NPCZone Jan 2070 edition

Page 61

Teaching a G.O.D. new tricks : Gates Of Doom's rebirth.

Greetings Ladies , gentlemen and PA’s…it’s your girl Tautbow Shadowstep here with look at the new (old!) Gates of Doom Realm

We live in an age of reusing ideas , and creatives and companies alike have fallen back on the old idiom of ‘If it ain't broke , don't fix it’And instead of taking time to actually craft something new for users, they’re sticking with the old idea of just rehashing the classics.It’s not a new idea …hell even the idea of reusing old ideas is taken from the turn of the century where , well ,you guessed it… everything old was new again.

In the past year we've seen:

Metaverse of Warcraft on its 110th expansion,

Battlefield of Duty 147!

Mortal Kombat fighter 67!

G.T.A. 2070!

The Elder Scrolls 8!!

Everything eventually gets rebooted and repackaged So it was nice to see Gates of Doom stick to its guns and stay the same. After all its the Granddaddy of VRMMO’s,and always resisted big modifications.

Until now that is .

New owners Vodol have finally brought it kicking and screaming into the late 21st century to the fury of many of its “No Changes” players.

So how is it? I’ve talked to the developers and experienced a late beta realm:

Before we start, a quick history lesson :The original Gate Online came from the very early days of Full Dive Imersion..and most of its original clientele were haptic suit players , Hell!... anyone who played it at launch (your humble reviewer included) would remember that it even still had flat play , non VR support ,at least briefly!

As technology improved , it supported players using medium dive tech (yes! For those of you younger readers there was a time when having a removable transmitter and receiver for VR experiences fastened to your neck was new tech!) and for those players with a lot of time on their hands and very little outside time:Deep Dive VR (by the way there are many Nuerolink spinal sockets available , but we recommend TSM-Tech , not just because they’re our sponsor , but because they’re the safest and the best) .Within a few short years ,haptics were phased out and Medium to Deep dive rigs became the minimum requirement.So what you really need to know was original G.O.G was built around older tech , and had newer device support added after. End of lesson.

G.O.D’s new platform has had its sensory system rebuilt from the ground up.

Air, water, and ground feel is crisp and realistic , pain receptors are set to a manageable 30% maximum (so no chance of the Nostrium Online player heart attacks snafu happening here), pleasure receptors are variable up to , we’re told, 150% (for the naughtier players out there ,careful you don't blow your head off when you blow your..well you get the idea!) . As you’d expect from a modern experience , graphical vision is comparable to real world levels.

World geography is as everything you’d assume , with all stanard Earth style biomes included , plus otherworld ethereal lands , as well as the portals to the demonic world of Tartarus(its not called Gates Of Doom for nothing folks!).Size wise Vodol say its starting at a three quarter Earth size (bigger than GTA but smaller than ‘Metaverse). The reason they say ‘at launch’ is that theres a new feature called ‘the flexible land mechanic’ , as players explore the world of Midgaard the game will procedurally generate new towns and dungeons , and expand the world to accommodate them , meaning its possible for one guild of players to have a totally different experience from another guild even if both start at the same place.

Page 62

[Gates of Doom :Realm first look - continued.]

NPC characters have also had a massive overhaul , as well as a new dynamic procedurally generated quest system , we’re told that they’ll actually be autonomous ,capable of their own decision making, Vodol say that they’ll be hard to distinguish them from real player characters,so players will be able to befriend , fight along side , and yes for you ‘lovers not fighters’ …romance them, although this reviewer worries if a realistic Midgaardian boyfriend who can get pissed with you , but wont tell you their feelings may be a bad thing.The devs are being very cagey about how this is handled under the hood , hopefully it doesn't turn out like the disastrous ‘Age of Titans’ AI which turned out to just be a team of out of out of work actors improvising every NPC’s dialogue in game, badly.

Play style is similar to its predecessor , its a multi class adventure world , with a progressive levelling system . Players are encouraged to work together but the developer tells us that a ‘Lone Wolf’ play style is possible., Multiple avatars aren't allowed though , so if you get sick of your Sage of light , you’ll need to suffer a penalty and re class to start your new life as a Knight , losing a lot of levels and experience. Vodol tell us that on launch there are twenty one classes available plus four elements to customise them , and more will be unlocked for the game as players progress through the lands and find new trainers and elements. Like most games around, players can access crafting and merchant professions ,this reviewer prefers to leave her work IN work, and slay monsters on her off time, but for the gentler souls out there its possible to play a conflict free game.

This is actually a big part of Vodol’s approach , lets face it.. for all its good points G.O.D. had a reputation of being full of senior citizens and the seriously unemployable living out their days dragon slaying,and decidedly not casual friendly. The new and improved Gates is trying to cater not just to those fulltimers , but to a more casual crowd , with easier and smaller quest areas, an NPC guide system , and even , for the first time in ten years , Haptic suit support .Yes!! Disinfect the rubber body-glove and dust off the goggles , haptic is back baby!. This is actually part of a clever grab to get the younger tween and teen players , who obviously cant legally access deep or medium dive equipment, but can use Mom and Dads old haptic to have (safer and gentler and very chaste) adventures. They’ll be restricted to these beginner slopes though , but Vodol promise there’ll be a lot for them to do while their 'rents are otherwise engaged. Speaking of Mom and Dad ..even non gamer folk are catered for . A lot of the starter towns, for example Northbrook and Golden Sands, and capitals like Scara Brae and New Tara are what are Vodol are calling ‘relaxation areas’, which are high on the comfort and low on the creatures .Imagine a Five Star resort experience hidden in a fantasy setting , seemingly to try and capture some of those 'Perfect World', 'Pleasure Planet' etc VRacationers looking for somewhere a little different to spend their downtime.

Will it be enough to resurrect the old VRMMO adventurer ?Or is it destined to rot in the dungeon of failed reboots (Minecraft Universe, I’m talking to you) .Only time will tell , but your intrepid reporter will be along for the ride and bringing you all the latest G.O.D. news

Tautbow signing off

Page 63 :

Is your partner in a digital furry romance?? , take our quiz to find out: