Hi-Rez's Todd Harris Talks Missions, Maps, Lawyers
We took a few minutes today to chat with Todd Harris, Executive Producer for Hi-Rez Studios' upcoming sci-fi shooter MMO, Global Agenda. Todd gave us some great insights into how the game will operate and what sets it apart from your typical online game.
MOG: First off, how's the game coming along? It's coming out in just a couple weeks, so you must be getting into that final crunch.
Todd: All the pizza boxes and Chinese food boxes are piling up, so it must be getting close!
Right now, what people are experiencing in the beta is what they'll get on release [Feb. 1]. There are some small balance tweaks and some additional content, but mainly we're just doing performance and optimization tweaks of our clients and servers.
MOG: Glad to see it's coming along so well. So let's get into the nitty gritty and start with character advancement. Basically, how does it work?
Todd: When you get to level 30, you're maxed in terms of skills, but there are additional prestige levels (up to 50). We've tried to make it fairly rapid advancement to 30 and make sure that it was fun. You can level through PvE or PvP or a combination of both, gaining XP as you go, and you alternate unlocking a device or getting a skill point every other level.
There are three talent trees per character, and all classes have unique weapons. The equip point and device system lets us keep characters fairly balanced. For instance, if you unlock a sniper rifle, so you can have up to four ranks in that rifle, but higher skill levels cost more points. You have to choose what weapons you want to have high levels; you can't afford to have everything.
Players can also craft upgrades that give, for instance, +1% melee damage or +2% resistance. Materials for crafting are dropped in PvE missions. These upgrades are non-visual, meaning that you never have to sacrifice how you look for combat effectiveness. In Global Agenda, you start off looking cool and wind up looking cooler!
MOG: Takin
g a look at our article in the current Massive Online Gamer, it looks like you've got a lot of variety in the mission types. Can you go into some details about them?
Todd: Sure. Big picture is we have PvE, PvP, and AvA (Agency vs. Agency, our take on Realm vs. Realm).
PvE, in our initial release, is basically our version of dungeon crawls. Your team of up to four players infiltrates a facility owned by the Commonwealth, and you fight androids, elites (human guards), and a boss. There are multiple difficulties, from Minimum Security to Maximum Security, and at the higher levels, you'll really need tight cooperation and teamwork to get through them.
There are five different types of PvP matches, also featuring four-person teams: Control, where you fight over the points on the map to accumulate tickets, with the first team scoring 800 tickets winning the match; Payload, an escort mission where one side escorts a container of explosives and the other side tries to stop them; Demolition, our version of capture-the-flag, where players drive a mech (that some of the classes can heal) that plants a bomb in the enemy's base; Scramble, a control-point mission where the point moves; and my personal favorite, Breach. Breach is a progressive attack/defend where one side attacks while another defends three points.
M
OG: One of your PR points about the game is that "Player formed agencies compete for scarce territory, resources, and technology on a persistent world map." Can you expound on how that aspect of the game will work?
Todd: That's how the AvA battles work in our Conquest mode of PvP. These use the Breach format. The difference between those and PvP matches is that in a normal PvP match, the winning team gets some loot, but that's all. In AvA, the winning agency wins the facility.
In the game, you can bring up a hex map that shows the different zones and what agency controls them, with every hex a playable instance. While your agency maintains control of hexes, you can use its production to create more items and take over more territory. So the game isn't just an open-world PvP combat scenario; it brings in elements more like a strategy game or RTS. It's got combat like a squad-based shooter, character progression like an RPG, and strategy like a big board game.
MOG: What will the mission maps look like? Are they all just "evil enemy base"-type maps?
Todd: Many of them are base-looking, but we try to have a good variety of locations. Some are oceanic platforms, where materials are being gathered, and there are refurbished Himalayan temples and Antarctic bases. Then there's Dome City, the primary R&R area for players to gather, set in the middle of an irradiated desert in North America. That has all the usual vendors, auction houses, etc., as well as a Virtual Reality Arena where you can try out PvE with no consequences.
MOG: Finally, how's it coming with those pesky elves? Any discrimination lawsuits pending?
Todd: No lawsuits, but that's because in addition to no elves, we have no lawyers!
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