E3 2005 Preview

From E3 – Wednesday May 25th, 2005

Tucked into the Kentia Hall, we found Irth Online. This game, along with Dark & Light, aims to create a large world, and no instanced content, which flies in the face of most other games in development. Due to launch in July and be available via digital download, Magic Hat Software will face some stiff competition, but luckily launch generally alone for a good few months on either side.

Visually, the game is adequate for a small company making their first MMORPG. It is not stunning, but nor is it appalling to the senses. Fans of Wish will be quickly familiar with many of the creatures, playable races and structures they find in this world as the team purchased many art assets from that cancelled title. The game features a nice 10 km view distance, and absolutely enormous world, which they claimed was 38,000 km2, a number I triple checked with the team. The game has no zones, a sharded approach, no instancing, but unlike its main rival Dark & Light does feature underground areas.

Their world has five civilizations, three of which are at war and the fourth being neutral. The fifth is for those who do not enjoy PvP and is a safe zone. The other four will kill players of opposing forces on sight and are in constant battle. Unlike Dark Age of Camelot though, the various factions are not physically segregated and only allowed to meet in the middle. The team is quite proud of the way they will mix PvP and PvE into one server, rather than artificially segregating them.

According to Alan Chipura, one of the men in charge of Irth Online, this open skill based game has been designed to appeal to both hardcore and casual players. One way they will do this is to open up several specialty servers after launch (your characters are able to be transferred over when they open). One they plan is a dedicated role-playing server where player actions will impact the world. For example, each civilization controls a wonder, and if they lose that wonder, the climate in their section of the world will deteriorate until it is reclaimed.

Magic Hat Software also hopes to create a world players can fully manipulate. This includes things like chopping down trees and seeing them fall, and digging holes that actually make holes.

Their combat system is based on feats and auto attack like many other MMORPGs. One thing that they hope separates themselves will be the presence of a lot of gore. Although this was not on display for us to see, from the way they spoke with such an evil glint in their eye, I suspect combat may not be best suited for children, a refreshing change.

Adventure is one of the things they emphasized in our discussion. Throughout their land they have hidden knooks, carnnies and wonder. Alan’s favorite part of the game – although it was admittedly ruined by him knowing all the secrets – was to wander the lands and seek out hidden things that you can only reach if you know the secrets. The goal is to make adventure a new experience each time, as there are always obscure hidden wonders to uncover. In terms of transport, there will be lots of ways to get around. They had just implemented horses before the show, and will also have boats, flying, etc. This will hopefully help players navigate their massive world.

Their quest system will be fairly standard, although they did hope to implement quests that have a large impact on the world and other quests after launch. The game will also feature a crafting system that lets you create any object in the game world. Finally, they also feature a standard list of playable races that include humans, elves and dwarves, with more to be added as they have time. Players will be asked to unlock them during the game.

Many of the flaws and concerns I mentioned in my Dark & Light article apply here, but given their realistic estimations of success, I am confident Irth Online can succeed as a niche product.

Irth Online aims for a niche market, and while obviously they would, like anyone, be thrilled to have massive success, they need only about ten-thousand subscribers to be a success. The game is due online this July and is positioned as an alternative to most other games in development. Visually, it is adequate at best, but the team acknowledges up front that implementation is their strength, not art. Provided this is true, Irth Online looks to be a nice little game that should thrill those players who enjoy virtual worlds over the more traditional game approach visible on the floor this year.