Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Shards of the Dreams

I came upon this game called "Shards of the Dreams" due to an advertisement placed on Yahoo! Games. Since it was browser-based and doesn't require much time to get started, I decided to give it a check.
Shards of the Dreams - Account CreationShards of the Dreams - Request for Permission
At first look, the website for this game looks pretty decent. In addition, it appears that I can use my facebook account to play. This would definitely save me the hassle of going through account creation.

Indeed, all I needed was to make sure that I'm logged in facebook and then click on the connect button. A pop-up asking to allow the app will appear. After allowing the request, check the terms of service and click continue.
Shards of the Dreams - Character CreationShards of the Dreams - Inactivity Limit
Character creation seems pretty much like all other browser-based games that you can find out there in the market. There's two sides to choose, the usual four classes (tank, thief, healer and mage) and a gender option.

Since there's no other customization options, I guess we won't be expecting much differentiation between players then.

Oh by the way, do note that there's a time limit, for inactivity, to character deletion for characters below level 8.
Shards of the Dreams - Game Interface 1Shards of the Dreams - Game Interface
The game interface looks kind of like those olden days isometric RPGs. But since its a browser game, we shouldn't have high expectations right? Frankly speaking, I wasn't having much expectations when I saw the game on Yahoo!.


Looks aside, I noticed that upon logging in, there wasn't any tutorials for newcomers. The only thing present was an NPC with an exclamation mark on top of his head. I guess the developers probably figured that the game is a no-brainer and thus there's no need for one.

Talking to this NPC will start your very first quest in the game, searching for a missing cat. Extremely easy task, right? That is if you know where to look.
Shards of the Dreams - Radar
Being a veteran gamer, I'm sure you will first start looking at the radar for any tell-tales. Surely enough, you should notice that the game provides a green arrow pointing towards the quest location. And as you approach closer, a green dot with ripples will appear on the radar to show you your target.
Shards of the Dreams - CombatShards of the Dreams - Loot
The combat in this game is fairly simple. Your character just shows a simple slash animation against your target and then damage numbers or miss pop above the heads of both. Sorry, but even for skills casting, there isn't any fancy animations here. For my rogue at least, not sure about mage casting magic.

During combat, your character does not regenerate health and mana points. So if you get attacked constantly without a pause in between, you will die. However, the good thing is that your character will quickly replenish them after exiting combat.
Shards of the Dreams - Movement Mechanics
One thing interesting about this game is the movement mechanics. I was expecting to jump into another map after moving my character to the portal like in other games that I've played. However, what I saw was a map with various circles representing sites of interests or villages instead.

These circles are of varying distance away from each other. And to get to these locations, one must wait for certain amounts of time depending on your character's distance to that location. You must wait for your character to literally traverse the map to move in between places.

I'm guessing there will be other faster modes of travel being implemented into the game in the future. Probably there will be more locations added and a larger map too, since I see a transport method option.
Shards of the Dreams - Shop NPC
The costs of beginner equipment is appalling. Apparently, the starting village's equipment merchant doesn't seem to sell much stuff oriented for beginners. There are only a handful of items that are sold cheap enough for beginner wallets.

With monsters looting about 4 to 6 coppers while armors costing 15 to 20 silvers, your basically stuck with whatever you have or looted until you've managed to save up the silvers.

If the full set of beginner equipment costs 110 silvers, that would mean you would have to kill at least 2,200 monsters. Some grinding that is...and not to mention this is for beginner items. I seriously can't imagine the costs of stuff at higher levels.
Shards of the Dreams - Character InfoShards of the Dreams - Skills
The skills and talents of the character is another thing that's worth mentioning. There are only four skills/abilities seen in the talent window and most of them are without much descriptions at this point in time. Perhaps the game makers are still in the process of implementing more skills. Or maybe more skills will be discovered as I level higher. But in any case, the lack of skill descriptions only shows that this game isn't quite fully developed as yet.

Therefore it would only be logical to conclude that rather than calling it a game in beta, as stated on the site, I'ld say that this game is somewhat in between alpha and beta stages.

There is a serious need to balance the game mechanics, touch up on information descriptions on various items and skills and implement more stuff. Until this 'raw ore' is polished, don't count on this game to give you your fix of entertainment. You might be better off searching elsewhere.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Secret World: Tokyo Flashback


The following is a recorded gameplay demo of the first mission in The Secret World. Apparently, this video is uploaded onto Youtube by someone who attended the New York Comic Convention '11.
After going through this video, I feel that The Secret World is kind of like a fusion of two games - "Hellgate" & "Half-life". It inherits the good points in these two games and further polishes up on them.

If this is the sort of gameplay and fabulous storyline to look forward to, I definitely feel that The Secret World will offer gamers a truly unique experience.

The full one hour video of the NYCC '11 Panel hosted by MMORPG.com:
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/404/view/videos/play/2084/NYCC-11-Panel.html


Monday, October 17, 2011

Vindictus


Vindictus/Mabinogi Heroes is a hack and slash MMORPG created by devCAT. In my opinion, this is a pretty cool game to consider downloading if you live in Korea, North America or Europe (Apparently, due to licensing issues, they implement IP blocks on all other countries).

The game itself is free to download and play. It contains a virtual item shop where players can purchase in-game items using Nexon points. The items bought can have an effect on a character's appearance and abilities.

There are 5 main playable characters. Only 4 are playable in the Korean and North American versions (Fiona, Lann, Evie and Karok) and only 3 are playable in the European version (Fiona, Lann and Evie) at this moment. As you can tell from the names, these characters are gender locked.
  • Lann
    Lann specializes in dual-wielding spears and swords. His attacks are speedy, and in the battlefield, enemies are left breathless at his seemingly non-stop whirlwind of slashes and thrusts. Because he relies on speed, Lann starts out wearing light armor. As he gets stronger, he learns how to wear heavy armor without impeding his quick movements.
  • Fiona
    Fiona is a balanced warrior who wields a sword and a shield. She values defense, so she uses her shield to protect herself during combat and then strikes strategically when enemies aren’t expecting it. She is able to wear heavy armor from the start and later learns to wear plate armor as well.
  • Evie
    Evie is a magic user who can wield a staff or a battle scythe. With a staff, she is capable of casting a wide variety of spells, ranging from Ice Spear (that can freeze bosses) to Healing Corona (which restores her allies' health). Scythe Evie is capable of dealing much more direct physical damage, but gives up much of her spell casting ability. She starts out wearing cloth armor but, with time and effort, she can learn to wear light armor as well.
  • Karok
    Karok starts out wielding a colossal pillar which he uses to bludgeon his enemies into submission. As he levels up, he will be able to swap out the pillar for a huge hammer instead. As a giant, his considerable strength allows him to easily carry and throw huge objects. His massive size makes him slow, but it also grants him high defense and the ability to start with heavy armor.
  • Kai
    Kai is a male character who presumably plays the Archer role. Kai is currently not released in any version (including Korean) and thus very little information is known about him.
Immediately after choosing your character comes the prologue. You will be guided on how to move your character, attack, use skills and how to interact with your environment (which is the charm of playing this game).

Towards the end of the prologue, you will be asked to fight a giant spider which sort of acts as an introduction to how 'Boss Fights' will be conducted in the various instances soon to come. Be sure to enjoy the intriguing cinematics that is interlaced into the gameplay.
After completing the prologue, you will find yourself waking up in a tavern. The lady you have saved during the prologue will then ask for your name. You will then be shown the customization screen for your chosen character. As you can see, there isn't much options available for you to customize your character with at this point in the game. I'm afraid that most of the uniqueness of your character will depend upon your weapon and armor choices plus the coloring of them via dyes.
Upon finishing the conversation and exiting the tavern, you will find yourself in the town of Colhen. From here onwards, its pretty much free and easy. Just follow the instructions to pick up some quests and off you go to explore the world of 'Vindictus'.
The game is basically sort of instanced oriented. There are only two places in the world of Vindictus, Colhen and Rocheste. You enter the dungeon instances via boats at the docks.

Combat-wise, this game is simply just hack and slash. You turn your character to face an opponent and then use combinations of left and right clicks on the mouse to attack.

Most of the stuff found lying around in the game's instances can be lifted, thrown or broken. Pots can be grabbed and used to smash enemies, barrels can be thrown and even stone pillars can be destroyed with sufficient damage.
As for your character, there are no stat points for you to allocate when you level up your character. In my opinion, although this will potentially remove the chances of gimping your character, but it also restricts on the character variations that you can create if stat points allocation was possible.

However, tweaking of stats can still be done through equipment and skill choices. If you wish to improve on a particular stat, all you have to do is find and wear equipments which improve that stat. There are also some skills which you can learn to improve your base stats too.

Additionally, there is also a system of 'Titles' which you can obtain that will improve on your stats. For example, if you defeat 25 enemies with kicks, you will acquire the title of 'Pro Kicks' which will give you STR+2, WIL+1 & AGI+1. All of these stat gains from titles are permanent. You do not have to equip the titles to gain their bonuses.
Apart from the few starting skills that you get, all of the other skills are acquired from skill books. Some skill books are obtained as quest rewards while others are bought from NPCs. Once you have fulfilled the requirements, right click on the skill book to learn the skill.

Ability Points (AP) are used to improve the level or rank of a skill. However, AP can only be gained through the completion of Battle Quests or obtained via the Meditation Skill. And with regards to AP gained from Battle Quests, the amount of AP earned from completion diminishes with repetition.

To increase the level of a particular skill, you need to open up the skill window and then click on the skill you wish to train. After doing so, you will then be able to allocate the AP you've obtained into the skill. Upon completion in filling up the bar with AP, your skill will rank up. Note that you can only rank up one skill at a time. Once you've clicked on the train button, you WILL have to finish ranking up the skill before you can select another one to train.
In Vindictus, player crafting comes in the form of 'Expertise'. There are 6 categories of expertise, Weaponsmithing, Goldsmithing, Tailoring, Platesmithing, Armorsmithing and Cooking. Each character can only learn cooking and one other category of expertise.

Items that are crafted by players can be higher in quality than compared to items crafted by NPCs. This is indicated by the number of stars in the item's description.

Unless there is a special event going, increasing a character's proficiency in an expertise can take a lot of time (as well as gold if the ingredients are obtained from the Marketplace rather than from dungeon runs). For this exact reason, unless you craft your own equipment, you might have to pay an arm or a leg to obtain a set of high level equipment from crafters.

If you are interested in playing this game, my advice for you would be to focus on the combat system and its storyline. Play it like you would with an offline game - complete and move on.


Monday, October 10, 2011

BGO: Strike Craft Engine Modules


Light Drive Overcharger
(Increases Speed and Boost Speed)
Installs upgraded components and high capacity power conduits that, in combination with precision tuning, allow a strike craft's sublight drive to be pushed beyond the original specs, significantly increasing the thrust produced.

Effect: Increases speed and boost speed
Level12345678910
Cost5,000 ty5,000 ty300 cu
5,000 ty
900 cu
5,000 ty
1,500 cu
5,000 ty
2,300 cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
Boost Speed1.31.41.61.71.92.0????
Speed1.31.41.61.71.92.0????
Durability2500.02777.83055.63333.33611.13888.94166.74444.54722.25000.0
Skill RequirementEngineering-0Engineering-1Engineering-2Engineering-3Engineering-4Engineering-5
*Tylium = ty     Cubits = cu

Light Turbo Boosters
(Increases Acceleration and Boost Speed)
Boosters give a ship a temporary and powerful increase in speed by redirecting tylium reactor plasma through the sublight drive chambers to create additional thrust. Upgrading the plasma conduits and reinforcing the drive chamber increases the thrust still further and improves overall acceleration.

Effect: Increases acceleration and boost speed
Level12345678910
Cost5,000 ty5,000 ty300 cu
5,000 ty
900 cu
5,000 ty
1,500 cu
5,000 ty
2,300 cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
Boost Speed2.52.83.13.33.63.9????
Acceleration1.01.11.21.31.41.6????
Durability2500.02777.83055.63333.33611.13888.94166.74444.54722.25000.0
Skill RequirementEngineering-0Engineering-1Engineering-2Engineering-3Engineering-4Engineering-5
*Tylium = ty     Cubits = cu

Light Gyro-stabilization
(Increases Turn Rate)
Gyro-stabilization gives the ship increased maneuverability and a tighter turning radius. In combat this added mobility helps pilots get a jump on enemy ships and fly nimbly through crowded environments like asteroid fields.

Effect: Increases turn rate
Level12345678910
Cost5,000 ty5,000 ty450 cu
5,000 ty
900 cu
5,000 ty
1,500 cu
5,000 ty
2,300 cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
Turn Rate2.5%2.8%3.1%3.3%3.6%3.9%????
Torque Factor2.52.83.13.33.63.9????
Durability2500.02777.83055.63333.33611.13888.94166.74444.54722.25000.0
Skill RequirementPiloting-0Piloting-1Piloting-2Piloting-3Piloting-4Piloting-5
*Tylium = ty     Cubits = cu


Light RCS Ducting
(Increases Avoidance of Cannon Fire)
Modifies the reaction control system to allow higher operating pressures, increasing responsiveness and allowing pilots to make more extreme evasive actions. This improves a ship's ability to avoid incoming enemy cannon fire.

Effect: Increases avoidance, making a ship harder to hit with cannons
Level12345678910
Cost5,000 ty5,000 ty450 cu
5,000 ty
900 cu
5,000 ty
1,500 cu
5,000 ty
2,300 cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
Avoidance15.016.718.320.021.723.3????
Durability2500.02777.83055.63333.33611.13888.94166.74444.54722.25000.0
Skill RequirementPiloting-0Piloting-1Piloting-2Piloting-3Piloting-4Piloting-5
*Tylium = ty     Cubits = cu

Light FTL Couplings
(Increases FTL Jump Range)
Increases the stability and power output of a ship's faster than light drive, increasing the maximum range a ship can cover in a single "jump" and increasing the strategic options available to it.

Effect: Increases FTL range
Level12345678910
Cost5,000 ty5,000 ty450 cu
5,000 ty
900 cu
5,000 ty
1,500 cu
5,000 ty
2,300 cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
FTL Range0.5 LY0.6 LY0.6 LY0.7 LY0.7 LY0.8 LY????
Durability2500.02777.83055.63333.33611.13888.94166.74444.54722.25000.0
Skill RequirementNavigation-0Navigation-1Navigation-2Navigation-3Navigation-4Navigation-5
*Tylium = ty     Cubits = cu     Light Year = LY

Light FTL Power Regulators
(Reduces Tylium Cost of FTL Jumps)
Increases the efficiency of a ship's faster than light drive, allowing it to burn through less tylium on each FTL "jump". Power regulators allow small ships to spend more time away from the support of larger ships and bases, increasing their ability for long range scouting and patrol missions.

Effect: Reduces tylium cost of FTL jumps
Level12345678910
Cost5,000 ty5,000 ty450 cu
5,000 ty
900 cu
5,000 ty
1,500 cu
5,000 ty
2,300 cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
? cu
5,000 ty
FTL Cost-1.0/LY-1.1/LY-1.2/LY-1.3/LY-1.4/LY-1.6/LY????
Durability2500.02777.83055.63333.33611.13888.94166.74444.54722.25000.0
Skill RequirementNavigation-0Navigation-1Navigation-2Navigation-3Navigation-4Navigation-5
*Tylium = ty     Cubits = cu     Light Year = LY

Strike RCS - Slide
(Rotate Ship While Moving Forward)
An advanced reaction control system interface that allows a strike craft pilot to turn their ship to face in any direction while continuing on their original heading for a short duration.

Effect: Grants RCS - Slide ability
Level12345678910
Cost10,000 ty10,000 ty300 cu
10,000 ty
1,200 cu
10,000 ty
3,000 cu
10,000 ty
4,500 cu
10,000 ty
? cu
10,000 ty
? cu
10,000 ty
? cu
10,000 ty
? cu
10,000 ty
Duration10.0 sec11.1 sec12.2 sec13.3 sec14.4 sec15.6 sec????
Reload30.0 sec
Power Cost25.0
Durability2500.02777.83055.63333.33611.13888.94166.74444.54722.25000.0
Skill RequirementPiloting-0Piloting-1Piloting-2Piloting-3Piloting-4Piloting-5
*Tylium = ty     Cubits = cu


Monday, October 3, 2011

Entropia Universe: Downloading Problem


If you encounter this problem where the total size of the files to be downloaded keeps increasing but the size of the files already downloaded keeps remaining roughly the same even though you have been downloading for a long while (as shown in the above picture), here is what you can do.
First, go to "Tools" and reduce the "Download Thread Count" to "1". Then click on the "Launch" button. After you reach the login page, proceed to log into your account as per normal. You will be shown a downloading screen with a download bar showing you the progress of your download. The size of the files to be downloaded that is shown on this bar is the accurate one.

From this point on, just let it finish the download without closing your client. After the download completes, you will load into the game at the location where you last left your character.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Gunshine.net

Gunshine.net is a free to play social roleplaying game that I've just stumbled upon. This game can be played by using your Facebook or Twitter account to log in and thus removes the hassle of having to create a new game account.

Upon logging in, you will be immediately shown the character creation screen.
Gunshine.net - Character Creation
There are only three character classes to choose from, Bodyguard, Hunter and Doctor. And there aren't a lot of customization options for your character either. However, it isn't too badly done considering that its flash based and loads quickly.
  • Bodyguard (Melee)
    Bodyguards are extremely durable and fierce melee fighters. The bodyguard taunts all enemies to attack him, allowing the rest of the group to work in peace.
  • Hunter (Range)
    Hunters prefer to stay back and deal massive damage with all firearms. They can also knock down and slow enemies, making them useful in all situations.
  • Doctor (Healer)
    Everyone loves a doctor for his ability to heal all wounds. The doctor keeps the rest of the group going, and because of this, he will always find a lot of friends.
Gunshine.net - Tutorial
After going through character creation, you will be shown a short clip about Dawnbreak city (the place you are heading to) and then you will find yourself at a dock.

You as the character is at a sort of immigration checkpoint and is in the process of entering Dawnbreak city. This marks the start of the tutorial and you will be asked to perform some basic tasks such as moving about, talking to NPCs, using items and attacking.
Gunshine.net - CombatGunshine.net - Quest
Talking to the NPCs seems fairly simple and intuitive - A bright green '!' on top of the head and some clicks will do the trick. The missions are also delivered in an easy to read format too. Plus there is a brief description of the mission given and is also listed in point form as tasks for those who aren't bothered about reading. And then mission rewards are specified at the bottom.

The attacks and using of items is also like other mmo games that you may have come across. You just need to double click the target to use regular attacks, hotkey an item or skill to a particular slot and then press the corresponding key to use the item or skill.

Surprisingly though, after passing through the tutorial, you are asked to enter a dubious looking van and end up finding yourself in prison instead (for reasons unknown). However, it appears that lady luck isn't about to abandon you just yet. A quick talk to the nearby prisoner informs you that they are about to start a jailbreak and you are invited!

Following the directions along the way, you will eventually end up in Pirate Bay. Once you've reached this area, you are free to roam about Dawnbreak city as you please...that is if you can survive the hostile mobs out there.
Gunshine.net - Boss FinderGunshine.net - Boss Fight
In pirate bay, one of the NPCs will give you a mission to fight a boss as a means of introducing you to the 'Boss Finder'. It appears to be a nifty tool that's implemented to help you find a party to tackle those hard to handle boss fights.
Gunshine.net - Dawnbreak City MapGunshine.net - Travel There
The map of Dawnbreak city looks huge enough to satisfy the explorer that's inside. What's more, traveling is made easy via the 'Travel There' button for missions that you have accepted. In addition, once you have been to an area, you can easily travel between them via the map (by clicking on the area you wish to go).
Gunshine.net - CraftingGunshine.net - Skills
Pressing 'C' will bring up the crafting screen. Coincidentally, this screen is also where you will find the tab to learn new skills for your character. The ingredients for crafting of items are looted off the mobs you defeat and as you level your character, you will be given access to craft better items. Once you have the ingredients needed, just press the 'Start' button beside the item you wish to craft. It will immediately be queued for processing in the production line. After it is completed, just click the 'Collect' button to receive the item.

The learning of skills works in the same way as crafting. Once you have the necessary amount of cash, just click on the corresponding button to start the learning process. After it is completed, just collect the skill the same way you did with crafting items. It will automatically be placed above your item hotkeys at the center of your screen. What sucks though is that you only have one slot in the production line, therefore you can only either craft an item OR learn a skill at a time (for they occupy and use the same slot).
Gunshine.net - Treasure Box
When killing mobs, there is a small chance that it will drop a treasure box. From the description, it is said to contain special plans, ingredients or even unique items, but unfortunately, opening these treasure boxes requires diamonds (which costs real life money). So they're mostly worthless to people who don't plan on buying diamonds to play the game.
Gunshine.net - Hiring Friends
There's an option for you to hire your friends as mercenaries to help fight along your side. But it is only for about ten to fifteen minutes and for the price you have to pay, its not really worth it in my opinion. You will be better off saving the money to upgrade your skills or buy crafting plans from the shop.

After going through the game up until this point, my impression is that this game is mostly made up of missions given by the NPCs. Nothing in the game is particularly eye-catching and can't be found in other games that you can play. What's good about it is that it requires no software installations apart from Adobe Flash and could therefore be played anywhere as long as you have a connection and an OS that runs flash.

In my opinion, this game is far from entertaining, but should be a good time filler for your occasional breaks in between work or lessons.