New MMORTS: Novus AEterno - Releasing after Kickstarter

[Alexian]

I'm posting this here because I think as fans of ARCEN games you might really enjoy our game:

We've created a new sci-fi MMORTS - Novus AEterno, and launched a Kickstarter to polish it for our public release (it's already playable).

Novus AEterno combines empire building with tactical and strategic RTS combat.  All within a single massive, persistent multiplayer game universe.

In-game Screenshot - http://novusaeterno.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/screen4.jpg

Here is the link to the Kickstarter project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2122031929/novus-aeterno-a-true-aaa-mmorts
The funds will let us devote more developers and resources to improving features and completing the final features.

If you're into RTS or Space-based games, we'd really appreciate your support if a MMORTS excites you.

Feel free to ask me any questions, and I'll pass them along.

[Aklyon]

200k seems a bit low for an mmo, I'd think. But I could be wrong.

[tigersfan]

200k seems a bit low for an mmo, I'd think. But I could be wrong.

From the bottom of the page, it sounds like they've already done a lot of the game and that the $200k is just the final bit they need to put them to completion.

[Alexian]

Hi Tigersfan, Yes the team has already put 7 years (part-time) and $2m into this so far.
The game is playable now, has been approved by Steam, but the team wants to do more and needs support of Kickstarter pledges and fans of space MMORTS to get the word out.

Do you have any specific questions?

[Shrugging Khan]

So, why exactly should I want to play NAE over any other game?

[Conir]

what i would like to know:

1. why do you give ingame advantages for backers? isnt this kind of a no-go for pvp games?
2. what will happen to my civilization when i am not online?
3. what will be the monthly fee?
4. is the pvp consent-based or can i attack anyone, anywhere, anywhen?

[Alexian]

So, why exactly should I want to play NAE over any other game?

@ Shrugging Khan -
It is all a matter of personal taste. what other space themed RTS's have you played?

I can tell you that I like the unlimited experience of procedural generated systems in space.

I like the FTL travel that allows easy access and fleet movement across stars without the travel time on autopilot in other games.

I like the inherent choices allowing me to play to my strengths based on Diplomacy, Intelligence, Military and Economics.

I am not a twitch game and I enjoy the larger view of an empire but love to get down in the weeds for fleet combat. A fleet that I custom built for a special purpose with mods that I researched and fitted.

It looks good! If you've played Sins of a Solar empire you'll recognize the art style. I love the full orchestral soundtrack.

Mostly l like the seamlessness of a true MMORTS that allows me to build up systems, in an empire scattered across the stars, not joined one edge to another (rather in a distributed fashion) and looks really good.

But mostly because this has never been done before - there is not a single MMORTS on the market and will launch Q1 2014. I think if nothing else it's a great step forward for my personally favorite genre, built by gamers for gamers.

Do you have any other specific questions?

[Aetherblade]

what i would like to know:

1. why do you give ingame advantages for backers? isnt this kind of a no-go for pvp games?
2. what will happen to my civilization when i am not online?
3. what will be the monthly fee?
4. is the pvp consent-based or can i attack anyone, anywhere, anywhen?

Hey there. There won't be any advantages for backers, the only thing they will have is some ease-of-life stuff that anyone can get, and won't upset the balance of the game in anyway. When you go offline to sleep, work or whatever else, your empire will be ran by an AI that you created to your liking. The AI will defend you until you log back in. The AI ships will respawn periodically as well, so you don’t have to be afraid to lose all your stuff when you are simply sleeping.

Same goes for planets, the longer you have them, the harder they will be to take (can be days for really old ones). So while you might lose a really new planet if you are unlucky, you should be able to take it back again, sine the enemy wouldn’t have had it a long time either.

There will be NO monthly fee, you pay once up front and that’s it. There is a premium subscription you can opt for, but that will give only ease of life stuff so it’s not a requirement.

PVP is not consent based, you will be able to attack anyone, anywhere. So make sure you have your guard up, your enemies close and your anti-pirate spray closer.

[Shrugging Khan]

So far, it sounds like a candidate for the same problems that plagued OGame (http://en.ogame.gameforge.com/) - namely players building up empires based by waiting for buildings to be constructed, only for older players to stomp in, raze everything, and gain a few resources off of the newcomers.

What mechanics have you put into place to limit older players' ability to curb stomp newbs?

[Alexian]

what i would like to know:

1. why do you give ingame advantages for backers? isnt this kind of a no-go for pvp games?
2. what will happen to my civilization when i am not online?
3. what will be the monthly fee?
4. is the pvp consent-based or can i attack anyone, anywhere, anywhen?

Hi Conir,
1 - We are not in any way "pay to win" we hate this ourselves as gamers.
Novus AEterno will not be free to play, but rather be a one time purchase with the option of buying a monthly premium account. Future purchasable expansion packs, such as full 3D ship interiors, will also be released but will obviously not be required to play the game.

   However, we have put a lot of thought into what sort of things we can do to incentivize investments, without ruining the tactical aspects of the game. The in-game rewards we have designed are more geared to help a player stay “progressing” in the game even if he does not have a lot of time to play. (works long hours, in uni etc)

Premium Accounts include the following perks:

Longer offline build queues. If a user is offline quite often, he can still keep progressing and not completely fall too far   behind friends who are more active.
Automated trade routes between your own planets. This does not make it less vulnerable, only simpler to manage your empire.
More in-depth AI customization. A bit more options for your offline and online AI.
   None of these features will allow a tactical advantage to premium members. At best it will provide some convenience for those who take a more casual approach to the game. I trust our more ambitious generals to calculate weaknesses in those who rely too heavily on these systems but they are there to support the less hard core RTS gamer to still be able to enjoy the game.

2. Your units go into "Overwatch" mode - they have some ability to respond to threats detected on patrol but not as effective as a human player. All units are replaced for free after coming back online.
A limited number of Traderoutes for non-subscription players still function with your empire - for example a mining world => Forge world for construction. - subscription players get a few more.
Offline build queues progress - subscription players have a few more slots.
Research Progresses
Populations grow
Battles are fought etc.

3. There is NO monthly Fee - just a one time purchase of the Key and any optional DLC in future.
As for the premium subscription - I believe this is likely to be $10 per month - I will confirm this.

4. No PvP is not consent based - rather the game is PvP by its nature. You can forge trade treaties and aliiances and play cooperatively as you like also.

Please keep the questions coming and tell your friends.


P.s. on behalf of the whole team. Thank you all for your support. It's incredible to see so many people so exited about the game!

[Conir]

hey there - thanks for taking the time to reply. i have some followup questions.

1 - We are not in any way "pay to win" we hate this ourselves as gamers.

at the 100$ tier you give a bonus of 20% to your planets population - now i dont know what population actually does in your game, but i figure stuff like building and reserch goes faster the more pop. you have. if my assumption is right, that would mean that i will always have more population than anybody who just payed 50$. (assuming again that population grows over time.
so if i start with 100 population, the other guy started with 120 - giving him an advantage.

again, offcourse - i am just assuming, so maybe you could clear up what population does.

. All units are replaced for free after coming back online.

How exactly does that work?
Lets assume i have a planet, and a fleet guarding it. i go offline and someone decides to take over this planet with his bigger and better fleet. so he crushes my ships and takes over the planet. now i log back in again and see that i have lost said planet - where are my ships? have they just respawned over the (now enemy) planet where i left them? or are they respawned at the nearest friendly planet?
is it possible at all to take over a planet of a player if he isnt online?

it seems kinda pointless to me to attack someone who is off, fight his ships (and have losses of your own which dont respawn) only to see them come back at full strenght when the player rejoins. seems like the defender has always the advantage as long as he isnt actually playing the game... dont know if this is smart. but maybe i am making wrong assumptions again.

New questions:
1. How are you balancing the player progression? is it time-based or action-based? Or in other words, how can a new player keep up with someone who is playing for a year already? eve online does an awesome job at this, you will always be behind a veteran player overall, but you can catch up with him in a single aspect pretty fast. how are you dealing with this problem?

2. non-conset based pvp is awesome, when done right. and again i think eve does an awesome job at it - whil it technically allows pvp everywhere (you can shoot everytime at someone  else and kill him) it punishes you if you do it in certain areas (highsec).
if you dont implemnt such a ruleset people will constantly be at war - now this may be good if both forces are somewhat equal - but if a group of veterans decide to camp a galaxy of newbies, the fun ends pretty quickly. and i will take any bet that people will do this just to hug other people over... just imagine the havok groups like the goonsquad could do. have you thought about this?

3. following the second question: i read that you are safe on your home planet because of the fortress-shield (or whatever) so that you cant really lose the game (ala gameover), but what if a player beats me so far back that all i have is my homeplanet and he is settled on all the planets around me, blocking everything... what do i do now? i cant buld up enough fighting power to ever beat him from that single planet - the game is pretty much over for me at this point - no?

4. quick question: is a osx version planed?


so thanks for answering and good luck

[zespri]

it seems kinda pointless to me to attack someone who is off, fight his ships (and have losses of your own which dont respawn) only to see them come back at full strenght when the player rejoins. seems like the defender has always the advantage as long as he isnt actually playing the game...

This sounds reasonable to me. Not sure why are you having a problem with that?

[Shrugging Khan]

This sounds reasonable to me. Not sure why are you having a problem with that?

Gaining superpowers by logging off? Why are you NOT having a problem with that?

[zespri]

This sounds reasonable to me. Not sure why are you having a problem with that?

Gaining superpowers by logging off? Why are you NOT having a problem with that?

Erm... I don't know where to starts... In virtually any game if you log off you can't be interacted with - this is perfectly sensible - you are not there, you are not playing, so why should you be interactable? Take WoW or any other similar mmo. When you are not playing you can't be harmed. Is this a super power? In persistent universe setting where you own object that don't disappear when you log off these need to be protected, as much is obvious. How they can be protected is a different question. There could be many solutions. But the fact that they should be is out of question.

Complaining that people get super power by logging off, is like complaining that the game is unfair when you committed an in game suicide and... gasp... died. Of course you did this is the rules of the game. Leave people who are logged off alone, they can't defend themselves. Or don't leave them alone but expect to be punished. This is only fair.

[Coppermantis]

Only if it is made extremely clear that the player you are attacking is logged off and will have everything restored. Although, if the attacking player still gets any rewards (I don't know how the loot system will work, like an XP bonus or item salvage from destroyed ships or something) then it might be fair, so while the attacking player may lose units while the offline defender will not, the attacker also potentially gains stuff from the attack while the defender does not.

It might already work like this in the game, though, so if it did then that would be A-Okay by me.