From a single player to a massively multiplayer online experience

I’m an hardcore fan of PC strategy single player games, as I grew up with them (you can check the about page of my blog to see games I’ve been playing for 20 years now). My experience using multiplayer features in this games is very limited, and my online multiplayer experience nonexistent to a few months ago. Seeing my sister, also an old school strategy gamer herself, playing World of Warcraft (a.k.a. WoW) for about 4 years straight now (and the single only game she plays these days) made me think twice about the online massively multiplayer phenomenon and so I decided to give online games a try at my own risk. I recommend you to read the article World of Warcrack and the future of MMOGs to get the feeling of how addicting WoW is and how this is impacting the gaming society in a way that will only be fully understood in some years from now.

So some months ago a friend of mine, knowing my interest in strategy games, recommended me to try out Travian: an ancient world strategy web-based MMO game. I enjoyed playing Travian immediately. First of all it is free, very simple to play (you only need an Internet connection and a web-browser) and surprisingly enough to me the game was very addicting. I did not knew by then (and frankly I’m still figuring it out now) from where was this addicting factor coming from, since the game is pretty basic. Is it the simple gameplay experience itself? Is it the social aspect of the game? Or is it both? At my own pace I started to play Travian regularly. Naturally after having a positive experience with Travian I could not stop to ask myself if there could be also some MMO space strategy games, and possibly even 4x out there. The answer is yes and a lot of them. Many are already available, many others are in the making.

Web-based space strategy MMO Boom

So if in the recent past 4x space strategy games favored so much the single player experience (as it seems to be its main characteristic)  is it feasible to think that this genre can be successful in the MMO world? And a more important question: can the new space strategy paradigm be MMO? After making a quick search I found OGame, one of the most influential space strategy web-based MMO games out there. I played OGame for a while, and I still play occasionally. It is a satisfactory enough game. You can read my review of OGame in SpaceSector.com: Ogame Review, Tips and Strategy Guide. But there are many others. And the most difficult part these days is to figure out which ones are really worth it to give it a try. You can get a comprehensive list of space MMO games at Galaxy News.

As you glimpse Galaxy News list of space MMO games you can’t help to be surprised, not to say ultimately shocked, to see how many of these games are already available, or under development. They account 145 space MMO games in their database. Some of them show great potential. I tried so far: Astro Empires (which I already made a review), Cosmic Supremacy (a very complex and promising game), Dark Orbit, Ferion and Pirate Galaxy just to name a few.

What’s your MMO experience?

I decided to write this post to share with you my experiences playing space and non-space MMO games, since the process of discovering this new type of games to the amazement of how simple but how addicting these games can be. It would be very interesting to get feedback from you guys, the space (and also the non-space) gaming community. Do you play MMO games? If so which ones do you currently play (or played), and which of these do you recommend to other gamers and why? Ultimately it would be very interesting to discuss here your opinion on if MMO games could be the new paradigm for 4x space strategy.

So what we cannot live in real life we experience in the virtual one. Movies and games have been offering this possibility. Computer games in specific have been putting people in command of space faring civilizations that explore new worlds, meet new races, establish new societies and gain the ultimate knowledge of the Universe.

Like so many of you I’m a space lover in general and a computer game space strategy lover in particular. I’ve been playing computer games, and specially space strategy computer games, for a long time now. I assembled a chronological classification of what I consider to be the space strategy game landmarks, games which I’ve been playing intensely over the years. The question is what’s next and where should we go from here.

The Beginning [1993]: Master of Orion ^[1]

This game is consensually considered the father of space strategy computer gaming. You could for the first time experience what would be like to be in control of a space faring race with most of its core elements like trade, technology evolution, space ships construction and more importantly its customization, colonization of planets, creation of armadas, diplomacy and ultimately war. The game is turn-based which means that you play “your turn” and then wait for all other computer players to finish playing “their turn” and so on. The game offered single player only possibility, i.e. no human-human multi-player offered yet. Two sequels were made for this game: “Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares” and “Master of Orion III”. Both offered human-human multi-player possibility.

The Branch to Real Time Strategy [1997]: Imperium Galactica ^[2]

This game takes on the Master of Orion legacy and makes a leap to a new level. The most important innovation of this game resides on its gameplay style. It abandoned the “turn based” concept to become the first real-time space based strategy game of its kind. The most notable features also include improved graphics and detailed planet management. This game did not offer multi-player possibility though. One sequel was made: “Imperium Galactica II” which offered multi-player experience.

The Adaptation to a Franchise [1998]: Star Wars: Rebellion ^[3]

Lucasarts took the space strategy concept genre and adapted it to the StarWars franchise Universe. For the fans this was seen as the perfect marriage of StarWars lore and most loved space strategy gaming, the concept had it all to succeed. The game offered the possibility to play as the two sides of StarWars: – the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire in single-player or multiplayer mode. The gameplay is a mix of real-time and turn-based elements.

The Evolution of a Franchise [1998]: Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri ^[4]

Sid Meier, one of the most successful individuals of the gaming industry, literally took his Civilization franchise to the stars. Alpha Centauri is basically civilization in another planet with all its alien aspects. The story is simple but sound. The technology tree, units, buildings and diplomacy are creative and very polished. Although not on a true “Master of Orion” genre, since Alpha Centauri action is all played in a single star system: Alpha Centauri, the game is definitely 4x “eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate” only at a different scope.

The Remake with a Twist [2003-2007]: Galactic Civilizations ^[5]

Stardocks’s Galactic Civilization is neither a branch nor an adaptation of the original Master of Orion series but rather its remake. It is basically Master of Orion but in the present (in this case we are in 2003). It delivers better graphics, more polished mechanics that have been perfected over the years on-top of turn-based gameplay single player only mode. Its major innovation was not on the logic or the product itself but on the business concept. It is distributed with no copy prevention that allowed extensive modding by the community. It was also based on the principle of delivering constant updates to customers that featured among patches for bugs also improvements on what the community would want to see in the game. Several sequels and expansion packs were developed which include Galactic “Civilizations II: Dread Lords”.

The Next Generation [2010]: ___________________?

Since the early 90’s space based strategy gaming has been evolving at the rhythm and pace of available technology, creativity and also adapting to the trends of the modern society. In spite the concepts still being basically the same the delivery of these concepts is radically changing nowadays, or at least broadening.

The question is where we should go from now to keep the concept appealing at the same time expanding its coverage. The network society demands ubiquitous products which can be accessed quickly, easily and anywhere with no requirements for special tools or products. Current technology already offers this reality with the Internet and the global range of telecommunication services and products.

So the question we now face is: Which of the following features would we like to see explored in future ubiquitous space gaming experience or which elements do we favor more and in which order? Or basically what do we want to see next?

• Human-Computer VS Human-Human experience
• Thin Client Browser based approach vs Normal Client based
• Free content with paid extensions VS Paid to use
• Reward system importance
• Eye candy factor importance
• In-game movies?
• Technology tree depth
• Spaceship customization depth
• Races number and customization level
• Story depth
• Universe depth
• Overall customization
• Others …

^{[1] Master of Orion:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Orion}

^{[2] Imperium Galactica: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperium_Galactica}

^{[3] StarWars Rebellion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Rebellion}

^{[4] Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier%27s_Alpha_Centauri}

^{[5] Galactic Civilizations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Civilizations}