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First Developer Interview with BEYOND PROTOCOL

Being an independent developer of any video game is no cakewalk. Without the finance and resources of a huge corporate entity, most development studios wither away and die in a matter of years. Creating an MMOG as an independent increases the difficulty level by more than would be believed, increasing the money and time needed to create the game and maintain it.

However, the crew at Dark Sky Entertainment, developers of Beyond Protocol, a 3D MMORTS in Closed BETA, seem to be doing a successful job of creating a game and a company that can withstand this sort of pressure. Before the BETA kicked off, we discussed with Matthew Campbell, the Executive Producer, to determine where the development team is currently focusing and some of the issues they encountered on this path.

How did the team arrive at this long awaited moment? What's the journey been like?

In 1991, a group of us sat down and attempted to play a board game we created called Galactic Empire. After a few turns and 8 hours later, it was clear this game needed to be more and it needed to be programmed. Over time and a large number of stops and starts, the original group still wanted the dream. In 2000, we began working and using our funds to buy developer resources. That worked well but soon, the .COM bubble burst and our funds were dried.

In 2004, through shear willpower, the project started again and through a series of fortunate events, the ability to get it done happened. Now, at the end of 2007, we are ready to show the world our big secret that we have held onto for 15 years. The journey has been a rollercoaster ride sometimes disheartening; sometimes energetic. If you can imagine that journey through the desert in hopes of getting to the mountains, you can feel what we experienced.

How would you characterize your ideal subscriber base?

Our target is adults who love to play a game that provides more fulfilling accomplishments than the simple completion of a level. People who started playing video games in the 90’s remember C&C and Starcraft. Those players have more or less been neglected in MMOs and they have resolved to FPS or RPG games. This game is to fill the void that the mainstream left.

Will the game be available for digital download? Will we find it in retail stores? Will there be a pre-order program? How can we get our hands on this game?

We plan to allow for digital download. We are working with some retail chains to try and get the game box into stores. There will likely be a pre-order program that will include some special perks for those who sign-up for the pre-order. The specifics of those perks are still being worked out. The pre-order is really designed for guilds. It is our expectation to provide our pre-order players a unique hull that can only be designed by that player.

For the guilds, if a group of pre-orders exist, the guild will get to choose the type of planet they start and they are assured to be on the planet together. In addition, if the guild is highly represented, the guild will be able to submit a guild insignia that will be unique for them and installed into the code of the game. Our goal here is that the guilds need to be well-served and given the shear size of this game, they need to exist.

What has the response been like to the beta invitation?

Above our expectations. We have had an enormous response worldwide. It actually slowed our process down a little to go through all of the applications.

How do you think dyed-in-wool MMOG players, accustomed to turn based combat or browser games, will respond to Beyond Protocol's Persistence and environment?

It will likely be a shock to their system. Many of our alpha testers were rudely awakened when they found that a combat they were involved in continued to play on even when they decided to log off for the night. The action will be fast and sometimes very intense, however that should be balanced with times of lull where more thought and planning is required.

How was the game running before BETA? Are things pretty much ready to go or have some areas been left open just for the BETA?
The game has been running for several months now. We have been in a closed alpha that has been kept very secret. Only a very select few have been allowed to test the game while we continued to work through its development and squashed very nasty bugs. This closed alpha process is equivalent to other games’ Closed Beta’s. There are several key features intentionally left out of BETA to ensure that certain core gameplay elements work without those features. Things such as guilds are not currently in place to see how players handle non-guild situations. Later in the testing process, guilds will be added and some other important features may be removed to see the mechanics without those features. Other features are still in the design phase and are in question of whether they will make release, such as races.

Finally, we are continuously adding elements to the game. Things like the graphics engine and other key features will be upgraded as time progresses.

How long do you expect Closed BETA to last? Are you planning an Open BETA afterwards?

We do figure to have an Open Beta after the closed beta. However, the timelines are going to remain variable for now, stay tuned…

Many games go through some big changes during beta, is there any area you expect to see major changes?

There are some changes in the works for the graphics engine. A lot of adjustments to balance-related items are expected during the Closed Beta, especially the tech builders.

The combat engine will likely see a lot of improvement in the form of longer range combat and other nifty details.
We will also be expanding our GNS system over the course of Closed Beta and beyond.

A lot of changes are foreseen as with any Beta. However, the core gameplay elements will generally remain untouched.

Material Resource Research Menus

What areas in the game are you focusing on the most at this point? What do you feel needs the most work in the game before release?

We will be introducing naval units and facilities in the near future. There are plans to upgrade some of the graphics engine properties. Advanced commands are going to be reviewed again to make enhancements to the supply routes and other items. There are several other key items along the way that we are pretty excited about.

How can a newcomer pick up Beyond Protocol and survive with established players?

Knowing what I know about the game, the best way to get going is to get in, get your infrastructure established, and then make diplomatic relations occur fast. In numbers, the new players will have the advantage over the established player. The universe of Beyond Protocol is extremely large forcing players to plan out clever ways to cross the universe in times that are within the human limits.

New players will be placed away from players that are experienced and more mature. However, a player may specifically request to be placed next to a friend who has been playing for a long period of time. The placement of new players and the massive size of the universe goes a long way towards allowing new players to play in the same universe as established players.

Is there a final death scenario for gamers to dread?

Nobody likes to lose and even worse, restart from scratch after being beaten to a pulp. Beyond Protocol hopes to fix this problem by allowing the player to create a Death Budget also known as the Contingency Plan budget. This budget is a place where the player deposits credits from their treasury. Credits placed in this reserve are lost forever and can never be withdrawn. In exchange, when the player has lost their last colony, they will be able to initiate the Contingency Plan. They escape certain doom to a new region of space where loyal citizens of their empire have been creating a new base of operations.

The death budget allows the player to quickly establish a base of operations after the death respawn occurs. This takes some of the sting of out of death, but death still hurts.

Command Centre Under Attack

We heard about the galactic senate system, how will this work and how do you see it evolving in the long term?

The galactic senate is very simply an in-game mechanism for players to tell us what they want changed. The forum has been very heated about this topic. EVERY player is in the Senate and has no choice to secede. The senate wields great power if the players can agree enough to pass the vote. The senate works in two forms.

The controllers of an empire, measured by controlling an entire system of planets and one planet, decide among themselves each day one piece of legislation. If they can agree with majority vote on the legislation, then they submit it to DSE for evaluation. Once evaluated, then it goes up for vote and each planet controller gets one vote with the system voting in aggregate. If there are 5 planets, it will take 3 planets to carry the 5 votes. In times of need for votes, we see entire empires crumbling due to their own success and size exceeding their capacity of control.

There is a heavy discussion going on about races on your forums, what is the teams current leaning on this subject?

As of this interview, races are off the table until later in the Closed Beta. A race is defined by the player’s circumstance and the growth of the player over time. In effect, the player determines their race as they play instead of some questionable decisions at the start of their play time.

Has the universe been created or will new systems emerge as limits are neared?

There will be a large amount of the universe available upon going live. However, there is also functionality for the universe to expand dynamically to relieve pressure from player growth and population limits.

Will planets eventually run out of resources or will they be replenished or renewable?

If you follow the timeline to infinity, some point along the way a planet will run out of resources. The universe will not run out of resources. This is intended to keep scarcity in the game. Players will find themselves in need of locating new resource locations which will antagonize other players and hopefully begin conflicts.

When a planet is out of resources, the planet remains and all of the colonists on that planet remain. Imagine colonies on depleted planets to be huge importers with potential for massive scale production. Also, some resources may be discovered where there was previously no evidence of them existing.

For players who have not heard much about Beyond Protocol, can you give us some information on the units types?

The way that Beyond Protocol is designed, your imagination is responsible for the unit types. It is very difficult to explain BP in the same way that other games can be explained.

There will be naval units, flying units, land-based units and space-capable units. What is done with the types is entirely up to the player.

The units in Beyond Protocol can be customized, what's the scope of this - and how does this affect the server load?

Units and facilities can be customized to every detailed attribute of the unit or facility. Components are designed by assigning properties with values and selecting the materials required to build the component. By taking multiple components and adding it to a unit or facility design, the player shapes the end result