Hello again!
This week isn't quite as eventful as the last. However we're going to provide you with a bit more information, which is something we keep getting asked for. So without keeping you for too long on your Wednesday, here is some more information about Conquest: Hadrian's Divide...
Combat System
The combat system in Conquest is mostly what you would expect from a third-person shooter. Your camera follows you, fixed slightly to the side, giving you a better view of the space in front of you. Combat makes use of the keyboard and mouse. The mouse giving you control of your attacks, while the keyboard allows for you to perform more complex 'moves' such as strafe blocks, ducking blocks and attacks while moving (which are harder, but have more force behind them).
The three classes (Heavy, Light and Ranged Infantry) all have their own unique abilities. For example the Roman Heavy Infantry can use the shield wall ability with the rest of their team members. This is an easy way to create a (potentially) impenetrable wall between your teams archers and the enemy. On the flip side, the Celtic Heavy Infantry use scare tactics to rush into combat, taking a lot of damage, but also giving a lot out. This would be a great distraction to allow your teams archers or light infantry to sneak around the rear of an oncoming unit and finish them off.
Ranking / Experience System
Conquest will have a form of experience or levelling system. Not quite like a traditional RPG or MMO. But as you gain kills, teamwork points and bonus (round winning) points, your character will rank up. You'll start at rank 0, and progress to maximum rank of 60. Each rank rewards the player in some way, but the main use of this system is to set players by thier skill, and not their playtime on the battlefield.
If you've learnt how to make use of the combat system, and your a good team player. Experience points will be something you come to get used to. However just grinding away for hours on end, gaining solo kills aplenty will only get you so far, or take you a really really long time to reach the level cap. We're rewarding skill, not your amount of spare time ;)
Unlocks and Rewards
As mentioned, you will gain rewards throughout the game. Whether that be from ranking up, or from completing various personal tasks. Rewards are similar to traditional achievements, however every reward is linked with a unique cosmetic item to display on your character. For example, completing the "kill 100 enemy players" task would grant you an badge, or a necklace.
These are normally team specific in design as well. Some tasks can only be completed on certain teams, and therefore only give the wearable reward to the corresponding character. Another use for this reward system is for things like pre-release competitions, alpha, beta and pre-order rewards, and so on. So you might have a chance to win some of these customisation additions before the game is even released.
Your Character
When it comes to your character, we've taken a few steps to ensure that the game is balanced. But you still get to create a character for either team. The way this works is that each game account receives the ability to make their character. This character has both a Roman and Celtic appearance, and therefore will show the relative team appearance when you join either team in a game. This means that there can still be team auto-balancing on servers, without forcing the player to create another whole character, etc.
We're not to sure whether your account username will be used for both the Celtic and Roman versions of your character, or whether you'll be able to separately name them. It's also worth noting that each appearance has full access to change every part of the character. Meaning you don't just change the armour. You change the hair, face, tattoos/facepaint, armour, and so on.
Thats it for this week. Hopefully this provides you with a little extra information on some of the key systems of Conquest. As usual we'd like to invite you to register on our forums, watch us on IndieDB.com and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. You can also leave comments here, or on our blog.
A few reminders; the discount code for Dreamhost.com hosting is still active (and will always be). Just use the code "CONQUEST" (without quotation marks) when signing up for a new hosting plan. You'll receive $75 off of the one year or two year hosting plans. The hosting is perfect for Indie teams, providing you with fast web hosting, subversion support, on-click installs of wordpress, phpbb, and so on. As well as a lot of other extras.
On the recruitment front, we're still looking for Environment Artists and someone with an understanding of Scaleform and Flash. Email us your portfolio/CV and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!
Email: contact@crystal-core.co.uk
MSN: tylertrevell@live.co.uk
Skype: Skulburn
Sounds very good. Everything good that you expect from third-person action game. Oh, and please try to make it so that combat won't be bunny-hopping and hitting each other with swords, like seen in many games today. People just start running around, jumping and swinging weapons, even in MMO's where you can see something like that very often.
Well wish you best luck guys!