MMOGAMES News

Action MMORTS Soul Master Exclusive Q&A

posted by: Cody Hargreaves Tue 27th Apr 2010

Action MMORTS Soul Master Exclusive Q&A

by Cody Hargreaves

So, have you heard? There’s talk of another MMO on the horizon; something new, something different. Something you’ve never seen before; something that will blow your mind. Probably. We were a little sceptical too, so we embarked upon a quest for answers. We asked questions, they were answered. Take a look for yourself.

CH: First up, thanks to Andrew Fernandez, the Producer of Soul Master for joining us. Could you give us a quick run-down on some of the ideas behind Soul Master, and how they’ve translated into gameplay?

AF: Soul Master is an action-MMORTS which merges the real-time strategy genre with action MMORPG game play in a way that hasn't been done before. How it works is that the player is in direct control of their character; who has their own set of skills and can progress in level, upgrade and craft their own equipment, go on quests and missions, etc. which comprises the MMORPG side of things. At the same time, in combat they're also able to control an army of units called "Souls". You can also create buildings for defense and unit production, progress through tech trees to gain access to more powerful units with unique powers, upgrade your units' in-match abilities, and fight over resources which make up the RTS aspects of the game.

CH: So in a nutshell, we’re talking about the love-child of an MMORTS and an MMORPG. Instantly, I think ‘Warcraft III meets World of Warcraft’ — was there any inspiration drawn from either of these titles?

AF: You can't help but admire everything that Blizzard's done, and there's simply no denying that they make incredible games. Particularly when they've created perhaps both the most successful MMORPG and RTS titles the industry has seen to date. What they've been most successful at throughout their history is combining a wide variety of different game play elements from multiple genres, and then assembling those successful features together in innovative new ways. One example being their Hero unit progression in Warcraft III. The concepts behind the development of Soul Master are in the same spirit of combining successful aspects of numerous genres together in unique ways to create something new in terms of game play.

CH: How will games be carried out; real-time in a persistent world, mission based matches using a lobby, or something new?

AF: Soul Master will be a combination of a few different methods. The central town areas that serve as meeting hubs are persistent world-based, where players can access their warehouses and vendor NPC's, purchase and upgrade their items and skills, and interact with other players. From there, the majority of PvE content is mission-based through continent maps that allow players to choose the specific instanced missions and difficulty settings of the ones they want to undertake. PvP is done through a game lobby that can be accessed from anywhere, and once a player enters a room their characters can move around and choose which items from their inventories they want to take in with them while the teams, map, and game settings are being decided. After they click start, they'll enter a private PvP map and their match will begin.

CH: What games modes can people expect to be playing; will there be quests and exploration the likes of an MMORPG, or will the focus be something more similar to an MMORTS?

AF: As the PvE is mostly mission and scenario based we've made a conscious effort to vary the types of modes that are available to keep things entertaining throughout. The goals include everything from caravan escort missions to boss raids, survival and town defense, invasion scenarios, and even endurance challenges which are kind of like running dungeons in an action MMORPG. Quests can be taken from NPCs and completed during any mission or over the course of multiple ones depending on what the specific objectives are. Exploration is mostly going to play a part in learning the terrain layouts and strategies that will be the most effective on the different PvP maps, which leans more towards the MMORTS side of the game.

CH: Will there be a PvP element, and if so, will this make up a large part of the game?

AF: PvP will be a huge part of the game, and definitely the most exciting and frequently evolving. Players developing effective strategies and tactics and then finding counters against them is going to be one of the most fascinating things to watch as the community learns and grows. Simply changing your equipment can completely alter your PvP strategy for a match, as the game's crafting and upgrade systems add bonuses to a player's character (like instant respawn times or quicker skill cooldowns), or to the RTS aspects of their game play (like faster unit production or stronger defensive buildings). We're also developing a pretty comprehensive guild war system which will feature ranked matches and offer some of the most powerful rewards in the game to the most successful teams. We're also working on increasing the number of players allowed in a single PvP match at a time, so that eventually you'll be able to have entire guilds going after one another in huge, ranked matches.

CH: How much focus is placed on constructing a base and building units, and similarly, how much on advancing your character through levelling and upgrading skills/equipment?

AF: The two are extremely intertwined, and that relationship between the MMORPG and RTS aspects of the game is one of the balances we consider the most crucially important to maintain. As your character levels and progresses through missions they'll gain access to new and higher level character skills and more powerful units. Generally without constructing buildings for defense or to produce and strengthen their units during a match, it's extremely difficult to compete against someone of the same skill level that's also producing units and constructing defense in a fight. Basically in Soul Master the overall skill level of a player is determined by their ability to use both the RPG and RTS sides of the game together. The item upgrade and crafting systems are what allow you to focus on which of the two sides (character or RTS-focused combat) or a combination of both you're more comfortable with. You're able to find and make armor and weapons with specific stat and skill bonuses for either your character, Units, buildings, or a combination of all three that complement your individual playing style. For instance personally I prefer the faster pace of going after other players directly with my own character, and then using my Units on the side to take out their resource points and buildings on another side of the map or to block their Units coming after my base or my character. One of my co-workers likes to play completely differently, and focuses on building up a large army of Units as fast as they can behind a ton of defense. In my case I focus on getting my character's personal combat abilities up with the right gear bonuses (like faster run speed or increased character damage), while they choose to set themselves up with Unit and building-based bonuses (like faster Unit production times and increased Unit damage). Either way works depending on your style of play, and changing your armor can completely change your focus between primarily using your character or using your Units to win.

CH: Are there any features planned for the future that weren’t able to make it into the release?

AF: We've actually got a pretty intense content update schedule for the first year of game service. We're going to be continually increasing the amount of available PvE and PvP content throughout; with new maps, boss raids, quests, and mission types coming every month. What we'll have in CBT, while already extensive content-wise, is really just the tip of the iceberg compared to the first few months of live service. Additional PvP types including matches that are just character (MMO-focused game play) or Unit based (RTS-focused game play) are also in the works, as well as PvP scenario modes. Eventually we plan to include a system where players will be able to create custom maps and game play settings, which will basically allow for infinite user-end content. We're really looking forward to seeing the player-created maps and game play modes, and maybe even find some individuals from the community we can take on at some point based on the quality of their work.

CH: Will there be a purchase cost or recurring monthly fee in Soul Master, or an item mall? If the latter, what type of items can players expect to purchase?

AF: Soul Master's going to be completely free to download and play. The game will have an optional item mall though, and what we'll have available for purchase will generally be items of convenience or character customization, as opposed to ones which might potentially create a performance gap between paying and non-paying users. We're definitely aware of the importance to allow a free-to-play game to remain free, and not make it requirement for a player to buy something just to stay on-par with those who decide to do so. We'll have a number of items that simply allow a player to personalize their appearance with special costumes and hairstyles, other ones that will let you increase your storage space if you're a packrat like me and collect more stuff than the average player, or ones that let you gain extra experience if you don't have a lot of time to play to help you keep up with your friends and Guild mates that do.

CH: And finally, the most important question, when can we expect to be playing Soul Master?

AF: We're going to be launching Soul Master this summer, with the full CBT (closed beta test) aiming to start up in July which will be when everyone will have a chance to jump in there. Right now we're also considering running a pre-CBT earlier than that for certain members of the gaming public, but we'll be able to release more specifics about that shortly.

CH: I for one can’t wait — it sounds amazing; my cup of tea, so to speak. Thanks for your time, Andrew.

Check out the official website for more information: http://soulmaster.gamescampus.com/