Earthrise is a post apocalyptic science fiction MMORPG set in the distant future.
In the aftermath of the Third World War, mankind has managed to survive and build a new society: the prosperous city of Sal Vitas. Cloning, nanotechnology and quantum engineering are part of a new reality. Thanks to these technological advances, the human species has become immortal; each individual’s consciousness is stored in a data vault, ready to be uploaded into a cloned body as necessary. New energy sources have been discovered. There is a unified government that takes good care of those citizens who abide by its strict laws. Paradise, it appears, might really have come to Earth, and the people have embraced it.
But not everything is as perfect as it appears. By exercising full control over the cloning process, Sal Vitas' government decides who will live and who will not, playing the role of God on Earth. Insurgent forces have accused the city's rulers of crimes against humanity. Armed factions fight for resources and power within the new system. And from the waves of discontent, a rebellion has fomented and formed a shadow government: Noir.
Featuring a unique skill-based advancement system and player-driven economy, as well as extensive, meaningful player-vs.-player combat, Earthrise gives you innumerable choices to forge your destiny. Whether you're a noble soldier in the raging conflict between the Utopia and the rebellion, a criminal hiding from the law or a world-renowned engineer whose power extends into intricate trade and politics, your actions will echo throughout the game world.
Key Features: A unique post-apocalyptic setting where the cloned remnants of mankind battle to survive and rebuild. Yet while humanity may have evolved, human nature remains as treacherous as ever… Highly customizable characters with over 100 different skills, abilities, and tactics. No artificial "class" restrictions get in the way of making the character you want. Fast-paced action combat featuring dynamic targeting, customizable power armor, huge mechanized exoskeletons, and hundreds of high-tech weapons. Sophisticated Player versus Player (PvP) mechanics that let you fight for the established order, join the revolutionary underground, or carve your own bloody path as an independent criminal. Territorial conquest and defense that matters. In your domain, you create your own rules – or let anarchy reign. Character progression that keeps you advancing in your career even when you’re not logged in. An advanced market-based economy with in-game supply and demand based on player activities. Deep crafting mechanics that let you design and manufacture unique items from customizable blueprints and raw resources.
Pretty Pictures:
Additional Information, from Devs:
Crafting
Any info on the types of crafting available? Will it be the standard breakdown of armour/weapons/accessories or will there be a few more specializations, maybe like weapon upgrades or armour mods or vehicle creation (multi-discipline required, eg engines, transmissions, armour etc).
This week we would like to focus on crafting and answer Triox’ question. As we mentioned before, every item in Earthrise will be crafted by its players. This includes not only the usual fare of weapons, armor and devices but everything from mixing their own drugs and medicine to cooperative construction of buildings and vehicles, including mechanized exoskeletons. Crafting in Earthrise is a complex process that is easy to understand but ultimately difficult to master. The basic rule of crafting is that every item is made of components and every item can be broken down to its composites. Some components are used for specific items, others are used in a wide array of items – for example, a hand gun grip can be used in the creation of various hand guns, while electronic chipsets can be used to create specific devices. Players often will break down items to their components in order to combine some of them with other components to produce new, different items. Crafting and salvaging requires specific skills, depending what item is created or salvaged down, and players will have access to dozens of skills, covering mechanics, electronics, engineering, construction and programming in several futuristic industries. Here is a quick and simple example – let’s have two hand guns, a simple “Kruger†and an advanced “Raider†with electronic aiming. Using his weapons engineering skill, a player can deconstruct “Kruger Hand Gun†down to “Hand Gun Grip†and “Kruger Mechanismâ€, and then combine the “Hand Gun Grip†with “Raider Mechanism†and “Raider Aiming Processor†to produce the electronics-assisted “Raider†hand gun. Often complex items will require several tiers of components construction before the player can create the final product, and each of those components will require different skills to craft. We want to make most complex and powerful items in the game a serious crafting investment, often requiring two or more crafters or varying skills and expertise to work together in order to tailor each element of the final item. That is not to say that Earthrise favors custom-crafting of individual items only – majority of items will be rather simple to mass produce given components are available and will provide everyone with the means to join the conflict between Continoma or Noir, or carve their own name in the history of Enterra.
Transformation of one type of item to another - either through crafting or salvaging - has damaging effect on the used resources and the final item will always have lowered quality value compared to the input components, depending on player's crafting skill. This renders impossible the infinite transformation of items - even for a true expert, constant crafting and salvaging of the same item will make the resources useless and any item made of them prone to quick damage and lessened effect. This is when items will "break" completely - when they cannot be any more repaired, or effectively salvaged to craft a new useful item.
Factions
(via Carnun) How will the player choose his/her faction? Will we be birthed to a faction of our choosing (i.e. at character creation) or will the player be able to choose at a later time. Will we be able to go turncoat?
This week we will answer Carnun's question regarding Faction affiliation for new players. It's a very interesting question because unlike other games on the market, choice of affiliation is not forced on the player from the very beginning of the game. Players can change their affiliation from Continoma and Noir at any time as long as it serves their needs and they can live up with the consequences of such betrayal.
When a new player leaves the crystomatic databanks containing his DNA and saved memories and sets his foot on the island of Enterra, he has no affiliation with any faction. Despite being utopian but ultimately corrupted society, the Continoma-ruled city of Sal Vitas believes that citizenship should be a natural choice for its new citizens. At this point players can make a choice - accept to join Continoma and reap the benefits of its new and bold society - with security and economic opportunities abound - or directly walk away into the wild and risky locations where they can meet with the Noir rebels, either NPCs or Noir characters who might embrace and protect them (unlike Continoma, Noir protection will depend slightly less on NPCs and more on the player's collaborative actions). While such choice will be very risky for newly created characters that have yet to hone their skills, they can do it - and if they pull it off, such actions might even be recognized later on. This allows new players who have yet to taste the world of Enterra make the natural choice of serving Continoma and be allowed to develop with acceptable level of security and support, while experienced players who enjoy challenges can immediately affiliate with Noir early on.
As mentioned above, change of affiliation between Continoma and Noir may happen at any time. Such change won't happen automatically. Every action will count against the reputation towards each faction and players can be seen as zealots or untrustworthy Continomians or Noir supporters. Shift between Continoma and Noir will happen only when the player strictly chooses to. Still players have to prove their interest in the opposite cause before they are accepted among the rival faction. Frequent change of faction affiliation is another factor to count in - players will find it harder to gain trust of their new brethren if they have been turning their coat too many times too often. Finally, turning to the other side in the conflict while the player is in a Party or a Guild will have it's severe repercussions - each Guild has its own affiliation to Continoma and Noir and in a game featuring territorial conquest, traitors among the lines will rarely be tolerated. Players will have to choose wisely.
Skills/Customization Thereof
What do you have planned to make sure characters differ? If everyone can get every skill then wont people find "the best" skills and equipment and all end up being the same?
Many MMOs have problems with balancing skills and try to separate players in alternative development paths - classes is the best example - so achieving powerful combinations is limited to one path only, a fighter, a warrior, a thief and so on. Each class has its powerful abilities and developers try to balance them to their best knowledge. Characters in Earthrise will not have classes or take exclusive character development paths. Players will have the same choice of skills and abilities. That alone will not lead to ultimate builds because many skills will not provide players with passive bonuses that directly affect their success in various actions, but instead unlock wide array of carefully balanced abilities they can use in different situations. These abilities will be customizable action templates that can be further enhanced using special system we will announce in detail soon. This system will allow players to modify their abilities to a certain extent. They will be able to create new abilities builds and receive a slight boost but there will always be some disadvantage that they have to live with and take into consideration in almost every situation the ability comes in play. Think of this as the paper/rock/scissors game, where “the best†character template will be beatable by another “best†character template.
Characters may have the same skills developed to the same value and have access to the same abilities, but their choice of modifications of abilities will shape their skills and game play approach. There will be abilities that will make you powerful for a price, but there won't be abilities that let you own the game. There might be alternative ways to achieve certain effects in the game, and players will have to put a lot more strategy and combinational thinking rather than picking the latest, most powerful sounding ability and jumping into the fray.
Same goes for equipment. The system we mentioned above and the modification aspect of the crafting system will be very similar. It will be extremely difficult for a crafter to come with the very best, ultimate, uber equipment in the game, and if he cannot craft it, don't expect players to be walking around looting epics. All items will come from the labor of other crafters, designers or manufacturers. We are talking about hundreds of different item templates, hundreds of different designs that can be combined together cumulatively. Quality of manufactured items will also be a very important factor, including several very cool ideas we are juggling with that throw a little sense of luck in the equation. Players might even find out that there are multiple approaches towards attaining certain effect from a weapon, armor or a device. That is mentioned to illustrate that the equipment market will be very rich in flavor and complicated. Coming up with the best equipment will not be as easily attainable as reading a walkthrough and repeatedly raiding a location. Don’t forget that items get worn out and they break. Sure, a player might at some point have access to the most powerful weapons in the game and that would give him an advantage... but that is temporary, as weapons break and his great investment in achieving that power will wane away.
Then there's PvP. Because of the loot system we implement in the game, the power curve will be much smoother and provide much more player-centric rather than item-centric experience. The "best" weapon in the game will be powerful, but will not lack balance and raise issues among the gamers.
In a summary, learning all the skills or achieving the best equipment in Earthrise will be difficult, but attainable. At that point players will not face a static system where there's one clear answer, but a customization system that unleashes countless alternative solutions for every possible situation in the game.
Questing
*NEW*
“We have received lots of new questions this week, and one we would like to answer this time is Commi3's question about what types of quests will be available in Earthrise. Quests will be significant portion of the PvE gameplay in our game and several separate systems will be present to make sure the player has a lot to do if he is not ready or interested to dive deeper in the PvP and economic gameplay. While Earthrise is a more complex type of game where cooperation between players is highly encouraged on many levels, we want to retain one of the important features of casual game design - we want to allow players to solo in a multiplayer environment and advance their characters without requiring them to find a group to play with. The best way to do this is through extensive amount of quests for players to toy with.
The most common and well recognized type of quests to any MMO player are the standard storyline made of main and side quests, ranging from simple FedEx or Kill Foozie tasks to complex challenges made of multiple tasks. While most of the gameplay resolve around a sandbox model where players actions are paramount, Earthrise will provide players with a complex setting and environment, along with compelling storyline where players can invest time if they desire to. These quests will develop around the conflict between Continoma and Noir and many of them will have multiple solutions in order to allow players to choose their side - or change it. While some quests will always be available for players to look back and change what they have done, most of these quests will not be repeatable.
At any time players can leave the main storyline aside to invest as much time as they want in the game generated random quests. These randomly generated quests using wide variety of templates are given out by the many smaller organizations on the island of Enterra through centralized mercenary system which players can access easily in many places rather than forcing the player to walk dozens of miles to hunt down citizens in distress. Each of these random quests is provided by one of the organizations in the game that the person in distress is associated to. Each time the player completes such a quest, his reputation to several organizations change. It's not a simple "do this and we'll all love you" proposition. While your reputation to one organization and to a small degree all friendly organizations will certainly grow, all neutral and to a larger extent all enemy organizations reputation will be lowered. Players won't have a chance to be at a good standing with all organizations in the game - they'll have to make choices and put a lot of work if they want to amend those choices later. Having a good standing towards one organization allows players to ask Favors from this organization - such as access to technology and designs the faction has monopoly on, and other great things we have in store.
We are also working on other types of quests we can't reveal at this time due to early stage of development, but when the time is right, we'll get back to the subject.â€
FAQs:
What is Earthrise?
- Earthrise is a post-apocalyptic science fiction MMORPG, set in the dark future of the planet Earth. The game is designed to run on the Windows operating system, and will be launching in 2009.
Is Earthrise skill based or class based?
- Earthrise is entirely skill based, which gives much greater flexibility for character customization. Players will be able to select from hundreds of different skill, ability, and tactic options, and no choices are ever permanently foreclosed.
Will there be a subscription fee?
- Yes. Players will need to pay a monthly fee to play Earthrise.
Will there be PvP in Earthrise?
- Yes. PvP will be an important part of the game. Players will have the opportunity to kill other players – but not without consequences.
Another PvP aspect in Earthrise will be guild rivalries. Guilds will be able to declare war on each other and fight for power and resources. Such wars will be prohibited in the security zones, but will not be punished in the other territories.
There must be a good reason for PvP players to risk everything to make a kill. What will making a PvP kill grant you?
Will characters be wearing customizable armor?
- Armor will have multiple size classes and allow for creative combinations to suit almost any type of personal style or objective.
Will crafting be a simple "click and create" or will there be player skill associated with creation?
- Crafting is divided in two separate processes. The first process, Design, allows players to create special product enhancements to include in their recipes, which are then implemented into the final crafted item. Creating a new design requires player skill and patience. The second process, Manufacturing, is the process of using a recipe with the proper factory conditions to produce a final item from raw or processed components, and will be straightforward enough to allow for mass production.
Is Earthrise solo-friendly or does it force grouping?
- The main storyline and all associated quests will be completely solo-friendly and allow each player to explore the island of Enterra at their leisure without requiring additional help – but there will be additional challenges where a player may need friendly support. Also, many of the player-versus-player (PvP) mechanics will be party and guild oriented for those who seek to become involved in the grand struggle for domination over controllable zones and their resources.
Is this MMO for the casual gamer or for the hardcore?
- The game has been designed for both types of players meeting in the world of Enterra. Casual players will enjoy constant adventure not normally found in MMOs, while hardcore players will be given the opportunity to immerse themselves in merciless PvP and PvE action, economics that truly allow the unscrupulous trader or devoted crafter to gain influence and power over the market, and the ability to control the future of Earthrise with either money or force.
I’ve never heard of Masthead Studios before – Who are you?
- Masthead Studios is Bulgaria’s largest game development company, with a team consisting of young and enthusiastic artists, programmers and game designers with experience from numerous gaming projects. Earthrise is Masthead’s first project, and is likely Eastern Europe’s most ambitious so far.
Basically the only thing you guys care about, aside from pictures:
[MS]Ostiak - We plan to start betta testing in Summer-Autumn 2008, details will be posted on the official site
Posts
Also I don't believe there's any word on what kind of battle system it will incorporate.
anyhow, thought someone might be interested.
edit: also pvp loot will be what the person is using (though you can insure your items). again, like eve
This looks interesting.
Good thing it sounds like in this case, you either won't have to make choices like that, or you'll be able to reverse them.
not sure how ACs worked
Well in AC there were levels, as you leveled you gained skill points, those skill points you use to buy skills. The experience you earn from killing mobs, you spend in a skill to raise its level and your skill at it, or if you used the skill you earned some experience into it. The level cap was 126, but you could keep earning experience to put into skills beyond that point, up until something like 4 billion experience had been spent in a skill. But about two years ago Turbine lifted that level cap to 275 or something. And everyone who had been 126 for the past several years now saw their real level as generated by Turbines calculations.
People could choose to be a Magic User, a Missile User and a Melee User, but they ended up severly underpowered compared to players who chose a more focused route for their skill points.
When it was in its 4th or 5th year Turbine added a way for people to untrain skills so that they got the Skill Points back and the experience that they spent on the skills. And put a time limit on how often people could pick up the items used to untrain skills.
It wasn't exactly like Eve but it was also in the market around the same time as Everquest.
I look forward to seeing how this Earthrise game turns out, the only non-fantasy MMO I have played has been CoH so far, so another non-fantasy MMO will be nice.
that AC system with no refund just sounds like its trouble.
I've been waiting so long for another UO..
so long..
You're drawn to my eccentric Brawl Code: 4596 9143 4529
colour me impressed
unfortunately I don't think I'll have the hardware to try this thing out when it's released
well since you can keep on training your skills even when off-line, I'm assuming its gain-by-time. but who knows.
At first it wasn't a big deal because it was launched in 1999. Phrases like "skill refund" didn't really cross people's minds.
As games grow and balance changes, that sort of thing becomes a viable way for players to change the way they play without having to start all over with a new character.
But yes, I'd like to see more skill based games. This looks interesting and I'll definitely keep tabs on it.
but I'm a sucker for modern mmo's, which there are basically none of. there's that one being done SOE (agency I think?). but its SOE. seriously.
SOE
I saw "Vault Network" in that one screenshot, and immediately thought of fallout; I've been waiting for an MMO in that or a similar environment for quite a while now.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Also doesn't really say how skills are advanced either. Through use or just time or whatever
I wonder how long MMO devs will keep relying on a monthly fee. There are getting to be way too many. Most people just want to subscribe to one at a time.
Steam (Ansatz) || GW2 officer (Ansatz.6498)
for as long as people keep paying monthly fees. which is currently millions of people
sounds familiar
Reminds me of Anarchy Online missions.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
So closed beta sign ups are up out. I just stumbled across this game on Joystiq and signed up on a whim. Is anyone else even remotely interested? An EVE/Tabula Rosa combo doesn't sound like a bad way to pass the time until SWG: TOR comes out. Although, they do describe the game "Earthrise is Masthead’s first project, and is likely Eastern Europe’s most ambitious so far." so chances of them over promising and underachieving are larger than zero.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Uh, they do ask for email.
It's because they want to make sure that if you bash their game they can find you and whoop your ass.
<Knock Knock>
You: Hello
Them: Do you post under the alias of MagnoliaFan on the Earthrise beta message board?
You: Yeah. Why?
<Enter beat down here>
Snooch to the nooch!
+5 cool points if you caught the reference.
They also need all your contact information so they can fit you with a homing anklet to make sure you spend all your waking hours (and most of your sleeping hours) beta testing their game.
On another note... Seriously? +5 pts for this? This wasn't exactly the most esoteric of references. What’s next, +10 cool points for “Don’t taze me bro?â€
Hah, not everyones a Kevin Smith fan, and even the ones that are, I know plenty who H-A-T-E that movie. Plus, if you take out the Snooch, I bet you lose most people anyway.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Then give them a fake address? I have never, ever given actual contact information to these companies beyond a disposable email address.
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.