WonderKing Developer Blog

WonderKing is a new 2D, side-scrolling MMORPG from developer Ryu & Soft and Ndoors Interactive, creators of Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu and Atlantica Online. Check in here every two weeks for a new entry straight from the game's developers.

Author: WonderKing

WonderKing events promote every aspect of the game. From In-game events, to social network participation, winning WonderKing events is a joy and the prizes given out distinguish your character from others in the game.
The Signature Event

Before Closed Beta I launched, WonderKing held its events strictly on the forums. We held an event where users were able to customize their signature using WonderKing images. We were blown away by the amazing submissions. The shading and coloring of the signatures were exquisite and extremely detailed. Just from our first event, we understood that the WonderKing player base would be filled with very passionate people who would participate enthusiastically in our events.
The Master of Control Event

During Closed Beta II, we held an event in a WonderKing map filled with traps and obstacles that would put a player’s character control skills to the test. The first person to reach the goal at the very top of the map would garner an exclusive event cape that wasn’t available anywhere else in the game. As you can see, our user turn-out for this event was incredible. We emceed our first in-game event and had our forum moderators participate as well.
Cool down: Facebook Milestone Event

After Closed Beta II, we had a cool down period that lasted over a month. During this time, we worked on improving various aspects of the game, as well as introducing new features. However, due to the length of the cool down period, we felt that we owed it to our fan base to do our best in entertaining them over this long period of time. We held various events, such as a forum submission of comics related to WonderKing, inviting friends to receive exclusive mounts, and completing a maze puzzle that was made for our players. However, none of the WonderKing events to this day compare to the magnitude our Facebook Milestone Event.

The Facebook Milestone was an event that had a major impact on every player in WonderKing, both new and old. There were multiple milestones and we chose 100 winners per milestone to receive an exclusive cosmetic in-game prize, but if our fan base were to reach 10,000 fans before the start of Closed Beta III, every single player in WonderKing would receive a Shabel Mount that a character can ride to drastically improve movement speed. Over the cool down period, some players were skeptical while many remained optimistic. Users reactivated their Facebook accounts just to contribute in the push for 10,000 fans. Our fan base reached 10,000 with a week to spare.

“They know we can't reach 10,000 fans and that's why they set such an unbelievable prize. If only I can see the shock on their faces if we managed to reach 10,000 fans.”
- Kill3rThird, forum user.

To this day, we are very proud (and a little shocked!) to have reached this goal.

Closed Beta III Events and more to come
During Closed Beta III, we’ve held numerous events. There have been a variety of challenges: survive one minute against the Game Masters in a PvP duel, a hide and seek event called “Seek Your GM,” and many Halloween events that rewarded players with tons of great prizes.

Closed Beta III wrapped up today, November 12th, 2009. We are already in the planning stages for even better events during future phases. We are thrilled to hold events and are delighted to see that our users love to take part in them so much. WonderKing events will continue to be exciting occasions for old and new players alike.
 

WonderKing’s social networks serve as a direct channel where our users can find information about ongoing events as well as up-to-date WonderKing news. We use these channels to communicate with our users in an informal tone, so that we can have a more personal relationship with our fans. Currently, we use Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace as our primary social sites that coordinate information to promote WonderKing.

We have our largest following on Facebook. We held an event during the cooldown period between Closed Beta II and III that encouraged users to bring in their friends to form a fan base in Facebook that is ten thousand strong. Even after said event, our fan base continues to grow. As of right now, there are 11,749 fans. You can also find cool photos of our WonderKing team’s trip to Austin GDC 2009 and screenshots of the first in-game event we held, “The Master of Control Event.” (http://www.facebook.com/WonderKing)

Twitter is quickly becoming the next social phenomenon, and WonderKing is not missing out. We decided to do something unique with Twitter – have our GameMasters (GMs) socialize with the users. We want our users to feel that our GMs are available, even for a short conversation. Currently, [GM]Zabu (http://twitter.com/GM_Zabu) has 662 followers, [GM]Luna (http://twitter.com/GM_Luna) has 394 followers, and [GM]JustWondering (http://twitter.com/GM_JustWonder) has 454 followers. Feel free to drop by for news about WonderKing, or just to have a casual chat with a GM!

Myspace is the newest addition to the various WonderKing social networks. The WonderKing page was formed late September (http://www.myspace.com/playwonderking). In less than a month, our network of WonderKing friends quickly grew to 1309. We anticipate even a larger increase in the number of friends over the next month.

Additionally, we currently have a YouTube channel that we use to display the action in WonderKing. We have ten videos consisting of each class’s moves, a PvP video between two of our GMs, and a riveting compilation video of various WonderKing skills. Be sure to check them out at http://www.youtube.com/user/GMLunaWKO.

WonderKing social networks have been a huge success. The social sites emit a vibrant, friendly environment that welcomes all ages to enjoy themselves and lounge around. Be sure to stop by and say “hello!”
 

 Mages have the two most contrasting skill paths of any character class in WonderKing. One path leads to the most powerful spell caster in the game: the Wizard. The other leads to becoming the most essential member of any group: the Priest.

Initially, Mages get off to a slow start due to their dependence on their mana supply. Their low vitality combined with the mana drain involved in essential spellcasting forces them to drink a lot of positions, and the cost adds up quickly. Furthermore, their lack of combo attacks makes it tough for Mages to hold their ground, especially compared to other classes. However, despite their shortcomings, they are by far the most powerful “area–effect” magic class. Given time, Mages attacks can do status ailments on multiple enemies with a single skill, while dealing devastating damage. They also gain the “Magic Shield” ability that serves as a powerful line of defense, bolstering their current physical armor while converting some of the damage taken into mana. For the patient player, Mages are one of the most rewarding characters in the game.

At level 30, Mages make a major decision; they can either become a dynamic damage-dealer or WonderKing’s best support class. Wizards are masters of elemental magic, while Priests are skilled healers who are essential for successful party play.

Wizards start off fairly simply as they bolster their previous elemental talents. Upon reaching mid-level, their spell arsenal becomes a major force to reckoned with. Gifted in the use of elemental magic, Wizards are able to sprout volcanoes from the ground, summon bolts of lightning from the sky, and launch a legion of ice needles at enemies. These abilities are useful for more than simply attacking foes. The volcanic eruption stops enemies in their tracks, stunned by the fiery boulders that shoot up from the ground. The lightning bolts can shock enemies, while the ice needles push enemies back and freeze them in place. A Wizard excels in burst damage, taking away a chunk of an enemy’s health at once, but the cooldown in their ability forces them keep a safe distance. To keep clear of foes, Wizards have a teleportation ability in lieu of the other characters’ dash. The teleport ability moves the Wizard further than a regular dash, while bypassing all physical obstacles that get in the way. This is a unique feature given only to Mages. Upon reaching level 80, Wizards delve into the realm of dark magic, adding to their already impressive knowledge of elemental manipulation. When they harness the darkness, Wizards earn the right to call themselves Warlocks.

Priests take the opposite approach of Wizards. They have the largest supply of character enhancements with which to bolster their party, as well as curative magic to help their allies stay in combat longer. Priests are indispensable when parties explore a dangerous dungeon. While they don’t deal the most damage, they are not to be underestimated. The Priest is able to launch an exploding Holy Cross from their staff, knocking enemies back multiple times and stunning them in the process. Although the Priest does not boast a great defense, enemies will learn to regret attacking this holy warrior. The Priest can summon a holy bolt, harness it and turn it into armor. This divine might will instantly strike any foe who dares to approach. At level 80, the Priest becomes a Saint. This powerful character is loved by the gods, protected by the divine, and revered as a hallowed being among humans.

The Mage class may suffer at low levels, but quickly becomes a powerful character with highly sought-after skills. Higher level Mages make great partners, filling both destructive and supportive roles. Mages are easy to overlook, but deep down they are a powerful ally and an asset to any battle.

When it comes to the Thief class, there are two ways to play – as a ranged attack-based character throwing ninja stars or as a melee-based character wielding twin deadly blades.

A ranged Thief is able to keep enemies at bay from afar. They are also able to repel enemies by spinning their bodies, creating a tornado that launches enemies in the air. Ranged Thieves don’t mind being surrounded by enemies, since they have the agility required to throw multiple ninja stars in both directions. With the addition of powerful defenses, a clever ranged Thief is a nightmare to any foe.

A melee-based Thief takes chances by diving head-first into hand-to-hand combat. He doesn’t mind rolling the dice, and likes to get up close and personal with his enemies. Playing a melee Thief can be tough, but also very rewarding once you learn to keep your foes at a safe distance. Due to their low health, they are not able to take many hits, but make up for it with their utility skills. After each attack, there is a slight cooldown period for every class. Thief players must not overlook this strategic opportunity. In that vulnerable instant, the thief can hurl sand at their enemy to slow them down. A melee Thief can juggle enemies in the air using a variety of twin blade and kicking techniques. They are, by far, the most nimble class in WonderKing.

Upon reaching level thirty, a Thief has two unique ways to evolve. Ranged Thieves will follow the path of a Ninja, the cunning shadow of the night, whereas melee Thieves prefer the path of the Rogue, the elusive opportunist.

A Ninja has mastered the flow of their inner spirit. They never lose their cool and maintain a focus as sharp as a blade. Ninjas are able to channel fire from their lungs to burn enemies or summon a sphere of pure energy into their palms. The Ninja’s agility allows him to fling explosive daggers that erupt in a fiery explosion. They may also hurl a smoke bomb to disorient their opponents or pass by undetected. At level eighty, a Ninja evolves into an Assassin, the agent of deception and true master of shadows.

The melee-based Rogue is the aggressive phantom of darkness. Fancying themselves as sneering nightmares of the underworld, Rogues enjoy rushing up to their enemies before they have a chance to react. Opponents who strike the Rogue will be met with a sinister grin, because the Rogue has already launched a counter attack. Terrified enemies who attempt to flee will be dragged back into combat by a chain sickle. Frozen with fear, they forfeit their lives to the Rogue’s swift attacks. Rogues are powerful opponents who have mastered the one-hit kill. At level eighty, the Rogue advances to Knave, the poison-wielding, remorseless joker.

The Thief class is one that favors quickness over power, and his fast attacks can add up in a hurry. When mastered, Thieves can seize even the slightest opportunity to counter-attack their enemies and turn the tides of battle.
 

The Scout is a ranged-class character, equipped with evasive maneuvers and defensive spells. Scouts are experts in dictating the flow of combat and are masters of manipulating enemies like a puppet master and its dolls. When we designed the Scout, we wanted the player to have various options available at all times. For a person to excel as a Scout, he or she will need quick thinking and foresight. A Scout’s main stat is dexterity, the stat that increases hit-rate. Hitting every shot is very critical to damage output as well as the manipulation of combat. To truly control a battle, a Scout will need to think ahead and be one step quicker than the opponent.

Scouts have two weapons in their arsenal: guns and bows. Bows have a faster attack speed and fire twice on every other shot. Guns have a slower attack speed, but do more damage with each shot. Each type of weapon has unique strategies. For example, a Scout using a gun’s slower attack speed would have to employ clever tactics to make an opponent think that he or she could launch a successful attack on the Scout, only to have the Scout cancel the attack and use a quick back-step to leave the enemy exposed.

At level thirty, a Scout is at a crossroads of two incredibly different paths: ranged dominance or organized chaos. A Scout can advance to Archer to rule the world of ranged attacks. Or, the player can advance their Scout to a Gunner. This character is a wild cowboy who can seemingly be everywhere at once.
An Archer uses the power of Mother Nature to deliver deadly attacks. They call upon fairies that guide an arrow to mercilessly pierce their enemies. They are also able to summon magical projectiles that become devastating cyclones upon contact with the enemy. Mother Nature will never leave her child unattended. Archers can summon roots from the ground to trap earthly foes in place, giving the Archer numerous options in eliminating them. An archer can conjure leaves defensively, or attack enemies with their sharp leafy blades. Although novices in the art of natural magic, upon reaching level 80, they are able to advance to Ranger, the guardian of all animals.

A Gunner presents Windus with a combination of the Wild West and futuristic machinery. Gunners are fearless renegades who crash into enemies by rolling through melee range and knocking down everything in their path. They are able to use a shotgun that scatters bullets, knocking back all enemies within a short range. When push comes to shove, a Gunner will pull out a bazooka to blast enemies away with thunderous impact. When a Gunner reaches level 80, they may embark on a quest to become the expert of untamed fusion skills, the Gunslinger.

The Scout class has a higher learning curve than other classes. However, when mastered, they can become deadly opponents who are both feared and revered.
 

The Swordsman is a melee class with defensive talents that can equip both a one-handed sword and shield, or a two-handed sword. A lot of their damage output is dictated by their weapon, but the fluidity behind their role lies in their choice of sword. With a one-handed sword, a Swordsman has a shorter reach in comparison to the two-handed sword, but their physical defense is greatly enhanced by the option to equip a shield. With a one-handed sword, the damage they can inflict upon enemies is very stable and they can knock enemies back with a shield. With a two-handed sword, the amount of damage a Swordsman can dish out is unpredictable. For example, if a one-handed sword can do 250-255 damage, a two-handed sword will do 100-450 damage. The potential to inflict great damage unto enemies lies in the rage behind a great claymore, whereas the ability to protect your allies is embedded in the fortitude of a shield.

A Swordsman’s skills work harmoniously with each other. Combos that a Swordsman can perform are easy to use, and devastating to opponents. The first three skills that a Swordsman obtains are Upper Flash, Flame Break, and Crash Down or Shock Stinger, depending on which skill tree you want to climb. Using these skills in the proper order will set off a combo chain. Upper Flash will knock enemies into the air, Flame Break will launch them far away, and Crash Down or Shock Stinger will propel your character forward and finish them off with overwhelming force.

At level 30, a Swordsman’s talents are greatly enhanced upon completing the character advancement quest. This is where your character faces a difficult decision between two paths that will determine the fate of who you will be: A Warrior; an unstoppable force, or a Knight; an immovable wall.

Choosing the path of a Warrior will give you only one choice: live and die by the sword. As a Warrior, you must be willing to sacrifice your own life force to take down the enemy. A Warrior harnesses the blaze of an inferno, binds it to a two-handed sword, while burning oneself in the process, to deal an impressive amount of damage. Excelling in the obliteration of all that oppose you, a Warrior’s melee talents are unquestioned. Upon reaching level 80, a Warrior will be allowed to evolve into the reckless zealot known as the Berserker.

A Knight’s path is one of courage and sacrifice. A Knight is the first person to charge into battle and take enemies head on. A Knight’s extraordinary defense allows the class to be the first and only choice as a party’s main tank. As a holy soldier, a Knight is able to utilize a wide variety of light-based attacks that is able to electrify enemies into submission. Upon reaching level 80, a Knight will be allowed to evolve into a celestial champion, the Paladin, Windus’ greatest shield.

The Swordsman class is very well-rounded and has a high ceiling. Strategies and how you play your character may alter depending on which path you take and what skills you invest in, but both advancements are very fun to play.
 

WonderKing’s Closed Beta launch can be best described as wild and entertaining. I am hesitant in using the term “wildly entertaining,” because it was both mayhem and a joyous event at the beginning of Closed Beta. Imagine over 1,000 users playing in one area competing with each other to kill one rabbit for a quest. That could not have been entertaining for certain users, given that their mob kills were stolen from them occasionally, but those who managed to complete the quest right away were satisfied indeed. We also created characters and joined them in the chaos. It was definitely fun for everyone interacting with each other.

The beta reception was amazing. We had positive reviews from a large majority of our community. The competitive nature of our players urged them to reach the highest level and explore every area that the game had to offer. Rare drops played a big role as users boasted in the forums about obtaining rare equipment such as Jackpot Rifles and reaching high levels of Enchantments for their Saw Sabers. The Mission features of WonderKing were highly praised by users as they ventured into personal portals with their friends and fought off legions of mobs.

Our objective for Closed Beta was to test the game at a larger scale and see how users would interact with each other, what the various things we needed to change were, and hear what the community had to say. We had users submit bug reports to help us in our efforts to create a more perfect WonderKing. Also, we were eager to have users participate because we wanted to see if they would encounter any technical difficulties so that we could try to fix the problem as soon as possible and continue providing enjoyable game play.

One of the major bugs we fixed was the passive nature of boss mobs inside mission portals. Most boss mobs would just stand around while users would unleash a flurry of attacks and reap the rewards from its remains. This posed no challenge for users to gain high quality items and the boss monster could be farmed. Now, users must face an aggressive and challenging boss monster that will only relinquish its items to formidable players. One of WonderKing’s biggest features, PvP, also had a major bug in certain maps. Upon accepting a challenge from another player, the map would not allow players to participate in PvP and would disconnect them. We wanted PvP to be a prominent feature in WonderKing so we resolved the issue quickly so that users could enjoy battling each other. We are now able to witness epic duels between players.

It was a bittersweet sensation to see Closed Beta come to an end. But to every ending, there is a new beginning. Closed Beta II has launched on August 13, 2009 and we are very eager to see what adventures our users will have in it.

Describe the different character classes for us.

The four classes in WonderKing are the Swordsman, Mage, Scout, and Thief. Each of these classes may take one of two paths that fit their play style.

The Swordsman uses either a melee weapon and a shield, or a two-hander to fight enemies. The Swordsman’s main attribute is strength, which mainly adds to the attack power of the Swordsman, but we also wanted the Swordsman to play the role of tank in WonderKing. Generally the Swordsman class has the highest HP and defense, thus, unofficially, vitality is another main attribute of the Swordsman. The Swordsman eventually may take the path of a mighty defender, the Knight, or, an offensive juggernaut, the Warrior.

The Mage brings powerful elemental spells into combat. It is the only class to be able to break through elemental weaknesses of enemies. Their defense against physical attacks pales in comparison to other classes, but they have the highest magic defense to make up for it. They also utilize their intelligence to bring about the most firepower in their spells, while accruing wisdom to increase their mana pool. The Mage will have the option of taking the path of either the benevolent Saint or the fearsome Wizard.

A Thief in Windus believes fortune is grasped by one’s very own hands. The Thief class utilizes its luck attribute into masterful display of critical strikes and evasion. Using twin daggers and ninja stars as their weapons of choice, a Thief fights with nimble strikes and meticulous calculations, knowing thatluck is on their side. A Thief will be able to take the path of a merciless Rogue or a deadly Ninja.

Lastly, Scouts set the foundations of all ranged attacks in Windus. They depend on a sure hand and a sure shot, thus relying heavily on their dexterity to pull them through. They are able to use nature’s energy to blast away enemies that get too close to them and use traps to make sure they never come near again. The Scout’s eventual path leads them to the slick and reckless Gunner or an Archer, the child of nature.

What influenced the design of the characters?

We were influenced heavily by putting ourselves in a user’s perspective. We wanted to give each of the basic classes a specific role to play in WonderKing, but we wanted to keep in mind that users would want to expand on each class’s strengths or even erase their deficiencies through skill and stat points, thus defying class descriptions.

Additionally, many of the designs of the character skills can be found in roots of Asian/European history and Japanese animation. For example, a ninja is a warrior with unorthodox combat capabilities. The art of illusion, misdirection, and espionage is in its historical roots. The usage of gunpowder was more for trickery to real ninjas, but we tweaked it up a bit to use gunpowder to couple with ninja stars so that we can use them to create an explosive fire impact in a fight. Another example of Asian history being prevalent is the variety of Warrior/Berserker skills. We designed a Warrior’s skill to project more of a dragon in fiery form.

The base design of character appearance came from Japanese animation. From the determined big eyes to the cute hairstyles, these can be found in various Japanese animations. Our Gunslinger class has a more futuristic “mecha” type of look as well. Overall, our imagination and alterations of images from different roots came to be the design of the many aspects of WonderKing.

Deciding to develop a 2D, side-scrolling game instead of a 3D game was easy. Our company, Ryu & Soft, has had experience in developing 2D games for quite some time and given that 2D games are our forte and our passion, we wanted to continue concentrating on the 2D genre. Additionally, the majority of our player base prefer 2D games over 3D games. Therefore, we decided for our users to start developing WonderKing. With our experience and skills in making 2D side-scrolling games, our mission was to provide another option – diverse in its elements with unique systems and content, yet still dedicated to the 2D side-scrolling MMORPG elements. We kept all this in mind as we dreamt of WonderKing.

Instead of forcing users to go through a legion of quests with similar objectives (and the redundancy of it), we wanted to develop quests that are special and exclusive to our game. The outcome was our system of “Mission Quests.” The quest is obtained through ordinary methods, but the conditions in accomplishing the objectives lead players to a specific Mission map portal. Upon entering the portal, there are specific requirements that must be met to complete the objective. The variety of Missions include: defense of an object from a horde of monsters, destroying a glowing monument that’s drawing evil closer to the town and threatening the sanctity of the village, guiding an NPC to the end of the Mission map safely, racing against other NPCs, and many more. We wanted our users to have a different experience and a unique brand of fun in each and every Mission map available in the game. Currently, we have 30+ Mission maps ready for users to enter, and we plan to add many more in the future.

One of the other unique things we wanted to implement in the game was the inability to use potions during PvP. Another limitation we implemented is that there are only three quick slots that a user can utilize in battle, so we challenge them to be very smart in their choices. Although we were unsure about how inconvenient disallowing potion usage could be in PvP, extensive testing brought us to the conclusion that with only three quick slots at a player’s disposal and a restriction from using potions, there were still diverse and distinct skill setting customizations that could be done before heading into battle. Furthermore, predicting an opponent’s skill setting promotes using one’s wits to come up with clever tactics to outsmart the challenger.

Additionally, there are many maps that PvP can be engaged in. It is not just a simple difference of graphics and setting between the maps – there are different traps, jump boosters, HP recovery items, strategic geographical features (such as staying in the right platform) and variations of all these features in each and every map.

Overall, we wanted to emphasize that it is not just a character’s strength and weakness that determines the outcome of PvP, but customization of quick slots, intelligence in using one’s surroundings, and even great fortune that can sway the tide of battle. Game play in WonderKing is more fun this way and this type of strategizing will give players a more satisfying victory in the end.
 

Localization is only one part of a game, but to take a country’s situation and tradition into heart and to realize that you can accrue new wisdom, even at our age, is truly enlightening. Making a complete game is important, but preparing it in a way to fit a user’s taste is paramount. Whenever we take up a new project, we enter with a renewed mind and heart and it always turns into a joyous experience.
The first thing we take into account when performing any localization process is the various cultural differences among regions. For example, Korean and Japanese users have very different dispositions that dictate how a game should be, so when we were making a game for these two regions, we felt that we were making an entirely new game for each one. The contrast in the responses we received from the two countries is best exemplified in a particular contest that received dismal responses from users in Korea, but was wildly popular in Japan. Because of this contrast, there were instances when we distributed different patches that had particular contents that we did not release in the other one because of the contrast.

Another aspect to consider is differing time zones. Since Korea and Japan are very close in proximity, there was only a three minute difference in time zones. However, the sixteen hour gap between Korean and North American regions really pushed us to our limits. In North America, the sixteen hour time difference issue was the biggest hardship we faced. When localizing a product, we need a communication link with the person in charge of operations in each country. However, due to the time difference, we had a limited amount of time to discuss important matters. The North American branch leader and I decided to work the night shift in order to extend the time that we were able to communicate with other branches. Looking back, we expended a lot of energy to prevent that issue from becoming an inconvenience. It was all worth it to see the success. This gap, coupled with the differing sentence structures between English and Korean/Japanese, caused us to encounter a variety of other localization issues as well.

Although there were many challenges to localizing in different countries, we also had some strong points. Determining the desires and necessities of our local users, and creating a system to produce suitable items to fit them, was definitely a strong suit in our operation. In truth, due to version control problems, it wasn’t easy to implement a system for local users to access items easily, nor was it easy to introduce said system. However, even if those aspects of our operation felt cumbersome, we wanted to introduce this product on a national scale, not just a local scale. We felt that we were able to come up with items and a system to obtain these items that were accepted by each and every country. We felt that the system and the introduced items satisfied our users greatly. We hope to continue to provide quality products to our users and know that with each new challenge comes a huge success.