I recently had a chance to chat with Damon Grow, CEO of Shattered Reality Interactive Inc., whose current MMOG development project Kaos War: Rise of the Fallen is steadily making progress.
Which such a glut of fantasy MMOG's on the market it was interested to see Damon's take on what is shaping up to be a remarkable game. Evil, Good, and those chucked in the middle never looked so good.
Kaos War seems to have a very interesting premise. It almost reminds me of
the demonic (Al'Gar) versus the Divine (Deva) with the role of Humanity
being deciding factor. How will the factions roles be defined in the game?
The essence of the game is a 3 faction struggle for dominance each being unique in their own right. Players will immediately feel a pull toward one or the other. Look, feel and combat styles play a major role. Each race will capture your imagination and give you a reason to fight and win. Quests and storylines shift and have impact depending on what you have accomplished both for your faction and individually. Players define their faction's destiny in more ways than one.
Kaos War will be using a 3rd person type of control system. How will this affect
the playstyle of the MMO 'purist', against the "twitch" oriented FPS crowd.
Ah, the twitch question. We get this one a lot. There are several answers to this, actually. Essentially, they will always have an advantage. That's fine, I'm ok with that. The key is making sure that this fact doesn't affect anyone else's gameplay experience. We're going to great lengths to prevent the hardcore FPS dominant players from ever really having to worry about mowing down the less reflexed gamers. The majority of us weren't born with precise railgun accuracy, but that shouldn't mean we don't have a chance. There will be multiples of opportunities for a player who doesn't want to be twitch based. Boomers, for instance, will have large area-of-effect weapons to use on groups of players. There will also be some heavier, slower, tracking style weapons (like a chaingun, for instance). And then there's melee combat, which will be closer to playing a God of War or a Soul Calibur, than Quake. There are dozens of ways to have fun and be effective, and there's been a real emphasis on making a "fair" game. A fair fight is all anyone can ask for, and it's all we hope to provide.
You have stated the skill system will be based on a "You use you gain"
system, how will the system be balanced to prevent abuse, such as an
automated macro system?
We're hoping that players will not feel the need to macro their way to our skill cap. The game is not designed around a hard-core grind or leveling treadmill, and we're hoping that will help prevent abuse to begin with. We're also going to be working closely with some people who have designed these systems in the past, in hopes of making it as difficult as possible to create. As an example, Eve-Online has a "lit" UI, which has a specular hit on your buttons depending on your angle and view. This helps prevent basic "color grabbing" techniques, and keeps all but the most determined macro artists at bay. Does it stop it entirely? Of course not, but every little bit helps. The underlying truth will be that the average user will never feel the need to abuse macroing systems to begin with, which will help the most.
The economy seems to be designed around a player controlled commodities
market. How will this system control the rampant inflation that plagued so
many other MMO's.
This question itself is a huge undertaking, but I'll try to cover what I can. The key is making your game as close to zero-sum as possible, without alienating your players by turning it into a grind for cash at all times. There have been plenty of approaches, but it's the general consensus at this point that you can't stabilize the economic growth of a server with just one response. Things like Territory Control will be expensive. Want to upgrade your Keep into a Castle? Castle into an Impregnable Fortress? It's going to cost your guild truckloads of money to do, and to upkeep. Want the best NPC Guards and Tower Emplacements? Fork over the cash. Want to put the Impregnable Fortresses' name to the test? Those siege weapons won't be cheap. But we're talking about an entire guild or alliance here, not one player. The key is figuring out where the inflation hits hardest, and attacking it in ways that don't bog down individual players.
That having been said, we'll also be taxing buy/sell orders, housing, arena bets, and other basic things like that. Want to be a Blacksmith and repair armor for other players? Well you'll need to have your supplies on hand. Repairing an Iron Blade will require Iron. Repairing a Chrosite Chestpiece will require Chrosite. We actually plan on a fairly intuitive "repair" window for a blacksmiths use, that will let them charge amounts for items, and make it as quick and easy as possible to repair an entire guild quickly.
How is the development of Kaos War progressing?
Pretty well, so far. We're transitioning into our next stage of development, and finishing up some of our prealpha prototype work and core concepts. It's really starting to come together, and we're getting a lot of great feedback from the people we're talking to.
What has been the biggest hurdle in your development of Kaos War?
This interview was a tough one, it ranks up pretty high, but I'd probably say managing the business aspects of the project has been the biggest hurdle. It's fun to make a game, but it's still a business, and you have to treat it like one.
Has there been any updates on when an open beta may be starting?
None currently, but we'll keep you posted =)
Have there been any design changes or additions to your core game?
That's hard to say, really. MMO's are a different breed of game, and are designed around change. Things have evolved into what they are today. Talks about economy, combat, and gameplay happen everyday and if something is better, we change it. We're still rattling around the nuts and bolts of the gameplay mechanics, and laying the groundwork for the game, but the core game itself has remained relatively unchanged. Melee/FPS Combat, where choices and individuality rule supreme. We still believe strongly in allowing players to shape their own universe, and that we're merely giving them the tools to do it. I don't believe our core game will ever change, because our fundamental philosophy will never change: Fun.
What has been the most exciting part of bringing Kaos War to life?
I'd say the community and industry in general have been great to us so far, and I personally love the opportunities and friendships we're building along the way to our goal. There's nothing like getting that phone call from someone you admire, and hearing that he loves what you're doing. Those are totally priceless experiences.
I'll end with the standard GM question: If you could change anything about
the development process for Kaos War what would it be?
I suppose that would be to allow others to see the world through our eyes easier. It's difficult to convey your message to someone who has never heard it, and describing an MMO is difficult at times. It's one thing to tell someone you're revolutionary, and it's altogether different to prove it. We're having fun proving it, but it's hard work!
For more information concerning Kaos Wars: Rise of the Fallen
Please visit them at: Kaos War Official Website
Angels, Devils, and humanity... oh my!
