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Face of Mankind News - Interview with Marko Dieckmann
Posted by Dana Massey on Oct 17, 2006 | 16 comments in our forums
The Managing Director of Duplex Systems drops in to answer questions from Staff Writer Garrett Fuller about his sci-fi MMP that launched in March '06.
;) MMORPG.com: Player crafting is always very important for MMO players. How has crafting grown in the game and what areas can players expect improvement?
Marko Dieckmann: The economic cycle has always been one of the most innovative features in Face of Mankind. Everything in the game has to be produced by the players. This creates very dynamic markets and gives a lot of power to the players. We only control the basic prices for raw materials along with basic mining and production costs. The rest is controlled by the Dominion citizens. Each faction can define tax rates on the colonies they own. The economic cycle is closed, which means all money that is spent will go somewhere else and won't be lost. A few months ago we introduced the new real-time mining and production system and we've balanced it a lot since then. The only thing we still need to introduce to complete a believable economic cycle is item decay. Item decay means that items that cannot be destroyed, used or emptied (such as weapons, implants, clothes etc.) will age and at one point become unusable. This feature is on our to-do-list. |
The full interview is here.
Hey guys,
I am playing Face of Mankind for a LONG time now and I can just tell you all 1 thing: It's the best game I have ever played in my life! So please come playing it ;)
-Detective Yendor Arcanii, (Detective is a Rank 4 of the Law Enforecement Department, which are the cops)
DMC-Council member (DMC (DeMorgans Castle) is the prison and I am just helping guarding and running it)
Head of the Arcanii Family (Family I wanna make after Milestone 2, also revered to as MS2)
Great interview. I used to play/test the game but gave it up for reasons. After reading this interview though I may end up going back to the game. it was well worth it at one stage and it looks like it might be again :)
Can't Wait
Combat has always been a key aspect in Face of Mankind, since we incorporate a truly real-time FPS system. Several improvements have been made, for example more accurate hit box detection. You can now aim exactly at specific body parts like the head, shoulders, torso, arms, legs, feet and even hands and the server will recognize these hits accurately and calculate damage based on armor, used weapon and ammunition type.
As far as I know, there are not many other MMOGs offering such a detailed system, maybe not even one.
There amay not many but there's a game far more detailed with damage calculations, and that's WWII Online. Every vehicle is modled out with armor ratings variating from polygon to polygon, what ammo can penitrated it at what calaber, range, angle, etc. It also takes flak into acount.
For infintry, where you get hit, and by what exacly, effects how much stamina you lose for quick movement or for your accuracy in aiming, or if you are manning some sort of vehicles, it effects your ability to operate it (having the stamina to move things around, etc). Your vision is also effected.
Not to discredit their system, I've not tried Face of Mankind since a beta long long ago, but I have to point out there ARE detailed systems, and they go into great detail
WWII Online is probably the best example for a really detailed system of how to kill something.....but really buggy.
Falcon - AKA Jack Varkson, Ex LED Rank 6
Truthfully, we need games like that. It caters to a type of player that is quickly turned off by hand-holding games like World of Warcraft. The types of players that like the hard-core sandbox model are the same types who stick to a game forever, and who are the most happy to help the new player who feels lost. I think it has been beautifully proven by the likes of SOE and what they did to Star Wars Galaxies that a game's veteran players are the real force behind bringing in the new players, not the advertising. A game's satisfied player base is how it survives and grows.
I'm still wandering, looking for a new home since SWG was butchered at the beginning of last year. I think FoM has potential to be it after Milestone 2 is published, and I'll give a look-see then. If it turns out to be what I'm looking for, I will definitely be bringing people with me.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVED IT! It works in such an innovative way and the faction oriented gameplay added a solid role playing element to the game that a lot of others don't provide.
Still, it was clear to me that it was NOT worth paying monthly for a game that continuously was buggy...and after reading this interview...I feel the slow start is because of this.
Then again...maybe I just really really enjoy FREE things
best sci-fi RP MMO ever made. But i am glad to see they implement a better hit box detection.. remind me of me aiming head and doing less damage.... heh.
This looks better than Project Entropia...i am heading in to Face of Mankind in 2 weeks...
skills based and body targeting...well worth a look.
I suspect that you are one of the 'hackers' you are talking about... but you do have a good point. The publisher (OJOM) has prevented any real action against hackers. In thier effort to avoid problems, they have caused more by not allowing the GM's to take hard and fast action against those that cheat. This means that all the players suffer, while waiting for action to be taken. It does eventually happen, but often only after a the cheaters cause problems in the game.