ajustement pour la plupart des configurations...

Je dirai que tant que le jeu ne trouve pas un éditeur autre que Masthead Studios, nous pourrons rester confiants... et que ce jeu prend la direction originale de ne pas être dans la vague actuelle des 'MMOs de consommation' où tout est (trop) simplifié... L'envers du décor sera forcément un jeu plus difficile à maîtriser quoi qu'en disent les devs...

Citation :

Earthrise is less complex than EVE and it will be more friendly

[Jariis]

Citation :

Publié par Meliagan

Je dirai que tant que le jeu ne trouve pas un éditeur autre que Masthead Studios, nous pourrons rester confiants... et que ce jeu prend la direction originale de ne pas être dans la vague actuelle des 'MMOs de consommation' où tout est (trop) simplifié... L'envers du décor sera forcément un jeu plus difficile à maîtriser quoi qu'en disent les devs...

Je suis entièrement d'accord avec ce passage, mais je voudrais ajouter:
Earth Rise m'intéresse pour la direction qu'il prend: un mmo persistant base sur une économie de joueur dans un monde futuriste sur un fond de guerre/lutte de territoire. Rien que cela, lui donne plus d'intérêt a mes yeux que toutes les productions récentes. Au vue de ce qui est actuellement sur papier, je serais tentée de dire que EarthRise pourrait être le successeur de SwG (premier du nom)
( ma référence personnelle a moi , vous en aurez sûrement d'autres a citer.)

Après je prend un peu de recul quant aux précisions des mécanismes de jeu. Cela peut être amené a changer, entre les idées et leurs applications (possibilités techniques/ possibilités en terme de temps/...), a plus forte raison dans un domaine comme le mmo ou le rêve est(était?) l'un des principaux moteurs. Cela n'empêche pas d'apprécier les détails qu'ils nous donnent. On voit plus clairement ou ils veulent en venir. Et pour l'instant cela me convient largement.

Concernant l'allusion a Eve Online, il y a quand même une marge énorme entre la prise en main de ce mmo, et celle des productions actuelles. Je doute également qu'il soit aussi facile a prendre en main que ces dernières, et tant mieux. découvrir et comprendre les systèmes de jeu sont vraiment des phénomènes qui soudent une communauté. (Attention je parle de complexité du gameplay et non d'ergonomie )

Edit: apres relecture, je precise que je ne cherche pas a donner de lecon ou quoique ce soit. Je presente juste la maniere dont je vois personnellement ER.

[Meliagan]

Citation :

Publié par Jariis

découvrir et comprendre les systèmes de jeu sont vraiment des phénomènes qui soudent une communauté.

Je te suis tout-à-fait là-dessus On associe de plus en plus cela au sentiment de "plaisir en jeu"... Résumé grossièrement : c'est compliqué donc c'est pas fun
Si c'est pas fun, je pense plutôt que le jeu est mal foutu et qu'il me fait perdre mon temps, mais pas qu'il est trop complexe ! Enfin, c'est très discutable...

La question de la semaine répond un peu à cela puisqu'ils ont décidé de revenir sur cette histoire évoquée dans le chat...

je traduis le paragraphe concerné :

Citation :

Nous avons dit sur le Chat de Stratics que "Earthrise est moins complexe que EVE et qu'il serait plus abordable". Nous restons sur cette déclaration car elle se réfère à plusieurs fonctionnalités clés qui sont facilement reconnaissables et instantanément jouables par tout le monde sans nécessiter le besoin de passer par de longs tutoriaux ou de passer du temps à apprendre l'influence de centaines de facteurs mineurs, et l'interface sera moins compliquée et plus facile à maîtriser. Earthrise évite également l'ennui quant aux activités de minage qui incitent le joueur à des tâches quotidiennes pour obtenir des ressources - Pratiquement toute ressource impliquera en premier, quelque chose de dynamique et de passionnant à accomplir pour l'obtenir. Le craft est aussi plus accessible pour les joueurs qui créent de nouveaux designs et fabriquent les items car le système technique utilise les mêmes paradigmes déjà implémentés et utilisés par les compétences, le rendant plus simple à comprendre pour les joueurs ayant masterisé le combat. 'Moins complexe' est certes une expression globale et peut signifier beaucoup de choses, mais cela ne veut certainement pas dire que nous faisons de Earthrise un jeu simplifié (casual game), toutefois les joueurs occasionnels ne passeront pas beaucoup de temps à le comprendre.

Source

Le reste de cette question de la semaine sera évoqué dans un autre sujet