Monday, June 8, 2009

Mortal Online - June - 05-06-09

Mortal Online Beta phases
The closed Combat Beta is going as planned, we’ve been inviting players from the community each week since beta started. If you haven’t got an invitation yet please be patient, so far we are doing this in a relatively small scale.

The test phases have been great for Mortal Online; we are getting a lot of good feedback on combat, movement, crafting, balancing, latency and stability. We are very happy with the stability of the server and the clients.

Even though our movement prediction system is not yet in place we have also got very good test results from US players on our EU server. We didn’t expect US players to actually be able to compete in our real time combat system, but they have shown it’s very possible, so far.

We’ve had some great testing sessions, and it’s been lots of fun for us to see what kind of crazy gears/weapons people come up with on the battleground. We’ve also had our a* kicked by some real skilful players. Here’s some screenshots from the beta.

Within the next few weeks we are going to switch to our release build, which is the next step in our testing phase. As this build contains the complete prediction system we will soon have some information about what kind of ping players will need to be able to compete at the same terms as the rest in our real time combat.

Don’t forget to still sign up for the beta if you haven’t done so yet, it’s not too late to be part in the different beta phases.

Mortal Online Release Plan – Shop Opening Soon

PRE-ORDERS AND BETA

For several weeks the Combat Beta has been up and running on our first server with very good results, and now we're excited to announce the release plan for Mortal Online. On June 29 we will open up our shop for pre-orders of the game, also giving you access to the Beta Phases.

Our goal from the very beginning has been to develop Mortal Online with a close and honest connection to the community on our forums. With the Combat Beta showing good and stable performance we have reached the point where we feel it’s time to take the community interaction to the next level. It’s important for us as an independent company to know how many of you are committed to buy and try out the game, and we also want your feedback during the next crucial steps in development. All 10.000 users pre-ordering the game in any of the formats available will be given free access to the Beta Phases until the official launch of the game.

Please note that the Beta Phases will run on a server in Europe only. It’s fully possible to access this server from all countries; however we can’t guarantee the speed and performance over long distances.

During the coming Beta Phases, users with a pre-order will be able to follow and participate in the further development of the core features for release. They include, but are not limited, to:

- The full Myrland continent
- At least 9 races, male and female
- Blood mix and character customization
- Main features of the skill system
- Full PvP, full loot
- Full melee and ranged combat
- Basic magic combat
- Mounts and mounted combat
- Basic GUI for the crafting system
- Resource gathering
- Basic Guild mechanics
- Basic player housing
- Basic NPC mobs and wildlife
- Hidden/secret features

We strongly feel that we want these features to have reached a “polished and proper” state before starting the monthly subscriptions, but as always when it comes to game development it’s hard to estimate how long this will actually take. That said we are aiming to reach this state (and start the monthly subscriptions) in Q4 2009, when all the core features above should be in place and thoroughly tested.

BETA QUEUE AND GAME VERSIONS

We have decided to make 10.000 copies of the game available on June 29. The Beta spots will be divided into blocks of 2.000. Every second week, starting July 6, we will accept a new block of 2.000 players into the Beta until we reach 10.000 accounts. This will be done on a first-come first-serve basis, meaning the earlier you book the earlier you’ll get in.

There will be three different versions of the game in the shop:

1. Digital Download Only
2. Boxed Version
3. Limited Edition (999 numbered copies)

All versions give you free access to the Beta phases. Access to digital download is not limited to the Digital Download Only version. More info about the different versions will be made available in the shop before it opens.

Mortal Online Races
We are showing you a sneak peak of a playable races in Mortal Online.

Ending notes
That´s all we have to offer this time. Don’t forget to check the for upcoming releases and other fun stuff. We developers are active on the forums whenever possible, to read or answer your questions and comments.

Mortal Online News - May - 08-05-09

Mortal Online Beta phases
In the past weeks we have been busy testing our network solution and the hardware for our first Mortal Online server. We’ve been very concerned about this phase, but to our big surprise this has been a very smooth period with impressive results (knock on wood). Our next step is to invite our first wave of external testers that have signed up on our website. As you probably know by now we have decided to split the “Beta” into several phases, or chapters, to be able to test the features in each phase in a relatively controlled environment. We will do this in small steps, and we will start by choosing only a handful of applicants to be able to effectively focus on some particular features.

In our first test phase we are focusing on melee combat (coupled with fundamental ranged combat) and balancing of weapon stats, like weight/speed/range/damage. The testers will be brought to an artificial (and empty) test-island in Mortal Online with an arena. In the arena testers will have access to a crafter which will guide them through a crafting menu, which will allow them to craft a number of armours and weapons in different materials. Please see the next topic (Mortal Online PowerPoint) to find some more info regarding crafting. No resources or skills are needed for this part as the crafting process in itself is entirely artificial.

In the middle of the arena the testers will be able to try out weapons, shields, armours and ranged weapons. There will be neither mounted combat nor magic in this test phase, and skills and skill-gain will be disabled (everybody will count as having maxed out in all combat-related skills).

Before this, testers will also go through some of the stages in the character creation process. Here the testers will be able to choose a few variations of faces, hair, beard, tattoos and skin color, as well as manipulate different facial features. Cosmetics aside, the important part of this, stat-wise, will be to choose race, age, size and attributes – and those are all interconnected, i.e. both race, age and size will have an impact on the attributes.

This is also the première of our blood-mix system. Races in Mortal Online are not static, and all races within a species will be able to interbreed, giving you the option to choose your ancestry and heritage in detail. We will only focus on the human family in the first phase, with the option to blood-mix between them. Kallardian mother and Tindremic/Sidoian father? Orcish father and Khurite mother? Both visual appearance and attribute caps will be dependent on the mix.

One important thing we also are testing in this phase is the ping and playability quality from other countries such as US, Australia, Canada and countries from Europe on our EU server.

Don’t forget to still sign up for the beta if you haven’t done so yet, it’s not too late to be part in the different beta phases.


Mortal Online PowerPoint
Due to repeated questions, our not-very-updated site, and recurring interview topics regarding Mortal Online we have decided to share with you a Power Point with what we think are some of the most important and interesting features of Mortal Online. We believe that both new and old members will enjoy the slides consisting of both information and small video clips. Please download the presentation here. You don’t need any program to view the presentation (it’s included): all you need to do is read the readme file on how to start it.

Mortal Online Races
We are showing you a sneak peak of two playable races in Mortal Online.

Ending notes
That´s all we have to offer this time. Don’t forget to check the for upcoming releases and other fun stuff. We developers are active on the forums whenever possible, to read or answer your questions and comments.

Mortal Online News - April - 02-04-09

Countdown to.. ?
The counter on the homepage reached zero on the 18th of Mars 15.00 GMT, at which time we released new in-game footage and called for sign-ups for the impending beta-phases. Read more below.

Hidden in the counter was, among other things, clues that allowed some of our hard-working forum members (most notably Suname and members of the Aegis Imperium) to figure out the name of the MO world: Nave

Beta Production Footage
We are happy to present some actual in-game footage from the beta production phase.
The movie can be downloaded here:
Videos
Or streamed here:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47101.html

There is also a rumor that someone has leaked behind-the-scenes footage from the game. Supposedly, a “Mortal Online Beta Footage Part II” showed up on YouTube yesterday. Any help you can give us in finding the culprit is appreciated ;)

Mortal Online Beta Sign Up
We are now accepting beta sign up for the game. If you have not yet signed up for beta testing then now is the time: sign up here.
Any information regarding beta testing will be sent out by email.
Multiple account signups (using different names) will result in a ban.

Ending notes
That´s all we have to offer this time. Don’t forget to check the for upcoming releases and other fun stuff. We developers are active on the forums whenever possible, to read or answer your questions and comments.