Inventaverse: World War - A primer for the uninitiated.

Inventaverse: World War - A primer for the uninitiated.

Those of you who have had the experience of playing the first iteration of Inventaverse, Inventaverse: Worlds, know that I value interesting and complex game logic.  Inventaverse: Worlds, had some really complicated systems, but out of that complexity arose intrigue.  New players would approach the game and wonder how they could improve their character by using various combinations of skill traits, artifacts and character abilities.  When I added javascript based incantations, this added yet another layer of synergy on top of the other 3 systems.  These systems, combined with an ongoing capture the flag contest, made for some extremely fun games!

And with that fun, came some interesting lessons about video game design.  As the players played, and tried new team compositions, and new character builds, it became apparent that the aspects of the game that made it fun to play were in most cases, not what I had originally considered to be the fun pieces.  I thought people would be more interested in building worlds and challenging their friends to play them, like Mario Maker.  I thought that a big part of Inventaverse was exploring procedurally generated worlds, and discovering interesting treasure.  Maybe one fun part of it would be upgrading your home world to bigger and more interesting houses.  

It hadn't dawned on me until I hosted the first CTF tournament matches that what was most fun about Inventaverse was playing a fast paced game, with friends, without having to download anything.  You just visit the site and pick a team and you're in the game.  You're carrying the flag, you're protecting the flag carrier, or guarding the flag base.  You're taking down other players in the midfield.  You're scoring.  In addition to all these things, you're testing out all the recent modifications you've made to your character.

The critical lessons of Inventaverse: Worlds, I've carried forward into Inventaverse:World War.  Deep and complex character customization is prominent.  Esoteric coder-centric features are there, they're not essential to your success, but watch out!  Most importantly, speed, action, excitement, and friendly collaboration are the primary focal points.  

The Triumvirate

The game is built around the concept of a "Triumvirate", or 3 rulers who oversee a world flying aimlessly through the vastness of space.  Together, their decisions shape the destiny of not only their world, but countless others.  In order to play I:ww, you need 2 friends to join you.  In Inventaverse, the three of you will adventure, explore and plan for the future of your small world.

Our Triumvirate is made up of these 3 characters:

The Overlord, the Technomancer and the Imperator

The three different characters in I: ww vary in size, speed, health and various other attributes, but they all offer something special to the group in terms of advancement. Something unique to I:ww is the shared skill tree system.

What this means, is that when one player selects a skill trait, that trait affects the other two players.  A practical example would be something like this: If the Overlord of a world selects the Stealth skill trait, all 3 players on the world now are able to become invisible for a short time.

Each of the three players have a unique skill tree.  The Overlord's skill tree is largely based around survival, with traits like Regeneration, Symbiosis, Field Medical Kit and Stealth.  The Technomancer's skill tree is most related to mobility with a bit of survival mixed in.  RPG, EMP, Speed Demon, Afterburners are some of the skills to be found there.  The Imperator's skill tree is focused on improving weapons and armor.  Laser Rifle, Autocannon, Power Core+, and Charged Ammo are a few of the traits in the Imperator's tree.

The Objective and the Stakes

Inventaverse: World War is about two things: building and destroying.  As you build your world, the inhabitants of other worlds are going to be trying to tear down what you have built.  All the players in I: ww exist in a single universe, which provides for a great environment for competition.  Games of I: ww ideally last a number of weeks as players rise up, discover interplanetary travel, and conquer the worlds of the other players.

In Inventaverse: World War, defeat isn't just losing a battle – it's staring down the annihilation of your entire civilization! Forget sore loser sore spots, here, defeat means oblivion. Your meticulously crafted world reduced to cosmic dust under the victor's boot.

What's the game we're playing here?

Inventaverse: World War was inspired by quite a few games.  Among them: Tribes, Mario Galaxy, The original Inventaverse game, Missile Command, the list goes on.  But, at it's heart Inventaverse: World War is a complicated game of Hide and Seek.  As you build your world, you give intruders more locations to hide as they attempt to sabotage your work.  In addition to that, every player also has the ability to hack the enemy's world system.  A relatively simple hacking terminal is built into the user interface that provides access to a important abilities:

1. Through hacking you are able to disable the enemy's structures. 
2. Through hacking you are able to gather intelligence about what the enemy has built and which skill traits they have selected.
3. You can conduct reconnaissance and gather location data about the structures on the enemy world.  You can then feed that information to your team mates who operate missile silos on your world and conduct a precision strike, destroying those structures. 

As a defender, the espionage perpetrated by enemy intruders can be reversed by counter-hacking.  In short, you are able to open your terminal and reverse the damage done.

Keep in mind, your player is vulnerable to being killed while you are hacking and as an attacker on an enemy world this means respawning on your own world.

An Over-Simplification

It's a game of hide and seek, wrapped in a game of hide and seek.  That's the simplest 2 second elevator pitch for I:ww.  "But why Josh?", you ask.  The answer is simple, because the task of meticulously hacking the enemy system while the enemy hunts you, and backup is due to arrive at any second, is insanely exciting.  As long as this situation happens frequently enough, I: ww should prove to be an incredibly thrilling PVP game.

But, that remains to be seen.  That is, if there are at least as many exciting moments playing it as there were challenging moments building it ;)

Until next time...

Inventaverse 3D Update

It's been too long!

We've come a long way.

Inventaverse 3D is entering what I would call the final stages of Rev1 release candidate level development.  We're getting close...  I've made so much progress in the last few weeks, it frankly makes my head spin.  Not the least of which is an interesting terminal style hacking system that will allow players to engage in digital espionage against their enemies.  It's an interesting feature that I hope players find intriguing and cool.  In coming weeks, I'll put a blog post together that details out all the commands and how to use them.

 

Sabatage your enemies' systems, but don't get caught doing it, because as you're hacking, you are vulnerable to attack!

 

What I'm most proud so far is the visual style the game is starting to assume.  It's not complicated, but it does have an identity of it's own.  Similar to original 2D game, which also had its own flavor of colorful pixel artwork, 3D is proving to be an interesting and unique spectacle in its own right.

I've still got quite a bit of placeholder imagery in there, but I'm having a great time fleshing out the various models, textures and UI.  This game is closing in on "basic" completion.  Find your 2 allies who will help you survive in this deep and complex game now, so that when it launches, you're ready to hit the ground running on a campaign that could last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks of game play. Your skill and ability to survive are the deciding factors.  Choose wisely.

Over the course of the next month or so I'll start dropping a few educational blog posts aimed at getting everyone familiar with the systems in place in Inventaverse 3D.  They're not going to be exhaustive, but they should be enough to get you up and running with your triumvirate(crew).

I'll probably cover the following topics:

• What's a Triumvirate, precious?
• Structures and the things they do
• Research on an alien world
• A hacker's guide to Inventaverse 3D
  

Until next time...